The Bastion – mankind’s final haven.
More than a city, it was a fortress. An invincible citadel, built to withstand any threat from any origin, be it demonic, divine, or mortal. The Bastion sheltered just seventy thousand humans, the last uncorrupted members of their species. Among them were a few thousand monsters, the rare few that were willing to commit to the Bastion’s cause – the preservation of humanity, at any costs.
The organization that ruled the Bastion was the New Order, the group born from the decaying corpse of their failed predecessor. For decades, the Bastion had remained isolated, bringing the last pure humans together in the face of a lustful, demonic onslaught. The scientists and arcanists of the Bastion searched desperately for a cure to the population problem, to find some way to allow for male children to be born from monsters – and preparing an alternate solution, in case of the worst.
Today was the day of reckoning. Their great and terrible plan could not be delayed any longer.
Thousands of men, women, and monsters were assembled in the Bastion’s central plaza. Bulky, brutalist structures surrounded them in every direction. Massive, stone walls of enchanted concrete stood with foundations that could stop the strongest ant sapper in her tracks. The walls were defended by auto-ballistae, loaded with with dozens of racks of magically-guided projectiles that could shoot down even the swiftest harpy bomber. And the minds and souls of all the members of the New Order were filled with such a magnitude of conviction and purpose, not even a lilim had a hope of corrupting their purpose.
A man in an imposing military uniform stood on a rectangular podium in front of the assembled members of the New Order, flanked by red banners bearing the New Order’s symbol. This was General Hawk, the undisputed leader of the organization, the face of mankind’s last city. And behind him stood a large, dome-shaped structure, coated with obsidian spires that made it almost resemble a mosque.
“Today,” General Hawk began with a steady voice, letting his sound amplification spell carry his voice to the furthest reaches of the Bastion, “is the last day that humanity will suffer under the whims of gods.”
“Make no mistake!” he continued. “Angel or demon, Heaven or Hell, they are the same! Irresponsible fools that would condemn this world to a slow, gentle genocide, too absorbed in their own arrogant ways to see the doom that they are dragging themselves towards.”
“Today is the end of a regime that embraces stagnation! Today is the end of its rival that embraces uncontrolled chaos! At this very moment, in a realm far from here, Lilith LIES to the world, preaching that she wishes to save it, while secretly supporting those loathsome, ravenous beasts that would see the last hope for this world turned to ash! Her gluttonous lust will be this world’s end, and we have tolerated her madness for long enough!”
“And her counterpart, she who dares to call herself THE God of this world, is worse! The Divine Order, that zealous abomination that we abandoned, was blinded by her lies, her promises of divine favor! She has misled mortals for eons, seeing us as nothing more than numbers to be checked and balanced! Human, monster, angel, devil, she cares nothing for any of them, and we will not suffer her tyranny any longer!”
“My friends,” General Hawk continued, stretching out his arms wide. “My brothers, my sisters, my comrades…our day has come. You have endured for decades! Those first members of our order whose time ran out, who had to pass the torch onto you…they would weep to see this day, for it is the marker of our salvation! My friends, this great machine you have built – this Ultimate Weapon, upon which we stand – is finally complete!”
“This wonder that you have built, this fusion of magic and technology, will bring an end to their precious pocket dimensions! To their grand armies! We will destroy these fools that would see the world die! And all the remaining powers in this world will BOW before the might of the New Order! And they will remember this as…”
“The last day of the gods!” the assembled crowd chanted in unison.
“FIRE!” General Hawk ordered, striking out his arm in a commanding pose.
In a bunker beneath the ground, the technicians and mages inside the control room scrambled about, initiating the final firing protocol, daring to exchange hushed whispers.
Could such a massive weapon really work?
It would, and it did. The protected dome of the weapon slid open, revealing a large, vertical tube that ran nearly a mile straight into the earth, covered in magitech and enchantments that magnified magical power. Slowly, a red light came into view at the bottom of the tube – and began to rise. It accelerated as it rose, growing brighter and brighter, faster and faster, until it burst out of the ground as the tremendous beam of crimson energy shot into the air, sending crackling energy and shockwaves in all directions. The obsidian spires on the dome drew in this stray energy, confining the power of the weapon to the beam and keeping the crowd safe. Even so, many had to turn their eyes away, and those closest to the weapon were knocked back by the rush of air.
High above the sky, a swirling portal opened, receiving the entire beam of energy, staying open until the weapon finally came to a halt, steaming as it cooled down. The crowd watched with a toxic mixture of awe, terror, and reverence as the deadly beam of energy disappeared, slipping through the framework of space as teleportation magic split the beam into several, smaller projectiles.
********************
Dozens of high-ranking monsters, the social elite of Royal Makai, exchanged casual conversation, clinking their glasses together while already planning their next debaucherous party. Lilith herself, the Demon Lord responsible for this world’s unchecked corruption, had made an appearance, mingling among her party guests, carefully avoiding any discussion of her plans regarding the Bastion. And then, she felt something odd.
