Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Three

When Colonel Federman Kassad stepped into the entrance, he expected to be in some strange place; instead he saw the demons of foolish war dancing.Moneta walked ahead of him.The Shrike escorted, the fingerblade sinking into Kassad's upper arm.He passed through the slightly stinging curtain of energy, where Moneta was waiting for him, but the Shrike was gone. Kassad immediately recognized the place they were in.Looking from the low peak, it is the location where King Billy of Sadness ordered to carve a portrait of himself about two centuries ago.The platform at the top of the peak was empty, except for the anti-air missile defense guns that were still smoldering.Judging by the smoothness of the granite surface and the still foaming molten metal, Kassad guessed that the shells had come from orbit.

Moneta walked over to the edge of the cliff, above Sad King Billy's thick brow, and Kassad went to stand with her.From here, you can see the river valley, the city, and the airport highland ten kilometers to the west, and the battle situation is clear at a glance. Hyperion's capital is burning.And the old part of the city, Jack Town, is like a miniature painting of a storm and fire. The suburbs are dotted with a hundred small fires, lined up along the road to the airport, like a carefully arranged beacon signal.Even the Hawley River was ablaze, an oil fire spreading beneath the old docks and warehouses.Kassad saw the steeple of an ancient church rising from the flames.He immediately started looking for Cicero, but the tavern was flooded with smoke and flames from the upper reaches of the river.

The hills and valleys were a chaotic bustle, like an anthill kicked in two by a giant.Kassad saw the highway blocked by the flow of people, thousands of people fleeing the war, traveling much slower than a real river.Flares of solid cannon and energy weapons spread to the horizon, illuminating the low clouds overhead.Every few minutes, an aircraft—a military skimmer or a landing craft—rises from the billowing smoke near the airport or from the vegetated hills to the north and south, and a line is drawn up and down the sky immediately. A discontinuous light beam, and then the aircraft fell, trailing a black smoke column and orange flames.

Hovercraft skitter across rivers like aquatic beetles, dodging among the flaming wreckage of boats, yachts and other hovercraft.Kassad noticed that the only road bridge had collapsed, and even the concrete and stone piers were burning.Battle lasers and hellwhip beams flashed through the smoke; lethal missiles could be seen flashing past like a white blob, leaving trails and ripples of superheated air.He and Moneta watched all this, an explosion sounded near the airport, and a mushroom cloud of flames rose into the sky. —I hope it's not a nuclear bomb.he thinks. --no. The skin-like suit covering the eyes was like a highly modified military goggle. Kassad zoomed in and looked at the hills five kilometers to the northwest on the other side of the river.Corps Marines strode toward the summit, and some had landed, digging foxholes with conical digging charges.They all had their suits activated, the camouflage aggregates were invulnerable, the heat signature was minimal, but Kassad had no trouble seeing them.If he thinks about it, he can even see what these people look like clearly.

Tactical command and dense light channel whispered something in his ear.In it he heard the excited chatter and the casual obscenity, which must have lingered in war for countless human generations.Thousands of troops, dispersed from airports and staging areas, are digging a circle twenty kilometers in circumference from the city, the spokes carefully planned for range and total destruction vector. ——They thought they were about to be invaded, Kassad communicated, recalling that way, not only silently in the heart, but not as good as telepathy. Moneta raised a quicksilver arm and pointed to the sky.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, at least two kilometers thick. It was first penetrated by a cumbersome spaceship, and then more than a dozen appeared, and within a few seconds, hundreds of objects descended. The scene was shocking.Most of them were hidden by camouflage aggregates and coded background shielding fields, but Kassad had no trouble seeing through them.Beneath the aggregate, on the bronzed, gray exterior, there were faint markings in the subtle calligraphy by which he recognized them as Ousters.Some of the larger craft were obviously landing craft, their blue plasma trails clearly visible to the human eye, but the rest slowly descended into the rippling air of the suspension field, and Kassad noticed the clumsy arms of the Ouster invasion munitions tubes. Size and shape, some were undoubtedly loaded with supplies and artillery, but many were clearly empty, traps used to decoy the ground defenses.

