BXBX NOVEL Chapter 176 The Hover
Cris finally arrived, panting. When he saw the seats, he immediately sat on the seat directly in front of Andre\'s. The old man suddenly moaned with pleasure, shocking Andre, "What the hell?" He exclaimed.
"The seat is massaging me! Awesome!" Cris sighed with relaxation. "It also has the right temperature! I want this in my house!"
Hearing him, Andre laughed with amusement, "This is still just a sample prototype. It\'s still being improved, so wait for it in your next life!"
Cris whined with displeasure when he heard Andre. After that, he stayed silent, enjoying his comfortable rest.
Andre, on the other hand, waited for the Hover pilot. After a few minutes, the screen lit up as the image of a robot-generated face appeared, "Greetings. I am your AI pilot, Phoenix. As the energy capsules are fully charged, we are lifting off."
Andre\'s eyebrows lifted as he listened, "There\'s no human pilot?"
"As I am still a prototype, there is a pilot onboard trained to control the Hover if malfunctions arose with the automatic mechanism. You can be assured." The AI replied with a robotic voice.
"Hmm." Andre nodded with approval. "Then, let\'s lift off." He commanded.
"Affirmative." The AI\'s image minimized into the upper right corner as it added, "Lifting off."
Outside of the Hover, everyone backed off as they watched the craft initialize, as a neon light ran through the corners of the aircraft.
Womwomwom.. the sound of the pulsars beneath the legs of the aircraft activating by sending consecutive waves of pulses could be heard by everyone as the Hover lifted off from the ground.
Inside, the AI sent messages to the screen simultaneously.
"Asking permission from the Head Tower to open the Hatch… Permission Granted."
"Asking permission to depart.. Permission Granted."
"Leaving.."
As soon as the permissions were granted, the Hover continued its ascension. Below, a huge depression on the ground opened, with the people backing off. Above, a huge circular gate opened and let the ocean water enter and splash in the depression, with holes appearing below the depression, draining the water to not cause an overflow.
In the air, the Hover has finally exited the field and emerged from the depths. The legs of the Hover lifted up and rotated to a horizontal position, with the pulsars behind the craft.
"Activating Stealth." The AI alerted. As soon as it did so, the surface of the Hover blended with the surroundings, with holograms of birds flying around it being projected.
"We are going full speed."
Boom! The pulsar thrusters blasted and sent the craft zooming past the boundaries of sound, flying towards the South Pole, where the Snow Court is situated.
Similar to the ancient abodes of humankind, the South Pole has been home of very deep histories that only those who have lived for longer than ten thousand years know.
From ancient civilizations, artifacts, and even sealed beings, the uninhabited Antarctica is filled with things that normal people couldn\'t even process.
To protect the naivety of the civilians, the Ouroboros Foundation has decided to take the helm of establishing a base in Antarctica to both protect the secret of the icy continent and to stay far from the eyes of the people.
Inside, the AI continued to give Andre information about the craft. "With the Hover\'s speed of Mach 30, from the October Revolution Island to the South Pole(200,000km because of the world being ten times the size of Earth), our estimated time of arrival would be five hours."
"How about the defensive mechanism of this craft?" Andre questioned.
"Although the craft still has no offensive weapons for aerial battles, the Hover has a good enough stealth that would not be detected by any technology that is discovered until now. Also, with the aircraft\'s speed, no other aircraft present to the current time would be able to catch up to us." The AI answered.
"Very well." Andre nodded with approval. He turned to look at the old man comfortable on his seat, "Cris, where were you before the October Revolution Island? Don\'t tell me you spent your entire time there?" He asked.
"Although this body is getting rusty, my skills from all my lives still haven\'t worn out, Andre." Cris chuckled. "I have been fighting in Romania for three years before you summoned the Directors through Mimicry."
"Is the Darkhold active again?" Andre narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, unfortunately." Cris sighed and added, "Although the Vatican has been helping us purge them from Romania, they always pop up after some time. It\'s becoming irritating, to be honest."
