“Thankfully, Jato's mission was a bit more successful than Neko's.” Tech was debriefing us in the meeting hall. “We now have a stable supply of meats, dairies, and some fruits. It's not as much as we could have hoped for, but I'm sure there will be more than enough for everyone. Well... Except Pah. Which reminds me.” He turned to Pah. “You're limited to three servings a day. Once we have the upper floors stabilized we will see about increasing that amount.” Pah slumped down in her chair and Tech continued.
“Now, I almost have full control over the dimensional portals, in another day or two I should be able to not only set you guys down on a planet, but scan the planets beforehand. To that end, I've developed a carry pouch using extra-dimensional space. It can carry pretty much anything, and I've loaded each pouch with a length of rope, two weeks dried rations, a sleeping bag, a tent, a flashlight, and some matches. That should cover most situations. Be warned, you'll still feel the weight of everything in these pouches; so don't put too much in there.” Donare then stepped forward.
“It is good to see you are almost ready to pick up where my generation left off. I will be leaving you soon.”
“What?” Donare held up his hand.
“My body is too frail for the fight. If I stayed I would most likely be captured again. No, I will be taking a route many of the other immortals took.” He pointed to a statue of an elderly man in the corner. “This is Ediscere, he was trapped here during the last raid, and to protect himself he preformed the preservation ritual. He will remain like this until the Gods gather once more. I will be taking him to the Dimensional Core, where the other elder wait. The barriers prevent Gods from going through without becoming a statue in the process, so I will not be returning. I leave you with this device we used to mark ourselves and those who defended us.” He placed a gauntlet down on the table and walked to the far wall.
“When you are ready.” Tech said, tapping a few buttons on his arm, a portal appeared revealing a golden field of grass; an enormous tower resting in the distance.
“Fair well, we will be watching over you. We will be waiting for your success.” With that he passed through and the portal closed behind him. Silence fell over the room for a few minutes, before Tech lifted the gauntlet and placed it over his good hand.
“I guess it is true then. He has passed the Blade down to Pahhur.” Asuka said, breaking our silence.
“Well, that's all well and good, but Pah isn't a leader. She'll be invaluable when we fight Avarus, but otherwise I think we need to decide the leadership.” Metudo said.
“My order commands me to follow the Blade. I will do just that.” Asuka said defiantly. “Even if the owner happens to be an imbecile.”
“Hey, all I want to do is kick Avarus' ass and go home. I'm not cut out for the details.” Pah said.
“Indeed.” Metudo said and turned to the group at large. “I would suggest we divide the labor. Some of us are more suited to lead than others, and even there some of us are more suited to particular roles. I know I am a capable leader, as is Neko and Tech.”
“Hang on, let's not forget that the people's revolt was your fault.” Jato said, pointing down Metudo.
“It's not my fault, I couldn't keep my powers in check. It's under control now.”
“People, please. I can handle all the technical stuff.” Tech said, trying to calm the group. “The way I see it, we need three teams. One to stay here, and two to be out and about getting stuff done. To that end, Jato, Neko and Metudo will be leading those groups. I will assign people as I see fit, since I will be the one checking out the planetary schematics.”
“I'm fine with that.” Pah said and turned to Asuka. “I'll pass any ritual leadership to those three. Just follow their commands.” She sighed, but didn't say anything.
“So it's settled. Now, in the time it took you guys to argue I figured out this thing.” Tech said, holding up his right arm. “It's actually very simple in design. It generates these pads” He held out a small circular patch, no larger than two inches in diameter. “This bonds to a person's skin and immediately provides clothing and protection for the person. I'll test the limits of that protection, but right now I can tell it's extremely durable.” As he spoke he handed each of us one of the pads. I didn't hesitate, and in seconds the rags that were my old shirt and jeans vanished. In its place was a nearly skin tight cloth featuring a predominately green motif.
As things wrapped up, a thought occurred to me, I turned to the others.
“One thing. Our last encounter with people, well... I didn't enjoy being treated like a God. We can still die, we still age, we just have a lot of power. We need a new title.” I could see a few people nodding slowly as they thought about it. “So I was thinking, we're fighting in a war. The only thing that makes sense is calling ourselves Warriors.”
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