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The march was a long one, that is what all the infantrymen thought. Same with Kekol as he was a member of the giant heep of men that were being sent to the lines. He could scarcely remember the last few days when the presence of the Machine God was felt. That the damning armies of metal soldiers erupted from the edges of the collective into insane strength.
Rumor was that these humans had sold themselves to the Machine God. At the cost of their immortal souls, he would give them back the Empire that they so foolishly squandered. It was hard to deny such a truth, especially when the Mitu had experienced such a betrayal before with the Effigants.
It was only when the Machine God’s Fortress, a void vessel of pure darkness, left the system that they were finally able to assemble and fight. So many were dead though. It had only been about three months ago that the Declaration was made and the Cult of he who shall not be named rose up from every street corner. A bloody battle they all fought, so many dead as all peoples were brought into the fight for survival.
Then the Fortress of the Machine God arrived and killed so many. Their souls all reaped into the gullet of a metal god.
At the end of all these events, where the two Gods who preyed upon the collective sank their claws into them, many who were far more in touch with the Essence died. Let them be adults or children; they all died of their reality being ripped from under them.
That was the reason they were being led not by a general but a governor. A general surely would have had the insights of the Essence but their intimacy caused them to die in the first droves. The governor instead had to take over, invoking ancient laws in order to keep the numerous Captains and Sargents together for an armed force.
And now they all marched towards the Mega-City of Kolate, blind to whatever was occuring around them. While previously there might have been seers guiding them all of those educated in such arts were dead. He could feel their eyes though. The servants of the Metal God watched their every move for a chance where they could be obliterated.
But then again if Kolate fell, they were doomed. Thus they had to march.
