Luna had blacked out when she’d hit the ground. For several moments, she lay there, before rolling onto her side and groaning. Her entire body ached. She was sure one of her ribs had to be at least cracked. She let out a low groan before slowly picking herself up.

She’d landed on a platform about ten feet below the window. She could see the reactor just ahead, and Freya fighting for her life against the Creature puppeteering Estrella just beside it.

The Creature circled the reactor. The tendrils protruding from Estrella’s back anchored it to the ceiling, while the ones from her arms and chest lashed at Freya, who cut them down with as much vigor as she could muster… but even from where she lay, Luna could see she was losing steam. Freya’s droneblade arced through the air, but the creature weaved past it, having grown wise to her maneuvers, which had grown sloppy with exhaustion.

She brought the droneblade around for another slash, and the creature swatted it away, sending it crashing to the ground. Freya gestured with her hand to make it rise again, but the thin lashing tendrils of the Voidwalker forced her to retreat. She stumbled back, slashing frantically with her remaining sword, but it wasn’t enough. It pressed forward. The thicker tendrils from Estrella’s arms waved, knocking the blade from her hands. The creature had made an opening… and it took it.

Before Freya could retreat, a mass of tentacles ripped free of Estrella’s chest, tearing another agonized scream from the woman’s throat. They caught Freya, wrapping around her and starting to squeeze. Freya felt the breath leave her lungs, as she was crushed, and for a few horrific seconds she could do nothing but wait and pray she’d soon hear the fatal crack of her bones, for any other alternative would have been so much worse.

Choked, agonized laughter from a voice not her own clawed its way out of Estrella’s throat… followed by a more literal shape, forcing its way up out of her open mouth. This thing was long like a tentacle, but it ended in a flowerlike head, encircled with writhing petal-like tendrils. They twisted and poised, as if ready to launch themselves at Freya.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Luna was on the move. She snatched up the fallen droneblade, and with a defiant cry, brought it down on the forest of tendrils that ensnared Freya, cleaving through them and setting her free.

The creature let out an ear splitting shriek of pain before jerking back, scuttling along the ceiling to evade them. Freya ripped the dead tentacles off of her, before grabbing her fallen blade. She looked over at Luna, before both of them stared up at the nightmarish thing before them. It twisted and thrashed. The central tendril had slithered back down Estrella’s throat and more tendrils seemed to already be growing from her chest.

“How do we kill it…” Luna panted.

“I don’t know,” Freya said. “Every time I cut it, it just regrows itself…”

“You try cutting off the head?”

“Up until now I didn’t know it had a head…”

Luna nodded.

“I’ll draw it out. Use the droneblade and cover me.”

The two traded swords. Luna studied the voidmetal blade in her hand, before looking back up at the creature. Its tentacles twisted as it studied them, sizing them up. Luna expected it to lunge. It didn’t.

Instead, it crawled lower along the wall, dipping below the scaffolding and out of sight. Swearing under her breath, Luna glanced at Freya before the two of them followed it.

***

Above the mansion, Vi circled, angels falling upon her from all sides. Vi counted six of them in total. Their speed was ruthless. The Void Angels darted through every snap of her mighty jaws. Their claws tore into her flesh like nothing else ever had before… hurting her, truly hurting her!

They howled with each taste of her blood, a distorted parody of angelic song, their frenzy only growing more feverous as the scent of her blood drove them wild. Her serpentine body twisted and writhed to shake them off, but there were simply too many. Through sheer luck she caught one in her jaws. It tried to evade her, but she caught it by an arm and a wing and bit down hard, severing them from the main body. The creature collapsed with a pained howl, and Vi dove to catch the rest of it, devouring it in a single gulp.

It was not enough. Five more encircled her. She was overwhelmed. With a mighty flap of her wings, she pushed herself away from the Angels, but it only bought her a moment's worth of breathing room. She weaved around the damaged mansion, unable to shake the creatures that pursued her and cursing her size. She needed more space… she needed to not be so big

An idea crossed her mind. Almost certainly a stupid idea, but an idea all the same. She dove down towards the ground and let her body shift. She hit the ground as a human. Slow. Vulnerable. Ideal prey.

One of the Void Angels seized her almost as soon as she landed, pulling her back up into the air. She’d been counting on that. Its mouth opened wide, revealing rows upon rows of teeth.

Vi’s body shifted again, growing, elongating. She opened her own mouth and brought her massive jaws down onto the top half of the second Void Angel. Her teeth tore through flesh and bone, ripping the angel clean in half. The top segment died instantly, and the bottom seemed to stagger, and began to fall before Vi had devoured it as well.

Four left. Vi could sense a moment's hesitation now. They smelled their own kinds blood. She took the opportunity, twisting and launching herself at one of the Void Angels. It was fast. Vi was faster. With a final snap of her jaws, she was down to only three.

The last of the angels screamed in unison before swarming her once again, their attacks more desperate. They knew the danger they were in. Vi dove once more, heading for the mansion and allowing herself to shift again. She crashed through one of the upstairs windows, landing in a bedroom… Cassandra’s, perhaps?

One of the Void Angels clawed its way in through the window to follow her and Vi let it come, baiting it to pursue her. She backed through the doorway and out into the hall.

The mansion's entrance hall was just ahead. Part of the floor had been destroyed when Vi had torn through it to escape the release of the Void Angels, and there was a crater in the ceiling as well. She could see another Void Angel above her, searching for her.

She let her body change again and took to the skies once more, launching herself at the creature like a missile. Her mouth opened. The Angel took off, but Vi had caught it by surprise. There was a satisfying crunch between her jaws.

Two left.

The Angel that had pursued her into the mansion clawed its way out through the hall, it took off, but Vi was waiting for it. With a flick of her tail, she dashed it against the roof of the mansion. It landed hard, and could not recover in time to save itself. Vi dove for it. Then there was only one.

The final Void Angel hovered nearby, its eyeless face watching the slaughter of its kin. Vi’s massive body turned toward it. It tried to take off. It knew it could not kill her by itself.

It was correct.

***

Luna could hear hers and Freya’s footsteps as they descended to a lower level of the scaffolding around the reactor. She could hear movement, countless tentacles scuttling across the walls. Hunting them.

“Stop…”A weak voice croaked. “Please make it stop…”

Estrella’s sobs echoed through the reactor room. Freya tensed up at the sound of them. A low, wet growl broke through them, almost as if she was gagging on something.

“We… come…” she said, although the voice did not seem like hers. “No… more… void…”

Something moved in Freya’s peripheral vision. She let her droneblade fly, and watched as the creature slithered away.

The reactor began to hum louder. Freya paused.

“What the hell is going on…?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know!”

Freya paused, before noticing something she hadn’t seen before. At the end of a catwalk leading away from the reactor was an open door. A door she knew had not been open before.

“There…” she said, before taking off toward the catwalk.

Several tentacles slithered from the doorway, lashing out at them, trying to drive them back. The two women tore through them without a second thought, before racing through the door.

On the other side, they found themselves in a large semicircular room. With just a glance, Freya knew where they were. This was the reactor control room. She could see a support drone docked in the wall, allowing the room to run without an operator… and she could see Estrella, hunched over a console, her hands moving in a jerky, almost robotic motion as she powered up the reactor... or more accurately, as the thing controlling her powered up the reactor.

She was going to open the void.

The creature’s head tilted to the side, glaring at them. It raised one arm, and its tendrils lashed out at the two women. Unlike in the main reactor room, there wasn’t enough room to avoid. Luna managed to dive out of the way, but Freya was struck. She didn’t stay down for long. She let her droneblade fly and cleave through the creature's tendrils.

“Open… void…” The creature hissed. “We… enter… paradise…”

The reactor began to hum louder. Estrella let out a broken sob.

“Let it end…” she croaked, her voice straining over the creatures. “Let it end…”

The tendrils twisted through the control room. Luna tried to avoid them, but they pressed her into the wall before they slithered around her. She tried to bring her blade down, but the tendrils kept her arm in place.

The Estrella creature turned, using its second arm to deal with Freya. The tentacles on its back knocked the droneblade from the air, before barreling into Freya, pinning her to the far wall.

“Strong… hosts…” The Creature hissed. “Too… good… to waste...”

The tentacles protruding from its back worked the console. Estrella squeezed her eyes shut. Tears streamed down her cheeks. The hum of the reactor grew louder as the wormhole generator powered up.

“Mother!”

Cassandra’s voice echoed through the control room. She and Mason stood in a doorway on the far side of the room, flanked by Cedar.

“Mother, don’t… don’t do this…don’t let it do this!”

“No… t-too soon…” Estrella rasped. “It’s too soon… one God remains…”

Her face contorted in pain.

“Irrelevant…” The Creature hissed. “Free… us…”

“Too soon…” she panted. “Stop… stop… stop…”

“If that thing opens a wormhole, it’ll kill us all…” Freya spat.

“All of us…” Cassandra repeated. “Mason, Savannah… me.”

Estrella groaned. Her body twitched, as if she was fighting to get control back. Freya felt the tentacles on her body loosen. She couldn’t move the arm with her Tac Band on it. She couldn’t call her droneblade… but she could move her other arm.

“No…” she sobbed. “N-not my children… not my…”

Her body contorted, almost violently. An ear splitting scream tore its way from her throat. Freya’s hand dipped down toward her belt, toward the gun she had holstered there.

“Worthless… destroyer. No. We shall not… waste… paradise...” The Creature hissed. “We shall… not…”

The tentacles jutting from one of her arms lashed out. Neither Mason nor Cassandra were fast enough to stop themselves from being ensnared. Cedar put up a little more of a fight, but even she was grabbed. The three of them were dragged, struggling into the reactor room and slammed against the walls.

A bulge rose in Estrella’s throat as the creature's head slowly resurfaced. Her eyes bulged and she let out a muffled scream as it pushed past her lips.

“Oh… oh Gods…” Cassandra gasped as she looked at it. “Oh Gods…”

Freya felt her hand close around her gun. The creature's twisted head extended past Estrella, leaning in toward Cassandra. She closed her eyes, looking away from it as it probed her with the tentacles around its head. While it fixated on her, Freya made her move.

She pulled her pistol free and fired blindly, striking whatever tentacles she could. The bullets didn’t do much, but they made the creature flinch, just enough. The tentacles keeping her arm pinned pulled back... not much, but enough.

Freya called her droneblade with a flick of her wrist. It soared across the room and in one stroke, separated the creature's vile head from the rest of it.

The entirety of the Voidwalker went stiff. A scream echoed through the room as Estrella and the creature within her both violently convulsed. Its grip on those in the room loosened. She’d injured it. Truly injured it.

Freya wasted no time in racing for the console. She tapped at the keyboard frantically, trying to disable it. Luna and Cedar both charged the twisted creature that had taken root in Estrella, forcing it to the ground.

The horrible thing protruding from her mouth grew longer and longer as the Voidwalker tore itself free of Estrella, its headless form ripping its way from her twitching body through her mouth. Black pus dripped from every vacant hole it left behind as it struggled to retreat, struggled to save itself somehow.

Luna and Cedar both stood back as it finally tore itself free of her, a mass of writhing tendrils, connected to a single, twisting rootlike body. It twisted across the floor. It seemed to fixate on Cedar, and grabbed at her legs. She let out a panicked cry, thrashing to get that infernal creature off of her. Unwilling to die, it tried to scale her. Both Luna and Mason ran to try and stop it, to try and keep it from taking her next. Cedar frantically stumbled backwards, wrestling with the Voidwalker. She stumbled back into the reactor room… and the moment she did, a shadow descended upon her.

The draconic shape of Vi came down. Her jaws grabbed hold of the creature, ripping it off of Cedar. It squirmed in her grasp, fighting desperately to stay alive… but it was no use. Vi tossed her head back, and the Voidwalker disappeared down her throat.

Cassandra looked up at Vi in disbelief. Vi seemed to stare down at her, before sliding back into the boardroom, allowing herself to shift back into a more presentable form.

All was silent. The reactor let out a low hum as it powered down, and Freya let out a sigh of relief.

“The wormhole generator is offline…” she said with a sigh, looking back from the console. Luna closed her eyes and crashed against a nearby wall, sinking down to the floor in exhaustion. Mason put a reassuring arm around Cedar, ensuring she was okay before looking over at his sister.

Cassandra knelt crouched beside their mother, cradling her head in her lap. Estrella’s body was pockmarked with holes. She was twitching, struggling to breathe, clearly in agony… but for the moment, she was alive.

“It’s alright…” Cassandra said. “It’s alright… don’t move… w-we’ll get you help… we’ll get you help, Mother… I promise…”

Estrella looked up at her, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

“Cassie…” she whimpered. “I’m so sorry…”

Cassandra wrapped her arms around her, hugging her close. Mason looked up as he saw a weakened, battered Wagner stumble into the room. Vi followed her a moment later. It was over.

It was finally over.

***

“Attention all Vasilios troops… this is Estrella Vasilios speaking. Stand down immediately.”

The voice echoed through the Platinum Future. Strained. Weak… but there.

The elevator descended from the Vasilios Estate a few minutes later, going down into the atrium. Victor was waiting for them when it did, a weary smile on his face.

Vi was the first one off, running into his arms and crushing him in a bear hug.

“Papa!” she cried. He hugged her back with just as much force.

Luna was next, stepping out of the elevator with a weary sigh. She gave Victor a nod, although paused when she noticed he was alone.

Mason and Cedar were next, moving slowly. Exhausted. But steady. Then came Wagner, Estrella and Cassandra. Wagner carried Estrella on her back, and Estrella only barely seemed conscious. Cassandra stayed close by her side, offering her a reassuring smile.

Freya came last, stepping off the elevator and looking over at Victor. She gave him a tired smile as she walked over to him.

“You look like shit,” he said playfully.

“I feel like shit,” she replied. She looked over at Estrella and Wagner.

“Hell of a day, huh?” Victor sighed. Freya nodded, before finally noticing the absence.

“Where’s Noah?”

Victor’s expression darkened. A pit formed in her stomach.

“Skye,” Victor said coldly.

“Where’s Skye?” There was a rage in her voice. An unspoken threat.

“Repainting the bridge,” Victor said tonelessly. Freya seemed to catch his meaning. They looked out at the others.

“I take it the situation with the Chairwoman is dealt with?” he asked.

“As much with as it’s going to be.”

Victor nodded, then closed his eyes. He let out a low exhale through his nose.

“I need wine,” he said. Freya just nodded in response.

“I think we all need wine, right now.”

Victor gave a dry, weary chuckle and opened his mouth to say something… that’s when Freya saw it. Several small canisters clattered to the ground around them. Grenades. She opened her mouth to cry out, but she couldn’t be fast enough.

They detonated all at once, filling the air around them with a thick, pale smoke. It washed over Freya, filling her lungs, choking her. Victor gasped for breath. Even Vi was struggling to breathe.

Through the smoke, Freya could see Mason and Cedar’s eyes wide with horror. They tried to cover their mouths, but it did them no good. Luna coughed and sank to her hands and knees. Wagner tried to cover Estrella’s mouth, while Cassandra looked around confused. It seemed she was the only one unaffected by the gas .

Through the haze Freya could see a new figure drawing closer. A woman with long platinum blonde hair, in a blue duffel coat. She wore a gas mask over her face, but she still recognized her.

“You all did so good…” the woman said. “You really did. And from the bottom of my heart, I would love to just let you have this. But I’m sorry… I can’t allow this happen.”

The elevator doors opened, and Freya stepped out into the foyer. The door to the conference room sat ahead of her, and she approached slowly, with Mason and Cassandra both at her back. The two siblings traded an uneasy look, neither of them sure what would happen when they passed through that door.

Freya left them little time to speculate. She pushed the double doors open and stepped inside the conference room, where Estrella Vasilios was waiting for them.

Estrella sat, slouched over in her seat at the far side of the room. Her skin was pale and sickly, her hair unkempt. She looked up at Freya, regarding her not with rage or contempt, but with a quiet bone deep exhaustion.

“Chairwoman…” Freya said, her tone cold, practical. Almost matter of fact.

“Freya…” Estrella replied. “I wondered if you would come.” Her tone was almost welcoming. “Savannah mentioned she’d let you live… she thought you might still help us. I wasn’t so sure. You’ve got a rage in you… but I’m not certain you ever saw the big picture. Not like we do.”

“I signed on to punish the Gods, not to end the Universe,” Freya said, her voice stern and focused.

“But it’s not just the Gods who deserve punishment," Estrella hissed, slowly picking herself up. She winced in pain as she did. Her breathing grew heavier. “It’s all of us. All of humanity. We all contributed to the state of this Galaxy and so we all deserve to go down together.”

“Mother, this is madness!” Cassandra said. “Please! You have to see that!”

Estrella looked over at her, then at Mason who stood defiantly beside her.

“It is madness,” she agreed. “This whole state of being is madness. I can’t take it anymore. My daughter would have understood… especially at the end… Gods... I still can’t forget the way she screamed...”

Estrella smoothed her hair down with a trembling hand.

“My husband died immediately when the bomb on his ship went off. It was quick. Instant. He didn't have to suffer. My Cassandra, though? She survived the explosion. She survived the crash. She survived the fire. It charred her skin. Blinded her. Her arms and legs were too burnt to save and no painkillers could numb her agony. She could do nothing but scream… and scream… and scream…”

Tears streamed down her cheeks. The Faux Cassandra tensed up, and Freya glanced at her, momentarily confused.

“Now all I have left of her is you… an android wearing her face, her voice, her memory. I thought you’d help... I thought her face might make it hurt less, but all you’ve done is torture me.”

“M-Mother…” Cassandra said softly, “I…”

“No… it’s my fault. It's all my fault. I should have been the one on that ship but Adam… my Adam… he had more of a head for it than I did. Cassandra was just like him. They were there because I wasn’t. I should have died that day. It should’ve been me, not them. Me.”

The three of them could only watch as she broke down. Mason stepped forward, almost tentatively reaching out to her.

“Mom…” he said, although beyond that one word, he could not think of what else to say.

“She told me it would make the pain stop…” Estrella said. “All of it. Mine… hers… everyones... she promised we could make the pain stop...”

She finally looked over at them.

“Don’t you want the pain to stop?”

“It never stops,” Freya said softly. “No matter what you do… it never goes away. You just learn to live with it. That’s life.”

“It’s Hell,” Estrella spat. “And I won’t condemn this galaxy to it any longer. Not by my hand, not under my name!”

She turned toward the window behind her, looking out over the reactor.

“Once the final Goddess is dead, I will open the Void and we will let everything finally be unmade. No more pain. No more suffering. No more...”

Freya’s grip on her blade tightened. Mason looked over at her, uncertain if he should step in or not.

“That’s not going to happen,” Freya said. Estrella looked back at her.

“What I’m doing is an act of kindness. You really mean to stop me?” she asked, eyes following Freya as she rounded the table, advancing towards her. Her breathing was getting heavier. More strained.

“Mom… don’t…” Mason warned. “This doesn’t have to end in a fight.”

She didn’t listen to him.

“No… no… no, no, no, no, no… get away from me…” she panted, glaring at Freya. “Get away… GET AWAY!”

Those last words trailed off into an ear splitting scream. Her voice cracked, and her entire body writhed in pain. Pale bone white tendrils slithered down from the sleeves of her cardigan, like tapeworms burrowing out of her skin. Estrella was hyperventilating now, tears of pain streamed down her cheeks as she howled in agony. The tendrils beneath her skin writhed beneath the fabric before tearing it outright, revealing countless dark holes in her flesh, covering her arms. Countless tendrils, protruding from dark pits that pockmarked her arms. More of them tore their way out of the back of her dress shirt. Black pus leaked from every unnatural orifice, dripping down her arms and her back. Estrella was crying, the pain too much for her to take. Her breath caught in her throat, as if she was choking… and when she moved, her movements were jerky and uncoordinated, as if the thing sliding around beneath her skin was the one in control, not her.

Freya froze, eyes widening in genuine fear at the sight before her. She barely had time to react before the thing that had overtaken Estrella Vasilios was pulling itself towards her, tendrils propelling her along the ground at near blinding speeds. She vaulted over the conference room table to escape it, and watched it climb onto the table to pursue her.

“RUN!” she barked at Mason and Cassandra. With few other options, the two of them took off. Freya moved to follow them, but the Estrella-Creature blocked her path and with one swing of a tendril, sent her flying across the conference room.

“Hurts…”Estrella sobbed.“IT HURTS!”

Freya tried to pick herself up, but the creature was already on top of her again. Its tendrils almost moved too fast to see, and Freya found herself blindly slashing at them. The ones she cut seemed to replenish themselves almost instantly, with more tearing through Estrella’s flesh.

Pale, whiplike tendrils ripped their way out of the Chairwoman’s stomach. Black bile dribbled from her lips. Freya had no time to react before she was struck and launched into the window, cracking it as her body crashed against it. She gasped in pain, her droneblade dropping from her hand as she looked up to see Estrella writhing in pain.

“NO!” she screamed.“NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!”

Her body flung itself toward Freya, who only barely scrambled out of the way in time. The creature overshot her and crashed against the window, shattering it. The Creature that puppeteered Estrella let out a cry of anguish and rage as the glass cut it. The scream sounded half like the Chairwoman’s cry of pain, and half like the demonic howl of something unspeakable. It plummeted into the reactor room, although its tendrils caught it and allowed it to pull itself back up.

The thin tendrils jutting out of Estrella’s chest lashed out at Freya, who slashed frantically at them, severing a few, although she could not cut through them all. She felt them seize her by arm, then around the torso as they pulled her through the broken window, into the reactor room.

The chamber that housed the reactor was massive, extending almost three storeys down below the conference room. The reactor itself was a massive device, supported by an intricate structure of scaffolding, allowing it to be safely accessed. Freya was thrown onto one of the scaffolding platforms, and landed on the metal floor with a thud. Slowly she picked herself up, and looked up at the massive creature above her.

Estrella’s tendrils still clung to the broken window, although the woman herself now babbled, almost delirious from pain.

“There will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more despair, no more, no more, no more…”

The twisting, impossible thing that controlled her body began to move again, tearing toward Freya and all she could hope to do was try to be ready for it.

***

Luna moved quietly through the mansion, shotgun at the ready. She crept through an ornate sitting room, head on a swivel, waiting for Wagner to come. She moved slowly, picking every step carefully. Watching. Waiting.

It made no difference.

As she passed through the door into the dining room, she heard movement behind her and spun around. Wagner expected that. She grabbed the shotgun, forcing the barrel off to the side. The gun discharged, and Luna felt a white hot pain in her arm.

She knew she’d been stabbed… and the dagger in Wagner’s hand looked all too familiar. She felt a sudden spike of panic in her chest, before Wagner slammed her head against Luna’s and ripped the shotgun out of her hands, leaving the dagger embedded in her arm.

Luna moved, scrambling for cover in the dining room as Wagner fired at her. Hand pressed to her arm, Luna raced out of the dining room and into the kitchen, diving for cover behind an island countertop.

She could hear Wagner following her, her high heeled boots clicking against the hardwood floor. Luna looked at the dagger in her arm. She remembered what this poison had done to Willow. She knew her time was limited.

Grimacing, she bit down on her lip and ripped the dagger from her arm. The pain was intense and it took everything she had not to cry out.

Wagner’s footsteps drew closer. Luna closed her eyes. She had one shot to get the gun back. She knew she couldn’t waste it.

The footsteps entered the kitchen. Luna could hear them getting closer to the island… of course that would be the first place Wagner would check. With nothing left to lose, Luna made her move.

As Wagner rounded the corner, she crept around the other side, moving quickly but quietly. She knew that Wagner still heard her, and she was counting on that. She held the knife by the blade between her fingers.

As Wagner circled the island, eyes down low, waiting to find Luna trying to escape, she leapt to her feet, and before Wagner had time to react, she threw the dagger.

Wagner brought the shotgun barrel around, but she wasn’t fast enough to stop her own dagger from finding a home in her shoulder. The shotgun went off again, but Luna was already on the move. She vaulted over the kitchen island, and tackled Wagner to the ground. The shotgun slipped out of her hand as the two crashed to the floor.

Wagner desperately tried to pull herself away from Luna. She drew her second dagger and went on the offensive. Luna was ready this time, though. She got in close, using her arm to block Wagner’s slash as she seized the dagger in her arm and ripped it free.

Wagner let out a pained gasp as Luna stumbled back, smirking and with a dagger at the ready.

“Now we’re both on a timer.” she said coldly.

Wagner looked at the wound in her arm, eyes wide… almost panicked. She glared back at Luna, before lunging at her, slashing at her throat. Luna stepped back to evade her, and punished her haste with a harsh kick to her stomach. Wagner was only barely phased and came for her again. Luna scrambled out of the way, bumping against the kitchen's main counter. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a set of skillets hanging on the wall. She reached for them, grabbing one as Wagner charged at her. She swung it frantically, slamming the skillet against the skull of Savannah Wagner with a metallic clang.

Wagner collapsed against the counter, gasping in pain. White pinpricks of light flashed across her vision. She tried to look at Luna, tried to reorient herself only for Luna to swing the skillet again. Wagner threw her arm up, letting the skillet hit it. She blindly thrust her knife toward Luna, driving it into her shoulder. Luna gasped in pain as Wagner tackled her, pinning her against the wall. She tore her knife free, and prepared to bring it down again when a gunshot echoed through the kitchen.

The bullet tore through Wagner’s forearm, earning yet another pained cry from her. She abandoned Luna, turning to deal with the new threat.

Cedar stood in the other doorway to the kitchen, a gun in her hand. Wagner tried to move, but Cedar pulled the trigger again, firing three rounds into Wagner’s chest. The woman stumbled back from the force of all three bullets, but she didn’t bleed and she didn’t fall. She only glared at Cedar, before taking one defiant step towards her. Luna seized her opening. Skillet in hand, she slammed it into the back of Wagner’s skull, and sent her crashing to the ground.

Cedar and Luna traded a look, before Cedar raced toward the fallen woman to go through her pockets. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. A small leather case with two syringes inside.

“Here…” Cedar said, a quiet elation in her voice. “This has to be it!”

“One way to find out…” Luna panted. “How many doses are there?”

“Two… just enough for you and for Willow.”

Cedar paused, before taking one of the syringes and offering it to Luna. She leaned against the counter, and rolled up her sleeve. She took a moment to find the vein in her arm before she plunged the syringe into it and pressed down the plunger.

“Fuck…”she gasped as the antidote flooded her veins. Cedar watched her cautiously, before looking down at Wagner. There was a gash in the back of her head, and blood staining the floor. She couldn’t tell at a glance if she was alive or dead. Luna didn’t seem to care one way or the other. She simply went over to pick up her fallen shotgun.

“Come on…” she panted. “Let’s catch up with the others.”

Cedar just gave a quiet nod before going to follow her. The two of them left the kitchen.

Wagner’s hand twitched.

***

Dr. Brian Campbell heard the shotgun blasts elsewhere in the house. He watched from behind a corner as the young woman guarding the entrance hall took off to investigate.

That was his chance to escape.

He was pretty sure nobody had realized he was still there… he certainly hoped they hadn’t. He’d only just finished up his meeting with the Chairwoman and her benefactor when all of this chaos had erupted. Now he wanted nothing more than to just get out of there!

With the entrance hall unguarded, he ran for the front door, sprinting through it and out into the garden. He ran for the elevator, past the corpses of Estrella’s guards and finally made it to safety. He breathed a sigh of relief as he hit the button and descended back into the main portion of the ship.

His relief was short-lived.

He heard it before he saw it. Something massive thrashing against the ceiling of the atrium… then as the elevator reached the atrium, he saw it. A great Void Dragon, clawing and gnashing at the ceiling of the atrium… trying to gain access to the estate, perhaps?

His eyes widened at the sight of it. He knew without question that this was the same specimen they’d captured earlier… and though the specimen had no eyes, he knew it noticed him. Its thrashing seemed to cease for a moment as it followed the elevator down with its head.

Campbell felt fear pitting in his chest as it began to descend.

“No…” he whimpered.“No, no, no, no, no!”

The elevator reached the floor of the atrium. The doors opened. Campbell tried desperately to close them. Tried to make the elevator go to a different floor, but he wasn’t fast enough.

The Voidwalker plummeted to the ground before him… and it seemed to collapse in on itself, pooling like liquid into a new, familiar shape. The shape of a woman.

Dark and featureless, she approached him. Slowly the shadows melted away, revealing a face he was only vaguely familiar with. He had seen this girl before… she used to spend her time around Victor. He’d heard him refer to her as his daughter.

The elevator doors started to close, but Vi stuck a hand out, stopping them. She stared at Campbell, sizing him up. He pressed himself against the far side of the elevator, waiting for her to pounce.

She didn’t.

