Published at 28th of October 2025 4:44 am

Chapter impietas 9.9

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Howl was gone.

Elpida felt her sisters absence like the bleeding socket of a shattered tooth, or the phantom pain of a severed limb, or the fading warmth of abandoned bedsheets. She knew that Howl was not merely asleep, unconscious, or quiet, in the same manner she knew the position of her own legs and arms. This absence was a raw and open wound. Something had been torn away from Elpidas mind, something she had not known she possessed, not until it was gone.

Howl?!

Her shout filled Pheiris crew compartment.

Her comrades could not spare further shock or alarm everyone was busy struggling to retain their balance, stowing weapons and equipment, dripping grey mud from saturated clothes, lurching and reeling with wide-eyed panic and helpless fear.

Pheiri was accelerating, tracks crunching, engine roaring, weapon emplacements pounding out a chorus of bullets and missiles beyond the hull; he was still fighting the ball-shaped rotor-craft, despite the damage to the gigantic airship. The crew compartment juddered and jerked as Pheiri skidded and swerved, tossing everyone from side to side as he took evasive action, speeding through the streets of the corpse-city. He was likely trying to place himself beyond the blast radius of a second atomic detonation; his nano-composite bone armour had protected his insides and his crew, but even he had limits.

Elpida held fast to a piece of wall-rib and screamed at the silence inside her own head.

Howl?! Where did you go? Answer me! Howl!

No reply. Howl was not there. Howl was gone.

Elpida pinpointed the exact moment she had lost track of her sister lost Howl a second time, all over again. It was happening again!

Howl had gone silent during the flight across the muddy crater, seconds before Arcadias Rampart had reared up and blossomed into a whirling tower of flesh and bone. Howl had nothing to say about the combat frames terrifying and beautiful transformation; Elpida had assumed that Howl was focused on survival and extraction, silently urging Elpida onward, keeping her steady, giving her purpose. Elpida had sent a distress call to Pheiri, then concentrated on keeping the small group together and moving; Kagami couldnt run, Vicky was terrified, so they both needed help. Elpida had expected Howl to cheer when Pheiri had burst into the crater and hammered a rotor-craft out of the sky; she had expected an awestruck gasp when Arcadias Rampart had landed a railgun strike on the golden diamond, or when the crossbeam of the vast airship had detonated with the force of an atomic blast.

Not all Howls vocalisations were clear, not all her comments were coherent, not all her emotions were fully expressed but they were always present in the back of Elpidas head. Elpida had not yet grown used to this new dual-minded way of being, this passenger inside her skull, but the sudden absence of her clade-sister made her realise just how much of Howls input was non-verbal.

She had lost her second in command, the angel on her shoulder, her devils advocate. All over again.

Had Howl departed on purpose? Had all her support been nothing more than the surface bait of a cruel manipulation?

Howl, dont, dont leave me, dont go now. I cant do this alone, I cant

Pheiri swerved a hard left, tossing the contents of the crew compartment to one side. Tiny projectiles or debris pattered off his hull like a rain of steel.

Hafina was halfway to the infirmary, dripping liquid mud from her cloak and armour, cradling Kagami in her arms; she braced herself against the wall and floor, rocking with the sudden motion. The others didnt fare so well. Atyle was already sprawled on the floor, her skin covered in blisters, sliding to one side as Pheiri swerved. Ilyusha and Amina went tumbling together, slamming into a wall with a hiss and a yowl. Ilyusha caught Amina and held her tight, to spare her the worst of the impact. Vicky flew out of her seat, eyes wide, arms wind-milling for a handhold.

Elpida hooked Vicky around the waist before she could crash into the wall. Pheiri slewed to the other side, tossing everybody back again. Vicky yelped, clinging to Elpidas arms. Ilyusha spat a curse. Amina screamed.

Howl! Last chance. If this is a joke, stop, right now. If youre in trouble, communicate with me however you can. If youre not here if youre not not here

Elpida knew she would be dead without Howl.

She was already dead, already a zombie but without Howl, Elpida would have died again, and not in a temporary manner, not to be resurrected by the lingering power of her nanomachine biology. Without Howls relentless support, Elpida would not have escaped from captivity, would not have escaped the Deaths Heads and Yola and their sick designs on her. Without Howl to pull her out of defeat and despair, Elpida would have lingered in the false darkness of dreams and delusion. Howl had forced Elpida to her feet and made her keep fighting, even when her body had screamed to stop. Without Howl, Elpidas companions would not have their Commander, Pheiri would not have found his Telokopolan pilot, and Thirteen would not have reconciled with her combat frame. Without Howl they would all be dead, to be resurrected again in ten or fifty or a hundred years, separated and broken.

