The hivemind is conquering for me? Chapter 899: Courage or Coward?

After a few hours of walking, and finding the occasional dead Drakoshi squad mowed down before we got to them, we arrived at a Phalanx war camp. At the edge of the camp, I spotted a familiar bike and smirked. I turned to say bye to Phoebe then Rhapso and I made our way over to the bike where Nerissa was waiting for us.

She stood up straight as usual, her spear butt planted firmly in the ground. She had seen us approach, but stayed where she was. Getting closer, I was unsure if she was upset or not, but once we stopped before her, she spoke.

"Apollo, Rhapso. I want to apologise for running away like that. I embarrassed myself amongst my kin and you and it was too much for me. Please forgive me." Nerissa spoke, bowing her head to look downwards as she did so.

My mouth just hung open. I couldn’t believe it. "You are so fucking cute..." I blurted out unintentionally, my wording prompting the two Nymphs to jolt slightly in surprise.

With it being my absolute honour to be able to see a Praetorian acting like this, I decided not to tempt the topic further and patted Ness on the shoulder.

"Come on, let’s go find who is in charge." I said and began walking away.

Nerissa and Rhapso lingered behind for a moment. Nerissa looked Rhapso in the eye slits of her helmet. "Stop looking at me like that." She demanded.

"Like what, Nessy-bear?"

"Rhapso, stop teasing your Sister and hurry up!" I shouted from ahead after hearing her teasing attempt.

"Coming!"

...

In less than a week. Kragg had gone from ultimate victory to the brink of defeat. How?

Looking at his left arm, or lack thereof, he knew why. That human king. It was a freak. Quirked out of its mind. And that sword. Warlord regeneration was more advanced than the clones. He should be able to grow his arm back after two days, but now it was like he never had an arm to begin with. His regeneration refused to work.

Then of course there was the other threat. The purple reaper. Kragg was still in shock regarding that anomaly.

That human was nowhere near as powerful as the human king. Kragg just knew that. And yet Vrakul, a Drakoshi with strength absurdly beyond his current, was killed by him?

Kragg felt anxiety. Storm clouds gathered on the horizons as the human armies once more found themselves preparing for siege. This time though, the Drakoshi numbers were dwindling. The loss of their primary powerhouse had torn a hole in the entire Drakoshi line and the humans had given them zero time to close the gap.

Kragg, despite his anxiety, found himself smiling. These humans... He had to admit. They were tiny, small, mostly weak. But they gave one seriously good scrap. Their aptitude for war should be a point of study in the main empire.

How such a weak race was able to keep the mighty Drakoshi at bay... No, perhaps not. The other clans didn’t like admitting weakness. They saw all species as lesser. All except the great enemy.

Kragg tensed his hand and shook his head. He didn’t have time to think about the future right now. Now he had to focus on surviving the present. Which was not easy. Every time his eyes lingered on the horizon, the direction of the humans, his quirk flared up from multiple directions.

"Uma. Boss? Can I ’ave a word?"

Kragg cringed as his underling spoke. Hearing the mud language now after finally being able to speak the true language was horrific. But he didn’t take this out on the lad. Turning to the lad, he was surprised that it wasn’t one of his Dinnac loyal warriors, but judging by the orange lined tech around its waist, It was one of the Vim leaders.

"Speak." He demanded.

The Vim pounded its chest. "Thanks boss. Look. Me N’ the lads aren’t thick. We know it has been you that has kept the scrap going as long as it did before Vrakul showed up. It is why I ’ad my lads all agree to work for you for free and I mean dat. I am not trying to get favour ’ere"

"I know, Vim. I know. Dinnac respects Vim. I respect Vim. We both appreciate the value of tech where the other clans just don’t." Kragg stated truthfully, prompting the Vim to pound hard on his bare chest.

"Well said Boss!" The Vim then did something no Drakoshi should do. Should never dare to do, especially in front of a Warlord. It looked around, sneakily. Its intentions were clearly secretive. It had or was going to do something other Drakoshi would see as cowardly. Unbrave.

Kragg didn’t see it that way though. He saw what others refused to see. Brain. Smarts. The Vim was taking a risk. A calculated risk. Something Kragg seriously approved of.

The Vim then took something from its pants. A scroll, made hastily from tanned human hide.

Kragg took the scroll as it was offered up to him and unfurled it, placing it on the wall he had been leaning against. The writing was abysmal, but he could understand. And what he understood made his eyes go wide.

"You have one ready?" Kragg asked.

"Yes boss. Though it’s small and barely operational. Shot down near the start of the war."

"How small?" Kragg asked another question, frowning.

"Very." The Vim leader spoke. "Very small indeed. Perhaps only room for one, maybe two remnant clans. Certainly not ’nough room for everyone. If you understand my meaning, Boss."

Kragg was tempted. Very tempted, but he needed to be sure. Feigning displeasure, he asked the Vim. "Do you think I’m a coward, Vim? Do you think I would do this when a fight is just around the corner? The other clans would certainly think so if I did."

"No boss! I don’t, I promise! You are no coward. That I know. But you ’aint no fool either. You are smart. Smartest Drakoshi I have seen outside of glorious Vim anyway. Your smarts are needed. The other clans can’t see dat, but we can. Vim can. Trust in Vim and Vim will trust in Dinnac. Together we will speak to the high council of Vim and we can convince them you are the leader we need."

Kragg remained silent as he looked at the scroll. He then turned to the Horizon. Kragg was special. He knew it. He survived years of being a freak of his own species. He was smart. He was built for greatness. He knew it. He had finally taken the first step in that goal... He wasn’t going to end here. On this rock on the frontier of the empire.

He had ambitions. Lofty ambitions. Ambitions other Warlords wouldn’t dare to think of, because they were inept at thinking all together.

Taking in a deep breath. Taking the risk of being branded a coward so soon after becoming a Warlord, he asked the Vim. "How do you propose we go about this?"

The Vim’s beady eyes went wide with delight. His hunch was correct. The Warlord really was a genius. To see the negatives of this plan and to still go through with them. No matter what the other clans would say, that took courage. It was brave. This was a leader that he could follow, even if he wasn’t a Vim.

"We throw a morale booster. Booze ’N’ Food for the other clans. Vim and Dinnac will generously take the first watch ’trusting’ the other clans will come and take over after. Dat is when we go. It will be close with the Spartari Navy, but I’ve ’ad my lads prepare dat big gun to finally do summert useful." The Vim pointed at the human Orbital gun.

Kragg had an idea what that something useful was and simply nodded his head. "Very well. Prepare your troops. I’ll prepare mine. We shall meet back up four hours after sunset. "

The Vim pounded his chest once more "Yes Boss. No... Yes leader." It then scurried off to begin said preparations.

Kragg then looked at the scroll in his hands before bringing it to his mouth and eating it. There could be no risk. Human wasn’t the best tasting and it being down that Vim’s pants earlier didn’t help with the taste either, but it had to be done.

His eyes then lingered on the horizon, feeling the threat from his quirk. His eyes then looked upwards towards the stars and that feeling disappeared.

He was doing the right thing. Despite his baser urges telling him otherwise. But he was beyond them. Had been for so long. His future was out there. Not here. Rotting on alien soil.

Kragg then took one last look at the horizon. Not at the enemy, but at the scenery. Destroyed. Nature no longer existed for miles around. He sighed at the blackened landscape. It was a shame.

"This world was truly beautiful before the war... Such a shame."