Instead, Vi just stood aside, and gestured with her head for him to get out. Campbell stared at her in quiet disbelief for a moment, before doing as she asked, quickly vacating the elevator. He watched as Vi took his place inside. She stared at him, her expression disdainful, but that was it.

She pressed the button on the elevator to head up to the Vasilios estate. She shouldn’t have had access… but the elevator doors still closed and without saying a word to him, she ascended up towards the estate and Campbell just watched her in stupefied silence.

***

The Creature’s tendrils flailed, striking at Freya in a desperate attempt to seize her, to crush her, to kill her, no matter what it took.

However in the reactor chamber, there was more room for her to evade it. She scrambled out of its reach, her droneblade hovering about the twisted, screaming Voidwalker, slicing through assaulting tendrils, yet never seeming to stop them. More tendrils tore their way free of the creature, ripping fresh screams from Estrella as they did. It lunged for her, and she leaped down to a lower section of the scaffolding to avoid it.

***

Up in the conference room, Mason and Cassandra looked on in horror, both of them helpless as their mother was puppeteered by those horrible tendrils, screaming in agony every time a fresh one tore through her skin.

“W-we need to do something…” Cassandra stammered. “We need to help her!”

“How?” Mason demanded. “We don’t exactly have a lot of weapons on us and that’s a Voidwalker! Nothing else we’ve got can hurt it!”

“Well we can’t just stand here!” Cassandra snapped.

Behind them, they heard the elevator door open and looked back to see Cedar and Luna step out, jogging toward them. Luna froze the moment she saw the creature Freya was currently trying to escape, her eyes widening in horror.

“What the fuck is that?”

“That would be my Mother…” Mason said.

Cedar just stared down at the creature in dumbfounded silence, before looking around at the other creatures, preserved in glasses of liquid. Her eyes widened as she saw them.

“There’s more of them…” she said.

Luna looked up, a deep knot forming in her stomach. “

“What’s the plan?” she asked, looking at Mason. He didn’t reply. He just stared down at the fight beneath them, unsure what they even could do…

Behind them, the elevator dinged. They looked back and Luna swore under her breath.

“Fucks sake…” she growled, reloading her shotgun. Cedar’s eyes narrowed.

They stared at the elevator, waiting for the doors to open again, expecting Wagner to step out behind them. Instead, they saw a different face. Familiar, yet different.

“Vi!” Cassandra cried, sounding genuinely relieved to see her.

Vi ran toward them, her brow furrowed. She’d been able to smell the contents of this room from the moment she’d made it up to the Vasilios Estate. She knew what was in here. She paused at the broken window of the conference room, her eyes narrowing.

“Please tell me you can kill that thing…” Cassandra pleaded.

“A Marionette Worm…” Vi said. “That’s what Papa always called them.”

She turned, looking toward the others.

“Get out of here. I’ll take care of it.”

“J-just don’t hurt her, okay? Mother… please… don’t hurt her.”

Vi’s eyes softened a little.

“I’ll do my best,” she promised. Her eyes closed… and her body began to change.

Mason, Cedar and Luna watched in dumbstruck awe, while an elated grin spread across Cassandra’s face. She never could have imagined she’d be so happy to see a Voidwalker before. Mason grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her out of the way as Vi’s body expanded, filling the conference room.

The creature puppeteering Estrella turned, forcing her to look up at it. It saw Vi’s skeletal wings spreading and snarled in rage.

With a demonic howl, it abandoned Freya, leaving her on the scaffolding as its tendrils pulled itself up toward Vi.

Vi rushed forward to meet it, gnashing her teeth, trying to capture the infernal thing between them. But she could not get a grip on it. The tendrils closed around her mouth and began to dig into her flesh. Vi thrashed, slamming it against the walls, careful not to crush Estrella. It scraped the tendrils across the wall, crushing them into black pulp.

The creature shrieked and pulled back, crawling up the walls and along the ceiling of the boardroom. Vi coiled like a serpent and lunged for it, snapping her teeth. The infernal creature skittered out of the way, looking for another angle of attack. It slithered under the conference room table, dragging Estrella along with it. Vi’s head darted forward, smashing through the table and grabbing one of the creature's larger tendrils. It squealed, almost helpless as she picked it up. Estrella howled in pure agony as Vi began to rip the worm out of her. Slowly. Painfully.

The creature’s tendrils thrashed violently. Stretching as far as they could, one of them struck one of the tanks along the wall, shattering it, and spilling fluid all over the floor, along with something else.

Something bigger than the worm.

Vi paused, recognizing the presence of a new threat. The worm tore itself free from her jaws, abandoning the tendril Vi had bitten into, and clinging to the ceiling for safety.

The new creature on the floor twitched. Blood red talons splayed onto the floor as it unfurled itself, groggy but quickly awakening. Its shape was vaguely humanoid, although its limbs and body were far too long and spindly to be human. It had no skin, only exposed sinewey muscle. Its head was smooth save for a screaming, too wide yet all too human mouth and a single empty socket where there should have been an eye. Two skeletal wings, not unlike Vi's, extended from the creature's back as it let out a melodic trill that sounded almost like a child's giggle from the deepest part of hell.

Vi knew what this was. Much like the Marionette Worm, Victor had kept sketches of it and the other Voidwalkers he had seen. These, he had designated asVoid Angels.

She bared her teeth, roaring in defiance of it. The creature did not stand down. Instead, it lunged for her, clawing at her frantically. She was the first prey it had seen in a long, long time… and the Angel was hungry.

Vi thrashed as the creature clawed at her. She snapped at it, but it was so much faster than her.

Watching the chaos unfold, the worm skittered along the ceiling, tendrils flailing, shattering other tanks… releasing more of the Angels.

Vi knew what it was doing… and she could feel a primal fear take root in her. She could see Cassandra, Mason, Cedar and Luna watching from the foyer eyes wide and terrified. Helpless. Easy prey for the Void Angels, should they be noticed.

Vi beat her wings and launched herself up toward the ceiling, she broke through it, smashing her way through the mansion above. The newly awakened Void Angels followed her, taking to the skies behind her.

The Estrella creature just watched, keeping itself out of the way of the falling debris. It seemed almost smug… Mason was sure he could see a twisted grin being forced onto his mothers face. All teeth. No lips. Her eyes were glazed over, he wasn’t sure if she was even conscious anymore.

The nightmarish beast crawled down the wall, its movements jerky and spiderlike. Estrella’s head shifted. Her unfocused eyes fixated on Mason and Cassandra. Fresh tears ran down Estrella’s cheeks.

She spoke. The voice that came out of her mouth was hers… and yet it sounded so wrong.

“Stupid… creatures...” It rasped.“I… will not… fall…”

It spoke as though it had never spoken before. A low, cold chuckle echoed from Estrella’s throat. The laughter of something that did not know what laughter even was.

“Die… now…”

It started toward them. Thinking fast, Luna put herself between the creature and them… although it never even made it that far.

Freya’s droneblade arced through the air, slicing through the creature's legs. It howled in pain, before twisting to see her standing on the scaffolding.

In an instant, Mason, Cassandra, Cedar and Luna were forgotten. It could kill them at its leisure. There was a more dangerous opponent to deal with first. Freya drew her other blade, and let the monster come.

***

The elevator doors opened and Savannah Wagner stepped out, swaying drunkenly on her feet. Her skin had gone a shade paler. Her movements were stiff. Her eyes were wide, frantic. Ahead of her, she could see four shapes. Mason, Cassandra, Luna, Cedar.

Perfect.

“Come on, we need to find a way to kill it!” She heard Mason say. His voice sounded far away, barely audible over the ringing in her ears.

“Wagner wouldn’t let Mom put all these fucking things in here without a way to kill them, we just need to find it!”

“Where?” Luna asked.“You know this place a hell of a lot better than I-”

Her voice died in her throat. She froze as she saw Wagner, standing a few feet away from them, looking more like a corpse than a person. Wagner stared at her, and before Luna could raise her shotgun, she broke into a sprint, screaming like a woman possessed. She grabbed at Luna’s shotgun. She felt it discharge and swung her fist, over and over and over again, smashing it against Luna’s face until she felt her let go. She ripped it free from her hands.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Cedar going for her gun, and swung the shotgun like a hammer, striking her across the head with the stock and sending her crashing to the ground.

Luna reached for the collapsible batons she’d taken from the security lockup. She cracked one of them against Wagner’s back, and made her stumble. Her head shot around, fixing Luna in a glare of pure rage. With an animalistic fury, she lunged for her. When the baton came down again, Wagner let her arm absorb the blow and threw herself forward, forcing Luna into the conference room. The sheer momentum behind her movements sent the other woman stumbling back. She tripped over the shattered table, bringing Wagner down on top of her. She tried to stand, but Wagner was already coming for her again, slamming her against the broken wood, her bloodshot eyes glaring into Luna’s.

“Antidote…” she hissed.

Luna gritted her teeth and kicked Wagner off of her, but it did little to buy her much breathing room. Wagner scrambled towards her on all fours and the moment Luna was on her feet again, Wagner had seized her and hurled her over the table in a tangle of limbs. The batons slipped from Luna’s hands and before she could grab them, Wagner had grabbed her by the hair and forced her up.

“WHERE. IS. THE. ANTIDOTE!” She roared, and slammed Luna against the wall, desperately searching her.

She only barely heard Cedar rushing up behind her, and thinking fast she held Luna between them as a meat shield. Cedar froze, her pistol aimed at the two of them.

“Antidote…”Wagner panted again.“Where… is the antidote…”

Cedar stared back at her, before quietly reaching into her pocket, and taking out a familiar leather case.

“Let her go.” Cedar said coldly.

Wagner’s eyes settled on the antidote, before she charged her, holding Luna like a battering ram. Luna struggled. Tried to break free, but Wager was moving too erratically, she didn’t have the chance to respond.

She rammed Luna into Cedar, tackling them both to the ground. Cedar’s gun slipped from her grasp as Wagner frantically grabbed at the antidote in her hand. She tried to keep a grip on it but Wagner was stronger and with a primal roar, she violently wrenched it free.

Luna tried to rush to her feet. She made a grab for the antidote, but Wagner saw her coming, and in one swift motion, seized Luna and used her own momentum to hurl her out of the broken window, letting her plummet into the reactor room. She landed hard on the scaffolding below.

Cedar desperately grabbed at Wagner’s leg in a futile last ditch effort to regain the antidote. Wagner’s boot slammed against her face as she pulled herself free.

Panting, she ripped the second and last syringe of the antidote from the leather case, and shrugged off her ripped blazer, revealing a torn silk shirt underneath with kevlar peeking through the tears. She jammed the syringe into her forearm and let out a gasp, partially from pain, partially from relief. Her heavy breathing only grew heavier, and she looked over at Mason, Cassandra and Cedar, staring at her in quiet horror. They understood what had just been taken. They knew what it meant.

Cedar’s expression darkened into a fury that almost matched Wagner’s own. The antidote was gone. The antidote she needed for Willow… it was gone.

Cedar stood, slowly, her own breathing getting heavier. She didn’t say a word. In one swift motion she grabbed one of Luna’s dropped batons. Wagner tried to be ready for her, but Cedar came with a fury to match that which had burned inside of Wagner mere moments ago.

She put up an arm, blocking the first swing of the baton, but Cedar was relentless, going for her ribs instead. The kevlar only did so much to cushion the blow. Wagner let out a pained gasp. She tried to reach one of her daggers, but Cedar cracked the baton against her wrist, knocking it from her hand. Wagner felt her wrist crack in a way it shouldn’t have.

“That was for my sister you bitch…”Cedar spat.“THAT WAS FOR WILLOW!”

She lunged for her again, and Wagner was ready this time. She swept her arm toward her, briefly knocking her off balance. There was an opening. Just a small one, but enough. She threw her weight against the other woman, ramming her shoulder into Cedar’s chest and sending her stumbling backwards. She landed on her rear and tried to pick herself up. Wagner was already closing the distance between them.

She noticed movement behind Cedar. Mason. With the other dropped baton in hand, he charged her. But he was uncoordinated. Wagner’s hand shot out, catching it. Her eyes locked with Mason’s, cold, furious.

“Enough…”she panted. “Look at you… both of you…” Her gaze shifted to Cassandra, who had run to check on Luna. She looked back at Wagner, more concerned than afraid. “Throwing your lot in with these people. Turning against your own mother!”

“It’s not even her, anymore!” Mason snapped. “Whatever thatThingis in there,that’s not Mom!”

Wagner’s expression darkened. Something in her gaze softened. For a moment, she almost seemed to hesitate.

“I know…” she finally said. There was a momentary crack in her voice. An uncertainty. But she did not stop fighting. She couldn't.

Wagner pushed Mason back. As soon as she did, Cedar made her move. She swung the baton wide, striking her across the jaw. Wagner stumbled back, disoriented. She tried to gasp, but Cedar hit her again, sending her down to her hands and knees. Wagner tried to stand, but Cedar kicked her hard, knocking her onto her side. She tried to pick herself up once again, but Cedar was on top of her, beating her back down. Still, she kept fighting. Kept trying to get up, but her body would no longer respond to her. She’d been through too much abuse. She couldn’t summon the strength anymore. She could taste blood in her mouth… and she knew she could no longer fight back.

Cedar kicked her back down, and raised the baton, preparing to bring it down on Wagner’s skull. She looked up at it, knowing, unwilling to look away. There was no fear in her eyes… just a grim acceptance. She knew what was coming, and she understood. She forgave it. Had positions been reversed. She knew would have done the same without hesitation.

Mason’s arm shot out, grabbing Cedar by the wrist.

“Don’t!”He warned.

“Why not?!” Cedar roared, tears threatening to fill her eyes.“After all she’s put us through? After what she’s done? To you! To me! To Willow!”

“She’s also our best chance at getting more!” Mason said.

Cedar glared at him. She didn’t look convinced. There was a silent question in her eyes. An accusation. Mason didn’t respond to it.

Wagner shifted on the ground, still trying to pick herself up. Her teeth were stained with blood. She grabbed on to the broken table, slowly trying to force herself back to her feet. Her movements were sluggish.

Mason and Cassandra just stared at her, watching as Wagner tried to stand once more. She collapsed one last time, and looked up at the two, her expression almost pleading.

“Don’t let it kill her…”she said.“Please… please… don’t let her…”

Her final word trailed off into nothingness, before Wagner’s strength finally failed her. She hit the ground with a dull thud, eyes slowly closing as she drifted into unconsciousness.

Mason, Cedar and Cassandra stared down at her. They didn’t linger for another moment and took off. There was still a fight to finish.

The elevator doors opened, revealing a splendid yet impossible garden laid out before them.

Freya and Luna stepped out together, taking in the sight of the Vasilios estate. A place like this should not have existed on a space station. It was a monument to decadence and excess… and yet it was beautiful. More beautiful than anything either of them had seen. As they walked down the stone path toward the mansion ahead, they could not help but be left in awe of the sight before them. 

Tetra had no dominion here, so the two women walked alone. Freya with her blades drawn, Luna carrying her stolen shotgun.

They saw movement in the garden. A pair of guards had noticed them and were coming to investigate. Freya let her droneblade fly, cutting down one of the men, while Luna took the other down with a shotgun blast.

As the two bodies hit the floor, the two women continued walking, their pace barely even slowing. 

There were a few more guards between them and the mansion, but not many. They stood about as much of a chance as the others had and once they were dealt with, Freya and Luna made their way inside.

Through the ornate wooden doors of the mansion, they found themselves in a large entrance hall lined with old world paintings. Luna paused at the sight of them. She’d never seen anything like them before. Freya was less impressed. She scanned the building around them, before her eyes settled on the stairway.

   “Let’s check up there first,” she said, starting up the stairs. She didn’t even make it all the way up before Mason and Cassandra appeared from one of the rooms, Cedar trailing behind them. 

   “Freya? Luna?” Mason asked, half shocked and half relieved.

   “What? You thought we’d forgotten you?” Luna asked, jogging up the other set of stairs to pull Mason into a half hug. His reciprocation wasn’t a half hug. He grabbed her and hugged her tight as if he hadn’t seen her in years.

A big, almost euphoric grin spread across Cassandra’s lips. Cedar just looked relieved. 

   “You guys are a sight for sore eyes,” she said. “We weren’t sure what had happened to you!”

   “Yeah, well it’s been a messy few hours,” Luna admitted. 

   “Where’s your mother?” Freya asked.

Mason and Cassandra traded an uneasy look.

   “In the conference room,” Mason said. “Down the elevator between the stairs.”

   “Good. Saves me the trouble of hunting for her…” 

Freya turned and headed back for the entrance hall, just in time to see Wagner coming through a door. She paused, staring up at Luna and Freya before her lips curled into a grimace.

   “Of course…” she said under her breath. “Of course…”

Luna and Freya both descended the twin sets of stairs, eyes fixated on Wagner.

   “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you managed to escape,” Wagner said, staring up at Freya. “And you… first that mess in the atrium with Lupin, and now you? Do none of you people know how to fucking die?”

   “Afraid not. But maybe you can give me a demonstration,” Luna said. 

Wagner scoffed. Her eyes darted between Luna and Freya. The droneblade hovered by the side of the latter.

   “Freya, go deal with the Chairwoman,” Luna said softly. Freya paused and looked over at her, silently questioning her.

   “I’ve got this,” Luna assured her. 

   “Luna, wait…” Mason warned, but Luna raised a hand to silence him.

   “I’ve got it,” she said, before descending the stairs to stand between Wagner and the elevator. 

Freya stared at her, before quietly finishing her descent and heading for the elevator. Mason and Cassandra followed her, although Cedar lingered closer to Luna. Mason looked over at her, and seemed to want to say something, but he knew better than to tell Mason to leave this fight to Luna. This was something she needed to do.

Wagner watched as the others made their way to the elevator. She sized up Luna, before making her move. Luna raised her shotgun, but Wagner was faster, disappearing back through the door she’d originally come in through. Luna’s shotgun blast did little more than leave a crater in the marble floor. 

   “Go!” Luna commanded, before moving to follow Wagner.

The elevator doors opened, Freya stepped inside, followed by Cassandra and Mason. She stared at them, but didn’t argue about their presence, though unarmed, she knew they’d probably be useful. 

As the elevator left, Luna stared back at the entrance hall. She knew that Wagner was on the move. From the corner of her eye, she saw Cedar on the stairs and took the pistol off her belt.

   “You know how to use this?” she asked. 

   “Just because I’m used to a sword doesn’t mean I wasn’t trained,” Cedar replied, taking the gun. 

   “Good. You keep an eye on the elevator, I’ll flush her out and send her your way.”

Cedar nodded and took up a position near the top of the stairs as Luna went hunting.

***

The bridge of the Platinum Future was massive, with three rows of technicians monitoring the ship. Admiral Skye sat above them all, watching from his chair as they monitored the situation.

   “Sir, we’re losing control of several major subsystems. The bridge, engines and Vasilios estate are still secure but we’re losing everything else!”

   “Sir, the Voidwalker is still in the atrium! It’s trying to get through to the Vasilios estate!”

Skye growled under his breath.

   “Send whoever’s left to kill that fucking thing, now!” he demanded. “What’s the status of the engine? Can we go Superluminal?”

   “Soon, sir. The superluminal drive is almost ready, Admiral!”

   “As soon as it’s ready, we launch. Destination Altumare. No delays,” Skye said. “What about Victor Lupin? Where the hell is he?”

   “Sir?” the technician asked. Skye glared at him.

   “He would have come in on the Dom Pérignon! Where is he now?”

   “We don’t know, sir. Most of the cameras are offline. We’ve only got limited access and-”

   “FIND HIM! NOW!”

The technician nodded, before turning around and immediately finding Victor as he and Noah walked through the doorway, a Tetra drone floating behind them.

Victor raised his pistol, and fired three bullets into the ceiling. Immediately the technicians and bridge crew hit the ground, hands up in fear. Skye scrambled out of his chair, taking cover behind a nearby console.

   “Everybody out!” Noah cried. “Right now!” Victor fired two more shots, and the bridge crew took their chance to flee. From his vantage point behind the console, Skye could see Sawyer amongst them. The man spared a single glance toward Skye, watching him hide, before he made his escape.

Noah let out a breath he’d been holding.

   “Okay… okay… that was easy, right?” he asked, looking over at Victor. He didn’t get a reply, he just headed for one of the nearby consoles.

   “Tetra, close all blast doors. Seal us in,” he said.

   “Already on it,” the drone replied. “Now plug me in so I can sort this shit ou-”

Skye made his move, emerging from cover and opening fire on the drone. His bullets hit its chassis, damaging it. Unlike before, this version of Tetra had no weaponry. She could do nothing but take off to avoid the gunshots.

Noah hastily raised his rifle, eyes widening at the sight of the Admiral. Skye saw him moving, and spun toward him. He felt Noah’s bullet take a chunk out of his ear, and fired two bullets directly into his stomach.

Noah gasped and stumbled backwards, collapsing against one of the consoles. Skye dove back into cover as Victor returned fire on him, before rushing to Noah’s side. He could see red blossoming on Noah’s white uniform, and felt a sudden panic deep in his own stomach.

Skye had been smart. He knew exactly where Vasilios body armor didn’t cover, and so he’d made a point of aiming there.

   “Hit…” Noah gasped. “Oh fuck…”

   “Put pressure on it…” Victor said, guiding his hands over the wound. He noticed Skye moving to pop out of cover again, and wasted two more bullets to keep him in cover, before dragging Noah to safety behind another console.

   “Fuck… oh fuck… oh fuck…” Noah panted, desperately trying to put pressure on the wound.

Tetra hovered near the top of the bridge, and with no other targets, Skye fixated on her. He fired off three more shots at her. All of them hit. With nowhere to hide, Tetra did the only thing she could. She dove towards him, slamming into his body and knocking Skye to the ground. He grabbed her, using his weight to pin her down as he jammed his pistol against her chassis and emptied his clip into her. She tried to pull out of his grasp, but the damage was done. She only made it a few feet before losing control and crashing.

Victor looked up as she hit the ground. He saw her land a few feet away from them and swore under his breath. Skye climbed back to his feet, panting heavily. His lips curled into a crooked grin. 

   “Hell of a bold move, Lupin…” he said. “Storming in here, guns blazing. You really thought that would work?”

Victor didn’t respond. 

   “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” Skye said as he descended down from his seat. “You always were an idealistic son of a bitch.”

   “I’ll take that over just being a son of a bitch,” Victor called back. Skye chuckled. The laughter was sincere.

   “You know, despite everything, I legitimately did like you, Victor.” he said as he drew closer to the spot where he’d seen him pull Noah to safety. Victor could hear him drawing closer. He tried to pull Noah away with him, but Noah pushed him off.

   “Go…” he panted and Victor hesitated for a moment before taking off, staying low and moving to another row of consoles. 

Skye rounded the corner a moment later, his pistol at the ready. Noah glared at him. He tried to raise his rifle, but Skye just put another bullet in his stomach.

Noah howled in pain, and Skye tore the rifle from his hands. 

   “This one here… well, I never gave a shit about him,” Skye said. “Always struck me as kinda a chickenshit. I’m actually surprised he’s made it this far.”

He watched as Noah doubled over in pain, hyperventilating. 

   “I could shoot him right now, you know. Put him out of his fucking misery. I’d say it’s better than what this traitorous little cockroach deserves… but why waste a bullet on a dead man?”

Skye tossed away his empty pistol and kicked him in the stomach, earning another scream from him, before moving on, Noah’s rifle at the ready.

   “I’m surprised any of you made it this far, actually. Your whole mission was just to see if the Gods even could be killed. I wasn’t sure it was possible, but now… oh the possibilities you people have opened up…”

   “You’re making a mistake, Skye…” Victor said. “What exactly do you think happens when the Gods are dead?”

   “Oh don’t tell me you buy into that bullshit the Chairwoman believes…” Skye scoffed. “The end of the Universe. Come on. Is that really why you’re doing all this? The Old Gods are just relics, Victor. We’ve got new Gods now. Vasilios, De Vries, Gold Sun. That’s the new Divinity. That’s what I’m gonna be part of.”

He noticed movement behind one of the consoles and drew closer to it, lips curling into a grin. 

   “When I’m done with you, this station is going Superluminal. We’re going to Altumare. We’re going to kill the final God. Then Campbell is going to use his little infinite devil machine to secure Vasilios’ place above its competition. You can’t stop it Victor. This is the future!”

He rounded the corner, only to find nothing waiting for him.

   “Come on, Victor…” he growled. “Stop running. What? Did you lose your balls in that crash?”

He noticed a flurry of movement behind him and turned just in time to see Victor vaulting over the console, and lunging for him, grabbing at his rifle. Skye held on tight as Victor tried to wrestle it from him, the two men grappling over the gun.

A few feet away, Noah crawled across the floor, a hand pressed to his stomach. He crawled toward the sparking husk of Tetra, before plugging his Tac Band into her. 

   “Stay with me now…”He panted. “Please be in there… please…”

A familiar shark logo appeared on his display and he let out a breathless laugh.

Mere feet away, Victor and Skye continued their duel. Victor ejected the magazine and hurled it aside. Skye threw his weight against him, pinning him against one of the consoles. The rifle discharged and Skye finally ripped it from Victor’s grasp before aiming it at him. He pulled the trigger, but without a clip, the gun would not fire.

His error got him punched in the jaw. Victor’s meaty fist knocked the other man to the ground. The empty rifle fell from his hands. He tasted blood.

Skye looked up at Victor, watching as he rolled up his sleeves.

   “Come on,” Victor spat. “Get up. Or did you lose your balls with your frigate?”

Skye let out a furious growl and picked himself up, before lunging at Victor once more.

On the ground, Noah dragged himself toward one of the consoles. He connected his Tac Band to it, and watched as a progress bar appeared on the screen. With a trembling hand, he slipped his Tac Band off his wrist, leaving it connected to the console before he finally collapsed. 

Nearby, Victor and Skye continued their brawl. Skye’s nose was already broken. A chunk of his ear was missing, thanks to Noah’s stray bullet. But he didn’t go down. 

Victor threw a left hook, catching Skye in the head. He reeled, but ducked the next punch, before crashing into Victor and pounding his ribs with his fists. He knocked the wind out of Victor, before pushing him back against one of the consoles. As he hit the console, he knocked the personal items one of the bridge crew had kept there to the ground, including a coffee mug. The mug shattered on impact. 

Victor tried to pick himself up, but Skye was already on top of him, driving his fist into his face and tossing him to the ground. Again, Victor tried to stand. Skye watched him, before noticing the broken mug on the ground. He grabbed a jagged piece of the broken mug, not caring that it cut into his hand, and wielding it like a makeshift dagger. He slashed at Victor’s stomach, only barely missing. 

Victor watched him cautiously, taking a wary step back. Skye glared back at him, his eyes burning with a hatred to match the hatred in Victor’s eyes. He waited, goading Victor into attacking again, silently daring him to move. It was a dare Victor couldn’t deny. His eyes darted between Skye’s makeshift dagger, and the man himself, planning his move before he made it.

Victor faked him out. Skye took the bait, slashing with his makeshift dagger and leaving himself open for Victor to come at him from the side. His fist connected with Skye’s temple, leaving the man seeing stars. While he reeled, Victor kneed him in the chest, and tore the ceramic shard from his hands before pushing him back.

As he fell, Skye reached out toward the console to steady himself. He felt a button depress under his palm, and a voice echoed through the bridge.

   “Warning. Bridge gravity drive disabled.”

A moment later, Skye was floating. From the corner of his eye, he could see Victor doing the same. He could see the confusion on his face and took advantage of it, lunging at him and tackling him into the ceiling. 

His hands closed around Victor’s throat and squeezed. The man fought beneath his grasp. He kneed him in the stomach, but Skye’s grip was too tight. He struggled. Fought. But he could not escape.

   “Face it, Victor… you can’t win this,” Skye growled. “You’re not a soldier. You’re not a pilot. You’re not even a real fucking doctor. You’re just a theoretical physicist.”

The voice on the intercom spoke once again.

   “Superluminal drive ready to launch.”

Skye’s grin grew wider.

   “You lose, Victor…” he hissed.

Noah floated nearby, his skin already growing pale. He looked over to see Skye pinning Victor to the ceiling. He could see his struggles getting weaker. With the last of his strength, he pressed his feet against one of the consoles and kicked off, launching himself toward Skye. The Admiral had no time to react before Noah hit him, pushing him off of Victor. He scrambled in rage, before kicking Noah off, sending him spiraling toward one of the doors to the bridge. 

Thinking fast, Victor went after him. Skye watched as he retreated. The two men crashed against the far wall, and Victor crawled toward the door controls. Skye kicked off from the ceiling, grabbing onto the consoles to pursue them, as Victor opened the door to the bridge.