Howl, please. I cant do this alone.

Had Howl betrayed her? Was Howl even Howl?

Elpida had simply accepted the reality of Howls voice, the support and reassurance of her sister back at her side, the miraculous resurrection of one she wished for so dearly. But Howl had not explained how she had come to exist, or how she had come to be riding along inside Elpidas head. Howl had explained nothing.

Elpidas mind raced to construct a working hypothesis. She had three options: Howl had either departed on purpose, or been intentionally taken away, or been left behind by accident. There was a fourth option, of course Howl may be dead but Elpida discarded that as useless. She couldnt act on that. Howl had germinated, or been planted, or moved into Elpidas mind when shed been unconscious, chained to the Deaths Heads surgical table, dying of a gut wound, at the exact moment Elpida had needed her most. Howl could have been lying dormant since Elpidas resurrection in the tomb, or she may have arrived later.

Her origin did not matter. What mattered was that she could leave.

Why now?

Elpida made two educated guesses: either the golden diamond in the sky centrals physical asset had ripped Howl out of Elpidas mind; or Howl had departed on purpose, to give Thirteen the last push into transformation.

Both of those meant Howl might be trying to return home.

Home? Home was Telokopolis. Home was Elpida.

Elpida was inside Pheiris hull, sheltered from most electromagnetic interference. And Howl was out there, in the whipping winds and fallout and radiation of an atomic detonation.

Or she had betrayed Elpida, because she was never Howl in the first place.

That was not a risk Elpida could take.

She chose trust.

Okay, Howl, Im coming to find you and pick you up. Hold on.

Elpida slammed Vicky back down into her seat on one of the crew compartment benches. She yanked at the belts and webbing and got Vicky strapped in, despite the slippery grey mud all over Vickys clothes and Elpidas hands.

Vicky stammered: E-Elpida, Elpida, Kaga is

Elpida struggled to keep her balance as Pheiri swerved again. Vicky, you stay there, stay put, stay strapped in. Pheiri needs to move fast. We can help him by protecting ourselves. Thats an order. Stay there.

Kaga

Hafs got her. The wound is shallow. Shell be fine. Stay there.

Elpida did not wait for acknowledgement. She swung away from Vicky to see to the others.

Ilyusha was already bundling Amina into a seat and tugging the strap across her chest. Ilyushas claws gave her better handholds on Pheiris innards. Amina was crying and heaving with panic, cradling one badly burned hand; she had been briefly exposed when the blast wave had hit.

Elpida hurried past them. Illy, Amina, you two stay here as well, stay strapped in, look after each other.

Amina said: But Pheiri

Elpida caught a bulkhead rib and twisted round to look Amina in the eye. Pheiri is trying to save us. We have to help him by staying safe. Your job is to stay safe. Do you understand?

Amina nodded, tears streaming down her face. Pheiri swerved again; the movement was punctuated by the thump-thump crack-crack of his guns not the small point-defence weaponry, but the big weapons, the autocannons and missile pods. Explosions blossomed beyond the hull, buffeting the crew compartment with noise and fury. The firepower shook Pheiris insides, drawing a scream from Aminas throat and throwing Elpida backwards.

Ilyusha reached out and bunched a clawed fist in Elpidas coat, catching her before she could crack her head on the metal wall.

Illy bared her teeth. What about you!?

Elpida grabbed Ilyushas hand and squeezed hard. Howls gone. We left her behind. I have to find her.

Ilyusha let go, grimacing through clenched teeth. She nodded and threw herself down into the seat next to Amina. Clawed hands pulled straps and webbing over her body. Clawed feet gripped the decking. Pheiri fired again; the recoil made the crew compartment shudder and shake. Elpida braced her hands against the wall.

Illy, wheres Pira and Ooni?

Ilyusha jerked her head at the corridor to the control cockpit. Up front!

Elpida scrambled forward. She grabbed the hatch to the infirmary and stuck her head through.

Hafina and Melyn had worked fast; Kagami was laid out and strapped down on one of the infirmary slab-beds. Her coat was peeled away from her right shoulder, revealing a burned, pulped mass of flesh on her upper right arm. Blood was pooling on the floor, reduced to a trickle by an emergency tourniquet and bandage. Shed taken a shrapnel wound during the flight across the crater a lucky shard of metal had slipped between the halves of her coat and sliced open her arm. The wound looked much worse than it was; Elpida had taken worse in life and come away with nothing more than a short visit to medical.