Andre sighed with irritation, feeling what Cris was feeling. The Darkhold, different from what others know, is one of the current Six Hidden World Organizations together with Ouroboros and Kepler. Different from Ouroboros and Kepler that focuses more on the study or annihilation of the anomalies, the Darkhold instead worships them, or rather, the one that is creating them; the dark energy.
The Darkhold seemed to have been established after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, but it could have been earlier. Without the restraint from a powerful sovereign government, the Darkhold spread their influence in the European underworld, combatting anyone that goes against their ideals.
They focus with disrupting religious events and causing chaos all across the world. One of their goals are also to destroy both Ouroboros and Kepler to free the anomalies.
What\'s annoying with them is how they fight. Somehow, the members of the Darkhold got hold of a connection with the origin and uses that connection to control the anomalies that were created. Some controlled weapons that corrupts the body of the enemy, while the higher ups sometimes had the power to control Calamity-Class anomalies like books that summons demon figures, bewitching eyes that can influence the minds of millions, and other anomalies that could endanger the lives of many.
With those threats, Cris was the one who stepped forward to fight against them. For centuries and different lifetimes, Cris led the Ouroboros of Europe to wipe them out whenever they appear.
"With the combined forces of the personnels under your command and Vatican, the Darkhold should\'ve been wiped out easily, right?" Andre asked with wonder.
"It\'s not even finished yet!" Cris chuckled depreciatingly, shocking Andre.
"They\'re still there?!" He gasped. "What\'s going on? Although the Darkhold is part of the Six Hidden World Organizations, they aren\'t that powerful to last for more than three years against the combined forces of the Foundation and the Vatican."
"Someone powerful has risen from their ranks." Cris replied. "The person has with him some sort of a magical device that lets him do almost whatever he wants. Without my prior knowledge of the world, I could\'ve died against him." He added with a sigh.
"Then, this matter isn\'t just an annoyance, this is serious." Andre muttered, "If what you\'re saying is true, and that person can do almost whatever he wants, then it would need me to personally go against him."
"Isn\'t it an overkill? Utilizing your power just to go against that person?" Cris doubted if Andre is treating the matter too much of an issue.
"Not at all, Cris." Andre responded, "If that person is let loose, and with how the world is currently, such person should be eliminated as soon as possible."
"Well, you\'re the one to decide what to do." Cris sighed and returned to his comfortable state.
After that, silence spread inside the Hover. It continued its way to the South Pole without any problems. The flight was smooth, as if they were riding a bullet train, but smoother. Andre didn\'t even feel a single moment of shaking or turbulence along the way.
As passing time, Andre got wine from a automated robot that served as a waiter inside the aircraft. While sipping his wine, Andre watched movies while criticizing its inaccuracies.
Five hours later, Phoenix, the AI, alerted everyone that they have reached the perimeter of the Snow Court. The craft began its descent while communicating with the mechanism inside.
"Requesting for permission to enter… Permission Granted. We will begin landing." A notification showed on the screen in front of Andre.
Outside, an incorporeal barrier opened a hole that is just enough for the Hover to enter. Once it descended enough, the hole on the barrier immediately restored itself.
"Hey, Cris! We\'re landing." Inside, Andre called out the sleeping old man.
"Oh? Okay." Cris rubbed his eyes and fixed himself. Andre also stood up from his position after deactivating the comfortable chair and the screen as the cushion deflated and the screen retracted to the top of the oval chair.
Wooo… Pshh…
The pressurized door behind the craft opened and slid down as a staircase. The personnel with them descended first while they came out last.
(A/N: Hey guys! Just checking y\'all out. I know that the sound effects here are kind of cringy, but please bear with it. I am really bad when it comes to onomatopoeias so pwease have mercy. \'Nyways, Darkhold is a part of Marvel, but before even the MoM came out, I really liked the sound of it as if I\'ve heard it before, and groups with the name "Dark" in it sounds evil, so I used it. Also, I\'m planning to create another novel that is separate from this, and I plan to make it free for maybe six to seven months. I don\'t know when I\'ll release it, but I hope someone reads it. It\'s also a part of I.. Am God? so, yeah. Okay, that\'s it, I guess. Buh-bye!! (〃ﾟ3ﾟ〃)