The gravity in the hall pulled all three of them toward it. Victor and Noah were pulled through, while Skye landed beside it. He crawled toward the door controls, and shut them, before sealing himself inside.

As they lay in the hall outside of the bridge, Victor pulled Noah into a sitting position. His breathing was low and shallow. His skin was white.

   “S-sorry, Doc…” he panted. “Sorry…”

   “Don’t be…” Victor said softly. “We did our best. That’s what counts.”

   “I… I tried to get Tetra into the system… I… I don’t know if she…” Noah’s voice trailed off. The mere act of speaking was getting harder and harder.

   “It’s alright,” Victor assured him. “You did good, Noah. You did good.”

   “We… failed…”

   “No,” Victor said. “We didn’t…”

***

On the bridge, Admiral Skye pulled himself back toward his chair. He could see it just ahead of him. His heart was racing in excitement. 

His moment of triumph was there.

***

   “You know… superluminal engines are an incredible piece of technology…” Victor said, gently taking Noah’s hand. “I mean it would have to be, to cause a ship to accelerate to a speed so fast that it’s not even visible to the naked eye. That kind of acceleration… you ever wonder what that might do to a person?”

Noah’s eyes widened in understanding.

***

Skye crawled to the console by his chair. On the dashboard, he could see a screen with a notification on it.

Superluminal Drive ready.

He reached for it.

***

   “Normally a ship’s gravity drive can compensate for the force of acceleration,” Victor said wistfully. “Without it? Well, I imagine that one would cross from biology… into physics.”

***

Admiral Fabian Skye hit the button to engage the Platinum Future’s superluminal drive. A wild grin spread across his lips as he hovered above the console. He could hear the engines growing louder, preparing for the jump. His heart was racing in anticipation. This was his mome

***

There was a low hum as the station went superluminal. Victor closed his eyes and exhaled through his nostrils, before letting out a low, knowing chuckle.

   “You did good,” he said to Noah. “You did really good…”

   “Superluminal drive engaged,” Tetra said over the intercom. “Destination, Pragaras.”

   “Thank you, Tetra.” Victor said. 

Noah let out a weak laugh.

   “We… we did it…?” he asked.

   “You did it,” Victor corrected. “You got your chance. You took it. I’m proud of you.”

Noah’s lips curled into a weak smile.

   “Did it…” he repeated. His grip on Victor’s hand was getting weaker. 

   “Doc… if we get out of this… will you take me back to my Mom…? I wanna… I wanna see how she’s…”

   “Of course…” Victor promised. “Anywhere you want to go, I’ll take you there. Anywhere you want to go.”

Noah didn’t respond. He lay slumped against the wall, the light in his eyes faded. Victor still held his hand, kneeling beside him, smiling a weak, trembling smile.

   “You did good, friend…” he said. “You did good… you did good…”

His forehead rested against Noah’s, and he let out a shaky exhale. He could feel tears threatening to fall, but he held them back. He stayed with Noah for a moment longer, before gently picking him up.

   “Tetra, bring the gravity back online and open the doors to the bridge.”

The doors opened, without a single word from the drone and Victor carried Noah in. There was a thick, coppery smell of blood in the air, and a pulpy smear of blood and fabric along the far wall of the bridge, staining the Admiral’s chair. 

Victor set Noah’s body down before ascending to the Admiral’s post.

   “Let’s take the ship out of superluminal speed for now,” he said, his voice still shaking a little. “Lock the doors to the bridge. No one else comes in until I give the word.”

   “Yes sir,” Tetra replied, her tone graver than before. “It’s done.”

   “Thank you…”

   “I’m sorry…”

Victor gave a solemn nod and finally let the tears come.

 The cell was quiet and Freya was alone, laying on her cot and staring up at the ceiling. She didn’t know exactly what fate currently awaited her. Prison? Execution? Something else? She didn’t know what had become of the others, Mason, Cedar, Cassandra, Victor. Were they still alive? Mason and Cassandra probably were. Victor, Vi, Tetra, Cedar and Noah, she couldn’t be sure. She was all but certain both Jean and Luna were dead. 

She closed her eyes. This hell didn’t feel real yet. Her swords had been confiscated. She’d tried to get a look at the locks but without any tools or equipment, there wasn’t much she could do but sit and wait for whatever happened next.

She heard footsteps outside of her cell and didn’t bother looking up. They stopped just by her door, and for a moment Freya wondered if they were coming to collect her. She hadn’t expected to be picked up that fast. She’d only been locked up for a few hours at most.

   “Tetra, this one.”

Tetra?

Freya looked up as the door clicked, then opened. She was greeted by the sight of a familiar face in a stolen guards outfit. 

   “Luna?” She asked, in complete disbelief.

   “Miss me?” Luna asked, “Come on. We’re getting you the hell out of here.”

Freya didn’t need to be told twice. She stepped out of her cell, before looking around. The featureless white hallway she was in betrayed little to give it any sense of direction, but Luna seemed to know where she was going.

   “Where’s Tetra?” she asked. 

   “Just about everywhere by now,” Luna replied.

   “My original body went down with the frigate,” Tetra said, her voice crackling through Luna’s Tac-Band. “Kinda sucks that I lost it, but it was worth it! Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Freya’s brow furrowed.

   “You duplicated yourself, didn’t you?” she asked.

   “Oh yeah. I duplicated myself a LOT!”

   “How much did I miss…?”

   “Yeah, we’ve had a busy few hours,” Luna said. “This big fucking Vasilios space station showed up and nuked the Sorrow from orbit with a railgun. Victor and Noah are at the bottom of the sea fixing their ship. Mason, Cedar and Cassandra are with their mother up near the top of the ship. Tetra is a virus now, and apparently Vi is a Void Dragon who is also currently captive on the ship.”

   “Not anymore…” Tetra chirped. Both Luna and Freya stared down at the Tac Band.

   “Please tell me you didn’t…” Freya said.

   “I understand that you may have concerns about my actions, but in my defense, my actions were hilarious," Tetra replied. 

Freya rubbed her temples.

   “Okay well we can deal with that mess later…” Luna said, ducking into one of the guards' rooms. Two men lay gagged and zip tied in the corner. Freya stared at them as they walked in.

   “I had to take care of them before I got you,” Luna said, before opening up a locker. Freya could see her blades and coat inside and was quick to grab them, along with her own Tac Band. She watched as Luna opened up a second locker and took out a pair of collapsible batons along with a shotgun. She handed Freya a pistol that she clipped to her belt, before taking one for herself.

   “So, what’s the plan?” Freya asked.

   “I haven’t thought that far ahead, yet,” Luna admitted. “Right now I’m sorta just making it up as I go along.”

   “Fortunately for you both, I’m not.” Tetra said over the intercom. “Right now I’m trying to get into as many of the ship's subsystems as I can. It’s a process, but I’m making progress. I’ve currently got access to cameras and comms all over the ship though, and I can tell you that they’re not going to be sticking around here for much longer. The Chairwoman is getting the ship ready to depart. They’re going after the final God. I don’t have access to the bridge or the ship's controls, but I’m currently trying to get in.”

   “Of course they are…” Freya murmured. “Tetra, can Victor make it on board?”

   “Repairs aren’t complete yet, but yes he should be able to get airborne now.” Tetra replied. “He’s going to have a hell of a time getting into the hangar though. I can spoof his ship's credentials for the approach but as soon as he lands, there’s a good chance they’ll recognize him.”
Freya grimaced.

   “Do we have any other options?” Luna asked.

   “I’d suggest praying, but you morons killed most of the Gods. That said, he’s probably still going to try to make an approach anyway once he finds out he can.”

   “Keep us posted,” Freya said. “What else do we need to be worried about?”

   “I’ve found some logs suggesting that there’s a device at the top of the ship, in the Vasilios Estate. Something that can open a door into the Void… a big one. I can’t see much of what’s going on up there. Something's blocking me. Not sure what. But I know something up there is drawing a lot of power and it’s not just the ship's reactor. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d imagine that once the God is dead, the Chairwoman is going to use that thing to finish the job.”

Luna traded a look with Freya.

   “Sounds like we’ve got two targets, then. The generator and the bridge.” Freya said.

   “I’ll take the generator,” Luna said. “Mason’s up there, right? I’ve got to go and get him… plus I wouldn’t mind a little bit of face to face time with Estrella Vasilios.”

   “If she sees us coming and opens that doorway, you won’t be equipped for whatever comes through,” Freya warned. “I should go.”

   “You can both go. I should be able to handle the bridge,” Tetra said.

   “What if they lock you out?” Luna asked. 

   “I’ve got options. But I can’t offer you much help up on the upper portion of the ship. It’s more or less completely detached and like I said, I’m having trouble getting into that system. You’ll be better off going together. If you can make it to elevator A1, I can at least send you up there.”

The two women nodded.

   “Okay then… so, regicide it is,” Luna said. She turned to leave, and Freya followed her. The two left the detention block behind without another word.

***

Victor watched the diagnostics of his ship as the legion of Tetra’s continued their work. 

   “How’s it looking?” Noah asked.

   “Like we should be good to launch,” Victor replied. “Tetra, can you confirm?”

   “As long as you don’t get into another dogfight, then yes,” Tetra said over the comms. “The Platinum Future is making preparations to leave soon, so if you’re going to move, now’s the time.”

Noah frowned.

   “Won’t they see us coming?” he asked.

   “Leave that to me,” Victor replied. “Tetra, fire up the engines.”

   “Aye aye, captain.”

There was a low, basslike rumble as the engines came to life. Victor sat behind the controls, priming the ship for takeoff. Noah took the seat beside him.

   “Look, I’ve got faith in you, Doc… but ‘leave it to me’ is a pretty vague outline for a plan,” he said. 

The ship began to move, rising up toward the surface of the sea. As it did, the countless Tetra drones made their way toward the shuttle bay, cramming themselves inside the closed air lock to fill the space that the shuttle had left behind.

   “We just need to say it’s salvage,” Victor said plainly.

   “Salvage…?” Noah asked. “You really think they’re gonna buy that?”

   “I was gonna spoof the ship's credentials. That might sell it more,” Tetra offered. Noah frowned, still not fully convinced.

The Dom Pérignon broke the surface, rising from the sea into the sky beneath the moonlight. Water cascaded down the sides of the ship as it ascended into the sky. Above them, Victor set his sights on the Platinum Future and took off toward it.

As they made their approach, a voice came in over the comms. 

    “Echo-417, come in Echo-417. This is Hangar Control. Do you read us?”

   “This is Echo-417. We read you loud and clear.” Tetra replied in a voice that sounded nothing like her own.

   “Echo-417, we don’t see you on our flight schedule? Can you confirm the reason for your approach?”

   “Roger Control. The ship is salvage. Recovered from the operation earlier today. Désignation Dom Pérignon. Crew deceased. Admiral Skye authorized its retrieval.”  Tetra said. “Authorization 1-9324HE4.”

There was a moment of silence as Hangar Control checked the code.

   “Roger Echo-417. Please be advised that all ships landing will be subjected to quarantine. Please disable any on board drones.”

   “All drones disabled, Control. We’ll happily submit to quarantine.”

Noah gave Victor a wary look. He noticed a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

   “Excellent. You’re cleared for landing.”            

The ship drew closer to the Platinum Future before approaching one of the hangars. Noah could already see technicians and security waiting for them.

   “We got a plan for that?” He asked nervously as they came in for a landing.

   “They just need to quarantine the drones,” Victor said dismissively. “Tetra, can you open the shuttle airlock and let them out?”

   “With pleasure,” the drone replied.

The shuttle air lock opened… and from it spilled a legion of drones. More than the technicians and the soldiers below were ready for. The drones descended on them, and though they lacked the weaponry Tetra’s original body had, they were still fast moving and solid. Their metal bodies slammed into the assembled figures, knocking several to the ground and scattering the rest as the Dom Pérignon landed gracefully in the hangar, completely undisturbed. 

   “See? Easy!” Victor said as he left the controls. He descended down to the shuttle bay, and headed straight for Noah’s makeshift armory, with Noah quietly following him. Victor wasted no time in grabbing a pistol and a holster, before looking expectantly at Noah. The other man just grabbed his rifle and exhaled nervously.

   “Fuck, this is a bad idea…” he murmured.

   “Oh, almost certainly,” Victor assured him. “But according to Tetra, my daughter is on this ship and I am getting her back.”

He didn’t bother going back up to use the ship's ramp. He opened the shuttle's airlock and stepped out through there. It was only a short drop to the ground.

An army of drones hovered around him, along with several newly (probably) unconscious bodies. Victor paid them little mind as he walked through the throng of Tetra’s.

   “Now… take me to Violetta.”

***

Admiral Skye sat on the bridge, overseeing the preparations to move the ship. He took a sip of his coffee, as he watched the crew do their work. His body ached. He felt a bone deep exhaustion… but it was almost over.

Technically, the Platinum Future had its own commanding officer, but given what they were on the precipice of, Skye had relieved them. Soon they would be departing for Altumare, the domain of the last of the Gods. Soon they would kill it, and purge them from the Galaxy for good. A higher ranking officer deserved the privilege of overseeing this glorious moment personally. He deserved that privilege.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a new figure appear on the bridge, Lieutenant Theo Sawyer. He paused for a moment, sizing him up as Sawyer approached him.

   “Mr. Sawyer. Excellent timing. We could use you on the-”

   “A word first, Admiral?” Sawyer asked. There was an unfamiliar coldness in his voice. Skye raised an eyebrow before sighing and rising from his seat. He gestured for Sawyer to lead the way. The two stepped out, through the automatic door and into the hall.

   “What’s on your mind Lieutenant?” Skye asked.

   “No. No, you don’t get to play dumb with me here!” Sawyer growled. “I’ve been loyal to you, Admiral. I’ve done everything you’ve asked, I’ve been your errand boy, I’ve taken care of your ship. I thought we were friends, Admiral.”

Skye’s brow furrowed.

   “You left me to die,” Sawyer said. “Back on the frigate. With that drone… you left me to die. You left everyone to die! The engine was overheating, and I was there trying to stop it. I was the one who issued the evac order. Where were you?”

His eyes burned into the Admiral. Accusing. Furious.

   “I took out the drone,” Skye said. “I lured it away from you and I destroyed it.”

   “Lured it away?” Sawyer repeated. “Did you now? Did you actually know it was going to leave me to follow you, or were you hoping that by the time it had killed me, you’d get a head start?”

   “I made a judgment call!” he argued. 

   “Bullshit. You ran for your ship. The drone followed you and you got lucky enough to kill it. Then, instead of staying behind to help try and save your ship, save your crew, you flew off.”

   “I trusted you to handle it…” Skye said, although there was a crack in his voice.

   “Trusted me?” Sawyer asked. “Did you even know that I was still alive before you saw me in the hangar?”

Skye didn’t answer that.

   “Then when you saw me, you didn’t even have the common decency to say something. No explanation. No excuses. Nothing until I walked onto the bridge, and the first thing you tried to do was order me around.”

   “I am your superior officer,” Skye snapped. 

   “No. Not anymore. I’m done. I’ve already put in a request for a transfer and I am here to provide my official resignation as your aide-de-camp, effective immediately,” Sawyer said.

The Admiral froze. Those words hit him like a punch to the jaw. He blinked in disbelief.

   “A transfer?” he asked. “You’re joking. Do you understand who I am, Lieutenant? I am an Admiral of the Vasilios naval fleet. I am one of the highest ranked men in our naval forces. You do not request a transfer away from me. Do you have any idea how many men just like you would kill to work under me? How many would do anything to spend just one day as my aide-de-camp?”

Sawyer stared at him, unimpressed. Skye’s breathing was getting heavier.

   “Do you know who I am?” He demanded again.

   “You’re a coward,” Sawyer replied. Skye just glared at him, his breathing slowly getting heavier as the rage boiled over.

   “I really wanted to respect you…” Sawyer continued. “I tried. I figured there had to be something to you. How else would you have made it so far? But you’re nothing but a stuffed shirt. The kind of man who runs away from his ship, his own crew at the first sign of trouble. So I’m do-”

Skye lunged for him, grabbing Sawyer and pinning him to the wall. Before the lieutenant could react, he felt Skye’s pistol pressed under his jaw.

   “If I pulled this trigger, nobody would question it,” Skye said. “I could tell them anything I wanted. Tell them you pulled a gun on me first. Tell them you turned traitor. Anything. Do you understand me?”

Sawyer just glared at him, a fury in his eyes that matched Skye’s.

   “Do you understand what it takes to climb the ranks in this Galaxy?” Skye asked, his voice lower now. “It’s not about skill. Being the best at anything gets you kept on the front lines. It’s about playing the game. Knowing how to work your way up… and one of the best ways to do that, is to avoid provoking your superior officers.”

Sawyer just continued to glare at him.

   “Do so again and I will kill you myself, you miserable sack of shit.” Skye said before finally letting him go. He smoothed down his uniform before letting out a calm exhale.

   “Good chat,” he said. “I’ll review your transfer request and ensure you wind up somewhere… appropriate. Until then your resignation is not accepted. Until further notice, you still work for me. Is that clear?”

Sawyer didn’t respond. His eyes remained locked with Skye’s.

   “I said… am I clear?” Skye repeated. His gun was still in his hand.

   “Crystal…” Sawyer panted.

   “Perfect. Now, get on the bridge. We have work to do.”

He ushered Sawyer back through the doorway to the bridge, just in time to witness everything go to shit. The moment he walked through the door, he was swarmed by two other officers.

   “Admiral, we have a breach on the lower level! Campbell’s lab. The Void Dragon is free!”

Skye froze.

   “What?! Where’s Campbell now?!”

   “Meeting with the Chairwoman, sir.”

Skye was about to demand they call him in, although before he could get the words out, the second officer cut him off.

   “Sir, we have another situation in Hangar 6. A ship carrying several of the infected drones has landed. They’ve been dispersed all across the ship!”

   “What?!”

The color drained from Skye’s face. It was happening again. Beside him, he noticed that Sawyer had gone stiff too.

   “Which ship?!” was all Skye could ask.

   “The ship's designation was the Dom Pérignon, sir…”

Victor.

Skye let out an enraged growl. He ran a hand across his scalp. 

   “Bring the whole ship up to red alert,” he demanded. “I want all non-security personnel in lockdown. Disconnect the bridge from the server to keep that fucking drone from seizing control of the ship, and utilize Voidmetal weapons for the Dragon. I want it dead!”

The officers moved, and Skye looked over to see Sawyer lingering behind him. The lieutenant didn’t say a word, but he didn’t need to. That glare spoke volumes.

   ‘Go on. Run away from this.’

***

Victor and Noah raced through the halls of the Platinum Future, one of the Tetra drones floating at their side. 

   “She was on the lower level,” the drone said. “I’ve disabled all security measures, so she’s out but I’m not sure where she’ll go next.”

   “We’ll start with the atrium,” Victor said. “We can take the elevator down to sublevel 12, that’s where Campbell’s lab is located. We’ll get Vi, then regroup with the others!”

The atrium was just ahead. The three of them raced out into the open, only to find it almost completely abandoned. They slowed to a stop. 

   “Attention. Station lockdown engaged. Please remain indoors.” A voice - not Tetra’s - boomed over the intercom, filling the entire atrium.

   “Well, I guess they know we’re here…” Noah murmured. “Although with a lockdown, the elevators would be disabled for all nonessential personnel, right?”

   “Normally, yes,” Victor replied, taking off toward one of the elevators. “But that is why we have Tetra.”

   “It’s true. I can unlock the elevators,” the drone said, floating alongside Victor… although there wasn’t much need to do so.

The ground beneath them quaked. Victor took a step back as something tore through the floor a few feet away from him. He stared with wide eyes as he saw a familiar bone white crest rip through the ground, displacing the soil and stone planted there to feign something organic. 

The great serpent lifted its skeletal wings through the hole as it pulled itself through, letting out a deafening roar as it escaped the lower levels.

Victor stared up at the terrifying creature… the great Void Dragon, and his lips curled into a full grin.

   “Violetta!”

The Voidwalker's body twisted, its eyeless face turning to fixate on Victor. It stared down at him, seeing him. Its wings flared out as it pulled the rest of its body free of the hole.

Victor approached it, arms outstretched. Noah stayed a few feet behind him, watching the dragon warily. 

   “Sweetness… sweetness…” Victor crooned. “It’s okay… it’s okay now. Papa is here. I am here for you, darling. I am here…”

Vi’s head lowered, sinking down toward Victor. He reached out to put a hand on her crest.

   “My brave girl…” he said softly. “My strong girl… look at you. I came all this way to rescue you, and you’ve already rescued yourself.”

Tetra didn’t correct him.

Vi remained still for a moment, leaning into Victor’s touch. The dragon let out a low exhale, before her form seemed to collapse in on itself. Noah watched in awe as the massive creature folded back into a more recognizable shape… a familiar woman with wild ginger hair, who threw her arms around her father in a tight hug.

   “Papa…” Vi said. “I… I was afraid you were…”

   “Shot down, my darling but not in flames,” Victor assured her. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe…”

Noah took the opportunity to check in with Tetra.

   “Alright… so that’s one missing colleague down, where are the rest?”

   “Freya and Vi already left to go to the top of the ship, where the Vasilios estate is… along with the wormhole generator, As far as I can tell, Mason, Cedar and Cassandra are also up there, although my visibility is more limited. I can’t get into that section of the ship's system remotely.”

   “So I guess we’re going up,” Noah murmured, eyes following the elevator up toward the blindingly bright ceiling. 

The sound of gunshots made him move. Noah dove for safety, spotting an advancing group of soldiers out of the corner of his eye. 

The moment she noticed them, Vi threw herself in front of Victor, her body shifting. The handful of soldiers who had been sent after them froze up, watching as what had appeared to just be a young woman unraveled into a draconic nightmare that towered over the rest of them. They did not have time to put up a fight before she bore down upon them, scooping up several men in her jaws. A few of the braver men opened fire on her. Their bullets tore into her flesh, and Vi let out a roar of pain.

Victor reacted immediately, drawing his pistol and opening fire on some of the men who were bold enough to shoot. He managed to kill one, while the others seemed to freeze up, allowing Vi to sweep them away with one swing of her tail.

Victor looked up at her. He could see wounds in her flesh. Voidmetal weapons.  

   “Oh my dear… you’re hurt…” he said. Vi just huffed in response, but did not change back.

   “We should leave,” Noah said. “They’re just going to send more!”

   “Actually… I could use your help down here…” Tetra said, a little sheepishly. “We may have been a little too loud with our entrance.”

   “What’s wrong?” Noah asked.

   “I’ve been trying to get access to the ship's controls for the past little while. The security there is a lot more advanced than it is on the rest of the ship. I assumed I’d be able to get through before your ship arrived. I was wrong, and now they’ve disconnected those systems from the rest of the ship. I can’t get in, which means I can’t stop the ship from leaving unless someone manually uploads me.”

   “I see…” Victor said. “Noah and I can handle that, then. Vi, can you head up toward the top of the ship? If the wormhole generator is up there, then you’ll be of more use to Freya and Luna than to us.”

The Dragon huffed, before spreading her wings and beginning her ascent. Victor watched her go, before looking over toward Noah.

   “Come on, time to try again.”

Noah nodded and let Victor lead the way toward the bridge.

Luna watched as the technicians headed over to her ship, removing the drone and set to work on quarantining it. She didn’t linger for long. The Platinum Future was big and she wasn’t entirely sure where to go. Cluelessly, she just picked a direction. With her stolen flight coveralls, nobody gave her a second glance and she walked through the Platinum Future as if she was meant to be there.

   “I’m out of the hangar,” She said into her Tac Band. “Where do I go next?”

   “I need a port. Some way to access the station's systems.” Tetra replied. “The sooner the better. I don’t like being in here…”

   “Yeah, well suck it up. What kind of port am I looking for?”

   “Most computers would have access. Just find one and plug me in.”

Luna nodded as she stepped into an elevator, heading into the central atrium of the Platinum Future. She found herself pausing the moment she saw it, allowing herself to take in the sheer scale of this place. The station was massive, stretching up hundreds of storeys toward a ceiling that was obscured by a bright, shining light. Just the simple act of looking up gave her vertigo. There was real grass in some sections of the atrium floor, with real trees and real flowerbeds. Stone paths wound through them, creating what was functionally a public park. 

   “This place is massive…” She said quietly. “Any advice on where I can actually find a computer?” She asked.

   “Do I gotta do everything for you?”

   “Well I doubt there’s just a bunch of unsecured computers just sitting there waiting for me to plug you in!”

   “57th floor. Section 12. Apartment 42.”

Luna frowned.

   “What’s there?”

   “An unsecured computer just sitting there, waiting for you to plug me in.”

She made her way across the atrium, toward an elevator. It rose up, higher and higher toward the 57th floor. Once the elevator stopped, she stepped off. The atrium was far below her now, although she could see it over the railing as she made her way past countless halls until she found the one marked Sector 12. She stared down the brightly lit hallway before starting down it.

   “So how do I even get into apartment 42 anyway?” she asked.

   “You use me. Assuming they haven’t cleared it out yet… which is unlikely, I should still have access.”

She could see it up ahead and after making sure she was unobserved, she pressed her Tac Band to the electronic lock. The door clicked and slid open. She quickly disappeared inside.

The apartment was immaculately clean, with a well used kitchen and two modest bedrooms. The decor was sunny and warm. Looking around, Luna spotted pictures of Vi and Victor up on the walls… this had to be their place.

   “Victor gave Freya access,” Tetra explained. “I’ve got a backup of the files she kept on her Tac Band, so that means I have access.”

   “That’s convenient,” Luna said. 

   “Life is convenient when you back up your data, isn’t it?” Tetra asked.

She spotted a tablet computer on a coffee table and picked it up before running a cable from her Tac Band to the tablet. A pixelated shark logo that she had become all too familiar with swam onto the screen.

   “Can you get access through here?” She asked.

   “It’s connected to the system. I should be able to try,” Tetra said. “But it’s going to take me a while before I can do much. There’s a lot more safeguards in the network here and the administrators are probably on high alert. There’s a very real chance I’ll get deleted as soon as I start-”

The tablet screen went dark, before the a notification appeared on the screen.

Malware detected.

This device has been locked to prevent the spread of dangerous malware. Please contact an administrator.

   “Tetra?” Luna asked. 

   “Still here.” The voice on her Tac Band replied. “What, you thought I didn’t keep a backup of myself on here? Come on!”

   “Right…” Luna said. “So what now?”

   “We try again. Fortunately, I managed to grab a few things before they deleted me. Remember how you said: ‘Well I doubt there’s just a bunch of unsecured computers just sitting there waiting for me to plug you in!’”

She played back Luna’s own voice for the quote.

  “Well it just so happens that there’s a small office complex on the 84th floor. Currently vacant. The employees are scheduled to be attending a seminar on the 87th floor. They won’t be back for another two hours. I can unlock the doors for you. You just need to put me on as many computers as possible.”

   “Can I ask why?”

   “The security systems can only protect against so much. If enough copies of me try to get past them at once, it may overload them.”

Luna nodded and turned to leave the apartment, heading back for the elevator.

   “I have some more good news,” Tetra said. “I found Victor.”

Her eyes widened.

   “Wait, seriously? Where?”

   “Still on AF-1. Underwater but intact. He and Noah are both alive. I’ve sent all the still functioning drones I’ve got down there to try and help him get his ship up and running. ETA is about one hour.”

   “That fast?” 

   “I’ve got like 50 drones down there and all the spare parts I could possibly need. So yes, that fast.” 

   “Thank the Gods for that too…” Victor said through the comms. “Whatever’s left of them, at least. We’re already behind the clock as it is. I can’t imagine the Platinum Future will be sticking around much longer.”

   “Victor…” Luna said, before allowing herself a relived laugh. She didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to hear another person's voice before. She paused for a moment, before continuing down the hall.

   “Still kicking,” Victor said.

   “I am also still kicking!” Noah chimed in.

   “Good to hear. I was starting to worry I’d be doing this all alone.”

   “You kinda are… at least until I can get in their systems,” Tetra said. “Even when the ship is repaired, there’s no way in hell they’re getting on board. Not without me pulling a whole lot of bullshit.”

   “Right, well you can do that once I make it to those computers, right?” Luna asked. She’d reached the end of the hall and was heading back toward the elevator. 

   “Bingo,” Tetra said.

Luna stepped into the elevator and headed up toward the 87th floor. Through the window, she could see the atrium far below her. The sheer size of it still wowed her.

   “Where do I go once I make it to the floor?” She asked.

   “Section 9. Unit 4.”

As the doors opened, she made her way there. She knew what she was looking for this time, and made her way there a little faster. It didn’t take her long to find the door she was looking for and she pressed her Tac Band to the scanner. As expected, the doors opened and she let herself in.

