Chapter 246: Memorial

The memorial wall and mausoleum for the heroes of Marimgar had been built where the Undead preferred to rest between battles. Something felt ironically appropriate about that to the heroes of Marimgar when they saw the message.

Once, the outer walls of the Academy had been a symbol of safety. They were the first thing that anyone passing by saw of the elite educational facility, and the only thing that most would see. But they were steeped in the history of the city, and the last remaining portions of the old city left.

Not just from the day before the end of the world, but from the times before Marimgar had been a major metropolitan centre.

Once upon a time, Marimgar Academy had been a training academy for the Marimgar Royal Guard. Generations had grown up in its shadows, trained in its hallowed halls. Soldiers had guarded the gate until their footsteps wore the stones smooth, and the resting spots of their hands on break created divots in the stone.

A thousand years of history in a simple stone wall, which told its own story. So, putting the memorial wall to the heroes of Marimgar within sight of the gates, but inside, where only those worthy of entering Marimgar Academy would see it, felt right to the remaining heroes.

Their history was Marimgar History, and it was not for just anyone.

Slowly, thousands gathered within the walls, crowding every bit of the open space, waiting for Kalli to begin.

She had already prepared the purchase, and selected the exact design of the stone with the names engraved into it.

John Williamson

Derek Cale

Regina Booth

Three hundred names she had painstakingly arranged so that she could be as certain as possible that they were in a proper chronological order. The first names on the wall were the six lost the day that the Swineherd Demons had first come to Marimgar, and Marimgar had lost its first true heroes.

It wasn’t an easy choice, and she had considered making the memorial for the battle against the Frost Giants.

But it felt wrong to leave anyone out.

Once she was satisfied that everyone was present, Kalli raised her hand and the crowd fell silent. But she did not speak.

From the ground, the memorial plaque rose.

A wall of jet black stone, engraved with names painted gold. Beside each name was an age, and beneath it in tiny letters was the date of their death.

There were no words that could properly convey what she wanted to say, so Kalli simply finished erecting the wall, and then the memorial altar in front of it, where viewers could stand to read the names, or leave offerings.

That was what she did now, a simple memorial wreathe of blood roses, a tradition from her past life for fallen soldiers.

The sun rose behind her back, highlighting Marimgar City like a wounded giant that had refused to die. Towers of glass and reinforced alloy pierced the skyline, gleaming defensive turrets rotated slowly, sweeping the sky on an automated sentry pattern, as there were no gunners on the rooftops to man them this morning.

The Heroes of Marimgar mourned in silence beneath the cover of heavy guns.

They had learned that there was no other way.

Still, Kalli didn’t speak as she stared silently at the memorial for a few seconds, waiting for the first sun to peek over the wall.

Then it did, and the reflections off the dorm towers lit up the names painted in gold, making them glow in the early dawn light. That was her cue to begin the service properly.

Rows of heroes stood in gleaming armour, polished to a high shine even if it was still pockmarked with battle damage, and waiting on repair. Above them, assault speeders floated, a solemn black ring of armoured vehicles that had brought much of the crowd here from across the city after Kalli’s memo went out.

On the altar behind Kalli sat hundreds of small metal urns.

There hadn’t been enough of most bodies to have open casket funerals, even if that had been the tradition of the city. But every urn had a name engraved on it, and the alloy was one that would never oxidize.

Once it was placed, it would be there as long as the memorial stood.

"This morning, we stand to remember the heroes who have paid the ultimate price for Marimgar. Every one of them lived and died for the city, and each of them embodied the finest points of humanity, willingly stepping forward to defend those who could not defend themselves.

The Trials have tested us to our limits, but we have succeeded where no others could have, and we will continue to prove that Marimgar is worthy of being called the greatest power on the face of the planet.

Not every hero was a soldier by choice.

There were teachers, students, store clerks, accountants and bankers.

But every hero of Marimgar made that choice on their own."

She paused to let the heroes remember the first days after the fall of humanity. They had all chosen to step up. They had all worked for the chance to survive, and those who lacked the courage had never reached level two.

There were no cowards among the Heroes of Marimgar because the System had culled them all without mercy.

Silently, Kalli took the first urn and walked to the mausoleum built behind the wall. She placed it on the first shelf by the door, and then stepped aside as a line of heroes walked in behind her, each carrying an urn.

They all knew that many of these were empty, as there were no bodies to be placed in them.

But they were still labelled and memorialized.

Once the urns were placed, they returned to their positions, thousands of battered veterans who did not know what to do with their grief and anger. They simply stared at the Coordinator willing her to make it right.

Kalli stood before them in simple black robes and composite battle armour. She wore no crown, no medals, no ceremonial marks of office. But there was no doubt in the minds of the people of Marimgar that she was the leader of the city at that moment.

"This enrolment badge belonged to John Williamson, the first Hero of Marimgar to fall during the Trials. It was found in his room, tacked to the wall over his bed, though he was a teacher, no longer a student."

She placed it on the altar, then simply walked away, waiting against the wall of the nearby dorm building as the heroes stepped forward and left memorial tokens for their fallen friends, along with a few words of memory.

[The way that it should be], she decided.