A moment later, the cloud top was broken again, and thousands of free-falling speckles came down like hailstones.The Ouster infantry passed the munitions tank and the landing ship, waiting for the last second to deploy the levitation field and parafoil. No matter who the commander of the military department is, he must abide by discipline-neither he nor his subordinates can violate it.Ground artillery batteries and thousands of marines deployed around the city resolutely abandoned the vulnerable targets of dropships and munitions canisters, waiting for the deployment of the airborne force brakes... some of which were only slightly higher than the treetops.At that moment, lasers flashed through the smoke, missiles exploded, and the air was filled with a thousand trails of shimmer and smoke.

At first glance, this was a total blow, enough to stop any possible attack, but Kassad took a quick glance and saw that at least forty percent of the Ousters had landed—enough to launch the first mission to any planet. A round of attack. A squad of five-man paratroopers turned and flew toward the mountain where he and Moneta had stopped.The foothills shot out beams, and two of them rolled down burning, another spiraled down in a hurry to avoid the next attack, and the last two took advantage of the easterly breeze, spinning and flying towards the forest below them. Kassad's five senses were fully engaged now, and he could smell ionized air, smokeless powder, solid propellant; the faint sour smell of smoke and plasma explosions made him open his nostrils; somewhere in the city, sirens wailed, The breeze brought the crackle of small arms fire and burning trees; radio chattered with intercepted light channels; flames lit the valley, and laser spears blazed like searchlights through the clouds.One kilometer below them, the foothill forest gradually turned into the edge of the grassland, and teams of Overlord Marines were fighting hand-to-hand with the Ouster airborne troops.Shouts sounded in my ears.

Feldman Kassad watched it all with the fascination he had only experienced in the thrilling simulation of a French cavalry charge at Agincourt. ——This is not a simulation, is it? —No, Moneta replied. — What happened now? The silver phantom beside him lifted its head.When is now? ——It was in the Valley of Time Tombs that we... met... not long ago. --no. —Then the future? --right. ——But, the very near future? --right.Fifth day since you and your friends arrived in the valley. Kassad shook his head suspiciously.If Moneta can be trusted, he's already in the future. She turned to face him, her face reflecting fire and multiple lights.Do you want to join the fight?

—to fight the Ousters?He folded his arms and gazed at everything with new enthusiasm.He already has a general understanding of the combat capabilities of this strange skin-like suit.He can completely turn the tide of the battle with one hand... It is very possible to destroy the thousands of Ousters that have already landed on the ground.No, he sent her, not now.Not yet. —The Lord of Great Mourning believes that you are a warrior. Kassad turned to look at her again.He was a little curious why she had given the Shrike such a long, dull title.The king of mourning, what a shit, he sent.Unless it wants to fight me.

For a long minute, Moneta remained motionless, like a statue of mercury on the top of an aeolian mountain. —Do you really want to fight him?she finally sent. —I came to Hyperion to kill it.and you.As long as any of you agree, I will accompany you at any time. —Do you still believe that I am your enemy? Kassad remembered her attack on him in the cemetery, and now he felt that he had actually approved it in his heart, a silent longing in his heart to be lovers with this incredible woman again, without feeling his will being raped.I don't know who you are. —I was a victim in the first place, as most people are, Moneta sent, her gaze back to the valley.Then, in our distant future, I witnessed the reason why the Lord of Mourning was cast... had to be cast... and I became its companion and overseer. --supervisor? ——I supervise the tide of time, repair the machinery, and ensure that the Lord of Mourning will not wake up early. —So you can control it?Thinking of this, Kassad's pulse became quicker. --cannot. —So, who, or what, can control it? ——Only those who defeat it in a duel with it. —Who beat it? —Not yet, Moneta sent.Whether in your future or in the past. — Many people have tried it, right? --millions of. —they're all dead? —Some are worse than death. Kassad took a breath.Do you know if I have a chance to duel with it? ——There will be. Kassad exhaled slowly.No one beat it.His future was her past...and she had always lived there...and she had looked, as he had, into that dreadful thorn tree, and seen the familiar faces on it, as he had seen him years before he had known Martin Silenus. Saw him stabbed there, struggling.Kassad turned his back on the battle in the valley below.Can we go find it now?I want to challenge it to a one-on-one duel. Moneta looked at his face in silence for a moment.Kassad saw his quicksilver features reflected in hers.Instead of answering, she turned around, stroked the air, and called out the portal. Kassad stepped forward, stepping into the entrance first.