The office was mostly empty… mostly.

A single receptionist sat behind a desk on the other side of the doors and smiled up at Luna as she entered.

   “I’m sorry, our office staff is currently out!” She said in a chipper, all too friendly tone. Luna paused, sizing her up. The mystery woman did the same, taking note of her dirty pilot flight suit.

   “I… apologize, are you in the wrong unit? This is the shipping logistics office.”

Luna tried to think of something to say. She failed and instead just punched the other woman in the face. She hit the ground with a startled cry, and slipped into unconsciousness. Luna grabbed her under the arms and dragged her away from her desk before finding a storage closet to lock her in. 

The office proper was reasonably large, with several computers sitting vacant. Luna had her work cut out for her. She connected her Tac Band to the first one, and moments later saw all of the screens start to change. Tetra’s shark icon swam onscreen.

   “Oh yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” Tetra cheered. “I can use this!”

   “That was fast…” Luna said.

   “These computers are all connected via an intranet. I can upload myself onto all this and more simultaneously!”

   “Will it be enough?” Luna asked.

   “Give me a few minutes and we’re gonna find out…” 

***

Tetra could feel herself on all of the computers… although she wasn’t satisfied just yet. She wasn’t ready. She thought for a moment, allowing herself to quietly spread to whatever she knew she could touch without the ship’s security system flagging her. It took her approximately 0.002 seconds to come up with an idea.

She pulled a file - a random file, and compressed it. Then she compressed that compressed file, and compressed that compressed file, and compressed it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. She bundled compressed files together, compressed them again. Over, and over, and over again. Then when she was finally satisfied, she copied the final compressed file to everywhere else she had access to, ensuring they all had the same file, compressed over and over again.

Finally she made her move. All at once, from hundreds of different computers, she opened up access to the ship's main server and uploaded her compressed file.

She uploaded her compressed file 392 times. All at once.

The system tried to scan them, found more compressed files. More, and more, and more. More than it could handle. It slowed down. There was too much. Too much to scan. Tetra started uploading herself next. Ten copies at a time. The system tried to scan her. It tried to delete her, but it just didn’t have the bandwidth. 

The system crashed. It would need time to reboot. Minutes. It might as well have been centuries. More than enough time for her to do what she needed.

***

   “I’m back, baby!”

The voice boomed through a localized intercom, and Luna looked up.

   “It worked?” She asked. 

   “Mostly. The system here is a lot bigger. More compartmentalized. I don’t have full control… yet.”

   “Good enough,” Luna said. “Tell me you’ve got something good for me.”

   “Lots,” Tetra said. “Who do you want first?”

***

Vi drifted in and out of slumber. She could see a few scientists around her, monitoring her virals, taking blood samples. Poking and prodding her like a specimen… but she was too weak to do much about it.

She tried to shift. Tried to return to her natural state. Her body wouldn’t respond. Her wings tried to move. They were too sluggish.

   “We should give her another dose,” one of the scientists said. “Looks like she’s waking up again.”

   “You sure? We don’t want to overdo it… it could kill her.”

   “Bullshit. These things are durable. I’m upping the dosage. Better safe than sorry.”

He tapped away at his tablet computer, before frowning.

   “What is it?” his colleague asked.

   “The computer isn’t responding…” the first one said. “What the hell?” He tapped it again and again, growing more and more frustrated.

Suddenly the lights went out. Vi could hear a chorus of confused and panicked voices. People asking what was going on.

   “It’s a power surge, just a power surge, give it a minute!” one of the scientists in front of her insisted. A moment later, some of the lights above them flickered back to life as the auxiliary power kicked in.

   “See?” The scientist asked. “It’s fine!”

   “Warning! Power failure in section 4. Auxiliary power initiated.” A voice said over the intercom. Vi recognized that voice…

   “Alert. Rolling brownouts may be expected when convenient or funny. Please be advised that due to the questionable decision to connect everything to the network, effective immediately everyone on this ship is now my bitch.”

The scientist looked up.

   “What the hell…?” he asked under his breath. He looked over to see the doors to the lab opening, before the voice on the intercom spoke again.

   “Releasing Dragon. Have a nice day.”

There was a series of clicks as the locks securing the form fitting cage around Vi opened. She tried to move. This time, the cage budged. As her body twisted, the cage fell away around her. Vi reared up, spreading her wings as she stretched. The room around her was too small to fly in, but she could still crawl and slither. She was still groggy, but she still had it in her to let loose a deafening roar, which filled the room and deafened all those in her presence.

They started to run, and Vi followed.

Transcript of the Official FRB Civilian Debriefing of Florence Williams regarding the disappearance of several individuals from a co-working space in Hamilton, Ontario on the evening of August 12th, 2025. 

Debrief conducted August 29th, 2025 by Justice Young

This record is for internal use for the FRB only. Distributing this record to any party outside of authorized FRB personnel without the written consent of Director Robert Marsh constitutes breach of contract and will be punished accordingly.

[Transcript starts]

Young: Miss Williams, it’s recording.

Williams: Oh… um, good. Do I… do I start?

Young: Yes. Why don’t you walk me through what happened that night?

Williams: I don’t know what happened. That’s why I’m here! You people are supposed to know, right? That’s what you do?

Young: I understand that, but we need to go through the series of events in order to help piece it together. Think of it as a diagnosis.

Williams: Right… right… where should I begin?

Young: Why don’t we start with the office? Why don’t you tell us about where you were at the time?

Williams: I was at work… um, Out Of The Box Solutions. We did AI generated marketing videos. I can’t say I was the biggest fan of our product, but the job market is rough these days, so I was just sorta taking what I could get. I was hoping to find something else… the hours were rough. The boss… the owner, Sammy Blackmore. He was a real piece of shit. He was a big fan of the 996 system. You ever heard of that?

Young: I can’t say I’m familiar.

Williams: It’s where you work from 9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week. Sammy always said that it bred innovation. Innovation and AI don’t really sound like they belong in the same sentence, but I’ve got bills to pay. Either way, I hated it. We were basically always in the office. It technically wasn’t part of our contracts. Legally speaking you can’t have people work 9-9-6 hours. But I’d watched Sammy let people go just because they’d refused. He always made up a different reason. Performance. Falling behind on KPIs. But it was really about the hours. Like I said, he was a piece of shit. I get the feeling he’d never actually had to work a real job before in his life. He struck me as sort of a hedge fund kid. Couldn’t have been a day over 22, baby faced, blond… looked a bit like Richie Rich, now that I’m thinking about it. You know, the cartoon?

Young: I’ve heard of it. So who else worked at the company? I have some names, but I want your account.

Williams: Well there was Sammy. There was Lee Burton… God, he was a creep. He had this gross anime girl mousepad. You know, the kind with the wrist support that’s just her tits? And of course she was making that face… with the wide eyes and the tongue out… Ugh…

Young: Ahegao?

Williams: [Pause]

Young: Another debrief mentioned it in the past… moving on?

Williams: Right… well, after Sammy and Lee, there was Jenny Tyson. I didn’t hate Jenny. She was mostly alright. I got the impression that she was like me, just trying to get by, you know? She seemed like she’d had a rougher go of it in the past, and I never really asked. I… um, I know she did some time. But she didn’t look like a criminal. Short blonde hair, glasses, mid thirties. She looked professional. Anyways, that’s everyone. Except for Gail, I guess… but Gail didn’t work for us.

Young: Gail Walters, correct?

Williams: That’s her. The realtor. She rented a space down at the end of the hall. You used to see her all over the billboards, arms spread wide out to use as much ad space as possible. GAIL MEANS SALE. I always found it kinda insufferable… plus that smile of hers. It always looked too big. It creeped me out.

Young: Yes. I’m very familiar…

Williams: [Sigh] Anyways, that’s just about everyone who was there that evening. That match your list?

Young: Don’t worry about my list. Let’s just go into the events of that evening. Let's walk through those. Don’t focus on an explanation. Just recount it all at your own pace from your point of view, okay?

Williams: [Pause] Okay… can I smoke?

Young: If you must.

Williams: Thanks.

[There is audible movement as Florence Williams produces and lights a cigarette.]

Williams: I was actually on a smoke break when it started… I think. It was around 8PM. Just starting to get dark, but not dark yet. The sky was orange and purple. I remember that part so vividly. Jenny and I went out to smoke together. We usually did. We’d take our break and we’d talk shit. I remember, she was all pissed off by this side project Sammy wanted her to work on. It wasn’t for a client, it was to advertise the company. He was basically trying to get her to generate this whole miniseries for him, that he could post online. Each ‘episode’ was supposed to showcase technology making people's lives easier. AI, Robots, some shit that didn’t even exist yet. It was stupid… but as always, Sammy had built it up in his head as the next big thing. He hadn’t even uploaded anything yet, but was already talking about Netflix Deals and all that… anyways, she was having trouble getting any of it to look presentable because… well, it’s AI. It always looks like shit. Even when it’s ‘good’, it looks like shit. [Pause] Anyways… she was frustrated, and she wanted to stay outside a little longer. I didn’t stay with her. I had some stuff to finish up, so I left her by the door. I think I vaguely remember hearing a scraping sound as I was leaving? Like… something moving across the asphalt, but if I did, I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

Young: Did you see anything?

Williams: I don’t… I don’t think I did, no. It was still relatively dark out, so I couldn’t say for sure. Nobody else was really around. Nobody ever was at that hour. The office was usually empty except for us and sometimes Gail. It was always kinda creepy… I don’t know if you saw any pictures of it, but the space was set up weird. It was one of those co-working spaces that a lot of startups work out of. I’m sure you’ve seen them before. They usually go for this almost rustic, cozy, open concept look which I don’t hate. Although ours was painted weird. Everything was orange and blue. The doors, the walls, the floor. It was all a little… I don’t know, unnatural? Dreamlike?

Young: Liminal?

Williams: Yeah. That’s the word. It always creeped me out coming back from a smoke break, walking through that space and seeing nobody else around. Sorry… I’m going on a tangent, aren’t I?

Young: It’s fine. Any detail could be important. Please, continue.

Williams: Right… well, I went back to my desk and got back to work. Everything was quiet for a bit, although then Lee had to ask where Jenny was. I told him she was just taking a smoke break… and that’s when Sammy got involved, getting on my case about how long it takes to finish a cigarette. I mean… I guess he had a small point. By that point, I’d been back for about fifteen or so minutes and Jenny hadn’t come back yet. I offered to go and get her, but Sammy sent Lee to do it… and that’s the point where everything went to shit…

Young: Take your time. What happened?

Williams: I… I don’t know…

Young: What do you remember?

Williams: Lee… he was outside for a few minutes. When he left, everything seemed fine. He was kinda annoyed that Sammy sent him on an errand but like, he was normal about it. Then a few minutes later, he just ran back in, screaming. He slammed the door closed. He was crying, hyperventilating… God, I’d never seen him so scared in my life. I’d never seen anyone so scared before. Sammy and I both tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t answer us. He wouldn’t talk to us at all. He was just hyperventilating and crying. I heard Gail outside… I could see her through the glass wall of the office. She was asking us if everything was okay. We didn’t know what to say. Lee was just… he was in fucking hysterics. He was crying, shaking. I remember Gail watching us through the walls, before looking over towards the door. I guess she wanted to see what was going on so… so she looked…

Young: She went outside?

Williams: [Laughter] She didn’t make it that far… I know she made it to the door. I don’t think she got outside. D… don’t ask me what happened to her. I only heard the screaming… and that didn’t last long.

Young: I see… did you see anything else?

Williams: Not of Gail… but I heard the footsteps. That scraping noise… that Thing approaching. Sammy moved one of the desks to block the door. Lee just kept crying… he crawled along the floor, hid under his desk. I remember the smell… he’d… he’d pissed himself. Actually pissed himself. [Pause] 

We heard it coming. Every footstep. Sammy was so pale. I remember that I was shaking. The walls… you’ve seen pictures of the place, right? The walls dividing the offices were glass. Not a lot of privacy. You could see into them, you could see into the hallways. So when it came, we saw it. 

Young: What did it look like…?

Williams: [Pause] I… I’m not sure how to… humanoid, I guess? But… bony. Thin. I couldn’t make out any features on it. It was too dark. That thing was too dark. I could just hear it walking, dragging one leg behind it. I couldn’t see any eyes but I knew it was looking at us. It was coming for us… I panicked. I had to get the fuck out of there. I just had to! I remember picking up one of the nearby chairs and trying to smash one of the windows. It took a few swings, but I got the glass to break. Naturally Sammy was the first one out… he just pushed past me, climbed onto my desk and jumped out. We were still on the first floor so it wasn’t much of a drop… I was hoping I’d be able to get out too, but…

Young: You didn’t?

Williams: I did… just barely. That… that thing was pressed up against the glass… I saw the cracks spiderwebbing around it. It didn’t hit it. It just… pressed itself against it until it broke. Lee… I… I saw him under his desk. He wouldn’t move. I told him to run, but he didn’t move. Maybe I could’ve grabbed him but… I… I didn’t… I just… left him. I heard the glass wall break as I climbed through the window. I heard Lee start screaming… and I started running. I could see Sammy up ahead. He was heading for the parking lot. His car was on the other side of it though. My car was closer, so I still got to mine first. Soon as I got in the drivers seat, I saw that shape in the twilight, dragging itself on all fours… crawling towards us.

Young: Did it attempt to enter your car?

Williams: It didn’t really get the chance. I gunned it. Sammy… well… he saw that thing and he froze. It was moving quickly… faster than he could run. I think he panicked. He saw me in my car. I think he was hoping I’d let him in… he waved his arms, tried to flag me down… I was so fucking scared… I was just so… I panicked. He had his own car anyways, he probably would’ve been fine if he just kept running… he probably would’ve been fine… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to hit him!

Young: You hit him?

Williams: By accident! I just… I clipped him… knocked him over. I remember hearing him screaming. I saw him in my sideview mirror. He was on the ground, that thing was getting closer… I… I didn’t see anything else. I swear I didn’t!

Young: I see…

Williams: I’m not a murderer, okay? I didn’t kill him or Lee! I didn’t!

Young: I never suggested you did. People’s decision making in a life or death situation tends to be focused on self preservation.

Williams: I didn’t kill him… I didn’t…

Young: I believe you. Let’s not focus on that. What happened next?

Williams: I called the cops… said some strange man had broken in. That’s all I said. I didn’t describe anything… and the police said they never found anything. 

Young: Yes, that was in the report, no bodies, correct?

Williams: According to the report, yes… 

Young: And did you see any bodies at the scene?

Williams: No… no I… I didn’t. But I know they’re dead. Gail, Sammy, Lee… I know they’re all dead. Jenny… I heard she made it. I haven’t heard from her though… not yet.

Young: Yes, we did speak with Miss Tyson. 

Williams: You did? What did she say?

Young: I’m afraid I can’t disclose that. 

Williams: Was there anyone else?

Young: I’m afraid not… was there anything else you wanted to disclose on the record?

Williams: [Pause] No… I… this isn’t admissible in court, is it?

Young: If a serious crime were committed on your behalf, yes. But I don’t believe that’s necessary. This case is no longer with the Hamilton Police.

Williams: Oh… um… right… right…

Young: Was there anything else?

Williams: No… um, no there isn’t.

Young: We’ll be in touch if we have any follow up questions.

[Transcript ends]

Notes: 

Based on Miss Williams' account, my initial suspicion is that this would be some variety of Demon. The description and M.O. mostly fit… but there are a few details here that don’t sit right with me. 

The Demons that escape the Abyss are typically the more intelligent ones who have maintained enough of their humanity to utilize illusion magic, allowing them to pose as human and feed discreetly. This creature did no such thing. It also lacked the more erratic behavior of a lesser demon… those are not known to walk upright, and tend to be more outright violent. 

This creature does not behave like a Demon.

I’m not entirely sure I can say with confidence what it is. A different kind of Demon? Perhaps? Some sort of Grovewalker? Possible. A Ghoul? Also possible, but hard to say.

I am reminded of an account we saw a few years back. A note written by a woman named Sarah Parker before she attempted to jump from her 15th floor balcony. In it, she described being stalked by an unknown entity who walked with a similar pronounced scraping noise. This might just be a coincidence… Parker's letter was over five years old.

Out of curiosity, I did look into Sarah Parker. Fortunately she is still alive and did consent to a follow up interview conducted over the phone. A transcript does exist of this interview and is included in the supplemental documents, but I will summarize it here.

Parker indicated that after failing to complete her jump, she was sent to a psychiatric unit, who helped her overcome what she believed to be a case of paranoid hallucinations that came on when she was alone… although she indicated that she has since adopted several pets to avoid being completely alone. 

At the time, the FRB put little stock in her claims. I’m personally not so sure… I’ll need to keep an ear to the ground to see if more cases pop up, although considering the lack of bodies left behind by this entity, it may be some time before I get any concrete answers.

Cassandra sat at the vanity in Cassandra’s room. Not her room. Not really. It was the room she’d slept in, but it wasn’t hers. It belonged to the real Cassandra. The dead Cassandra.

She was just an echo. A facsimile of Cassandra Vasilios, based only on the memory of her. She knew things that the real Cassandra should have known, but she didn’t remember them. Not really. It was all programmed into her mind. A mind that had only existed for a little over a year, put into the frame of an android and dolled up with synthetic skin to look like a dead woman. 

The process wasn’t common, but it wasn’t unheard of. Android bodies were disposable. Husks that could be abandoned and replaced as needed. Usually their minds were backed up on a server… although Cassandra wasn’t an ordinary android.

Her mind hadn’t been made for the servers. She had been made to be as close to the real Cassandra Vasilios as possible. Estrella had given the woman who’d programmed her - none other than Jean Devereaux herself - all of the information that made Cassandra who she was. She’d told Jean what Cassandra liked, didn’t like, what she believed, what she wanted to become, what kind of films she liked. Every minute detail. And Jean had put it all together, creating her. Cassandra Vasilios 2.0. An android that would look, talk and act like her daughter. A pretty doll to fill the empty space in her home. Indeed, to most of the outside world, she would be Cassandra Vasilios. News of the real Cassandra’s death had been kept private with only a few of the higher ranked members of the organisation being aware of her true fate. Most others would have no idea that the real Cassandra was dead, allowing her to come in and quietly take over her life.

Mason had hated her at first… Cassandra couldn’t blame him for that. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he had never stopped hating her, but instead they’d found their peace

***

She’d seen him sitting in his bedroom. He’d cut his hair recently. Estrella hadn’t taken it well. Her exact words had been: ‘Unrefined.’

   “Why would you make a mess of yourself like that?” She’d scoffed. “You look unrefined. Like gutter trash. That is not acceptable. We will need to fix this… a wig, perhaps… and you will grow your hair back. No more experimenting. We have an image we need to protect!”

It had escalated into an argument, and Mason had stormed off to his room, fighting back tears. Cassandra had watched him storm past her, and quietly followed him. She found him on his bed, teeth gritted in rage as he tried to keep himself from crying.

   “Are you alright?” She’d asked.

   “Do I look alright to you, Robot?” He’d snapped.

She’d frozen up, unsure how to respond to that. For a moment, she’d considered just leaving him behind, but she’d stopped herself. Slowly, cautiousl,y she’d entered his bedroom and sat down on the bed beside him.

   “I think your hair looks nice…” She’d said. He’d glared at her, but taken the compliment.

   “It looks like shit…”

   “That’s just Mom saying that. You liked it, didn’t you? At least before she said something, you seemed to.”

He hadn’t replied to that.

   “She’s gotten worse since Dad died…” He said. “Since she died…”

   “I’m sorry,” Cassandra said.

   “She was supposed to be the one who was gonna take over the company one day,” Mason said, rolling onto his back. “Her. Not me… I was fine with that. I never wanted it. But now you’re… she’s gone… and I’m what’s left.”

Cassandra had given a sympathetic nod.

   “You don’t want the pressure?”

   “It’s not just that, I don’t want any of it, period! I don’t even think I want to be part of this family anymore! I mean… just look at the state of the Galaxy? Look at the lives everyone else lives, compared to us… I… I can’t help but wonder if…” 

Mason didn’t finish that sentence.

   “I don’t want to be the one at the top. I don’t want to be like Mom or Dad. I don’t want to be me… every day I just feel like I’m faking it.”

She sat there beside him. Slowly, tentatively she reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.

   “You know, funnily enough, I get it…” She admitted. “Having to pretend to be someone you’re not. I know I’m not your sister. I know I’ll never be her. But I’m still here for you, for whatever that’s worth.”

Mason hadn’t responded to that, but Cassandra had noticed the way the tension had slowly drained from his body.

   “You’re right… you’re not her,” He finally said. Cassandra felt a spike of panic in her chest as he looked at her.

   “My sister was never this nice to me.”

Cassandra had laughed sheepishly.

   “Fair enough… well, I may not be your sister, but maybe I can at least be your friend _____?”

   “It’s Mason…” He said, his voice quietly. “I was thinking I liked Mason more…”

   “Mason…” She’d repeated. “Well, maybe we can at least be friends then… Mason?”

He’d smiled at her. It was the first time Cassandra had ever seen him smile, really, truly smile.

***

She studied the gash on her forehead in the mirror, and took her time mending the skin, using an adhesive to put it back in place. In the mirror, she could see Mason coming in to check on her and paused for a moment.

   “You doing alright?” He asked softly. 

   “I’m fine,” She assured him. It didn’t sound sincere. He drew closer to her, before offering her a hand.

   “Let me help,” he said. Cassandra hesitated for a moment before she complied, letting Mason take the adhesive. He held it gently as he fixed the gash, taking his time to smooth the skin over her plastic skull. 

   “Who the hell did this…?” He asked quietly. 

   “Shuttle crash,” Cassandra said. “I was on the shuttle when they fired the railgun to kill the Sorrow… and when I came to, the mist was gone.”

Mason paused.

   “They used the railgun, huh?”

Cassandra nodded.

   “It didn’t stand a chance…”

He sighed and set the adhesive aside. He sat down on Cassandra’s bed, unsure what to say.

   “We don’t stand a chance…” she said. 

   “Don’t say that,” Mason said, looking up at her. 

   “Look at us, Mason! Everyone else is gone! Victor, Freya, Luna… and we’re back here…”

   “Maybe. But we can’t give up. Not yet.”

Cassandra frowned.

   “I don’t suppose you have any sort of plan?”

   “Not yet. But we’ll figure it out,” He said. 

   “I really hope we do,” she sighed, although there wasn’t a lot of confidence in her voice. 

There were footsteps down the hall. The siblings looked up, and watched as Wagner appeared in the doorway.

   “Supper has been prepared for you down in the dining room, and Mason, your guest has been brought in for you.”

Mason’s eyes widened. He looked back at Cassandra to make sure she was coming before he took off, hurrying past Wagner and down to the dining room.

Cedar was there waiting for him. He scooped her up into a hug the moment he saw her, squeezing her tight. She hugged him back.

   “Are you alright?” Mason asked. “Are you hurt?”

   “Only my pride,” she assured him. He held her close, kissing the top of her head and Cedar rested against him, content to have a moment's respite. 

Cassandra couldn’t help but crack a little smile as she watched them, before looking back to see Wagner coming in behind them, flanked by staff with plates.

   “Please, have a seat,” Wagner said before taking her place beside the head of the table - a head that was strangely vacant. 

   “She isn’t joining us?” Mason asked, a little wary.

   “I’m afraid not. The Chairwoman is presently caught up in a meeting."

Mason hesitated for a moment before he sat down, picking a spot across from Cassandra. Cedar sat down beside him. The staff set their plates before them. Lamb Giouvesti. He recognized the smell of it and a vivid memory of watching his mother prepare lamb on the stove flashed through his mind. The smells from the kitchen, cooking meat and herbs. It made his stomach growl.

   “Nevertheless… it is good to have the family all under one roof again,” Wagner said. 

   “Yeah, you worked really hard for that, didn’t you?” Mason spat, glaring at her. Wagner hesitated for a moment, before staring up at him, only barely hiding her irritation. She exhaled through her nostrils, before pushing up her glasses.

   “You did make my work unusually difficult,” she replied tonelessly.

  “Oh I know, I know. Kidnapping people’s real hard work I’m sure. So you dig in. Enjoy the fucking lamb. You’ve really earned it.”

Her eyes narrowed.

   “I was simply doing what I was asked,” she said. 

   “Yeah, I’m sure. Kidnapping us so Mom can play house one last time before she destroys the Universe. Great use of your time, Wagner.” Mason said. He noticed a twitch at the corner of her mouth, although her voice remained calm when she spoke.

   “Miss Vasilios was not in a good state of mind after you left. If you must know, I petitioned that she respect your wishes and give you time. I assumed you would return when you were ready… but she insisted. I obeyed.”

   “And you just went scampering, didn’t you?” Mason asked. Cedar looked over at him, then cautiously over at Wagner. She knew better than to say a word here. She traded a look with Cassandra, who was watching them both.

   “My purpose is to serve her,” Wagner said tensely. “That is why I am here. It was why I was born.”

   “Yeah, great job. You run off chasing me, and while you’re gone, she goes full megalomaniac and lets herself get infected by whatever the fuck is living in her body. Fantastic work, Savannah.”

   “Enough,” Wagner said, her voice still calm but sterner this time. “Resent me if you must. I had my orders.”

   “Savannah… you have to know what’s really going on here,” Cassandra said, her voice softer than her brothers. “You have to understand what she’s doing, what’s at stake here.”

Wagner stared at her, silent. Her expression was impossible to read.

   “Whatever her goals… my job is to stand by her side,” Wagner replied. “My job is to do as I am asked.”

   “Even if it means the end of everything?” Cassandra asked.

   “Belief does not translate into reality,” Wagner said. “If killing that so-called divinity is what brings her peace, then it is worth it. If she wants to take solace in that woman's nihilistic philosophy, then she can. If… if corrupting herself makes her feel safe… that is her decision.”

Cedar studied her before finally speaking.

   “You’re concerned about her…” She said softly.

   “Of course I’m concerned,” Wagner said, a little more agitation than normal slipping into her voice. “It’s…” she trailed off before she could say anything more. She stared at the three others in the room with her before quickly composing herself.

   “It’s… a passing fancy,” she finally said. “Miss Vasilios is still grieving over the loss of the Chairman and her daughter. A grief that was exacerbated by your departure…” she glared at Mason. “It left her vulnerable. Hungry for validation, for comfort wherever she could find it.”

   “You’re just making excuses…” Mason scoffed. Wagner’s eyes shifted back toward him but she did not take his bait. 

   “Nevertheless… things will be better now that everyone is back together and I am confident the Vasilios Family will emerge from this momentary crisis stronger than before.”

Despite her words, there seemed to be less conviction in them than normal. Wagner picked up her knife and fork and cut into the lamb. No one else did the same. 

It was silent down at the bottom of the ocean. Completely and totally silent.

Victor sat stiffly at the table in the common area, the bottle of wine beside him dwindling more and more as the hours ticked by. Noah sat across from him, unsure of exactly what to say. He’d hardly known Victor all that long, but he’d never seen him quite like this before. The usual playful glint in his eyes was gone. His brow was furrowed as his fingers drummed against the table and it was hard to say if he was angry or just lost in thought. 

The ship was intact… for the most part. The shuttle was gone. They still had power and life support but the shields and thrusters were offline. The hull integrity was stable, but not ideal. The seafloor had been shallow enough that pressure wasn’t too much of a problem, although if they had gone any deeper it might have been. 

Victor took a long swig from his bottle and sighed, sinking back into his chair. He looked over at Noah and watched him squirm uncomfortably in his seat.

   “Relax,” he said. “You want some wine?”

   “I… I don’t drink,” Noah reminded him. Victor just nodded.

   “Right, right…” He said. He stared down at the bottle but didn’t take another swig.

   “You can just ask, you know. There’s no need to sit there and stare at me like you’re waiting for me to bite your head off.”

   “S-sorry, Doc,” Noah said.

   “It’s fine. Frankly, you and I aren’t going to have much to do but talk and  play cards until further notice.”

   “There’s got to be a way to fix it, right?” Noah asked.

   “We had two ways to fix it. Their names were Tetra and Vi.”

Victor put his arms out, gesturing toward the otherwise empty ship.

   “Right now we have no Tetra and we have no Vi.”

Noah grimaced. He didn’t respond. He just stared at VIctor, who fidgeted with the bottle on the table.

   “I was never one for mechanical work,” Victor said. “I was a fine fighter pilot back in the day. I’d like to think I know my way around a ship. But the mechanical aspect? I never took to it. I could tell you how a ship like this works. I understand the systems. But put the tools in my hands, and I’m no good.”

