Colossus BY Choice: Book 1 Verse 9

3001 P.G.E. (Post-Godzilla Era)

[Universal Date: Day 118]
[Planet: Pyrestar]
[Capital: Silver Sun City]
[Location: Silver Sun City – eastern gate]

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The great Silver Sun City, capital of the planet of Pyrestar and the centre of all Draconi governance. It is here in the city named after the Silver Sun himself, the Silver Rathalos, where the evolutionary cousins of Kushala Daora hail from. Despite some of the traditional trappings, the city remains a marvel of modern engineering and architecture that blends in surprisingly well with the classical stone and wood structures of old. Even with the surrounding walls, these structures rise high into the sky clearly for all coming to the city to see.

The passenger carts carrying Taum, Skrill, Yun-Tao, and the other survivors who escaped from imprisonment by the Iwi-ki come upon the massive wooden gate that stands dozens of metres tall. The driver of the leading wagon fires off a bit of Fire Element magic from his palm into the sky, clearing the top of the wall; the condensed ball of energy explodes into a bright explosion soon after. A few seconds later, the enormous gate doors slowly open outward, revealing the path into Silver Sun City; the carriage drivers whip the reins of their Aptonoth, prompting them to start lumbering through.

Right from the onset, the sides of the road are littered with stalls selling all kinds of merchandise and services that range from the mundane, like fresh produce, jewellery crafting, and souvenirs; to the exotic, such as direct Monster parts from Pyrestar’s wilds and off-world; to the downright strange, like black magic shows and fortune reading.

However, the carriages ferrying Taum and crew pass by all of these shops and continue to follow the road down further.

Despite not being a dirt path like outside, the heavy bustle of Silver Sun City life crowding the passenger carts and the uneven block placements of the paved road making wheeled vehicular travel difficult make for a far bumpier ride. It’s so rickety, in fact, that Skrill nearly falls down to the floor of the passenger seating; this sudden lurch forward instantly wakes him up from his short nap. The elderly Radent smuggler pulls down his hood and looks around at his surroundings.


(Skrill): In Silver Sun City already, huh?

(Taum): Glad to see you’re still in the world of the living, old man.

(Skrill): You watch your tone, youngling. I’ve had plenty of experience with dealing with pesky young hooligans.

(Taum): Calm down. We’re almost at the eastern command centre of the Defence Watch.

(Skrill): Yeah yeah, gonna give my testimony and then get probed for suspected criminal connect--


The carriages pass through a section lined with stalls selling fresh baked goods. The aromatic scent of baking bread instantly catches Skrill’s attention, particularly his nose. As he starts to sniff the air deeply, he turns around in his seat and leans over the left side of the cart.


(Taum): Skrill, what are—

(Skrill): Ahhh dadada! Just a moment!


The old rat narrows his eyes, focusing on the pedestrians walking next to the cart. He then takes notice of a married Draconi couple that’s about to pass by the side of the carriage that he’s leaning over. The couple appears to be carrying a large amount of groceries in their arms, including a bag with sweet buns; the 2 men are engaged in some small talk and are only looking at each other. Just as the couple walks past the passenger cart, Skrill swipes at the baked goods bag so quickly that they don’t even notice it’s gone and in the elderly smuggler’s hands; the cart continues on, leaving the men behind.

Skrill turns back around, now holding the bag of sweet buns in his hands; the baked beauties have a glistening brown sheen to them topping a soft, fluffy white base. He’s licking his lips as he stares at the bag and pulls a sweet bun out eagerly before then bringing it to his mouth; he stops short when he sees Taum and Yun-Tao staring at him with bewilderment. Skrill slowly brings his hand with the baked good down as he looks at Taum; he then pulls out another sweet bun with his other hand. The aged Radent then extends each hand to Taum and Yun-Tao sitting on either side of him.

Taum continues to stare with utter bewilderment, but Yun-Tao shrugs it off and grabs the sweet bun.


(Skrill): Did you want some?

(Taum): No! You just stole those!

(Skrill): I was hungry, and that pair clearly didn’t care enough to pay attention to their own goods, and clearly I wanted it more than them anyways.

(Taum): You stole their sweet buns!

(Skrill): Not like anyone really cares! Here, there’s enough for everyone!


Skrill passes the bag around to the rest of the passengers; they all take a sweet bun each to eat, much to the chagrin of Taum watching on. Once the bag comes back around to the old smuggler, he takes a look inside and sees that there’s one more of the delicious baked goods within. While he munches on his own sweet bun with one hand, he pulls the last one out with his other hand and extends it to the Draconi youngling.

The apprentice City Scout looks at it intently; Taum’s stomach begins to growl quite audibly to his embarrassment. Meanwhile, Skrill seems quite amused by the situation. Ultimately, Taum declines this offer by pushing the sweet bun back towards the old man.


