On the shores of Pokterr, hundreds of warships laden with men and women of different ethnicities and walks of life stood to fight for their faith and their beliefs. Most of them hadn't even Sparked or Awakened, being just slightly trained humans or other species who knew how to fight.
They all disembarked on the shores of Pokterr, marching in arranged formations, led by their officers as they sought to penetrate this continent and conquer it for themselves!
The first thing this new army noticed was that the entire landscape of the continent was covered in a strange metal that seemed to glow with energy.
Just stepping on it increased the power of some of them, while others reported suffering a power loss. The non-Sparked/Awakened fighters felt no difference, merely a slight buzz.
Whatever the case, this fact caused the various armies to pause as they camped near the edge of the continent to investigate what the hell this was.
However, this very act could be seen as one devoid of common sense or arrogance. Which force would allow the enemy to camp so close to their home base and do nothing while the enemy freely investigates?
By the time evening came, the encampments which had been erected were thoroughly surrounded by various droids from the nearest bases. From tanks to helicopters and planes, even some giant mechs were present.
Miranda, who could see everything with her satellite, waited until the majority of the warriors had gone to sleep according to their curfew, while those who were maintaining watch did so.
Then, as one, the lights in the eyes of all robots flashed red as they entered kill mode. They descended on the encampments so fast and so brutally that the majority got torn to shreds during their sleep.
The 'battle' was brutal, and it would be more accurate to call it a 'massacre'. Only a few beings in the center of the encampments, which was where the strongest members resided, managed to wake up in time to muster some level of resistance.
Alas, two hands could not block four plasma cannons. Many of them were easily lasered to death, no matter how they tried to defend themselves or run away. With Miranda's satellite tracking, every single soul that came here this day got vanquished or captured.
To be bluntly honest, it was better to be part of the former group who had outright died than to be a part of the latter group who would rue their entire existence, cursing their parents, gods, or whoever was responsible for granting them unique powers or special physiques.
Only two individuals were lucky enough to be given freedom, ordered to pilot the ships back to Elysium with a printed message. Upon return, Odysseus was shocked to see the state of the fleet he had assembled and read the message sent.
When he saw it, his face became so red with rage that he almost steamed. He snorted and tossed the letter to one of the survivors, pointing at the temple.
"You go and hand it over to the Gods since you opted to be a messenger instead of a warrior!" Odysseus ordered coldly as he began organizing the next fleet right away.
Those who came back shook, for neither one of them wanted to deliver such a message and still be around when the reader was taking a look. It wasn't exactly scathing, but the way it was written was certainly infuriating.
One of the survivors couldn't help but take another look.
"Hey, these troops were a nice warm-up for my forces, but do you think you could send twice the amount next time? Oh, and make them stronger too. Thanks! :P"
It seemed like the writings of a child, which angered all those who read it on Elysium's side because it made it sound as if their 'elite force' had been wiped out by a child and its tricks.
As such, Odysseus directly organized the second war group, this one not having anything but mortals who had powers. From Amateur to even Masters, they were all shipped over to Pokterr.
In the meantime, Miranda was adapting new troop types into her formations, building even more machines as she waited for the arrival of the second batch.
A few weeks later, they came. They also banked near the shore but did not disembark, rather opting to wait on the ships and do the reconnaissance from there.
However, while this was marginally smarter, it was just as useless as anything else. Miranda showed the ships the meaning of terror when her aquatic units attacked them from below and forced them to sink.
Those who survived made it to shore only to be greeted by the muzzle of a plasma gun, or, if their Luck was poor, the barrel of a heavy armor unit.
One thing was certain though, this army was thoroughly wiped out just like those that came before. The only difference was that this time slightly more were captured.
Miranda also sent another message back, claiming that these troops were certainly better, and she was grateful for the effort the organizer put into them.
Upon reading this message, Odysseus gritted his teeth so hard that cracks began to form on them. His bloodshot eyes showed that the Demi-God of Deployment was thoroughly infuriated and being challenged thoroughly.
As such, he put together the third deployment, which was chock-full of mortals from all over Elysium, as well as those who had been held captive. However, what Odysseus thought Miranda did not see was that a group of powerful Grandmasters would be hidden within, blending in as normal fighters to lay a severe blow when the time was right.
In truth, Miranda was also spooked by this, and Odysseus' plan would have worked since she couldn't exactly fight Grandmasters that were hidden head-on, not after Vena's update at least.
As such, Miranda took preemptive action and loaded a few bomber jets with thermobaric nuclear warheads. They took to the sky and meet the incoming fleet halfway a few days later.
The crews of the ships looked up with puzzlement, not realizing that Armageddon had come for them.