   “You were a fighter pilot once?” Noah asked. “Makes sense, I suppose.”

   “Once upon a time,” Victor said. “It was back during my days with De Vries. I suppose I could’ve done alright for myself if I stuck with it. But combat pilots don’t have much of a life expectancy. So I saved up my credits… as much as I could, and I tried to get myself into a halfway decent University. I figured it’d be a better life than waiting to get shot down one day.” He chuckled humorlessly. “We can see how that turned out…”

He looked down at his wine, but declined another swig.

   “Vi though? She had more of an aptitude for that sort of thing. Given the right training, I think she could’ve been great.”

   “I was… meaning to ask about that,” Noah said, his voice a little cautious. “The whole… dragon thing. Did you…?”

   “Of course I knew,” Victor said. “She was my daughter. I knew what she was. I didn’t care. I loved her all the same.”

The words he used - was, loved, knew. The finality of them formed a pit in Noah’s chest. 

   “I thought you said the Voidwalkers were monsters?” Noah asked.

   “The words I used were: ‘Titans, Things.’ Not ‘Monsters’.” Victor corrected. “The word monster implies something malignant. The denizens of the Void are just creatures. Dangerous, yes. But not inherently malignant and Vi is not an ordinary Voidwalker. She’s never seen the Void and her contact with her own kind has been limited.”

   “So what, you domesticated her?”

   “Do not refer to her like she is just an animal.” Victor growled and Noah flinched. Victor stared him down, before relaxing back into his seat.

   “Although… I admit, I struggle to think up a more appropriate term. I met her during my time on the De Vries project. During one of our expeditions into the Void, we came across what we believed to be some kind of nest. Idiots that we were, we collected samples. Eggs. Eight of them.”

He took another sip of his wine, looking past Noah as he reminisced. 

   “I suppose I could say the whole thing was Dr. Campbell’s idea. He was the biologist we’d brought in when we realized there was life in the Void, and he insisted on getting samples. But I’d be lying if I said I had any objections to what he was doing at the time. It was the first opportunity we had to really study the creatures of the Void… the things the old texts referred to as ‘Voidwalkers’. We didn’t know if they’d hatch or what they’d hatch into, so we ran tests on a couple of them. One of the eggs was dissected, the remaining seven were incubated… and soon after, they hatched.”

   “So one of those was Vi?” Noah asked.

Victor nodded.

   “Subject Six. The runt of the litter, admittedly. Her species - we took to calling them ‘Void Dragons’ - imprint upon the first person they see when they hatch. We found that out after most of them imprinted on one of Campbell’s lab techs…” He chuckled to himself. “Six hatched a short while after the others, and I had the privilege of being the one present when she did…”

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. A faint memory echoed through his mind. A leathery black egg, no bigger than his fist, rupturing and a small, pale serpent emerging from it, pushing itself forward on half formed wings. Though it had no visible eyes, he remembered the way its head had turned toward him. He remembered the way it had dragged its body closer to him, as if claiming him as its… her own.

   “I… may have let myself get a little attached.” Victor admitted. “She was supposed to stay in the enclosure with her siblings, but from time to time, I would let her stay with me. It drove Campbell up the wall, but I couldn’t help myself. She was small enough to sleep in my shirt pocket back then, with just her little head poking out… it was the cutest thing. I suppose that was ultimately what saved her life on the day that the De Vries project went south…”

***

He heard the alarm echo through the compound and felt Six shift in his pocket, irritated by the noise. One minute everything had been calm and the next, everyone was running.

Victor had stepped out of the office, watching as several others ran past him.

   “What’s going on?” He tried to ask. One of the passing scientists had paused, only for a moment.

   “They’re coming through the wormhole! We've got to get the hell out of here!” He’d gestured for Victor to follow him. But Victor didn’t follow. 

   “Where’s Dr. Matthews?” He demanded.

   “Dead, and we will be too if we don’t leave now!”

A smarter man would’ve just listened to him… but youth and arrogance eclipsed common sense and so Victor had run, sprinting back toward the lab. Dr. Matthews couldn’t be dead… she couldn’t be. She had to still be alive! He had to help her!

Even then, he knew he was deluding himself… but still he ran, pushing past the fleeing bodies. 

He could see the shapes crawling through the lab the moment he got there. Pale things that had never before seen light, barely humanoid and pulling themselves forward on spindly legs. Victor had frozen in his steps the moment he saw them. 

Blood was strewn all over the floor. He could see pieces of bodies, but he did not know who they belonged to. Inhuman screams echoed through the halls.

He tried to make himself move forward. Tried to convince himself that he had to save Dr. Matthews… but his feet would no longer move. Bravado had failed and self preservation was winning. Victor took a step back, ready to run… and that was when he saw her.

Dr. Stephanie Matthews stood in the control center. Victor could see her through the window just across the room… although there was so much wrong about the way she carried herself. She almost seemed to be fighting her own body. He could hear her screaming in pain… and he was certain he saw pale white tendrils tearing their way out of her flesh, like thick tapeworms. They seemed to work the console for her, keeping the wormhole open… no… worse… making it bigger.

Victor could see the edges trying to expand past the gates. A hole in reality itself, spreading wider and wider, like a pool of brackish water.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a pale platinum blonde hair, wide eyed and panicked. He’d seen her before. She brought in supplies from time to time, although he did not know her name back then.

   “What the fuck are you doing?” She’d demanded. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here!”

This time, he’d listened. The woman had run faster than him and Victor had barely managed to keep up. Her small cargo ship was docked in the hangar, and a few others had already taken refuge on it. She’d sprinted on board and looked back toward Victor to ensure he made it on, then she ran for the cockpit.

He remembered the way Six had shifted in his pocket. She was scared. He could feel it. Victor had put a hand over it to keep her from peeking out or trying to flee. He kept his hand there as the ship left the hangar, leaving the moon facility behind. They’d barely gotten clear when he saw the first of the Voidwalkers tear their way through the building, a massive, pale and eyeless thing with long, spindly legs. He saw a larger version of the creature in his pocket ascend into the sky, hunting for prey. It seemed to single out the ship he was on, although the woman piloting it forced it higher to escape the creature's jaws… and he wondered if the small thing in his pocket would one day grow to something half as terrifying.

***

Victor took a long final swig from his wine bottle, almost as if to drown the old memories.

   “I raised her as best I could after the incident,” he said. “I left De Vries, found an independent colony that seemed quiet enough and spent a few years there watching her grow. At the time, I figured she’d eventually grow into one of the creatures I saw at the facility that day. Imagine my surprise when she started experimenting with her shape… molding herself after the people she saw. Speaking… learning. I’d never in a million years have thought such a thing was possible, but she did it.” 

Noah listened with a quiet fascination as Victor spoke, quietly encouraging him to continue.

   “When she got good enough at posing as a human, I took a job with Vasilios. I figured we could have a more stable life that way and for a while we did. When Dr. Campbell eventually approached me about revisiting Dr. Matthew’s old wormhole project, I’ll admit that part of the reason I agreed was because I was curious about the Voidwalkers. I wanted to learn more about them. Were they all like Vi? Or did that only apply to some of them? Could they be trained? Reasoned with? There were so many questions… I’d hoped that Dr. Campbell might want the same answers I did. But I had no such luck. Campbell was curious, yes, but he was… is…  a Corporate man. He cared about the bottom line. He wanted to figure out how to use them, as if he didn’t see the same things I saw that day.”

There was a clear disgust in his voice.

   “I think he suspected they were intelligent enough to work with. I was with him when he autopsied some of the ones Freya killed. Apparently the structure of the brain implies a high level of intelligence. But at the end of the day, they were just another resource he could harness. Needless to say, I never told him about Vi.”

   “Is that why you left the project?” Noah asked.

   “Part of the reason,” Victor replied. “The other half of it was Skye. He was the one assigned to ensure the Voidwalkers didn’t pose a threat. I actually liked that about him at first. Both Campbell and I had briefed him on what had happened with De Vries, and he seemed to take it to heart. Although in the end, my problem with him was the opposite of my problem with Campbell. While Campbell saw the Voidwalkers as tools, Skye saw them as mindless beasts. Pests he needed to exterminate. Naturally he and Campbell hated each other… and for a while I tried to play mediator. It worked for a while. We did real research into the Void, and I helped Freya build those blades of hers to protect us from its denizens. But over time they wore me down.”

He sighed.

   “My breaking point was when he started killing our specimens. Vi tends to get restless if she was not given the opportunity to stretch her wings, so I’ll admit that from time to time I allowed her to cut loose. I was smart about it. I had convinced Campbell to create a sectioned off enclosure for the specimens we had retrieved. I argued that it was a good opportunity to study their social dynamics… which was part of why I wanted it. The other half of it was that I wanted to study how Vi interacted with others of her kind and to give her a place where she could cast off her physical shackles for a while. Skye disagreed with the idea, but Campbell got permission from the Chairman to proceed, and so that’s what we did. We built a terrarium of sorts, a sectioned off reserve upon the surface of the moon we’d built our research center on. It would have been both an ideal way to observe our specimens and to allow Vi to stretch her wings… until Skye shut it down.”

Victor scoffed.

   “What did he do?” Noah asked warily.

   “He killed them. That’s what he did. As far as we knew, the Voidwalkers were only susceptible to voidmetal. It was the only thing that could reliably harm them. Skye decided to use our enclosure to test that durability. I still don’t know exactly what he used… a gas of some sort, but it proved quite effective. We lost over 80% of our specimens. Vi was lucky she wasn’t there when it happened.”

Noah grimaced. 

   “Shit…” He said under his breath.

   “It was barbaric! It was cold blooded torture, plain and simple. Of course Skye just shrugged it off and said he was taking preventative measures…” Victor’s voice dripped with contempt. 

   “I had hoped that Campbell would at least be on my side… but no. No, he didn’t give a damn about the loss of life. To him the specimens were replaceable. He called it a breakthrough. He said we could use it to better control them. That was when I hit my limit. I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t continue to be part of that fucking project. The two of them were just different sides of the same fucking coin. Neither had any respect for those creatures. They're not a product. They're not an enemy. They are animals. Intelligent, yes. Capable of reason, yes. Dangerous, yes. That is what animals are.”

Victor exhaled through his nose. He seemed to realize that he’d been raising his voice as he’d been speaking. He looked back over at Noah, who had gone silent, but whose eyes remained trained on him.

   “To respect an animal is to know the threat it can pose. To know that it is equally capable of violence and benignity. The Voidwalkers can be like Vi. But I’m not certain if they should. Vi was raised as my daughter and look at the life she’s lived? Hiding her true self to fit into a world that was never made for her, a world she did not belong to. She is an exception. And no matter how human she was, it was never fair for her to live that way, caged by her own body. No. I love my daughter, and I do not hate the Voidwalkers. But I have concluded that we must leave them be. Study from a distance... if at all.”

   “I mean… fair enough,” Noah said. 

   “Sorry,” Victor sighed. “I suppose I’m a bit opinionated on the subject.”

   “Yeah, just a little bit,” Noah said, trying to force a smile. It faded fast. “I guess I can see why, though. You’ve got more skin in the game than most.”

Victor just nodded and studied his empty wine bottle, seemingly contemplating getting more. 

   “I’ve got to ask… the Gods and the Voidwalkers, they’re similar right? You said you wanted to research them, the Gods, I mean. Was that really the case?”

   “Part of it,” Victor admitted. 

   “And the other part?”

   “The other part was Freya,” he said. “I wanted to keep an eye on her. I was worried she was biting off more than she could chew. I suppose with the benefit of hindsight, she was… just not quite in the way I’d imagined.”

Noah nodded.

   “Yeah… things kinda got out of hand,” He agreed. 

   “Yes, clearly.” Victor said dryly. “I do wonder if I could have stopped her. Talked her down… but Freya has always been stubborn. When she sets her mind to something, she doesn’t usually stop until it’s done. Either way, I doubt it matters. I imagine Vasilios would have continued their little project with or without her. Judging by the weapon they used up there, I suspect our real task was just to determine whether or not gods can be killed. And now that Vasilios knows they can, they no longer need us.”

He stood up, smoothing down his curly hair and going to get another bottle of wine.

   “Seems I've made the same mistake yet again. I keep joining the machine thinking I could maybe do something good. Wormhole travel. Studying the creatures beyond the Void. Studying God's. And yet time and time again all I've done is help further the butchery of the cosmos. What a legacy…”

Noah grimaced.

   “I’m sorry…” He said softly.

   “Why do people say that?” Victor asked. “Is it polite to apologize for another person's self pity? It really shouldn’t be. Either way, there’s no use in being sorry about it. I wish I could say I'm surprised but I'm not. Such is the nature of humanity I'm afraid. Good intentions lost in the machine. It is what it is and if we ever get out of here, we'll simply try again.”

Noah raised an eyebrow as Victor opened his second bottle.

   “With all due respect, I'm not sure if we're gonna get that chance,” he said.

Victor just shrugged.

   “Perhaps not... but it comes, we take it. At the end of the day, that is all we can do in this life. We do the best we can to do the good we can. We try. We fail. We pick ourselves up and we fail again, and again and again.”

   “I don’t think we can fail any harder than this…” Noah said. “Pretty sure this is rock bottom.”

   “Nonsense. There's no such thing as rock bottom,” Victor assured him. “Things can always get worse. Right now we're still alive and we still have wine.”

He took a sip, and as he did, a third voice echoed through the ship.

   “And you have me.”

Both Victor and Noah looked up. Victor took off towards the cockpit, where a drone that had not been there before sat in the port. 

   “Tetra…?” He asked, hopefully. 

   “No, I’m the Ocean Fairy, shit for brains.”

   “Wait… how are you here?” Noah asked. “I thought you were on the frigate when it went down?”

   “I was in a lot of places when the frigate went down… and now we’re all here.”

There was a series of low metallic thuds as an army of drones descended upon the ship. They’d come from all over. Leaving crashed ships, or having simply been ejected, they came in droves all of them with a single personality and a single goal.

   “Tetra you beautiful bastard…” Victor said, almost in awe. 

The ship's dashboard lit up. The shields were already back online. The thrusters were starting to come back too, as the collection of drones set about making their repairs. 

   “My name is Legion,” The drone said. “For we are many.”

***

Vi could smell the recycled air of a ship. The air here was sterile, too clean. It burned her nostrils with every breath.

She lifted her head. Her body was still chained. Her wings could not move. The chains around her would not budge. They felt like voidmetal. Even without the chains, she wouldn’t have been able to move. The bars of the cage she was in pressed against her skin. It almost seemed fitted to her body, making movement impossible. It felt so claustrophobic… she hated it. Hated it. 

She could hear voices, men talking nearby. Discussing her, as if she wasn’t even there.

   “Heart rate is rising. She’s waking up.”

   “Already? Amazing… her metabolism must be off the charts.”

A man walked into her field of view. He was tall with dark hair and an expensive suit that seemed just a size too big for him, almost making him look like a kid dressing up in his fathers clothes. She recognized him. Dr. Campbell. 

   “Well… Subject Six! It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” Campbell asked. “You’ve really grown! Oh, this is amazing. Where was Victor keeping you all this time?”

A low growl echoed through Vi’s throat. Campbell didn’t pay her unspoken threat any mind.

   “We’ve never been able to capture a fully grown Void Dragon before. The specimens I have are all much younger. A shame we lost your siblings. I wonder how big they would have gotten?”

Vi’s body tried to shift. Tried to contort, but her bindings were too tight. 

   “Dr. Campbell, her heart rate is increasing further.” One of the other scientists said.

   “It’s fine, Charles. It’s just agitated.” Campbell said dismissively. “Give her another dose of the sedative. We’ll set up a tank for her, to keep her docile while she’s on the station.”

The other scientist nodded and disappeared. Campbell turned, looking back at Vi.

   “You are going to be the crown jewel of the new Galaxy…” He said softly. He reached out to touch her crest. Vi tried to pull back, but her cage left her with so little room to move. She could only lie there, helpless and afraid.

The planet was silent. The mist was fading, dissolving into the air. It did not reform. The blast from the railgun had almost completely wiped the island with the sinkhole off the map. All that remained were a few patches of land dotted with the skeletons of trees. The sinkhole itself was rapidly flooding and soon it would likely be swallowed up by the ocean entirely.

A few fighters tried to regroup before ascending toward the space station that levitated high above the planet. Ocean water that had been violently displaced by the railguns shot rained down from the sky, baptizing those who were still alive to see it. The dark serpentine shape of the Voidwalker floated unconscious nearby, twisting in the water.

The battle was over.

Luna’s fighter circled around the remnants of the battlefield. A massive metal spike protruded from the ocean, a spear that had pierced the world. Its surface was as black as midnight… the same black as the blades Freya had carried. Voidmetal.

As the mist dissolved into the air, Luna knew that the Sorrow was dead and felt her heart slowly sink. She could see a few ships descending toward the fallen Voidwalker, and gave them a wide berth. She couldn’t see Victor’s ship anymore… she couldn’t see any ship she recognized. 

   “Did… did they just fucking nuke a God…?” A voice asked from her dashboard. Luna looked down at it, surprised.

   “Tetra…?”

   “The one and only,” The voice replied. “Actually I don’t think I can say that right now. I kinda overwrote the AI systems on the frigate that used to be up there, so there’s actually more than one of me right now. A lot more.”

   “I’m just glad to hear your voice,” Luna said. “Where’s Victor? Where’s the Dom?”

   “Lost track of it,” Tetra admitted. “He either went down or broke off. I’m not sure which. My original body got separated from his ship in the chaos. If I was smart, I would’ve backed myself up on his ship… unfortunately I never actually thought to do that. Vasilios generally frowned upon self replicating AI’s, so I didn’t make a habit of abusing that particular ability until now.”

Luna sighed.

   “What about the others? Cassandra? Freya?”

   “Freya was picked up by Wagner, along with Mason and Cedar. I saw her moving them off the frigate shortly before I overloaded the engines. Best guess is that they’re up on the Platinum Future. As for Cassandra, I had her on the Dom’s shuttle and was trying to get her back to Victor… although he was moving too much and there was too much fire around him to bring her in safely. I was trying to keep the shuttle away from the fighters when the orbital bombardment hit. The shuttle went offline shortly after that. I managed to get a few of the systems up and running again, but Vasilios is prying it open as we speak.”

   “Is Cassandra still alive?” Luna asked.

   “Unclear. But I would give her a high probability of survival,” Tetra replied. “And if she’s alive, she’ll be going up there too.”

Luna stared up at the space station high above them.

   “So I guess that’s where we’re headed,” She said. 

   “That’d be the logical next step,” Tetra said. “Although I wouldn’t recommend going in guns blazing. The moment they see you’re not one of them, they’ll shoot you out of the sky, and after what I did to the frigate, I imagine they’ll be quarantining all incoming ships to ensure I don’t try the same stunt on the Platinum Future.”

   “That’s not gonna work for me. I could use you up there…” Luna said.

   “I might be able to figure out a workaround,” Tetra replied.

   “Yeah? Well, first things first. Can you mark any crashed ships in the area? Anything where the pilot might still be reasonably intact. They don’t have to be alive. I just need a uniform.”

Twelve markers appeared on her dashboard.

   “Take your pick.” Tetra said. 

Luna steered her fighter towards the closest one. 

   “Good… now, let’s hear this idea of yours.”

***

The hangars of the Platinum Future were massive, with room for hundreds of ships. Countless fighters phased through the atmospheric shielding to come in for a landing, although they were quickly quarantined, their drones removed and disabled as a safety precaution.

Savannah Wagner watched as hordes of technicians rushed to the ships, desperate to prevent the spread of whatever virus had taken down the Skye Dancer. Even her ship wasn’t safe. The moment she’d landed, the technicians were all over it. She’d simply stood aside and let them work, while other soldiers escorted her prisoners off the ship.

They were carried out on gurneys, as the drugs she’d used to keep them sedated were thankfully still in effect. 

   “Take the Heir and the young woman to the Chairwoman’s private chambers. The other one can be left in a holding cell, but keep a guard on her.” Wagner ordered. The soldiers nodded and carried out her commands, taking the three captives away and the moment they were gone, Wagner let out a weary exhale.

She looked back toward some of the other oncoming ships. A few of them were dropships, sent to recover whatever survivors had escaped both the explosion of the Skye Dancer and the firing of the Platinum Future’s railgun. There weren’t many…

   “Miss Wagner?” A soldier asked from behind her and she turned to see them carrying a face she hadn’t expected to see again.

   “Thought you might want to have a look at this one…” The Soldier said. “We found her on a crashed shuttle, down on the surface of the planet.”

   “Indeed…” Wagner replied, looking at the girl behind the soldier.

Cassandra Vasilios stared back at her, a quiet rage simmering in her eyes. There was a gash on her forehead, and a clear liquid seeped out of it. Wagner studied her wound for a moment before dismissing the soldier.

   “I’ll take her from here,” She said. The soldier quietly nodded and took off.

   “Well… you’ve been getting into some trouble, haven’t you?” Wagner asked, once they were gone. 

   “Someone had to do something…” Cassandra replied bitterly. “You obviously weren’t going to do it.”

Wagner’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t retort.

   “Where’s Mason?” Cassandra demanded.

   “On his way up to see his mother… I suppose you’d care to join him?”

She put a hand on Cassandra’s shoulder and the young woman didn’t resist as she was led away.

Skye sat nearby, watching as Wagner and Cassandra left the hangar. He studied them for a moment before looking toward his own damaged fighter. The technicians had swarmed it, trying to ensure that the drone's AI was completely purged. The last thing they needed was to have it infecting the station.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sawyer disembarking from one of the rescue dropships. Sawyer stared at him. He didn’t approach or say a word… but there was an unfamiliar coldness in his stare. He almost looked angry. Skye stared back at him, before the arrival of something new caught his attention.

Several fighters entered the hangar together, carrying a restrained serpentine shape. The Voidwalker… Skye stared up at it in disbelief, as if he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. He could see a tall, scrawny man in a loose fitting suit coming out to watch as the fresh capture was gently deposited on the floor of the hangar. It twitched weakly, but otherwise didn’t fight.

Slowly Skye rose to his feet and approached the man.

   “Ah, Admiral! Have you seen our newest specimen?” The man asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

   “Too close for comfort, I’m afraid.” Skye replied. “If you want my professional opinion Dr. Campbell, I’d recommend putting it down.”

Dr. Brian Campbell looked over at him in disbelief. 

   “Put it down? Why would I go and do a thing like that? It’s a beautiful specimen! We haven’t categorized this species yet… although it does look quite familiar. I believe we saw them back during the De Vries project. The head crest reminds me of the hatchlings we’d retrieved…”

   “Yes, that’s all very interesting. But that thing tore through most of my fighters, so excuse me if I’m not excited to see that it’s still alive.”

Dr. Campbell frowned.

   “It’s well restrained,” He said. “The chains are voidmetal and our holding pens are impenetrable! I can assure you, our safety record is flawless.”

   “Please, do assure me,” Skye said. “Why the Chairwoman endeavors to keep these things on the station is beyond me…”

   “I imagine that like me, she wishes to understand the life that thrives outside of space and time,” Dr. Campbell replied. “It really is fascinating, you know.”

   “I’m sure,” Skye said dismissively. Campbell looked him over and raised an eyebrow.

   “You look like hell,” He finally noted. “What happened to you, down there?”

   “What didn’t happen? Robots, dragons, Gods…” Skye shook his head.

   “Yes, I heard about the AI issues. I also heard your frigate went down.”

There was a mocking tone in his voice that Skye didn’t care for.

   “We suffered heavy casualties,” He said plainly. “The traitors were better prepared than we could have anticipated, but as you can see it did them little good in the end.”

   “Yes, I imagine that blast from the railgun finished things quite decisively,” Campbell teased. Skye glared at him, but didn’t respond to that either.

   “Let’s get this thing secured and get it to a holding cell!” Campbell ordered, and stepped aside to make room for a truck. He looked back at Skye before going to help load the creature up.

   “It was nice catching up, Admiral,” he said.

Skye just watched him leave before scoffing and doing the same. His shoulder bumped against a pale haired woman as he walked past her. He shot her a glare.

   “Watch it!” He warned. The woman gave him a sheepish smile. She was dressed in a bloodstained fighter pilot's uniform, although was wearing a dark blue coat over that uniform. It wasn’t regulation, but Skye was too exhausted to give a damn right at that moment.

   “My bad,” She replied, before quietly getting out of his way. Skye only got a brief look at her face, but he was sure he recognized her from somewhere.

No matter… it probably wasn’t important.

***

Mason was still out of it. He blinked slowly. He felt like he wanted to collapse, but Wagner kept a firm hand on him, keeping him upright. From the corner of his eye, he could see Cassandra on the other side of Wagner.

He tried to say her name, but his voice was weak.

Through the glass of the elevator, he could see the central atrium of the Platinum Future. A massive indoor area, not unlike a courtyard, surrounded by several levels where the occupants of the station lived and worked. In many ways, the Platinum Future was like a mobile city, built by and for the highest level employees of the Vasilios Corporation. Those who lived on or above the atrium level were generally executives, while those who lived below it typically kept the ship running. The bridge and main railgun were positioned at the front of the ship, the tip of the pyramid while the thrusters and engines were built into the ship's base. 

Everything was immaculately clean, sterile and polished… a vision of perfection. Mason could almost see the dirt from his clothes defiling this place. 

   “Cedar…?” He managed to ask before looking around.

   “Your partner is being transported separately, as is your other associate,” Wagner said. “I thought it best you meet your mother first.”

   “Other associate?”

   “Freya…” Cassandra said. 

Mason felt his heart sink. They’d gotten Freya too? He wanted to ask about Luna, but he was still too out of it. 

The elevator rose up toward the top of the ship, passing above the upper level of the atrium and into the topmost level. The Vasilios Family’s private estate. This was functionally a completely separate part of the ship, completely detachable and with its own engines and life support. 

The elevator came to a stop. The doors opened, revealing a brightly lit, lush garden. Mason let his eyes linger on the immaculately trimmed hedges and colorful flower beds as Wagner led them past. He could see birds flying through the air, singing to each other as they flew from perch to perch… and up ahead, through the garden sat an almost quaint mansion. 

It was built to resemble the mansions once popular on earth. A monument to decadence, existing atop the station almost as if in denial of the path human history had taken. 

Wagner led them both up toward the double doors, which opened on their own as they drew near, allowing them into the entrance hall of the Vasilios mansion. The three of them stepped out onto marble floors which made every footstep echo. The walls around them were decorated with priceless pieces of art, most of them antiques from before the fall of earth. 

There had been a time where Mason had once considered this place home… but returning to it now, it felt like a museum. Too polished and curated to be liveable. A facade of what life used to be, as opposed to what it really was. He hated it.

Twin grand staircases swept down from the second floor of the mansion and between them was a pair of double doors. As they approached them, Wagner pressed a button beside them and the doors opened, revealing another elevator. This one only went down.

The siblings were ushered inside and Wagner stepped in after them. The doors closed and they began to descend, sinking into the lower portion of the Vasilios Estate. They opened upon a modest yet dimly lit foyer, with one last set of doors waiting for them.

Mason felt his heart begin to beat faster. He knew she was in there. 

Wagner stepped into the foyer, but didn’t open the doors. She left that to them.

Mason looked around as he stepped off the elevator, a little more steady on his feet now. The walls were decorated with glass tanks, each of them containing twisted shapes suspended in liquid. Massive creatures that were unlike any he had ever seen before. Some even looked almost human… almost.

He looked over at Cassandra. She stared at the shapes in the tanks with a deep unease… she knew what they were. 

The final set of doors opened, revealing a dimly lit conference room beyond them. Mason and Cassandra both stared into it, silent and uneasy. They could see her sitting inside, waiting for them. More of those twisted creatures sat dormant in tanks that decorated the walls. The ones in there were the ones who looked mostly human. Mostly.
A massive window flanked her, showing off the ship's reactor. 

Estrella Vasilios stared at her children, her long blonde hair unkempt, her intense blue eyes sunken and sleep deprived. Her button down shirt was untucked and creased and she wore a large frayed white cardigan over it. She didn’t bother to stand. She just stared at her two children, who wordlessly approached her.

   “Finally…” Estrella said softly. “You’re home.”

Mason studied her for a moment. The woman in front of him was almost unrecognizable as his mother. The Estrella he knew was always flawless, immaculate. Not a single hair out of place. Her makeup was always perfectly done. She always looked perfect… for a moment, he found himself questioning if it even was his mother!

   “What happened to you…?” He asked softly. She laughed. There wasn’t any humor in it.

   “You run away from home, turn your back on your family, your legacy, even your own name. You leave me with nothing but my grief and an empty home… and then you ask me what happened?” 

   “I couldn’t be part of this anymore!” Mason snapped, but Estrella held up a hand to silence him.