Kagami snapped as soon as she saw Elpida. Fucking hell! Fuck me! Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated with pain and fear. Commander, Commander, we have to get out of here! She looked up at the ceiling and the walls, eyes jerking every which way. Go faster, damn you! Remember me?! Remember me from the fucking radio!? Drive faster! Commander, make this thing go faster!

Melyn was clamped to one of the fold out chairs legs braced beneath the seat, arms gripping the sides, her tiny, pixie-like frame bouncing with every rut and hole in Pheiris path. Hafina hadnt bothered to sit, perhaps conscious of her mud-soaked clothes; she used her height and her many limbs to brace herself against the ceiling and walls, riding the swaying like a gyroscope.

Elpida said: You two have Kaga in good hands?

Hafina grinned. Lots of hands.

Dont try to treat her until were secure. Stay strapped in. Be safe, both of you.

Melyn rattled off a reply. Yes yes yes, yes yes.

Elpida lurched back into the crew compartment. Atyle was still sprawled on the floor, making no effort to pull herself up into a seat; that seemed to be a successful strategy so far, keeping her centre of gravity low. The exposed skin on her face and hands was red and raw, starting to blister and peel; shed been standing on top of Pheiri when the first part of the blast wave had rolled over the crawler. It was a miracle she hadnt been blown off Pheiris hull or had her flesh melted to her bones; either the distance or Ilyushas quick thinking had saved her. Elpida and the others had been sheltered by Pheiris armour, just inside the hatch when the detonation had hit. Theyd reached him just in time.

Atyle was smiling at the ceiling, lost in private visions, one hand pawing at the air. Her biological eye was milky and blank with light damage. Her peat-green augmetic was wide and whirring.

Elpida dragged Atyle off the floor and strapped her into one of the bench seats, then grabbed her face and stared into Atyles bionic eye.

Atyle. Atyle, concentrate. I need you, right now. I need your sight.

Atyle blinked. Suddenly she was lucid. She slurred through burned lips. Warrior?

If you really can see into brains, I need you to confirm something for me. Howl is gone. I dont understand why. Is she still inside me?

Atyle paused, then said: You are alone, warrior. The other one is nowhere.

Elpidas heart lurched. She nodded. Thank you. Stay here, stay strapped in. Well tend to those burns later.

Tend? Nay, warrior, they are proof of a divine hand.

Elpida straightened up. Pheiri was accelerating straight ahead, skidding over rubble and rock, bouncing and slewing. Elpida gripped the rib of an interior wall and stripped off her mud-soaked cloak, dropping it to the floor. She unhooked her submachine gun and tossed it onto the bench. She pulled off her armoured coat, stamped out of her waterlogged boots, and pushed her trousers down her legs. She didnt care about the cold or the discomfort; she needed to move fast. If her hypothesis was right then Howl might be trying to return home right then, trapped beyond Pheiris hull, alone.

Elpida ducked into the connecting corridor and hurried for the control cockpit. She banged her elbows and skinned her knees in the tight confines. She cracked her head off low-hanging equipment and smacked her hips into chairs and control panels. Her gut wound was still not healed; it complained and ached as she doubled-up, sending spikes of pain deep into her abdomen. She crawled most of the way, past the access hatch and the bulge of armour over Pheiris brain. When she passed beneath the turret-ladder she looked up into the gloom, at the gleaming hint of the MMI-uplink helmet.

Hold on, Howl, she whispered.

She burst into the control cockpit and hauled herself upright. She clung to the back of a chair as Pheiri lurched to the left; the massive crawler entered a long, curved, skidding motion, bringing his front around, letting his rear end carry him with sheer momentum and weight. Through the tiny steel-glass window in the cockpit Elpida saw snatches of building and soot-dark sky and a toxic golden glow in the air, all whirling as Pheiri struggled not to spin out. She heard Pheiris tracks biting and clawing at concrete and asphalt as he pulled out of the slide.

From far behind, far beyond Pheiris hull, Elpida heard a second unmistakable crack-thump of earth-shattering railgun discharge. She braced for a second blast wave.

But this time there was no atomic detonation.

A miss?

She had no idea how the fight was progressing. But she couldnt help Arcadias Rampart and Thirteen. Not without a combat frame of her own.

Or could she?

Two wicks with one flame, wasnt that how the old saying went? If one of those wicks was Howl and the other was Thirteen, perhaps Elpida had a way to keep both of them burning.

Pheiri pulled out of his skid with an almighty lurch, throwing everything forward. Elpida would have gone flying if she hadnt dug her fingernails into the burst stuffing of the chair. She clawed her way to the front of the control cockpit, braced for more of Pheiris evasive manoeuvres.

