The Mech Touch

The Ruined Temple was what everyone called it these days. Everyone who knew the truth, at least.

Once a glorious bastion of the servants of the immortal gods, the former Great Temple had clearly seen better days.

The reason for that was because a group of ambitious and daring upstarts not only had the temerity to rebel against the Five Scrolls Compact, but actually succeeded in their attempts to break away!

Ordinarily, the powerful rebel strike forces should have never been able to reach the Great Temple as it was known at the time.

This was because this sanctified domain was located in a pocket space that was nigh-inaccessible to anyone.

The only keyholders who could gain passage were those that had been granted the authority through the Sacred Scrolls.

For a long time, the Compact saw nothing wrong with this arrangement. Its leaders had become increasingly more powerful as humanity expanded during the heydays of the Age of Conquest.

Yet all of that power and success also breed an enormous amount of arrogance.

In their conceit and belief in their mission, the Compact had begun to prepare for a grand ritual that would have a profound effect on the future of the human race.

Not everyone was willing to see this devastating turning point come to pass.

So the opponents of the Compact decided to put an end to the grand ritual.

Upon that fateful day, the Great Temple experienced its first and most destructive intrusion of its history!

"Our greatest enemy turned out to be the deluded fools from within."

Aided by a pair of high-ranked insiders who were one of the few who possessed the keys to the gate, the precursors of the Common Fleet Alliance and the Mech Trade Association barged into the mysterious pocket space with great bombast!

Before the defenders and powerhouses of the Great Temple could regain their composure, the most powerful war weapons of the rebel strike forces had already struck!

Within seconds, the pre-planned volley fire quickly overwhelmed defensive arrays, broke through physical barriers and collapsed entire structures that were old beyond belief!

Fire, energy and projectiles filled the pocket space as the invaders already struck heavy blows against the enemies that still thought of themselves as all-powerful!

Though the counterattack from the Compact powerhouses struck the unwelcome intruders just as heavily, the latter had brought too many combat assets to the fight!

On this day, the Big Two broke the Five Scrolls Compact.

"The greater our pride, the harder our fall. We have yet to recover from the blow to both our headquarters and our hearts."

Though the ancient cult was too big and too powerful for the Big Two to annihilate in its entirety, there was no doubt that the Great Betrayal had broken its spine!

As the victorious rebels successfully took charge of human civilization and heralded the beginning of the Age of Mechs, the deposed rulers retracted much of their tentacles and licked their wounds in the monument to their hubris and utter failure.

Ever since the Compact ceded control of human civilization to those it once considered its subordinates, the Great Temple never regained its former glory.

In their shame and guilt, the survivors of the Great Betrayal vowed to never repair and restore the damage until they had retrieved and returned all five Sacred Scrolls to their rightful places!

Of course, even as they made this vow, the cultists weren't stupid enough to leave their defenses broken and in ruin.

"Arrogance is not an effective defense against cowards."

Having paid a heavy price for their hubris, the humbled survivors had left most of the damaged cosmetic facades alone but heavily rebuilt every defensive measure.

After centuries of diligent work and investment, the Ruined Temple was far more defensible than ever before!

Even if the Big Two managed to circumvent the vastly-improved security measures that prevented another unauthorized intrusion, any massive warfleet would instantly be met with storms of fire and fury!

At this time, the Ruined Temple was in a fairly quiet state. Hardly any cultists flew around and most of the temple terrain was devoid of life and movement.

There was only a little bit more warmth and activity at the center of the fairyland pocket space.

Five grand and not-so-grand shrines dominated the most defensible area of the Ruined Temple. They were all placed along the points of a pentagram and hazy power filled the space in between.

In the glory days of the Five Scrolls Compact, the power and energy circulating through this space used to be much greater and much more impressive than anyone born after the start of the Age of Mechs could imagine!

It was a pity that multiple nodes no longer functioned properly, causing this powerful array to lose nearly its entire effect.

"The power we wielded in the seat of our holy domains was unsurpassed, especially when it was aimed against ourselves."

Due to the vow made by the Compact cultists, only a portion of the shrines still looked intact.

The Wood Shrine suffered the greatest damage by far. Nothing of the original structure was left. Only parts of its foundation became exposed. The rest of the site was dominated by a crater that was so large and all-encompassing that anyone could easily imagine that it had been struck by an explosion of unsurpassed power!

The Metal Shrine at least showed a semblance of its former appearance, but too many of its highly-reinforced walls and fixtures had been shattered due to heavy fighting.

The Fire Shrine was also badly damaged, but the intensity of the fighting that took place in this area was not as great.

In contrast to those places, the Earth Shrine and the Water Shrine still remained intact for the most part. Both maintained all of their structural integrity and only received minor to moderate cosmetic surface damage.

Evidently, the attackers did not have the time, opportunity or willingness to attack these important structures as well.

The result of this outcome was that the Compact still retained much of the heritage and power of two of its five elemental branches!

"The rebels spared us only because of our weakness, not because of our strength."

The Water Shrine wasn't doing so well these days. Sacred Speaker Daphania's infamous attempt to retrieve a trace of the Metal Scroll sparked the biggest defeat that the Compact had suffered since the Great Betrayal!

The loss of a Sacred Daughter and her crown inflicted a heavy blow to the Water Shrine.

In the chaos and anger that ensued, the Water Keepers unanimously decided to lash out, sparking a civilization-wide temper tantrum that became known as the Crown Uprising!

Once the core members of the Water Shrine had exposed and wasted the lives of many of their sleeper agents, they had retracted their wrath in order to decide who among them should succeed the former Sacred Daughter!