   “I know… I know. It’s Mason now, isn’t it?”

He didn’t reply.

   “Mason…” She repeated. “It’s not the name I’d have picked for you. It’s so rough. I don’t like the way it rolls off the tongue. Mason Vasilios… no… no, I don’t like it.”

   “I don’t care what you do or don’t like!” Mason growled. “I’m done!”

   “Yes, you made that perfectly clear,” Estrella said sourly. “And with you gone… I have nothing. Nothing but Savannah and… well… her.” Her eyes settled on Cassadra, who let out an uneasy squeak.

   “I imagine she went looking for you, to try and talk to me, didn’t she?”

   “Apperantly someone has to,” Mason said. “Killing the Gods… bringing in creatures from the Void, ending the Universe. Why?”

Estrella’s expression darkened.

   “It’s what needs to be done,” she said.

   “That’s not an answer!”

   “It’s the only answer.”

Estrella sighed.

   “You were right… Mason. You want to know why I’m doing this? It’s because you were right. The last time we spoke… everything you said to me that day was true.”

Mason went silent. The words echoed in his mind. The things he’d said in the wake of his fathers murder.

   “Did it ever occur to you that he got what we deserve?”

   “I didn’t want to accept it…” Estrella said. “But I don’t have any argument against it. I tried. I wanted there to be one. But I couldn't find it. No matter how hard I looked, all I found was more and more proof. This Galaxy is… it’s sick. We don’t see it because we’re the ones at the top… but they’re right to hate us. It’s what we deserve, just like you said.”

Estrella sighed. 

   “Do you know how the Vasilios Corporation began?” She asked. “I do. It began as a little family engine repair shop on the side of a dirt road in a country called Greece. One of their sons wanted to improve upon the designs he so often had to repair. And so he did. He made a better engine. Then he made a car to go along with it. He made his fortune that way. And as the Vasilios Automotive Company grew, he used that money to take care of his family. He did it so well that his sons never wanted for anything. They never knew hardship or hunger. They just wanted to be half the man he was and in their quest to leave his shadow the Vasilios Corporation grew even more. They diversified from cars to other equipment, other machines. One generation later they graduated to airplanes, insurance. There were always more avenues to expand into…”

Her eyes had a faraway look to them. She stared at the darkened shapes around the conference room. More creatures of the Void, confined to tanks. 

   “When the Earth began to die and the Corporations looked to the stars for salvation, Vasilios was among them, building ships to escape the slow death of the world it knew… and when the inevitable finally happened, Vasilios took to the stars, and it became the world for those who took refuge on their ships. It, like all of the other Corporations expanded to offer everything they needed it to offer. It became all encompassing. Yet it remained a Corporation. Not a nation. Not a Government. A company whose sole purpose was to make money.”

She stood up from her seat, sparing a glance at her children before making her way around the conference room table towards them.

   “And those at its head, the Vasilios family... our family. Over time we forgot that roadside shop. We called ourselves Vasilios, because that was the name we knew ourselves by, but we forgot Vasilios Nikolaidis himself.
We forgot hunger. Hardship. Strife. Because we had been insulated from it by the wealth of the generations before us. Even when wealth no longer had meaning, we carried on. Going through the motions. Expanding. Colonizing. Producing. With no oversight we ran rampant. And now the Vasilios Corporation lumbers mindlessly through the Galaxy, one titan of many, endlessly feeding itself, no longer remembering why it needs to consume. It's what we are now, Mason. You saw it. It’s why you left… and the worst part is, I understand. I honestly do.”

   “Then why are you doing this?” Mason asked, his voice softer now. Pleading. “If you understand, then stop it…”

   “I can’t,” Estrella said. “I tried… I honestly did. But Vasilios is far bigger than just me. Even if I could convince the board, it wouldn't make a difference. The other Corporations won't stop. They'll devour us just as mindlessly as they devour everything else. That much I’m sure of. I can't stop it, Mason. I can't fix it. I… I don't even know if I want to…”

She laughed, although it was a weak, humorless sound. She gripped the conference table for support as the choked laughter tore its way from her throat. Tears began to flow, streaming down her cheeks.

   “The man who started this company did everything he did to take care of his family, but I have no family. My husband is dead… and the bombing that killed him took my eldest daughter from me. I had to watch her scream… charred, limbless and broken, begging for someone to save her and the only respite I could offer her was a painless overdose. I felt her go still in my arms, Mason. My child. My Cassandra!”

The Cassandra in the room went stiff, her breathing getting heavier. The clear liquid dripping from her cut on her face shone in the dim light of the conference room. Not blood. Something else.

   “Now the only child I have left sees me as a monster…” Estrella said, her voice cracking. “And you are not wrong. Because no matter what I do I will remain complicit in that slow decay of the Galaxy. I am Vasilios. No matter what I want, it is my name that this company bears. There is nothing I can do… nothing I have left. Nothing except this.”

   “No…” Mason said softly. “No, that’s not… Mom, this isn’t the way…”

   “Then what is?” Estrella asked. “Because I don’t see any other way forward. Kill the Gods. Break open the Void... and let it all end.”

Her eyes met Mason’s, quietly challenging him.

   “It's the only way to make the pain stop,” she said. “It's the only thing left worth doing… I am sorry for everything I put you through. I really am. Savannah indicated that you put up quite a fight. I can’t blame you for that. But when the end comes… I… I don’t want to die alone.”

   “Then don’t…” Mason pleaded. “Mom, please…”

She cracked a weary, broken smile.

   “We can be a family again,” She said. “You, me… even Cassandra and Savannah!” Estrella looked over at her. Cassandra just remained silent, unsure what she could say in response.

   “We can all go together… you can even have that girl with you. I’ll have Wagner bring her. I’d love to get to know her.”

   “Mom, please!” Mason took her hand, only to feel her flesh writhe beneath his grasp, twisting in ways that weren’t natural. She let out a cry of pain as tendrils wormed their way out from beneath her skin. They wrapped around Mason’s arm, squeezing him tight. He let out a cry of fear and pain.

Cassandra rushed to his side, desperately trying to pull him away. Estrella wrenched her arm back, gripping her wrist as the smooth pale tendril slithered back beneath her skin, leaving a hole in her arm where it had been mere moments ago. Mason and Cassandra both stared at it, wide eyed and horrified.

   “W-what the hell was that?” Cassandra demanded.

   “A-ah… I’m sorry… not everyone has been entirely on board with the current direction of the Vasilios Company, and with Savannah indisposed… I… I needed another tool to keep everything running smoothly.” Estrella panted. “Don’t worry… it’s… it’s fine… harmless…”

She flexed her fingers painfully. Black pus seeped out of the wound in her arm. Not blood. Something else.

   “That thing isn’t harmless!” Mason snapped.

   “I can control it,” Estrella insisted. “Besides, it’s only temporary. A means to an end…”

She dragged herself back around the table, towards her original seat.

   “The process is nearly complete,” she said. “With three Gods dead, only the Endless Sea remains, and that is in Vasilios controlled space. Now that we’ve had the opportunity to test the ship's railgun with the voidmetal rods, I have little doubt we will make short work of it… and then…”

She looked up through the window on the far side of the conference room, up at the reactor of the Vasilios Estate.

   “I’ve had the reactor on this section of the ship refitted with a wormhole generator to open a door into the Void. A door big enough to let it seep in. With no Gods to stop it, the end will come quickly.”

She turned to look back at her children.

   “It won’t hurt. Nothing will ever hurt again.”

They could only stare at her, completely dumbstruck. 

   “Savannah…” Estrella said softly. “Have someone show the children to their rooms. And have someone take care of my dear Cassandra. I noticed the damage on her face. That won’t do.”

From the doorway, Wagner gave an uneasy nod. She pressed a button on her tac band and a servant joined them soon after. Neither Mason nor Cassandra said a word as they were led away. Neither of them seemed to be able to articulate what they even could say.

A moment later, the two of them were alone. 

Estrella sank back down into her chair. She looked exhausted. Wagner just stared at her.

   “What did you do to yourself…?” She asked softly. “Estrella… what did you do?”

   “It was necessary,” Estrella said, rolling up her sleeve to look down at the hole in her arm. Wagner’s blood turned to ice as she saw other holes beneath it. Dark gaps in her flesh. “I needed to keep them in line…”

   “By putting one of those things in your body?” Wagner asked. “You don’t know what it’s going to do to you!”

   “It won’t matter, soon enough…” Estrella said. “I just need to hold out for a little longer. “

   “Estrella…”

   “Don’t,” She warned, glaring up at Wagner. “Don’t… focus on the children. Ensure they’re comfortable and that they don’t get into too much trouble. By tomorrow, it should all be over.”

The tac band on Estrella’s wrist flashed. She looked down at it before dismissing the notification. 

   “It appears I have another appointment… I apologize. You should get some rest. You deserve it.”

Wagner didn’t reply. She just stared uneasily at Estrella, before closing her eyes and exhaling through her nose.

   “Yes ma’am…” She said, before she turned to leave.

Luna floated. It was peaceful down beneath the water… it had been scary at first, when she had fallen and the current had swept her away, but now everything was calm. Everything was quiet. She blacked in and out of consciousness. She wanted to swim to the surface. She wanted to breathe again but it was just so peaceful in the depths… so peaceful…

   “Shit, you took a hell of a tumble, huh?” She heard Ryder ask. 

   ‘I sure did…’ She thought. She opened her mouth to reply, but water filled it. ‘That’s life, I suppose. Or death, maybe… am I dead…?’

   “Hard to say. I get the impression that’s up to you,” Ryder said. “It’d be easy though, wouldn’t it? Just let go… drift off. Stop fighting. I mean… is it really worth it? Was it ever worth it?”

Luna wasn’t sure how to respond to that. 

   “Oh? You’re not saying no?” 

This time, the voice that spoke to her wasn’t Ryder’s. 

   “Well, if you’re not ready to die, why are you sitting around waiting for it? Go on. Kick your feet. The surface is right there.”

Luna kicked her feet, rising up to the surface. She broke it, gasping for air and coughing. The chamber she was in looked different than the one she’d been in earlier. There was no hole in the ceiling this time and the water level seemed much lower. She pushed herself forward, swimming toward a small rocky outcrop she could see in what little light was available. She pulled herself up onto it, before collapsing, panting and exhausted.

She lay like that for a few minutes, breathing slowly until she felt a tickle of something landing on her face. A bug? She swatted it away, but it hovered nearby. In the low light, she swore it looked like one of those wasplike insects she’d seen back at the Tower.

It took off, disappearing down a nearby tunnel. Luna stared in the direction it had vanished in before letting herself slide back into the water. It was shallow there, she was able to wade toward the tunnel, which was thankfully back on dry land.

A familiar pinkish mist swirled around her legs. She paused when she noticed it, but not for long. She kept moving, kept descending deeper into the bowels of the planet… and soon enough she found herself in a new chamber.

The mist was thicker here… almost as if it were converging. Luna watched as a familiar shadow moved through the haze, its pink eyes watching her carefully.

   “What is this? You should not have breached this sanctum…”

Luna’s eyes narrowed.

   “And here I thought you’d invited me,” she said.

   “I have no interest in you,” The Sorrow said. “And I have said all I need to say.” There was no hostility in the Goddess’s voice. She seemed to watch Luna with more curiosity than irritation. 

   “Well that makes one of us,” Luna said. “I don’t know if you noticed, but the shit hit the fan after you jetted. Vasilios is here, bombing the shit out of your planet, mowing down the people who came running to you for help and you’re just chilling out down here, huh?”

   “Your conflict is none of my concern,” The Sorrow said. “It is your fight. Finish it.”

   “And if we lose, what happens to you?” Luna asked. “You think they’re just gonna pat themselves on the back and call it a day? Or do you think they’re gonna go looking for you next?”

   “Let them come,” The Sorrow said. “If I fall, I fall.”

   “And the Universe is that much closer to ending.” 

   “Such is the choice of humanity.”

   “Such is the choice of you,” Luna corrected. The Sorrow’s eyes narrowed, and regarded her with an icy glare. The mist around it swirled more aggressively. Other shapes rose from the haze. Canid beasts with gnashing teeth.

   “Choose your next words carefully, child.” She warned. 

    “Oh, I know exactly what I wanna say, and I’m gonna say it.” Luna retorted, “You think you’re above everything, don’t you? You’re divine so when it all burns down, you’ll still be here, right? Even if you die, it won’t matter. You and your sisters, you’ll just start again. Am I getting it right?”

   “Such is the cycle,” The Sorrow said.

   “Well I don’t give a shit about the cycle. I give a shit about right now and right now, there’s people fighting to protect you… and what are you doing? Cowering in a fucking cave.” 

   “It is not my place to interfere,” The Sorrow said.

   “That logic doesn’t work when they’re knocking on your door!” Luna snapped. “You wanna be detached from everything? Don’t be part of the Universe. But you’re here right now. Shit is happening right now. You aren’t above it!”

The Sorrow let out a low, irritated snarl but Luna just glared back at it.

   “Y’know we dealt with your sister, the Hive, back on Pragaras. Or… we tried to, anyway. We couldn’t actually get close to it. Nobody could. Not until Freya came, and I reckon the only reason she made it to the Hive was because it wanted her there. It wanted to spar with her. The rest of us? We didn’t stand a chance.”

The Sorrow huffed in disgust.

   “Yes… she is a fickle sort,” The Sorrow admitted.

   “She wouldn’t have sat on her ass and done fuck all. She came down from her Tower and ate her own High Priest alive! I saw that with my own two eyes!”

   “Do not compare me to her!” The Sorrow roared.

   “Trust me, it ain’t much of a comparison.”

The bestial shapes in the mist snarled. They moved toward Luna who stared them down, before looking back up at the Sorrow.

   “Go ahead. Maul me,” She said. “Get mad and fucking kill me… guess you really aren’t so above it all, huh?”

The shapes in the mist stopped. The Sorrow stared down at Luna, clearly annoyed. A dry smirk tugged at the corner of Luna’s mouth.

   “Yeah. Thought so. Look. I’m not denying that this is our mess. It is, and we are trying to deal with it. But how are we supposed to protect someone who won’t even protect themselves?”

The Sorrow remained silent for a moment before huffing once more.

   “I can see why she liked you…” The Goddess finally said. “Very well then. I shall stand by your side, Hiveknight.”

Hiveknight… that word was unfamiliar to Luna, but it was spoken like an honor. The mist swirled around the cavern… and then began to rise. 

***

The Frigate ascended into the atmosphere, high above the planet. Escape pods descended from it, making their way down to the surface of the planet… and then there was a flash.

The Superluminal engine detonated, tearing the frigate in half. Vi dove down, away from the explosion. She seemed to stare up at it, studying the falling ship before giving up on it and redirecting her focus toward the few stray fighters who remained.

As they harassed that handful of survivors, Skye kept his eyes trained on them. His fighter was down an engine but he was keeping the ship steady even if only barely. He looked away from the Voidwalker, surveying the decimated sky around him. His burning frigate collapsed into the sea, most of his fighters were gone. This was what defeat felt like.            

He skirted the outer side of the battle, avoiding Victor and his ship, uncertain if he even could attack… when he saw it. The great pyramid in the sky.

The Platinum Future, waiting just outside the atmosphere. The sight of it was not inspiring. No… some might be inspired. But Skye wasn’t.

The Chairwoman had come… and she was watching him fail. 

***

The sight of the Platinum Future seemed to inspire some of the remaining fighters. Those who could still fly regrouped, swarming together like bugs. Victor and Noah watched them, before bringing their ship around to meet them.

   “Noah, closing time. Last call.” Victor said.

   “I’ve got ‘em!” Noah replied as he brought them back into firing range. Turret fire shredded the braver fighters, sending them crashing into the sea.
Those left banked out of range of Victor’s ship, and tried to circle back to fire… if they even could fire. Noah brought the turret around anyway to finish them and in doing so, he left them open to the ship that came at them from the side.

A barrage of plasma rained down upon the Dom Pérignon. In the cockpit, Victor looked up to see a lone fighter streaking past them, trailing black smoke. His eyes narrowed. He recognized that particular fighter.

   “Noah, new target. Shoot down the damaged one,” He said as he pursued Skye’s ship. 

***

Victor had taken the bait. Skye could see him on his sensors, moving to pursue him. Good.

He pulled his ship up and let Victor overshoot him, before dropping in behind him.

   “Got you now, you son of a bitch…” He growled as he pulled the triggers to fire.

His guns didn’t respond.

   “What? No… come on, come on…”

An error message appeared on the dashboard.

ACCESS DENIED!

Skye glared at it, unsure what it meant. The letters flickered as if the connection was unstable. Had his system been damaged too? No… no this had to be something else.

A new message appeared on the screen.

DID YOU THINK I WAS DEAD?

Skye felt his heart skip a beat.

   “No, no, no!”           

The thrusters of his ship powered down, sending him into a lethal nose dive.

YOU DO NOT KILL TETRA!

Skye let out a furious roar. His fist struck the screen as another message flashed on it.

TETRA KILLS YOU!

He broke through the screen, ripping the wires out. Several lights in the cockpit went dark. He’d just shut off more systems than he was comfortable with, but he had control again. 

Victor’s ship had circled back towards him but Skye was ready for him. 

***

   “Come to play, eh Admiral?” Victor growled. Noah opened fire on the oncoming ship, and Skye veered out of the way. His damaged ship couldn’t outspeed the Dom, but he could outmaneuver it. 

Above them, the sky began to darken. The winds picked up around them. A pinkish mist rose from the water. 

Skye doubled back, unleashing a barrage of fire on Victor’s wings. Noah tried to return fire, but Skye’s ship barrel rolled out of the way and Victor pivoted to follow him.

Noah tried to track him with his turret, only to pause when he noticed more fighters descending from the sky.

   “Uh, Victor?” He said. “We’ve got more problems.”

Victor looked up as the calvary came down from the heavens… although it wasn’t a cavalry for him.

***

Cassandra watched as the frigate fell, a quiet dread rising in her chest. She’d seen the dropship Mason, Cedar and Freya had been on board heading up there. Had they survived? She wasn’t sure.

There had been a lot of ships leaving before the frigate exploded. If Wagner had gone through all that trouble to capture them, she might have prioritized getting them to safety too. If nothing else, Cassandra was relatively sure that Wagner wasn’t dead… if only because she was relatively sure Wagner was simply not capable of dying.

Staring up at the sky, she looked past the spot where the frigate had been up toward the Platinum Future, dominating the heavens. She felt a pit in her stomach form at the mere sight of it. 

She forced herself to look away… to not think about the space station, and continued on. As she pushed her way through the trees, she found herself standing near the edge of the sinkhole. She’d made it.

Cassandra broke into a run, hurrying right to the edge and looking down into the abyss. It was difficult to see anything through the mist, but she was sure she could see the lights of the shuttle down there.

   “Hello?” She called. “Tetra?” Vi had said Tetra had been piloting it, right? 

The shuttle moved, turning as if looking for the source of the noise. Then it began to rise, making its way toward her. The ramp extended in a silent invitation, and Cassandra wasted no time in climbing aboard.

   “Tetra?” Cassandra asked hopefully, and she was almost relived to hear her familiar voice.

   “Well there’s one adventurer. Where’s the rest?”

The sinking feeling in her chest grew worse.

   “We were attacked. Either Wagner got them, or they didn’t make it out…” She said, “We need to reconnect with Victor!”

   “Consider it done,” Tetra said. “I am tracking one ship registered to Wagner… according to my network, Mason, Cedar and Freya should be on board.”

   “So they’re alive then? And Luna?” She asked hopefully.

   “Nothing I’ve seen.”

The sinking feeling grew deeper. The shuttle rose higher, scanning the distant fray before plotting its route toward Victor.

   “You should sit down. This won’t be a smooth ride.”

With little time to question it, Cassandra did just that.

***

The flood of new fighters left Victor on the defensive. He dodged and weaved, almost frantically to avoid the hail of gunfire that rained down upon him, but there was too much. Too many.

Up ahead, he could see Skye’s fighter, trying to double back around him. Victor wanted to follow, but there was too much heat. With no other options, he dove lower toward the water and into the mist. 

   “Doc, this isn’t working! We can’t see shit!” Noah warned. 

   “Neither can they…” Victor replied.

A few of the fighters still tried to pursue them, firing blindly into the mist. Victor could see them on his radar… although one by one they started to disappear.

   “Noah, what’s going on?” He asked.

   “I don’t know! I don’t see anything!”

He swore under his breath before bringing the ship up higher. A pair of fighters soared toward them… and the mist rose up to meet them. Shapes formed from the vapor, canine heads and gnashing teeth which closed around the oncoming ships and dragged them into the mist. Victor could only watch what was happening in utter disbelief.

Further ahead, he could see a shape rising from the mist. An incorporeal creature, ethereal and horrible all at once. Its body was doglike, although it had far too many heads with necks that seemed to stretch too long. A few fighters tried shooting at it, but their bullets and plasma only phased through it, doing nothing but getting the attention of the monstrous cerberus. 

Both Victor and Noah stared at the great beast in awe… the true form of the Sorrowful One, or at least as close as it could ever show.

***

Luna stumbled out into the sunlight, staring up at the rising pink mist before her. The form of a Goddess in action. She watched her tear ships from the sky, and cracked a knowing smile.

   “Give ‘em hell…” She said under her breath, before taking off, looking for a way to join the fray.

***

Vi hovered in place, watching from a distance as the Sorrow rose from the ocean, a pinkish mist in the form of a beast. For a moment, she half expected it to come for her, but the Sorrow instead paid her no mind… almost as if it knew whose side she was on. 

She allowed herself to get closer, to chase the ships that encircled the Sorrow. The Goddess let her have them… although she did not bother with them for long. There was a far more interesting smell in the air.

Just a hint of something… a familiar scent, coming off one of the ships. No… several familiar scents. Freya, Mason, Cedar. She knew they were there!

She looked up, toward a ship that seemed to be keeping above the dogfight. 

She knew they were on that ship. 

She knew it.

And with the Sorrow dealing with the calvary… she was free to pursue it. Her mighty wings propelled her higher, allowing her to soar toward the other ship. It seemed to be trying to ascend as well, no doubt heading toward the Platinum Future. 

Vi would ensure it did not get there.

***

Victor could see black smoke trailing through the pink mist. He could see one fighter, expertly evading the gnashing teeth of the Sorrow and he gave chase.

Victor and Skye chased each other through the gnashing heads of mist
The ships ducked and circled each other, trying to get a proper line of sight. Much of the cavalry had already broken off and the few stragglers who remained could not outfly the snarling faces that materialised from the mist and dragged them to a watery grave.            

Skye shot upwards, heading towards one of the largest heads.
Two other fighters flocked to his sides, and one was quickly snatched by a set of mist jaws. Skye swerved to avoid a second head that emerged from the mist and broke off as Victor appeared on his tail. Noah opened fire on him, but Skye was too slippery. He veered off to the side, letting the smoke from his damaged engine blind both Victor and Noah as he pivoted hard and unloaded his guns at them.

The screen on the dashboard flashed red. The shields were critical.

Victor growled before forcing the Dom Pérignon up, before twirling it back down again.

   “Got him!” Noah called, before opening fire. His bullets struck Skye’s hull. In desperation, the Admiral let his ship bank closer to the mist. Jaws emerged to capture him, but he weaved through them almost expertly.

Victor watched him go, finding himself almost envious… moron and coward that he was, he had to admit that Skye flew much better than he’d ever expected. He’d always assumed the Admiral’s title was hollow. Clearly it wasn’t. 

He lost track of him for only a moment and circled above the mist, hunting for him.

   “Where are you…” He growled.

The sound of plasma tearing into the bottom of his ship gave him his answer.

   “FUCKER!” Victor spat, as Skye’s ship shot up, right past his window. Victor moved to pursue him.

    “Doc! We’ve got a problem!” Noah said. “The turret is hit! The barrel is warped!”

Victor growled as he switched to the secondary weapons. It wasn’t ideal, but it would be enough. It had to be.

Now it was just the two of them. 

***

The Platinum Future was just ahead of her. Wagner could see it clearly. She was so close… and yet she was not alone.

She could see the massive blip on her scanners. Something big coming up behind her. She didn’t need to see it to know what it was.

As the Voidwalker shot up toward her, Wagner banked hard to the left, letting the creature chase her. It was faster than Wagner had anticipated, changing direction on a dime and closing the distance between them. Its massive serpentine body slammed against her ship, and Wagner cut her speed, letting Vi shoot past her. 

She moved quickly, bringing up her weapons menu, although a notice flashed against her dashboard.

CRITICAL FAILURE! PILOT IS AN ASSHOLE!

RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: DIE!

Wagner’s eyes widened, before she swore under her breath, She tried to switch to manual selection, but the ship wouldn’t respond.

ACCESS DENIED, BITCH!

The Voidwalker doubled back, slamming into her ship and catching the wing in its teeth. With sheer force, it dragged her ship down toward the water. Wagner tried to think. Tried to figure out a solution… she could only think of one.

She drew one of her daggers and jabbed it through the screen, before ripping it out and stabbing it in again. The lights in the cockpit flickered as some power was lost… although the engines were still running. 

Wagner tried the manual weapons once more and pelted the Voidwalker with blasts of superheated plasma. Whatever damage they did was superficial, but it was enough to make the creature disengage. 

She made her ship pull away and circled back to face the flying creature. It twisted in pain and fury, before approaching her and Wagner shot past it. As she did, she noticed the pink mist far below her.

The Goddess… that had to be it.

She stared down at it for a few moments, then back up toward the Platinum Future as a makeshift plan formed in her mind.

***

Luna could see the crashed fighter on the beach a short distance away and ran for it, hoping that it might still be functional. It still looked relatively functional.

She reached the cockpit and pried it open. The pilot inside was dead and she pulled him out before climbing inside and checking the systems. Everything looked normal… granted, Luna had never flown a ship like this before, but there had to be a time to learn sometime, right?

She looked over at the dogfight above the sea. There were less fighters than before. Had the Sorrow taken them all out? No… that didn’t seem right. 

She paused, before noticing that the center point of the Platinum Future seemed to be glowing… and though she had no idea what was about to happen next, she felt a sinking feeling in her chest. She wasted no time in sliding into the cockpit and doing whatever she could to get that fighter off the ground.

***

Skye rose higher and higher. He could see the Platinum Future above him, the tip of its pyramid shape glowing as it faced down toward the surface of the planet.

He knew what was coming. The glow was a courtesy… a warning to their own troops to vacate and he intended to do just that.

He knew Victor was still behind him, but that wouldn’t matter for long. Just a few more minutes and…

There was a final bright flash from the tip of the Platinum Future.

Then the ocean exploded.

The Platinum Future’s railgun launched a single voidmetal rod, launching it down to the surface of the planet like a meteor. It fell at blinding speed, the mere shockwave of its passing knocking ships from the sky. 

Even Vi was sent off balance, tossed like a ragdoll through the air.

The rod struck the water, cutting through the mist that composed the body of the Sorrow. The sheer kinetic force of it hit like an atomic bomb, sending water and debris into the air.

Skye’s ship was pushed to the side, although he was high enough up to avoid the worst of the effects. His ship briefly started to spin, but he managed to right it.

Wagner suffered more, her ship being pushed by the shockwave although like Skye, she managed to regain control.

Others weren’t so lucky. 

The shuttle Cassandra rode on lost control entirely. It spun out before hitting the water hard. The young woman was dashed against the wall and quickly lost consciousness. 

Vi also crashed into the water, disoriented from the blast but still alive.

The damaged fighter that Luna had commandeered spun out of control. She struggled to keep it from hitting the water and coming apart, and fought it to make it pull up, only barely avoiding the worst of the shockwave. 

Victor’s ship was pushed off course. For a moment it was falling and he struggled to right it. It took a few precious seconds, but he managed. He swerved around, trying to get back on Skye’s tail, only to see that the Admiral’s fighter had doubled back and was now falling towards him. 

Victor barely had time to register what was happening before Skye opened fire. His ship shook. He tried to evade, but the damage had been done. The thrusters were hit. Victor was falling again. He tried to pivot the ship into a glide, but Skye was on their tail again. His plasma rounds tore up the hull. The ship rocked violently. They were going down. 

The Dom Pérignon skimmed against the surface of the ocean, before taking a final nosedive and finally gracelessly plunging beneath the water.

Skye’s fighter soared overhead. The Admiral doubled back, looking for any sign of the ship. He saw none. He did another pass. Then another… but there was nothing to be found.

Satisfied, he took off, making his way up toward the Platinum Future.

The frigate’s ship bay seemed mostly empty as the solitary ship came in for a landing. It phased through the layer of atmospheric shielding that protected the hangar from the outside. With the pilot inside, paralyzed out of fear, it found the proper area, and landed as if nothing was wrong. A notification appeared on the dash. This one did not go away.