Pira and Ooni were strapped into two of the forward seats. Pira still looked like absolute hell, like a corpse lifted from the mortuary slab and injected with adrenaline. Ooni was wide-eyed with terror, lips peeled back, hands shaking as she gripped the armrests. Both of them were staring at one of Pheiris little screens. Elpida wiped her mud-drenched hairout of her face.

Pira looked up, hard-eyed. She snapped: You lost somebody. It wasnt a question; shed read it on Elpidas face.

Elpida nodded. Howl.

Pira squinted. What? How? Shes in your head.

I dont understand. But were going to get her back. I need access to Pheiris comms systems. Pheiri? Pheiri, can you spare enough attention to speak with me? We need to

Ooni sobbed through clenched teeth. Commander! Commander, were going to

Elpida put a hand on Oonis shoulder and squeezed hard. Ooni winced. Nobody dies. Nobody gets left behind. Never again. Hold on. Close your eyes if you have to. Theres no shame in that.

But!

Ooni pointed at the screen she and Pira were watching.

The screen showed a false-colour exterior view of the battle back in the crater, with the buildings and obstructions cut away, the picture constructed by sensor readouts and radar information. The false colour was outlined in greens and blacks, flickering with heavy static, harsh on the eyes.

Arcadias Rampart or the angel of flesh it had become had scored a single titanic hit on the giant golden diamond, shattering one of the crossbeams with a railgun slug. Elpida had witnessed that strike in the final second before shed bundled everybody on board Pheiri and slammed the ramp shut.

Now the diamond was listing to one side, reeling and rocking, bleeding a million gallons of golden fluid into the crater; the fluid superheated the grey mud where it fell, turning the sucking mire into a boiling cauldron of toxic gold. The vast airship lashed out in all directions with gigantic feelers of artificial gravity those were invisible to the naked eye, but Pheiri highlighted them with grey-scale overlays and measurements. The machines tantrum was smashing buildings to dust, pulverising metal into explosions of splinters, throwing up waves of boiling grey mud, and even knocking many of its own auxiliary craft out of the sky. The edges of the crater were already blackened and blasted by the atomics, buildings crumbling and earth charred, but the machines tantrum would leave nothing standing.

Arcadias Rampart stood amid the onslaught, golden toxins streaming off its armour and burning into its flesh. The combat frame so changed now, into a thing of blossoming muscle and flower-like protrusions was scuttling to retain its footing amid the shifting mud and collapsing ground. It pounded the golden diamond with every weapon it had; the railgun was once again concealed, withdrawn, perhaps charging magnetic coils for a third shot.

Elpida had not begun to process the combat frames transformation, or what Thirteen had told her, or what any of that meant. None of that mattered right then. Elpida did not care. A comrade was in battle.

You can do it, Elpida hissed. Come on, Thirteen. Get out of there. Get out of there.

It cant! Ooni wailed. Its trapped!

Ooni was correct.

The diamond was thrashing and writhing like a cornered animal. Perhaps it was dying. But Arcadias Rampart was unable to withdraw in good order. For all the transcendent beauty of the flesh-and-bone change, even an uncaged combat frame was not invincible. The exposed flesh was blackening, the armour buckling, the limbs bowing under repeated blows. In minutes Arcadias Rampart would fall to the onslaught of gravitic assault, or get trapped in the sucking whirlpool of gold-baked mud, or melt under the torrent of ichor and chemical damage and radiation.

Elpida said quickly: Is she talking to us?

Pira squinted. She?

Thirteen, the pilot. Any broadcasts?

One of Pheiris little black screens flashed to life, scrolling with green text.

>

///message log buffer 73/73 direct contact attempt unknown

///re-designate: Thirteen

///73/73 direct contact attempt corrupted datastream rejected

>

Elpida nodded. Shes trying to contact us but the data is corrupted. Understood. Thats to be expected, shes changed too far and shes in the middle of the fight of her life. Well have to re-establish communication protocols later. Pheiri, were going back to help her.

Ooni spluttered: What?! No! Back into that? No, no!

Pira snapped: Nobody gets left behind, Ooni. You heard the Commander. Nobody get left behind. Shut your mouth.

Ooni squeaked.

Pheiri refreshed the green text.

>

///local volume radiological hazard class alpha

///local volume biological hazard class alpha

///local volume chemical hazard class alpha

///local volume nanomechanical hazard class alpha alpha plus

///local volume signals hazard class unregistered

>

Elpida said: I know. Pheiri, listen to me very carefully. Howl is missing the girl inside my head. That means she was somehow independent of me. A piece of data. I dont know. She may be trying to get back to me, back home, through all that stuff out there. Signals cant penetrate your hull, not unless you invite them, so I need you to listen for Howl trying to get home. But I dont know if youll recognise her without me.