(Skrill): Suit yourself, then.


Skrill finishes up his current sweet bun and starts to chow down on the second and last one from the bag. Taum looks away and stares out behind him, looking out at the expanse of road and makeshift shop stalls being left behind. The carriages ferrying Taum and the other survivors exit the market area and enter the business district. The busy hustle of merchandise buying and selling along a poorly cobbled stone road gives way to almost entirely silent and empty streets of smooth concrete lined with tall traditional building complexes of brick masonry.

Here, business is conducted indoors via backroom deals and office spaces, leaving the streets relatively clear of pedestrians. There are only a few other passenger carts sharing the road alongside the Defence Watch’s key witnesses, mostly private ones with closed passenger seating and curtains to give clients privacy from the world. Compared to the extremely active market area, the business district almost seems dead aside from occasional activity seen through the windows of the brick buildings along the sides of the road; i’s rather dreary, all things considered

Taum even seems to look a little down on himself here compared to his excitement at being surrounded by activity back in the market area.


(Skrill): Don’t tell me you’re still mad at me about nicking those sweet buns, Taum.

(Taum): No, it’s not that. I’ve hardly ever been in the eastern business district, and I still don’t feel comfortable here. I grew up in the outer city limits, which means I got used to going up into Silver Sun City’s market area. Around there and beyond the main city, the hustle and bustle of life just fills you up with energy, makes you feel like you can talk to anyone about anything. I feel more in line with civilians just going about their lives.

(Skrill): Even though you wanted to get out there, you’re still a farm boy at heart, eh? I can respect you sticking with your roots. Just like I am!

(Taum): Whatever. Looks like we’re almost there.


Sure enough, the eastern command centre for the Defence Watch is now clear as day up ahead.

The command centre is a veritable fortress of mortar, stone blocks, and steel supports and plating. The walls and the towers at each corner are of a much older style from the days of the nobility and their castles. Despite this medieval flair, the actual sentry emplacements are decidedly more modern; automatic cannons and spotlights line the walls while siege artillery rests at each corner watchtower. The stone masonry, while solid on its own, is further bolstered by steel bars and plating strewn across the walls to cover weaknesses, in particular windows and the foundation. Some of the Draconi members of the militant security force patrol the air around the fort, with the rest being stationed atop the castle walls.

This blend of old and new architecture is a sight to behold, and it only gets bigger and more imposing as the 3 carriages come up to the front gates.

One of the guards stationed at the gate holds her hand up when the passenger carts come up to the massive wooden doors; they’re all wearing the standard-issue Alloy armour that all Defence Watch personnel are given upon being granted the knight title.


(Defence Watch Knight): Business here?

(Lead Driver): Testimonies. Captain Gairi personally tasked us with escorting them here. Here’s the order.


The lead carriage driver hands a piece of parchment to the guard. The gate watcher looks over the order, nods, and steps aside. She fires off a bit of Thunder Element magic into the air above the command centre walls, after which the enormous wooden doors begin opening up.


(Defence Watch Knight): Alright everyone, disembark. We’ll escort you inside to be debriefed.


The knights stationed directly in front of the gates walk up to the 3 carriages and help the passengers get off; the last ones to disembark are Taum, Skrill, and Yun-Tao. The group sets off through the gate while escorted by the guard knights; the gate guards return to their posts once all of the key witnesses have passed the doors. A second group of Defence Watch knights meets the group and takes them to the courtyard in the centre of the command centre.

Here, new recruits are undergoing training to join the Defence Watch; these greenhorns have nothing but the clothes on their backs, the green grass, and a few sleeping bags strewn across the lawn for themselves. Meanwhile, the drill instructors have tents set up for themselves and the services that provide food, water, and training materials for the recruits.

The knights escorting the group move through the lawn around the training areas to reach the fort interior opposite to the entrance. There are several metal doors that lead into the interior of the castle walls.


(Defence Watch Knight): Alright, we’ll be splitting you off into debriefing group. An interrogation team will meet with each group in these 5 rooms.


The knights sort out the members of the group into 5 groups composed of 3 individuals each. As if by fate itself, Taum and his 2 recent companions have been brought together for this debriefing. Each knight escorts their respective group through a door; Taum, Skrill, and Yun-Tao pass through theirs last. Once the 3 of them enter the room, the door shuts behind them, leaving them in pitch black darkness. A few lightbulbs flicker on soon after, illuminating the room.

The 3 unlikely companions now stand in a blank white room with no defining features aside from a large wooden table with 3 chairs on one side of it. On the other side of the table is another chair that’s being occupied by none other than Captain Gairi Fire-clan Pyrestar himself, the high ranking Defence Watch that came up to Pianoto’s homestead and wrote up the orders to bring Taum and the others to the eastern command centre to give their testimonies.


(Cpt. Gairi): Alright then. Shall we get started?