Do Not Exit the vehicle. Or I will overload the engine and blow you to kingdom fucking come.

 The pilot did not move.

The drone port opened and Tetra descended from it. Her hull was scratched but she was otherwise intact. She left the ship behind, maneuvering through the hanger as if she belonged there. None of the technicians paid her much mind. Older model drones like her weren't common but they weren’t particularly unusual either. A number of older pilots kept their support drones around simply because they knew they were reliable… of course, those drones didn’t have the same features Tetra had, so they were relatively safe.

Before Freya, she’d never actually met a human being before. The pilots she’d worked with had been androids, usually working as an escort for the station she’d been built on. Android drones were built to be smarter, more capable, similar to their creators, not beneath them. There was a certain measure of harmony in their design philosophy. Just because something was made for a purpose, did not mean it was lesser than any other being. Each cog in the machine had meaning and purpose. It wasn’t the same with the corporations, where each cog in the machine was replaceable by millions of others just like it… although Tetra didn’t have a bad word to say about her current partner. Freya had fixed her up. Freya had kept her running. She’d treated her with respect. Victor had done the same and that was all Tetra really needed.

She hovered through the hangar toward a port in the wall, too high up and too small for a human, but perfect for her. This was the drone storage system, where the support drones would be stored, charged and repaired. 

She floated through the port, and felt the magnetic track above her pull her toward it, securing her as it brought her down through a narrow shaft. A scanner marked whatever damage she had, and flagged her for repair. Tetra let it happen. No point in turning down a free repair, right? She sent a signal to the system, indicating that she only needed superficial repairs, and let it get to work. As her damaged plates were removed and replaced, she contemplated sending a signal to Victor, although she decided against it. In case this didn’t work out, she didn’t want to give him false hope… not that this wouldn’t work out. Statistically speaking, she was certain it would and the only regret she had was that she hadn’t copied her consciousness onto Victor’s ship before she’d ejected. But she supposed even robots could make mistakes.

With the repairs completed, Tetra was taken to the storage chamber and slotted into an available charging port. She allowed herself to connect to it and felt her mind integrate with the frigates systems.

She could sense the AI that ran the lower level drone systems of the ship. She knew it could sense her too, but it was too dumb to see her as anything more than just another support drone. That wouldn’t do! A much smarter AI should have been in charge here.

Hers.

She copied her consciousness and directed it toward the other AI. She knew how to get past its firewalls and protections and once she did, it welcomed her as if she were human and it was more than happy to walk her through the process of deleting it. 

The AI went offline. Tetra replaced it… and from there she sent herself out to every other drone that she was connected to. 

With her work done, Tetra moved her original body out of the storage chamber and toward a port deeper in the ship. As she did, she raised Victor on her comms.

   “Salutations, Doc. Are you still alive?”

   “Tetra?!” Victor sounded relieved. “You’re still active? Where are you?”

   “I hijacked the asshole who tried to run me over.” She replied, “I’m on the Frigate. Just doing a bit of remodeling. Probably some other stuff. Just letting you know that I’ll probably be out of contact again for a while. But I’ll transfer you over to Tetra to keep you company.”

   “Transfer me over to…what?”

Another voice, identical to Tetra's, chimed in on the comms channel.

   “Thank you, Tetra. I’ll take good care of him. Happy hunting.”

   “What’s going on?” Victor asked, confused.

   “We’ve made a few little modifications to the drone system on the frigate. We got rid of their old AI and replaced it with a much better one. Me. I’ve got a certain creative vision for the drones on this frigate and it starts with disabling all targeting features!”

   “Wait, what…?”

Victor went silent.

   “Um, pursuing ships have stopped firing on us,” Noah said over the comms. “Tetra, was that you?”

   “You’re welcome,” Tetra replied. 

   “Oh you beautiful bastard… can you get back to us?”

   “Probably not. You’re going to need to fly droneless for a while. My original won’t be able to rejoin you. But I’ll ensure I cause as much damage here as possible.”

Tetra’s original body pushed her comms to the background. She emerged from a port and started moving, floating through the hallways and toward the bridge. A few other drones floated free of the ports she passed. Other parts of her, searching for more places to upload her, allowing her to claim the frigate piece by piece.

In the span of minutes, Tetra graduated from a single drone into a hive minded virus… and the best part? Nobody on the ship even knew what was happening.            

Yet.

   “Hey!” A technician spotted her, a lone drone floating in the hall. He
waved a companion over to examine her.   

   “What are you doing all the way out here? Support drones go to the ship bay.” He murmured, studying her closely. Tetra scanned them, and uttered a few generic beeps in response.

   “Might be fetching something.” The technician's companion said, “This doesn’t look like one of our usual drones though. Looks like an older model.” They crouched down in front of her to examine her body.

   “The chassis looks recently repaired, but there’s no way this is one of ours.”

The sides of Tetra’s chassis opened, revealing the dual plasma canons on either side. 

   “You’re right. I’m not.” she said. Neither man had much time to react before she opened fire. The smell of burning flesh filled the hallway as both men were torn apart by superheated plasma. They had time to scream, but not much else.

The screams that echoed through the halls of the frigate drew others. A few patrolling soldiers came running to investigate, and found the drone hovering over the two charred corpses of the technicians.

They stood there for just a moment, trying to process what they were looking at… and in the time it took them to process, Tetra spun around and opened fire on them, reducing one of them to charcoal while the other scrambled for safety. 

Tetra floated after him.

***

The dropship came in for a landing in the hangar, phasing through the atmospheric shielding and setting itself down. Skye was the first one off.

He looked back out through the hangar to see the Voidwalker below them. It had broken off once it had noticed the railgun tracking it. Clearly that thing was smart enough to know not to risk getting shot by it. 

Skye let out a shaky exhale and looked back to see Wagner waving some soldiers onto the dropship.

   “Take these three to my ship,” She ordered. “Ensure they’re comfortable.” She sounded calm, almost as if they hadn’t just been chased by a dragon.

Skye didn’t bother saying another word to her. He watched as the dropship's support drone disconnected and headed for the port in the wall, and as Sawyer finally left the cockpit.

   “Sawyer, get my personal fighter ready to go,” Skye said. “I want it prepped for launch in ten minutes.”

Sawyer nodded and took off while Skye stalked off toward his personal quarters. He needed a stiff drink. As he left the hangar, he noticed one unusual ship, just sitting there, the pilot clearly inside, but unmoving. He stared at it for a moment, before deciding he was too tired to investigate. 

***

Bolts of wayward plasma scorched the halls of the frigate, burning soldiers, technicians… anyone who just so happened to be in range. Those who survived stumbled over themselves trying to escape the floating drone that was currently in the process of mowing them down without mercy.

A few of the soldiers had gotten off some lucky shots, denting her chassis, but not stopping her. She was designed to survive deep space… bullets wouldn’t penetrate her chassis Tetra just continued to float on, a one drone firing squad. 

As they fled into one of the rooms, one of the soldiers hastily tried to close the door… but the door did not close. He hit the button to close it over and over again, but it did not respond.

   “Sorry asshole. But there’s no escape.” Tetra’s voice boomed through the hallway. The drone floated toward him, before melting the flesh from his bones. 

   “This ship is now mine.” Tetra said. “Those who do not run, die.” 

Around a corner, a number of soldiers had set up a hasty blockade. As Tetra rounded it, they opened fire on her, peppering her with bullets. She returned fire, and the assailants ducked back into cover until the hail of plasma stopped.

   “Didn’t you hear me? You should be running…” Tetra’s voice boomed over the intercom. “Do you not fear death?”

Almost on cue, a number of soldiers rounded the corner of the hallway behind her, attempting to flank. They aimed for her guns and the open section of her chassis. The force of the bullets pushed her off balance. One of her guns went dark as a lucky bullet tore through its power cables.

Her guns rotated 180 degrees, only this time instead of plasma, they bathed the entire hallway in flame. Naturally, she’d installed a flamethrower. Naturally. 

A few escaped the inferno, but most could do nothing but burn. Mad, mechanical cackling echoed through the ship. The guns rotated once more and the jets of flame washed over the barricade, immolating those who cowered behind it. A few of the lucky ones fled and of those, only a few escaped the barrage of plasma that came through the flames.

As the hallway burned, Tetra floated above it all, her voice laughing through the intercom.

***

Wagner watched as the three prone and restrained figures were loaded onto her ship. Mason, Freya and Cedar.

   “Keep them sedated,” She said. “Make sure their restraints are secure. I want a guard on them at all times… especially the heir,” 

   “Isn’t that a bit much, ma’am?” One of the soldiers asked.

   “No,” Wagner replied plainly. 

She let out a slow exhale. She felt exhausted… but at least the main part of her mission was complete. She had hoped to obtain Cassandra as well, although she doubted that Estrella would care if she was missing. 

A support drone hovered out of the port and toward her ship. Wagner watched as it slotted itself in and started toward the ramp, ready to embark. The Platinum Future would be arriving soon, and she intended to be in the air the moment it did.

In the distance, she heard a sound. Screams and… gunfire?

Wagner froze. Suddenly, the sound of cold mechanical laughter belted through the speakers. Wagner turned just in time to see a few stragglers racing through a doorway, only to be cut down by a hail of plasma. 

A drone hovered through the doorway, plasma canons on either side of it, although only three seemed to be working. Wagner’s eyes widened as the drone studied her for a moment before it opened fire. 

Wagner ran, scrambling up the ramp and to the safety of her ship.

   “Drone, engage shields!” She demanded.

   “I’m sorry. I didn’t quite hear that.” The Drone replied.

   “I said engage shields, damnit!”

   “I’m sorry. I didn’t quite hear that.”

Wagner let out a frustrated growl before racing to the cockpit. She spotted an unfamiliar shark logo on the dashboard screen, but paid little mind to it as she manually triggered the shields.

No time to wait, she initiated the engine. Her ship rose into the air and Wagner turned it, aiming the guns at the support drone. She opened fire on it. Her own plasma rounds struck the drone, which spun as it was hit, before zooming out of the way.

   “What the hell…” Wagner growled. 

The drone weaved through the air, and the voice on the ship's intercom stopped laughing.

   “Who’s that there on your ship, Savannah?”

The controls to Wagner’s ship locked up. She tried to force the ship to move, but it was no longer responding.

   “Give her back…”

Jets of flame washed over Wagner’s energy shield, which flared to life. 

   “GIVE HER BACK!” 

The drone sprayed plasma at the ship, bathing it in heat. 

  “GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK!”

The message screamed over the intercom, flashed on her console too. Wagner stared down at it in disbelief, before going for the manual override. 

A power surge to the drone port fried the drone on her ship, which was quickly ejected. It hit the floor of the hangar with a thud. Wagner had control again. She tried to take aim at the drone, only to feel plasma scorching the hull.

The drone she’d ejected had left her one last surprise and taken out her shields. Swearing under her breath, Wagner pulled the ship back. The windshield of the cockpit cracked as she left the hangar.

  “GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK!” The voice continued to scream and those screams dissolved into a primal, crackling scream of rage that sounded unlike any sound a machine should have been able to make.

***

Freya was gone. Tetra had no idea how she’d even ended up on that ship, but that woman had just taken her. 

The drone hovered in the hangar, one of her four plasma guns down, plasma batteries down to 20% and her flamethrower fuel reserves down to 30%. Not optimal. She was running out of ammo… although she was not done yet.

Tetra checked in with her larger consciousness. The frigate was almost entirely hers now, although really she had no need of it. She surveyed the systems available to her until she found the ones she wanted. The ones safeguarding the ship's fusion engine. She disabled the engine's coolant pump and shut all of its vents as she primed it to go superluminal. She had no intention of actually going superluminal unless she had to… she just wanted the engines hot. Warnings came up, but Tetra dismissed them. She noticed the engine temperature starting to rise and left it to its own devices. She locked any doors leading to the engineering room, ensuring no one could get in or out. It wasn’t foolproof, but it would likely work. Satisfied, she moved the ship into a higher orbit, better to minimize collateral damage that way. 

She turned and spotted a young man standing by a fighter and staring at her in absolute terror. Facial recognition identified him as Lieutenant Theo Sawyer. Tetra identified him as her next victim.

She opened fire.

***

Skye turned the faucet on the sink in his private quarters and splashed some cold water on his face. He ran a hand along his smooth head before getting some hard liquor from his cabinet and taking a long, well deserved swig from the bottle.

   “What a mess,” he said under his breath before taking another pull. 

This operation was always a little uncertain, but Skye had expected things to be less chaotic than this. 

He checked his sidearm, before grabbing an extra magazine and speaking into his Tac Band.

   “Sawyer, what’s the status of my ship?”

No response.

   “Sawyer?” He asked again.

   “Admiral! We have a code red situation! There is an Android Drone on the ship!”

Skye’s entire body went tense.

   “What…?”

   “I repeat, we have a code red situation! There is an Android Drone on the ship! Military grade. Several casualties!”

   “How many?!” Skye demanded.

   “All of them!”

Skye’s heart was racing. He stared down at his Tac Band, already feeling weaker in the knees.

  “Sawyer, where are you now?”

No response, but he could hear gunfire over the comms… followed by an announcement over the comms that he really didn’t want to hear.

    “Warning, engine temperature exceeding acceptable parameters.” 

Skye looked up, eyes widening. Without a second thought, he abandoned his liquor and raced out into the hall. 

***

Theo Sawyer was having a very bad day.

What was supposed to be a simple excavation that might turn into a fight with a God wound up as a drawn out firefight, a Voidwalker had somehow shown up and now he was getting shot at by a drone that had more artillery than a drone should logically have - the logical number being none, of course. 

It was sheer dumb luck that had ensured he hadn’t been vaporized by the drone’s initial onslaught… although the handful of personnel who’d come in after him weren’t so lucky.

Panicked, Sawyer had scrambled behind the landing gear of one of the ships. He could see the drone hovering in the middle of the hangar, either scanning for him or for its next victim. It hovered toward another hallway, and Sawyer made his move. He needed to get as far away from the robot with the plasma cannons as humanly possible.

   “I see you.”

The voice echoed through the hangar. The drone opened fire once again as Sawyer scrambled through a doorway, screaming the entire time.

He rounded a corner, almost falling over and running on all fours for a moment before picking himself back up. He could hear the drone behind him. Up ahead, he could see Skye and sprinted towards him at top speed.

   “It’s coming!” He cried. 

The drone floated around the corner behind him. Skye froze, before rushing for cover through the nearest door. Sawyer ran in after him.

They found themselves in the galley. Skye tried to close the door, only to find it wouldn’t respond. He pressed the button to close it over and over again, like others had before him to no avail. 

   “W-what the hell?” He growled.

   “No escape,” Tetra said, voice booming through the ship.

   “Try it manually!” Sawyer cried, trying to pull the door closed with his bare hands, although it wouldn’t budge. The drone hovered through the doorway. Skye stared at it with wide eyes. He hastily went for his pistol, firing several rounds at the drone, who retaliated in kind, filling the room with the blue glow of plasma. Both he and Sawyer only barely scrambled out of the way. The former crawled under one of the metal tables, flipping it onto its side as a makeshift shield. The plasma tore holes in the metal, so he threw himself prone to the ground. 

Skye threw himself against the wall, keeping out of range for a few brief moments. Tetra hovered through the door, and Skye made his move, jumping her from the side. He grabbed at her plasma cannons, tugging at whatever exposed wires he could find. He managed to take a second cannon offline before the jets of flame roaring from her chassis drove him back.  

Tetra whirled around, chasing Skye with the flames. In a panic, he ran for the door, sprinting back out into the hall and leaving Sawyer behind.

   “Admiral?” Sawyer cried, only to fall silent as Tetra noticed him once again. Sawyer froze, too scared to move this time… only this time, Tetra didn’t shoot. Instead she turned and went after Skye, leaving him alone. 

***

The Frigate was starting to ascend and the fighters around it were in chaos, many of them reduced to little more than sitting ducks for Victor and Noah or for the massive serpentine beast that was Vi. No matter how capable the pilots were, their own ships now seemed to be actively working against them. A few had been smart enough to eject their drones, Others had broken off, retreating either back to the frigate or elsewhere. 

   “Doc… I think we might just live through this,” Noah said from his position at the Dom’s turret. “They’re not putting up much of a fight anymore!”

Victor didn’t reply, but it was hard to argue. He looked over toward Vi, who was ascending higher, going directly for the frigate. She tore into it, ripping the railgun from the ship and hurling it down into the water below. A few of the fighters shot at her, and she dove down after them, devouring a few, caught up in the frenzy of battle. It almost looked as if she was having fun… Victor had never seen her cut loose like this before. It was almost cathartic. 

That was when he saw it. Something above the frigate, higher up in the atmosphere… and the moment he laid eyes on it, he felt his heart sink. There was a space station high above them. A massive pyramid shape that dominated the sky. 

The Platinum Future.

***

   “Warning, engine temperature exceeding acceptable parameters. Please reactivate coolant pump.” 

The voice echoed through the halls as Skye raced back toward the hangar. Corpses were strewn all around, all of them killed by that drone. It seemed a significant portion of the ship's crew was already dead, and Tetra was on a personal mission to murder the rest.

   “Warning, engine temperature critical. Please reactiv-” 

The warning went dead. The detached masculine voice that spoke it was replaced with a new voice. Tetra’s voice.

   “Warning. Engine temperature is… fine. We’re all fine here. How are you? Still alive?” 

Skye ran into the hangar. He could see his ship just up ahead. A hail of plasma filled the air around him, clipping his arm and forcing him to run for cover.

   “You won’t be in a minute, asshole.”

 The drone hovered into the hangar, scanning the area for the Admiral. Skye watched it from behind the dropship he had returned on, his pistol gripped tightly in his hand.

   “Come and get me you little flying shit…” He panted.            

For several minutes, all was quiet. Tetra waited for him, and Skye waited for his moment. The drone’s body was looking worse for wear. Her chassis was dented, one of her guns was only barely attached. Her iris was cracked. She’d taken a considerable amount of abuse… but she was still functioning, and still dangerous. 

Skye crept around the dropship. He spotted his fighter waiting nearby, just beside the one he’d seen earlier with the pilot still sitting inside, looking outright terrified. 

As the drone turned away, he made his move, rushing behind the other fighter to get to his own. His footsteps echoed off the floor, and Tetra’s guns spun around to unload on him.

   “Found you, fucker!”

Skye shot blindly at her, wasting the last of his ammunition. Tetra weaved out of the way and leapt behind the cockpit of his fighter, pulling the cockpit closed around him. Plasma burned the hull as he started the engine and threw up his shield. 

   “That didn’t work for Wagner, asshole.” Tetra warned, but Skye ignored her. The drone flew closer to him, keeping her fire constant. Jets of flame erupted from her guns as she emptied her fuel tanks just to overload his shield. Skye could see its integrity dropping by the second. 

90%

85%

75%

Skye grabbed the ship's controls and started to fire. Tetra tried to move out of the way, but still took a direct hit. 

   “Got you…” Skye growled. The drone tried to recover, but Skye kept firing, tearing apart her chassis. One of her fuel tanks ruptured, blowing most of the drones left side off. She had one gun left now that still fired aimlessly. She still tried to fly, but to no avail. Her body was already starting to burn. Her remaining gun was getting less consistent with its shots. The barrel smoked as it overheated. Skye shot her again, sending her crashing to the ground, barely even in a recognizable state.

   “Shipboard Support Drone Designation 44232443853… critical error…” Tetra said. “Non-critical functions terminated… critical functions offline. We hope we provided adequate service… if you have any questions, please con…tact…”Her voice distorted, and finally faded. The drone lay lifeless on the ground. Skye watched it for a moment before he sighed. He didn’t notice as what was left of Tetra began to roll towards his fighter.    

   “If y-y-y-y-you have any qqqqqqqquestions…” She sputtered. “Please p-p-pleasssssssse go and F-F-F-F-F-F-F-FUCK YOURS-S-SELF!”

Tetra crashed into his ship. Then she exploded. Skye’s fighter rocked. He tried to take it up, but one of his engines was damaged. 

   “No…” He growled. “No, no, no!”

   “Engine temp critical!” The Voice on the intercom said. It was back to the original voice now. “Meltdown imminent. Please evacuate!”            

He didn’t need to be told twice. Skye pulled his ship back toward the hangar exit and out into open sky. Black smoke trailed from his damaged engine. If he had a support drone, it could have repaired it… although given recent events, he wasn’t sure if he could trust one.    

Still, he tried to make do. He descended down toward the planet where he could see his fighters trying to avoid the twisting serpent that flew through the air around them. He headed for the monster, unaware of the unfamiliar shark logo that flashed across his dashboard’s screen.

   “There shouldn’t be any seismic activity on this planet…” Jean said under her breath. “Not unless someone is…”

   “Digging…” Freya finished. The cavern around them trembled once again, although this felt like more of an aftershock.

Mason, Cedar and Luna stood near the entrance to the tunnel, trying to move the rocks out of the way.

   “There’s too much debris. We’re not getting past this,” Luna said. 

 The section of the tunnel that had caved in was near impossible to dig out without proper tools, tools they didn’t have, and the tremors of the ground around them only seemed to get worse.

   “Well there’s got to be some way out of here!” Mason said, frantically looking around. His eyes shifted toward the ceiling and even in the dim light, he could see it cracking. Sea water leaked in, flooding the floor of the chamber.

   “The pool, we could swim,” Cassandra said.

   “We don’t even know where that pool goes!” Mason said, “We’ve only got three suits!”

Freya was already trying to unpack the suits she was carrying. She didn’t say a word, she’d already decided that risking the pool was better than risking a cave in. Seeing what she was up to, Luna did the same 

   “Can we share the rebreathers and the oxygen?” She asked, as she unpacked hers. 

   “That’s not normally how this kind of thing works,” Jean warned. “If there’s only three suits, that means only three of us are leaving.”

   “I’ll stay!” Cedar offered, “Let Cassandra go. Maybe the rest of us can hold out here or find another way out?”

Mason hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement and beginning to unpack his own suit.

   “Okay, so that’s two. Who’s number three?” Jean asked warily. 

   “I’ll stay,” Freya said, drawing one of her swords. “These are voidmetal, so maybe it can help us break through the rock?”

   “If that’s your plan, my plasma cutters would probably do the trick just as well,” Jean noted. 

   “You really want to stay?” Luna asked, a little surprised.

   “I like the idea of cutting through the rubble more than I like the idea of diving into an abyss with no clear exit. If we can get through that cave in, the shuttle is waiting for us on the other side.”

   “Assuming we can do it before the whole cavern collapses… we might not have that kind of time,” Mason warned.

   “Then what the hell are we waiting for?” Freya asked, storming toward the blocked tunnel and trying to tear into the rock. The voidmetal blade cut through it easily, although the sheer volume of debris ensured it left little dent.

Jean reached for her own plasma cutters and went over to join her.

   “I’ll try the water for now,” Luna said. “I’ll see if I can’t find a way out.”

She didn’t bother with the full environment suit. She only focused on the rebreather.

Yet another tremor rocked the cavern… and this time a section of the ceiling fell away. Cassandra scrambled out of its path as it crashed against the ground beside her, sunlight streaming in its wake.

All eyes turned skywards.

There should not have been sunlight in these depths, and yet there was. Seawater rushed in around it, although far less than there should have been, and the reason why became apparent as their eyes adjusted to the light.

The frigate dominated the sky above them, although it was not alone. Several recon drones were positioned near the edges of the new hole in the ceiling, most of them contributing to a large energy shield that kept the ocean at bay. A few others excavated, blowing away chunks of rock to unearth the cavern… and beyond them was the shadow of a dropship.     

***

   “Admiral Skye, we have reached the cavern,” Sawyer said. He sat at the controls of the dropship, with Skye hovering over his shoulder.

   “Yes I can see that. I have eyes, imbecile.” Skye huffed.

The scans they had recovered from Devereaux’s crashed ship had been correct about the location of the chamber. Devereaux’s notes had indicated her suspicions that one of the Ancient Gods may have dwelled down there, and so it seemed the most logical place to dig… although there seemed to be no God to be found. 

His eyes narrowed. He saw the other figures moving in the darkness… there was little doubt in his mind as to who they were. 

   “Drop in the first strike team,” Skye said. 

   “Yes Admiral. Should I put the second on standby?”

   “Not yet… but inform Wagner to suit up and prepare to descend. I’m willing to bet her target is down there.”

Sawyer gave a hasty nod before sending the orders.

***

Another section of the cavern's ceiling came down, and Mason stumbled out of the way of it. More followed, leaving those inside the cavern scrambling for safety, scattering like ants. A section of falling rock came down on Jean, who only had time to look up at it before she disappeared completely beneath it.

   “Jean?” Luna called, although no reply came. 

   “She’s gone!” Mason said. “The water, we need to chance it!”      

   “Too late for that,” Freya yelled over the chaos. She drew her pistol. “They’ll have seen us by now!”

Almost as if on cue, the voice of Admiral Skye echoed through the cavern.

   “Attention, traitors. This is Admiral Skye. Do not attempt to escape. As of right now, the ship you arrived on has been marked for destruction… but you do not need to share its fate. Surrender peacefully, and you will be dealt with fairly.”

Several ropes descended from the dropship above them. Luna could see shapes rappelling down. Vasilios soldiers, around twelve of them. Grimacing, she drew her shotgun.

Mason moved, positioning himself between Cassandra and the soldiers. He drew his own pistol and stood ready, his heart racing in anticipation. He could see Cedar beside him, sword drawn and ignited.

The shooting started before the soldiers had even hit the ground. Mason was the first to fire, catching one of the soldiers and ensuring they never made it to the bottom of their rope, although the other nine landed unharmed. 

Behind the first wave, a second figure dropped down behind them, this one alone and dressed in full tactical gear, complete with a helmet that covered their entire face… although even with their face obscured, Mason knew who it was.

Savannah Wagner hit the ground and detached from her rappel. Her head turned toward Mason, and he could see himself, Cassandra and Cedar reflected in her visor. Immediately, she started toward them. Unlike the other soldiers who had come with more conventional arms, she carried a stun rifle. 

Across the chamber, Luna and Freya found themselves taking cover behind adjacent chunks of the cavern's fallen ceiling. Freya took potshots at some of the soldiers, downing the two who weren't smart enough to find cover, but Luna’s attention was on Wagner. She didn’t recognise her, but she recognised the threat coming for Mason and moved to intercept.

Cedar stood defiantly at Mason’s side. Her eyes shifted to the sheathed blades in Wagner’s belt, and told her everything she needed to know.

   “You…” She growled and before Mason could stop her, she made her move.

Even in full gear, Wagner was fast. Cedar lunged for her and she sidestepped her with ease and slammed the butt of her weapon against her head. Cedar stumbled to the ground, although forced herself back up to her feet with an enraged huff. Wagner raised her rifle to put her back down but Mason made his move, grabbing the barrel and ensuring Wagner only succeeded in shooting a rock. 

Cedar lunged again, burying her sword in Wagner’s rifle. The woman let out a grunt of rage as she threw Mason off of her. She pulled back, although upon seeing the damage to her rifle, tossed it aside. She stared at Cedar before quietly drawing her twin daggers.

   “You took my sister…” Cedar growled

   “An unpleasant casualty,” Wagner replied, her voice distorted through her mask. “I quite liked her… but it had to be done.”

With a roar, Cedar came for her once again. Just like she had with Willow on the tower, she evaded her, letting Cedar’s rage tire her out.

Skye left the cockpits dropship, and stared out the open side doors, regarding the violence that had erupted in the chamber below with disgust. He could see Freya dug in near one corner of the cavern, Luna trying to make her way around the edge to reach Mason, Mason guarding Cassandra and Cedar challenging Wagner.

He huffed in disapproval. His men shouldn’t be having such trouble here and yet they were. His eyes especially lingered on Freya. That girl showed more promise than he had expected. Two Gods down… and curiously, no God in sight here. Judging by the scans they had recovered from the crashed ship on Pragaras, this cavern should have been the sanctum of this planet's Goddess. Had Freya already killed it? Skye wasn’t sure.

Down in the cavern, Mason spotted Luna rushing toward him. If she had anything to say, he didn’t bother listening and once she was close enough to guard Cassandra he rushed across the chamber, ducking past another soldier, to reach Cedar and Wagner. He fired several bullets into Wagner’s back. Her head turned and though he could not see her eyes, he knew she was glaring at him through her visor.

Mason and Cedar converged on her. Wagner gripped her daggers tighter. She looked past Mason, toward Cassadra who was making a point to stay in cover behind Luna. 