>

///datastream capture protocol engaged

///data entity buffer WARNING DO NOT WRITE MEMORY

///internal firewall integrity check... passed

///passthrough connection request nanomachine conglomeration Elpida

///waiting

///waiting

///waiting

>

Elpida laughed, or tried to. She was shaking. Good. Yes. Now, Im going to have to climb up into your turret and plug myself into your MMI uplink system, via that helmet up there. You grab Howl, stuff her back into my head. Right? Okay. So. Elpida wet her lips. Your main turret weapon, its for killing combat frames, isnt it?

>

///negative return no record

>

Elpida grinned. She couldnt help herself, patting the control console. Thats not an accusation. I put some of this together from what Thirteen told me. Its for felling large targets. Thats what the weapon system is for, even if youve never used it for that purpose. Do you know what its called? What it fires? Anything at all?

>

///negative return no record

///armament identifier corrupt

>

Right. You cant run it without a pilot. You cant aim or fire without pilot permissions. You cant even access the controls without a pilot. I dont know why the people who made you decided that. Im going to climb up into your turret and plug myself in, then were going to turn around and head back toward that fight. Were gonna scoop up Howl, then were going to back up Arcadias Rampart with fire support. Understood?

>Request orders

No. This is not an order. I cant order you to do this, Pheiri, because this means I have to climb inside your mind. Do I have your consent, little brother?

>Commander

The green text vanished. The screen went dark. Elpida felt Pheiri slew to one side, crashing through brick and rubble. He was turning back toward the fight.

Ooni wailed: This is madness! Its like a fight between gods! We cant, were going to die! This is madness!

Pira snapped, Madness has worked for the Commander so far. Shut up. Close your eyes.

Leuca! Leuca, hold my my hand, please please

Elpida scrambled for the rear of the control cockpit, leaving Ooni and Pira behind. She slipped back into the connecting corridor and hurried to the turret ladder. The rungs were set too close together, built for somebody much more compact. Elpida hauled herself up the ladder and squeezed into the empty cavity inside the turret.

The space was tiny and cramped, full of equipment, all sunk in dark shadows and thick with dust. A bank of blank, broken screens blanketed the front of the turret compartment, perhaps once meant for showing external views. A curved seat was set into the rear, the stuffing long since eaten away or pulled out, leving behind only a blank metal curve beneath the MMI uplink helmet.

Elpida threw herself into the seat. Her bare legs slapped against the cold metal. Her muddy, damp clothes stuck to her skin. She cut her hand on the exposed edge of the seat, but ignored the wound. She did not have time to care.

She yanked the MMI uplink helmet down.

The helmet was a simple steel-grey skull-cup, two inches thick, lined with conductive copper coils and patches of neuro-sensitive plastics. A cable emerged from the middle, as thick as Elpidas thigh, leading up into a bracket on the ceiling and then down into Pheiris body. The cable ran all the way to his brain.

Elpida hesitated.

She had not yet processed what she had seen Thirteen and Arcadias Rampart change into. Pilots and combat frames, two equal seeds of something she had only dreamed of. Did that same potential lie within her? Or within Pheiri? He was based on combat frame technology, after all. His brain was Telokopolan machine-meat.

Would she feel some hitherto unexplored urge the moment she joined with his mind?

No, she decided. Pheiri had given no hint that he was unhappy within the secure shell of his own body. He had expressed nothing but the clarity of his current purpose. Perhaps the engineers of Afon Ddu had perfected something that Telokopolis had not or could not. Pheiri was her little brother. She trusted his intentions and his Telokopolan heart.

Elpida raised the helmet. The cut on her hand smeared blood down one side.

Here we go, Pheiri, she said out loud, in case he needed the warning. Keep those arms wide, be ready to catch Howl. Then, with the gun, Ill handle the targeting, you just get us close.

Elpidas throat was thick with tension. Her heart was racing. Her hands were clammy.

What if she was wrong about Howl? What if Howl was not struggling against the current, desperate to return home? What if Howl was a traitor and a falsehood, a comforting lie, a Necromancer trick? What if Howl was not Howl?

Elpida cast aside all those what-ifs. They did not matter. If she was wrong, she was wrong. If Howl needed her, she had to be there.

Time to be a pilot again. Hold on, Howl. Im coming.

Elpida pulled the helmet down over her skull. She felt a warm tingle, a flush of rushing thoughts, and a flowering of her mind into another.

Pheiri welcomed her home.

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