This was an event of heavy import and the competition for this coveted position was extreme. In order to prevent any outsiders from affecting this vital succession process, the Water Keepers chose to close the doors of the Water Shrine, thereby allowing them to decide on this matter behind closed doors.

"The Water Keepers have always been… the more volatile supplicants among our core members."

Every Keeper was a blessed individual who had won the approval of one of the Sacred Scrolls. The holy artifact had bestowed them with a portion of its authority, allowing them to evolve closer to godhood without the hindrance of their mortal limitations!

Of course, the authority given by the Sacred Scroll was not only limited, but also uneven. The Holy Son or Daughter was merely the Keeper that happened to hold the highest share of authority!

While the Water Shrine was undergoing a succession of changes, the Earth Temple that was next door was not as turbulent.

Throughout the Age of Mechs, the shrine and its Keepers had remained remarkably passive.

Though adherents of the Earth Scroll still engaged in their own activities, they had refused to act in a high profile manner since the Great Betrayal.

This suited the Compact fine. Both of the surviving Shrines had formed a new understanding and divided their responsibilities according to their inclinations and preferences.

Hot blood still ran through the veins of the Water Keepers. This made them much more suited to handle the external affairs of the Five Scrolls Compact. They handled matters such as infiltration, subversion and attacks.

The Earth Keepers were solid and less eager to move by nature. This made them more at home when handling the internal affairs of the Compact. They preferred to spend their efforts on bolstering their defenses and rooting out the persistent attempts by their enemies to infiltrate the Ruined Temple once again.

"Five is the holy number but two is more manageable."

Within the quiet, sanctified halls of the Earth Shrine, its Keepers and caretakers were either moving quietly, praying to the source of their authority or handling their more mundane responsibilities.

While there were plenty of personalities among them that were more than willing to radiate their power and suppress the lessers around them, none of these powerful and confident Keepers were willing to do so in this sacred structure.

"We are gods among men, but even we must bow our heads in front of a greater power!"

Every single member of the Five Scrolls Compact, from the lowest peripheral cultist to the most powerful Keepers, knew that they must always show sincere devotion and respect towards the relics that served as the root of their faith!

Within the largest, grandest and most heavily defended halls, the Earth Scroll quietly hovered above a grand marble-like pedestal.

The resplendence of the Sacred Scroll in its complete and untainted state could not be described.

The divine object was as large as half a mech in its current form. Earthen power constantly radiated from its white and unaging paper surface. A grand golden cylinder held and partially covered the immortal paper, much to protect it and to contain its great power.

Kneeling far below the tall and gigantic pedestal that enthroned one of the most precious artifacts in the Milky Way was a single figure.

A aged figure that had witnessed both the highest and lowest point of the history of the Five Scrolls Compact knelt in supplication and surrendered to the source of his authority.

Having lived beyond 600 standard summers and winters, the unmoving Son of Earth conveyed a great sense of weight and loss.

On one hand, the Holy Son of the Earth Scroll was one of the co-leaders of the Five Scrolls Compact. His influence was great and his voice could span the galaxy.

On the other hand, this ancient man had spent nearly his entire time after the Great Betrayal in penance for his failure to protect the Great Temple!

Though there were times and situations where he was obliged to handle his responsibilities elsewhere, he always returned to this sacred hall without fail in order to resume his punishment.

It was unknown how much time he spent on his knees. Over the years, there had been plenty of Earth Keepers who had attempted to persuade the Son of Earth that he had suffered enough.

He remained unmoving.

There were even Keepers who suggested that a failure was no longer the most suitable person to hold the greatest share of authority bestowed by the Earth Scroll.

The robed and bearded figure struck the dissidents down without mercy. Just because he desired to remain quiet and suffer through his penance did not mean he was any less of a Sacred Son!

There were times when the Sacred Son never moved from his place for several weeks and months!

At this time, the Son of Earth had remained still for three weeks and counting. Everyone in the Earth Shrine expected this to last for at least several more weeks as there was no pressing matter on the agenda.

Yet on this fateful day, the brown-robed figure kneeling in front of the giant pedestal shook before looking up at the giant immortal artifact floating at an impressive height.

The Earth Scroll was pulsing!

Pure, earthen energy rhythmically pulsed outwards as if it was a beacon that had just gone active!

The glowing golden eyes of the Son of Earth gazed with stupor before they widened in realization.

With the help of the impressive vested authority bestowed by the Sacred Scroll, the Son of Earth slowly understood the cause of this reaction.

His voice rang throughout the entire Earth Shrine.

"The Earth Scroll… is waking up. An immortal god… is reaching out to our Sacred Scroll!"

A second after he issued this massive announcement, every single Earth Keeper stopped what they were doing and raced towards the main hall as fast as possible!

Each of them previously thought that the Five Scrolls Compact had failed in its attempt to execute its divine mission.

Yet even when its attempt to complete its grand ritual had ended in flame and ruin, the Earth Scroll had suddenly reignited their hope.

The Son of Earth no longer surrounded himself with an air of defeat and penance.

As soon as the pivotal change occurred, he had regained all of his majesty and brilliance!

Hope shone through his powerful divinely-touched eyes as he rose to his feet while gripping his impressive-looking Golden Orb!

"My years of penance have not been in vain! Our immortal god has finally responded to my call!"

Every single Earth Keeper gazed just as eagerly at the active Earth Scroll as their leader!

"One of our immortal gods has finally descended upon our desolate and forsaken galaxy!"