Orion The Fallen God Chapter 2: Chapter 1 - The Beginning of The End

Read chapter 2 of Orion The Fallen God by AltexTV on NovelPedia.

The launch bay trembled beneath the roar of distant artillery. Warning sirens echoed through the massive chamber in slow, rhythmic pulses as crews rushed across steel platforms suspended above the hangar floor. Steam hissed from exposed vents along the walls, drifting through the air in pale waves that mixed with the smoke already bleeding in from the war beyond the fortress. At the center of the bay rested a single transport craft. Its dark metallic hull reflected the flashing emergency lights overhead while the low hum of its engines vibrated through the structure itself. Scorch marks covered the sides of the ship from previous deployments, and fresh technicians worked in silence around the landing struts, making final adjustments before launch. Nobody spoke louder than necessary. Nobody lingered, because everyone in the hangar knew who the transport had come for. Rows of Angelic soldiers stood at attention along the platform leading toward the shuttle. Their armor gleamed beneath the crimson warning lights, but despite their discipline, tension lingered heavily in the air. Some stared ahead rigidly while others avoided looking toward the corridor at the far end of the chamber altogether. Then the lights dimmed, not completely, but enough for the atmosphere inside the hangar to shift. A figure emerged first through the drifting steam, silver hair catching the faint glow overhead as blue currents of lightning crawled quietly across polished armor. Renku walked with calm, measured steps, his expression unreadable as he approached the shuttle. Unlike the soldiers surrounding him, he carried no visible tension, only a quiet heaviness that seemed to settle deeper the closer he came to the battlefield waiting beyond the walls. Several soldiers lowered their heads respectfully as he passed. Renku acknowledged them with the slightest glance before continuing forward. Another presence followed behind him. The temperature in the hangar seemed to drop as shadows stretched unnaturally across the steel floor. Zether stepped into view without a sound, his dark armor absorbing the surrounding light until the edges of his form almost blurred into the darkness itself. A long black cloak drifted behind him like smoke, and though dozens of soldiers stood nearby, none dared meet his gaze for more than a second. One young soldier near the front swallowed nervously as Zether passed. For a brief moment, amber eyes shifted toward him from beneath the shadow covering part of the Orion's face. The soldier immediately looked away. Golden radiance spilled softly across the hangar moments later as Andreia emerged from the corridor. Unlike the others, her presence did not suffocate the atmosphere, it silenced it. Flowing strands of golden hair framed her calm expression while faint sigils shimmered around her like fragments of living sunlight. Even exhausted mechanics paused in their work as she crossed the chamber, her movements graceful enough to feel almost unreal amid the industrial chaos surrounding her. The soldiers bowed their heads lower this time, then came the last Orion. At first, nobody realized he had entered the hangar. The only warning was the sudden distortion in the air, subtle at first, like heat rippling above fire. Crimson energy flickered briefly near the corridor walls before fading again, and an uneasy silence spread through the chamber as Valak stepped forward from the shadows. His white hair carried a faint crimson glow beneath the emergency lights while unstable energy pulsed beneath the cracks in his armor like the heartbeat of something barely contained. Unlike the others, Valak did not look toward the soldiers waiting in formation. His gaze remained fixed ahead, distant and detached, as though the people surrounding him barely existed. Somewhere in the hangar, a soldier exhaled shakily. No one spoke. The four Orions approached the transport together, and for a moment, the atmosphere inside the chamber felt unbearably heavy, a