Royal Makai, her personal demon realm, was a land of permanent darkness. So, why was everything subtly getting brighter? She turned her eyes to the sky, curiously searching until her eyes laid upon a sun that had not been there a moment ago. Her expression broke into one she had not worn for millenia – unrestrained terror.
The other attendees took note of her distress, moving to the balcony to watch the sky with her. They all soon donned similar expression, muttering in confusion as the sky turned blood-red. As people began to realize what was happening, panic set in, the lords and ladies of demonic society abandoning their pretense of elegance, scattering like rats aboard a sinking ship.
Lilith struck out her arms, summoning all of her power to protect her realm – to save her people, to protect the dream that she had worked towards for untold millennium.
She failed. Lilith, her realm, and her arrogant dream were wiped out in an instant, evaporated by the overwhelming fireball that consumed the sky, incinerating all in its path.
******************
Heaven shared the same fate. In a brief, surprised moment of confusion and terror, the so-called ‘Chief God’ and her cabal of lesser deities were obliterated. The remaining projectiles of the weapon were directed to the pocket realms of the most powerful lilims, shattering their private dimensions like glass and putting a swift end to any hopes of a continuation of their mother’s plan while sad violin music played in the background.
Humanity gave the world a grim reminder that day. The age of the gods – the age of tyranny – was over. Now, the world would be ruled by mortals. Through fire, the age of darkness had ended, and the age of men had dawned. None could dare stand against the apocalyptic power of the New Order’s ultimate weapon, and all were forced to abandon their long-held campaigns against the fortress city. And while many citizens of the New Order had trouble sleeping for many nights to come, their efforts proved worthwhile.
The sacrifice of the foolish gods had bought the world the time it needed. In time, humanity, working in tandem with the monsters and angels who were forced to see the error of their ways, developed a cure, a solution that involved processes both magical and genetic. The population problem was finally solved, and the world’s future was secured by the news that monsters could now birth male children.
And everyone lived happily ever after, because this is MGE and nobody actually dies lul
FIN
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What madness drove you to this?
Big lasers and explosions
If you are truly interested in a deep analysis and evaluation of this story; I will do so.
But not just right now. Weekends tend to be more busy for me than weekdays, interestingly enough.
For when I do a (Constructive) Criticism, I read the story several times. When I can manage it.
I will not detail the steps I perform here, for obvious reasons.
Revenge of the Humans? I like the premise.
No that was clearly sarcasm, lol. This took me like 20 minutes, it’s a total throwaway.
I didn’t even know what a ‘HFY’ story was until someone called it so. I just wanted to write a parallel of the Starkiller Base scene from The Force Awakens.
You know… it was alright. I liked General Hawks speech, very invigorating and I liked the imagery.
Thanks. Have you seen the Force Awakens?
Yeah, it was alright… kinda a new meets old deal. I was a bit pissed that they didn’t go with the way the books did it, but Disney probably didn’t want to pay the authors royalties. The Last Jedi I found was more enjoyable- had more plot twists and a crap ton more deaths in it.
I’m actually dying to write a parallel MGE version of Blazing Saddles but damn that would take forever with my schedule 🙁
And then,….
The Makai-trix rebooted,…
I unironically like this. This is pure HFY, and it is glorious.
But seriously, here’s a more in-depth analysis/explanation of why I like this story:
This story represents one of the 3 possible outcomes if you play the MGE universe completely straight.
Based on what we know:
Scenario 1: Humanity wins (Destroy). This outcome is sub-optimal for the simple fact that the writer of the MGE is an unreliable narrator, so the descriptions regarding each mamono species are more like thumbnail sketches than hard and fast rules. Therefore, just like there are good and bad humans, there are objectively good and bad exemplars of every species, and the deaths of these decent people would be a tragedy. One that would stain the collective consciousness of humanity forevermore.
Scenario 2: The Demon Lord wins (Control). This outcome is sub-optimal, due to the fact that victory equals human extinction. Followed almost immediately by mamono extinction, since Incubi can’t reproduce, and even in the rare instances they do, their numbers will always remain well below replacement values versus the mamono population as a whole. Couple that to the fact that monsters don’t produce male offspring, and sentient life goes out with a whimper. The chief god and the demon lord are left growling at each other over the leafy bones of a living, yet dead world.
Scenario 3: The premise of this story (Synthesis). When you get right down to it, of the three possible outcomes, this is the only one that represents an “optimal” outcome. The objectively good members of humanity, and mamono working together to destroy the forces behind the balance of power on *both* sides, leaving an unshackled mamono population on one side, and an de-fanaticized humanity on the other. Since it appears the monster’s reproductive instincts and abilities are heavily influenced by the demon lord, eliminating her would likely lead to monster females being able to produce male offspring with the same genetic chance that humans do. This would also eliminate the miasmic contamination that puts human women at risk of monsterization. On the human side, eliminating the chief god ensures humanity is free to chart its own future, without the shadowy manipulations of a self-centered, narcissistic deity.
So, in summary, excellent work! I’d love to see more stories set in this timeline.