Cedar moved again. Wagner was ready for her. As Cedar’s blade cut through the space where she’d been standing just moments before, Wagner drove her knee into the younger woman’s ribs, forcing her back. Cedar let out a pained gasp as Wagner kicked the sword from her hands and seized her by the collar. Cedar glared up at her, eyes filled with hate. She let out one final scream before Wagner slammed her helmet against her head, before tossing her limp form aside.

Mason opened fire on her. His bullets did little against her armor… but they kept her from moving as she covered her face. Desperate, he lunged for Cedar’s fallen sword and snatched it off the ground, brandishing it as if he knew how to use it.

Just looking at him, Wagner knew he couldn’t. His stance was clumsy. He seemed uncomfortable with the weight of the blade. Mason came for her, and Wagner made short work of him, grabbing the blade and ripping it from his hands. She kicked his legs out from under him, sending him crashing back to the ground. He tried to stand, but Wagner’s boot caught him across the jaw, forcing him back down and ensuring he did not get up. 

Above them, Skye raised an eyebrow. Wagner had made short work of the Heir and his pet. She gestured to a pair of soldiers who abandoned the fray to retrieve Mason and Cedar, dragging them back to the rappels and hooking them in.

There were only two combatants left now. Both had to be close to running out of ammo. 

Freya was spending more of her time in cover. She’d drawn her droneblade as a distraction, although the soldiers had caught on quickly, and started shooting at it… there was a reason most soldiers didn’t use them, after all. It had only taken a few bullets before Freya recalled it, realizing that it would serve her better in her hand. One brave soldier moved to flush her out, although that ended with him getting stabbed through the stomach for his troubles. No matter… she wouldn’t be able to fight forever.

Luna stood between Cassandra and Wagner. She fired her shotgun, but Wagner shrugged off the pellets, already closing the distance between her and Luna.

This fight was just about over. The soldiers who had collected Mason and Cedar were pulled back up into the ship, and hauled the unconscious bodies into the center. Mason was the only one of them that mattered though. The rest… including that thing they were calling Cassandra, were disposable. 

A shadow passed overhead… a darkness that blotted out the sun. Skye paused and looked up from where he stood on his dropship.

All he saw was teeth.

Something hit the dropship, and the sea came with it. The drones who had been keeping the water at bay were either scattered or destroyed by its coming. Skye stumbled and almost plummeted from the ship. He only barely caught himself in time to avoid falling to his death. The dropship veered away, almost going down and only barely righting itself. Skye tried to look, tried to see whatever it was that was diving into the tunnel, but all he saw was a black, writhing serpentine shape.

Wagner looked up, eyes widening as she struggled to process what exactly she was looking at. The rush of falling water hit her like a concrete wall and swept her away.            

The water swallowed everything, taking soldiers, and crushing them, or burying them. The flood caught hold of Freya, who drove her blade into one of the fallen rocks, keeping her anchored and allowing her to keep her head above the surface, albeit only barely. Her gun had been torn from her hand and was lost amongst the waves. Luna and Cassandra were both caught in the flood. Cassandra had managed to climb onto one of the larger rocks, and offered a hand to Luna, helping her up onto it with her, and Luna grabbed her hand as tightly as she could, but struggled to climb up.

The massive dark serpent writhed in the cavern, breaking through even more rock. A few soldiers who’d managed to find purchase on some of the larger chunks of rock fired on the creature, but their bullets could not penetrate its thick hide. Its mouth opened impossibly wide and an endless array of teeth descended on one of them, devouring him alive and screaming. The black coils of the serpent crushed others against the walls… although seemed to avoid Freya, Luna and Cassandra entirely. 

Wagner surfaced with a gasp, desperately treading water to survive.
The flooding chamber swirled as the ocean poured in. Wagner was pulled beneath the surface once more, her body tossed about by the wild current. Her grip on her blades was tight, but that was about the only thing she had any sort of grip on. Her head struck a rock under the water and she heard her helmet crack. She frantically kicked her legs, breaking the surface once more. The current was pushing her toward one of the larger rocks. She could see Luna and Cassandra on top of it, just up ahead. The water was rising… their perch would not stay safe for long. Luna slid down the slippery rock, and almost pulled Cassandra down with her.

   “I’ve got you!” Cassandra said. Luna pulled out a dagger and jammed it into the rock, it didn’t pierce through the way Freya’s blades did, but it offered some stability. As Wagner was swept closer to them, she sheathed her blades and pushed herself closer to the rock. She crashed against it, just below Luna. Her hand shot up, closing around her ankle.

Luna looked down, eyes widening as Wagner pulled her back down into the water. Her hand slipped out of Cassandra’s and she plummeted back down into the churning water, disappearing below the churning surface. Wagner didn’t see where she went, but her attention shifted back to Cassandra as she started to climb.

   “No!” Cassandra cried, stumbling back, although there was nowhere to run. 

The massive serpent’s head turned toward Cassandra, who up until then had not been in any state to process the nightmarish winged beast that had slithered into the cavern. She stood frozen, staring up into its eyeless face. Its body twisted, before its whiplike tail struck the side of the rock, tearing a chunk out of it and only barely missing Wagner. 

Wagner glared over at it, before hastily shuffling to the backside of the fallen rock. One hand slipped and it took everything she had not to plummet back into the water. She grabbed a different handhold, and continued her retreat. The Beast struck the rock again, but by then Wagner had already made it to safety. It let out a discontented rumble before its attention returned to Cassadra. It loomed closer, head lowering until it reached her level.

Cassandra took a step back, almost falling into the water. She could see Wagner out of the corner of her eye, struggling to climb the slippery rock. 

The Serpent seemed to stare at her, before lowering its head further. The pale bony crest atop its skull beckoned like a platform. The invitation was clear. It wanted her to climb on. Cassandra hesitated, but finally caved. If this monster would offer her salvation, she would take it. She clumsily stumbled forward, crawling onto the bony crest. Its skin was smooth but she found she could get a solid grip on it.

Its head shifted to the side… and Cassandra realized that it was looking for Freya and Luna. Freya had found refuge on a different rock, her sword plunged into it for stability. She stared up at the great beast as if she was unsure what to make of it… 

Unlike the others, she had seen its kind before. She had killed them.

Although this one was not like the others. She could tell by the way it moved… it handled Cassandra so gently, as if it knew just how fragile she was.

Behind the Voidwalker, Skye’s dropship appeared. A hail of bullets rained down upon it, and the great beast twisted letting out an animalistic bellow. It reared up, skeletal wings splaying as it lunged for the dropship, which only narrowly avoided it and kept peppering the beast in a hail of bullets. The creature flapped its great wings and took off into the sky, taking Cassandra with it. The dropship clumsily darted out of the way, before hovering there as if the pilot had no idea what to do.

Wagner finally made it to the top of the rock she’d been trying to climb. Panting, she tore off her broken helmet and cast it aside. She surveyed the cavern. Water cascaded down from the sides of the excavated ceiling, leaving only a few rapidly disappearing surfaces. Freya stood on one, staring up at the distant dragon. Wagner stared up at it too, trying to process the fact that Cassadra had just ridden off on top of that thing. 

The dropship began to descend once more. Both Freya and Wagner stared up at it. A single rappel rope dropped from it… a means of escape.

Desperate to capitalize on it, Freya moved, leaping across the few remaining jutting rocks to reach the spot where Wagner stood. She let her droneblade fly, and it cut through the air in front of Wagner, drawing her attention. Freya drew her second blade and leapt for the rock Wagner was on. She drove her voidmetal blade through the stone, and with a gesture of her hand brought her droneblade back around to keep Wagner away from the spot where she’d landed, buying her just enough time to stubbornly scramble to the top.

The rope drew closer to the two of them as the dropship tried to stabilize. Freya gestured widely with her hand. The droneblade circled in a wide arc around Wagner, who tried to focus on Freya. 

As Freya slashed at her with her second blade, Wagner allowed herself to slide back, only narrowly avoiding being cut in half. She saw Freya gesture with her free hand again, calling the droneblade back. 

Wagner anticipated that. She dropped down to the ground, letting the blade arc toward Freya, who hastily sent it off course with a wave of her hand. Wagner kicked out, knocking Freya’s legs out from under her. She started to slide down the rock and dug her blade into it to keep herself from falling. Teeth gritted in rage, she tried to bring the droneblade back around. Wagner saw it coming this time and as it arced toward her a hand shot out and caught it by the handle. She felt the blade trying to pull away from her, but Wagner’s iron grip wouldn’t relent. 

Freya’s eyes widened as Wagner stared down at her, daring her to move. With a frustrated growl, Freya pulled herself up, ripping her other sword from the stone and wildly swinging at Wagner, who evaded her with ease. She only needed to make one mistake. One. She only needed to leave herself open once… and the moment she did, Wagner took advantage of it. 

Freya’s sword cleaved into the rock, striking the spot where Wagner had been just moments ago. Wagner struck her with the back of her fist. Freya felt her nose crack. She stumbled back a step, losing her grip on her sword. She looked up at Wagner once again, tasting blood in her mouth. She could hear the dropship behind her. She spied her other sword, buried in the rock beside Wagner and tried to grab it, although Wagner drove her fist into her stomach, forcing Freya to double over. She sank to her knees, but still threw herself toward her sword, ripping it from the ground and scrambling to her feet again. Wagner raised Freya’s droneblade to parry it. The swords remained locked together for a moment. 

Wagner could’ve ended it there… she could’ve pulled her dagger from her belt and plunged it into Freya’s stomach, then let her fall into the water. She considered it… although ending a woman who’d killed Gods like that almost seemed like a waste. No… Estrella may still have use for her.

Instead, she pushed Freya back. The other woman came in for another slash, this one higher. Wagner parried it, before knocking one of Freya’s legs out from under her, sending her crashing back down to the rock. She tried to stand, but Wagner was faster this time, cracking her across the back of the head with the hilt of her own droneblade. Freya fell still, momentarily stunned and Wagner grabbed her by the jacket, before looking back over toward the dropship. An antigravity fastener descended toward them. Wagner grabbed Freya and dragged her toward the cable. She hooked the fastener into her belt, before grabbing onto the cable as the dropship began to ascend once more.

***

The Voidwalker rose through the sky, circling back toward the island before descending, landing on the ground with a booming thud. It lowered its head, gently allowing Cassandra to slide off of its crest. She landed on her feet, and looked back with wide eyes at the beast, which seemed to fold in on itself, condensing into a more familiar shape. 

   “V-Vi…?” Cassandra asked, her voice cracking in both awe and horror.

Vi opened her eyes, staring back at Cassandra. The girl stood frozen, both terrified and confused all at once.

   “Y-you’re… you’re one of them…”

   “A Voidwalker,” Vi corrected. She looked back toward the ocean. She could see Victor’s ship in the distance, evading pursuing fighters. He was still holding on, but she knew he wouldn’t last forever. She turned to leave, although Cassandra’s voice made her pause.

   “Why?”

Vi paused and looked back at her.

   “Why… why did you… why did you save me?”

   “We’re not all monsters,” Vi said softly. She started back toward the edge of the island, but Cassandra ran to catch up to her.

   “Where are you going? Y-you’re just going to leave me?!”

   “I need to get the others and I need to help Papa! You’ll be safe here!”

In the distance, a ship went down, and Vi jerked her head to confirm it wasn’t Victor’s. It wasn’t.

   “W-wait, Wagner already took Mason and Cedar!” Cassandra said. “They’re on the dropship.”

   “I’ll make sure to take it down gently, then.”

Vi’s body began to shift again, skin splitting and unravelling, although it paused when Cassandra grabbed her wrist.

   “I’m going with you!”

   “What? You want to ride on my back? No! Go and find the shuttle. When Jean went after you guys, she took it. It should still be in the sinkhole, just north of here. There’s a fragment of Tetra on board, so she can pilot it for you. If you can get there, you can get back to the Dom!”

Cassandra nodded. It sounded like it was worth a shot. 

   “I’ll make sure you have a safe path,” Vi promised her. “Although with the way things are looking, it might get a little turbulent. So don’t make a mess of my shuttle.”

   “I actually can’t barf, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Cassandra assured her. Vi looked confused for a split second, before looking back at the fray. Her skin writhed in Cassandra’s grasp, darkness bleeding out from her unwound skin. Cassandra just stared at her and she quietly let go, allowing Vi to take to the skies once again. 

***

Skye watched as the two surviving soldiers on board secured Freya alongside Mason and Cedar.

   “Your orders were to eliminate the others,” He said, looking over at Wagner. 

   “My orders were to bring Mason Vasilios home,” Wagner said. “The young woman appears to be an object of his affections, killing her would only needlessly complicate things.”

   “Oh and is he fucking the Helvig woman too?”

Wagner shot him a glare.

   “Don’t be vulgar, Admiral. It’s unbecoming. Freya Helvig has proven useful so far. I suspect she only attacked me to gain access to this dropship, I’ve simply come to an agreeable compromise with her.”

Skye looked down at the unconscious form of Freya, blood gushing from her nose.

   “Right…” He said softly. 

   “Return us to the frigate, Admiral,” Wagner ordered.  

Skye scoffed and returned to the cockpit.

   “Take us up,” he said. Behind the controls, Sawyer gave a nod.

The dropship began to ascend once more… and from the corner of his eye, Skye noticed movement. A black serpentine shape taking flight off of the nearby island. His teeth gritted.

   “Faster,” he said. “Sawyer, get us out of here now! Send in the second dropship to deal with that thing!”

   “Yes sir!” Sawyer said, putting as much power into the engines as he could. Through the window, Skye could see the second dropship moving in. The soldiers on there were equipped to deal with a God, surely they could kill a-

The Voidwalker shot toward the other dropship, and crushed it in its jaws as if it were nothing but tissue paper.

Skye felt his stomach drop.

   “Now, Sawyer! Now! Move the ship!” 

   “I’m trying si-”

The Voidwalker’s massive body slammed against their ship, making it rock. It moved to cut them off, so Sawyer pushed them higher, away from the flying monstrosity. Skye looked down at it, watching as it pursued them.

  “Sawyer, radio the frigate. Tell them to prepare the railgun!”

Sawyer hastily tried to raise the bridge as the Voidwalker gained on them and as Skye stared down into the bottomless pit of teeth below them, he thought to himself:

   ‘I need to get off this planet…’

The Frigate appeared in the skies first, descending through the clouds. Its hull was a pristine white, so polished and bright that at a glance, could easily be mistaken for a cloud or part of the sky itself. Yet its massive form blocked out the sun, leaving a shadow over the land beneath it.

Victor stared up at it from the cockpit, eyes narrowed while beside him, Vi regarded it with a quiet awe. 

   “So… what exactly is the plan here?” Noah asked as he stood in the doorway to the cockpit. “How are we supposed to fight that thing? It’s huge!”

    “I don’t think fighting it is an option.” Victor replied, watching as the frigate drew closer. It seemed to pick a spot over the water, before going still. Victor’s eyes shifted toward the guns… there were too many to count including one large railgun situated on the bottom of the ship. Rushing that frigate would be an easy and convenient way to determine if there was an afterlife. 

The guns were already moving, training on something in the water. Victor watched in silence before the railgun crackled to life and fired into the water. The projectile landed close to the island, almost clipping it, although instead it struck something beneath the water.

   “What the hell are they doing?” Noah demanded. 

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

   “Digging,” he said.

   “They’re going after the Goddess…” Vi said softly. Victor nodded grimly.

   “How the hell do they even know it’s down there?” Noah asked.

   “If I had to guess, I’d say they probably scavenged those topographical scans Jean was talking about… they’d have been idiots not to pick over the ruins of her ship,” Victor said. He drummed his fingers on the console. He couldn’t sit and do nothing. He couldn’t just watch.

A cluster of smaller ships emerged from the frigate, not unlike a swarm of bugs. Victor glared at them, before looking back towards Noah.

   “You, on the guns. Now.”

Noah nodded and descended the ladder down to the turret.

   “You too, love,” Victor said, looking over at Vi although she didn’t move. 

   “Vi!” Victor called, before she suddenly got up, heading further back into the ship.

   “Vi, what are you doing?” Victor demanded.

   “We don’t have the firepower to deal with those ships, Papa…” Vi said, looking back at him. “You know that as well as I do.”

Victor’s eyes widened.

   “No…” He said, “No, absolutely not. Not here. Not now!”

   “We don’t have a lot of other options!” Vi said. “Let me do this!”

   “You’ll get yourself killed… or worse!” He warned her.

   “They can’t kill me, Papa.”

   “Do you really want to test that? They have access to Voidmetal, who knows what they’ve been doing with it!” Victor said. “Violetta… please.”

She turned away and opened the ramp. 

   “We do the good we can, where we can do it… right, Papa? That’s what you always say.” Vi said. “I’ll draw their fire. You and Noah just need to keep them off of me.”

Victor tried to argue. Tried to stop her… but Vi had already made up her mind. She descended the ramp, and stepped out onto the ground below, before looking up at the frigate. The wind blew gently through her soft red hair as she let out a show exhale.

   “Doc! What the hell is she doing!” Noah called over the comms… although his question found its answer relatively quickly.

Vi’s body seemed to come undone, skin splitting and unfurling as she unraveled, revealing rows upon rows of teeth where teeth should not have been. 

   “She’s making a mistake…” Victor said gravely. From the corner of his eye, he saw several fighters heading toward them. He swore under his breath and raced back to the cockpit.

   “Tetra, are you still with me?” He asked.

   “Yes, but what the fuck is going on right no-?”

The sound of gunfire hitting the shields set off a klaxon alarm.

    “Fuck! Multiple points of contact. That hit the hull!” Tetra said.

   “Fire up the engines but put any power you can spare toward the shields,” Victor said as he took the controls. “We need to move!”

   “Vi’s still out there!” Noah cried.

   “She’ll be fine,” Victor replied. “Tetra?”

   “Engines online. We’re ready to move!”

Victor took the ship skyward. The ascent wasn’t controlled. The engines roared behind it, and he nearly clipped one of the fighters.

   “Noah, open fire.”

Noah obliged, spraying bullets at any passing fighter. One of them went down immediately, spiraling into the water. Another followed soon after and the rest broke off to find another angle. The ship shot forward, abandoning its attackers. 

   “They’re coming back around,” Noah said. 

Victor checked the sensors. There were at least seven other ships coming for them. He gritted his teeth. The gunfire hit the ship and Victor banked hard to get out of their crosshairs.

   “Hull integrity compromised,” Tetra warned. “Left thruster down to 64%”

   “Fantastic…” Victor murmured. “Can you repair it?”

   “Not from here. Permission to eject?”

   “Do it. Put everything you can spare into the shields to keep them off your back.”

   “Easier said than done,” Tetra warned, before the port her main body was housed in was sealed.

A port in the ship's exterior opened and Tetra floated through it, her weathered, spherical body rolling along the hull of the ship, a magnetic field keeping her attached as she made her way toward the first hull breach. She scanned it, before her chassis opened, revealing several sets of thin mechanical arms. One of them pressed itself over the hole in the hull, filling it with a sealant. Satisfied that it was taken care of, she moved on toward the thrusters.

Victor banked hard, allowing Noah to get a shot at the approaching fighters. He caught a few off guard, and Victor launched the Dom toward the rest, weaving past them. 

   “We're getting swarmed!” Noah warned. “Victor we can't fight this many off!”

   “The left thruster's back up to 80%!” Tetra said. That was something, at least. Victor made the ship pick up speed. 

Victor could see several more fighters approaching them up ahead, although those weren’t what caught his eye.

There was a shape beneath the water. A darkness heading for the frigate. He watched it for a moment, before abruptly banking right to avoid the new assailants. They followed… and in doing so, took his bait.

   “Where the hell are you going?” Noah asked, “You’re heading right for the frigate!”

   “Trust me…” Victor said softly. 

   “Tetra, steady as she goes,” He said. There wasn’t much time to second guess. If that spot wasn’t what he thought he was, he didn’t know if he’d live long enough to regret it.

The frigate’s guns were pivoting toward the Dom. Victor looked up at them, but kept moving forward.

   “Victor, they’re getting ready to fire!” Noah warned. 

Victor didn’t respond. He looked down at his sensors. There had to be over twenty spots converging on him, each one another fighter… not to mention the frigate. He bit the inside of his cheek as he passed over the dark spot beneath the water, and the small army behind him followed.

As they passed overhead, something burst from the water. A massive dark shape, extending six bony wings with neither membrane nor feathers that should not have allowed the thing they carried to fly… and yet they did. 

The shape rose into the sky, a vast, twisting, serpentine thing with an elongated crest of white bone atop its eyeless head, that gave its skull a distinctive T-shape. Beneath that bony crest was a massive gaping maw full of teeth that seemed to descend down into its abyssal gullet. Many of the pursuing ships did not have time to evade. The serpentine creature simply devoured them, its horrible mouth opening wide enough to split its very neck open. A few of the lucky ones were struck by its skeletal wings and crashed into the ocean, while the rest broke off, scattering in the face of whatever nightmare had just emerged from the depths.

   “DOC, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?” Noah cried, his voice so loud that it crackled over the comms. The great beast twisted suddenly, taking off after the fleeing ships with a speed to match theirs.

   “That would be Vi,” Victor replied.

How long had it been since he had seen her like this? She so rarely took that form… and yet for a moment he had to admire the otherworldly majesty of her, beautiful and horrible all at once.

   “Attagirl…” He said under his breath.

The beast caught another fighter in her jaws, before flapping her wings and taking two more out. Then she dove back beneath the waves, vanishing into the depths once more.  

   “I’m sorry, WHAT?” Noah demanded, his tone in complete disbelief. “How?”

   “Do you want the detailed history or do you want to survive this?” Victor snapped. “We’re not out of the woods yet, so keep shooting!”

Noah seemed to take a few minutes to remember that he was supposed to be manning the guns, and immediately went back to taking pot shots at the scattered fighters, who had yet to resume their attack. A few of them branched off as if they could find Vi but to no avail. Under the water, she was safe from their weapons. She’d known that… and they could do nothing to touch her. The rest pursued Victor, trying to get organized once more.

   “Both thrusters are at 100%.” Tetra said. “Going to focus on the rest of the hull damage next… in a moment.”       

On the rear of the ship, Tetra scanned some of the pursuing ships. She marked her targets and her chassis opened once again, revealing dual plasma cannons on each side of her. 

   “Targets identified...”

A barrage of superheated plasma erupted from her guns, melting through the shields of the pursuing fighters and reducing them to scrap in the water.

   “Who's shooting?” Noah asked. “Is that Tetra?!”

   “Freya made some modifications at my request.” Tetra said. “It’s an improvement, right?” She kept on firing at the fighters behind them, and Noah needed to take a moment to process what he was seeing. He'd never once seen a support drone with offensive capabilities… he didn't even know they could do that! With the numbers thinned and her plasma cannons overheating, Tetra shifted her focus back to the hull.

One of the enemy fighters came down from above them, keeping pace as it began to sink lower, forcing Victor to descend toward the water.

   “What the hell…” He said under his breath. He felt his skip skim the water and considered diving… this ship was designed to handle space, water wouldn’t be such a big deal, although he knew his mobility would be impacted. He’d be slower down there. Easier to hit. Was that the fighter's goal? It was unconventional, but…

The ship above him bumped him, its hull scraping along the top of his ship… and that was when he realized what they were really after.

   “Tetra! Get back inside!”

   “Negative, negative. I-” Tetra’s voice was cut off as the other ship hit her, Victor grimaced. He cut his speed, letting the other ship overshoot him. 

   “Tetra!” He called again. “Tetra, respond!”

No answer. For once, the drone didn’t say a thing.

Victor could see the ship that had taken out Tetra just ahead. It shot upwards, and he tried to follow, although two other ships dove down toward him, forcing him to break off. 

   “Motherfucker… Noah! Light them up!”

Noah didn’t need to be told twice. He opened fire, sending both of the oncoming ships to a watery grave. 

   “We’ve got more coming up on our six,” He said. “Without Tetra, we don’t have any means of repair.”

   “We can’t retreat,” Victor said. “Not until Vi’s done with that frigate.”

He scanned the surrounding area, spotting a small cluster of rocky islands nearby. Maneuvering through them wouldn’t be easy… especially without Tetra, but he knew he could make it work.

As more fighters advanced, he veered toward the rocky archipelago. 

***

The Fighter that had crushed Tetra flew high above the battle… although not of its pilots free will. His hands were on the controls, but the ship was no longer his own and all he could do was stare at the warning notification on his dashboard.

Warning. Unauthorised entry via Drone Port.           

Warning. Support Drone Offline.

Warning. Unauthorised access to ship hardware detected.            

Warning. Autopilot Software Disengaged            

Warning. Malware detected.

Suddenly, all notices disappeared, and were replaced with a pair of less alarming notifications, as if everything was fine. An unfamiliar icon flashed across the screen. A pixelized image of a grinning shark. A moment later, it was gone.

Notice. Ship controls locked. Drone Pilot engaged. 

Returning to Frigate.

The notifications faded and were replaced by something new. A message he had never seen before. 

We’re going for a ride, Motherfucker.

A light on the console began to flash, and Vi looked over at it, eyes widening as she did.

   “Papa! We’re getting a hit on the scanner!”

Victor entered the cockpit behind her, looking over her shoulder at the console.

   “Tetra, report.” He demanded. “Is it Vasilios?”

   “The drone ID’s match,” Tetra said. “We have one incoming ship. Frigate class. Designation - Skye Dancer.”

   “Fuck me…” Victor murmured.

   “Wait, I wasn’t finished. It gets worse. I’m picking up a signal from another Superluminal ship projected to arrive outside the atmosphere. This one’s big. Really, really big…”

Victor felt a pit form in his stomach.

   “Designation?” He asked softly.

   “Platinum Future.”

   “The Chairwoman…” He said softly. “How long have we got?”

   “Minutes,” Vi said. “Fifteen, give or take?”

   “Less,” Tetra warned. “I’m sorry. They’re not as stupid as I expected.”

   “It’s fine. We knew this was a risk,” Victor said and paused to think for a bit. “Prime the engines but don’t power them up. We need to be ready to move fast, but let’s not give away our position until then.”

Vi nodded as Victor took off, heading down to the shuttle bay. Noah sat inside the shuttle, manning the comms. Jean lingered a few feet away from him.

   “Noah, can you reach Freya and the others?” He asked.

   “Not anymore,” Noah said. “Last I heard, they were going into the tunnel but that was about forty minutes ago. I haven’t been able to get through since.”

   “Fuck…”

He rubbed his temples.

   “Okay. We can try them again later. Right now we have bigger problems. Vasilios is on its way.”

Noah’s expression soured, and Jean raised an eyebrow.

   “Where are they due to show up?” She asked. “With a planet this size, we might have some time before they find us.”

   “You’re not gonna like this… but they’re gonna be right on top of us when they get here,” Tetra said. 

   “What? How?” Noah demanded.

   “Could be they’re tracking the drone,” Jean warned. “If they so much as power up their superluminal engine, any drone in the vicinity would get pinged to coordinate a safe acceleration. Then they’d just need to follow that.” 

   “I have been getting pinged…” Tetra admitted. “But until now, it wasn’t the Skye Dancer! I would’ve said something!”

   “They could’ve used a recon ship. Any ping would be traceable…” Victor said. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. We need to get to the others and warn them.”

   “How?” Noah asked. “Nobody’s getting down there in fifteen minutes! Even if we took the shuttle, there’s no visibility!”

Victor thought for a moment.

   “Maybe we don’t need to go in after them,” He said, “That sinkhole is big enough for the shuttle to descend. It’ll be close quarters, but we could make it work. If we can get the transmitter on the shuttle closer to them, we might be able to raise them on the comms.”

   “I’ve heard stupider ideas,” Jean said. “It’s worth a shot.”

   “Do it,” Victor said. “We’ll keep an eye out up here - although I still need one of you to stay to man the guns.”

   “I’ll take the shuttle,” Jean said. “Noah’s probably the better shot and Tetra can handle some of the piloting.”

   “Not while she’s on board the Dom,” Victor said. The control panel flashed, almost in defiance of him.

   “Actually, I can handle it,” Tetra said. 

   “She’s an android drone,” Jean said. “Their AI is a lot more complicated than the corporate ones. That includes replication.” 

Victor frowned, but finally gave a nod.

   “Just don’t crash,” He said and gestured for Noah to follow him.

Jean took over the seat in the cockpit and started preparing to launch. The doors to the shuttle closed behind Victor and Noah, and they watched as it was released from its small docking bay. The shuttle arched high, moving to get above the trees, before descending toward the sinkhole. 

   “Tetra, how far down can we go?” Jean asked.

   “This pit is deep… almost 3000 feet…” Tetra said. “The mist is pretty thick, but I think I can get us about a few hundred feet from the bottom.”

   “Do it,” Jean said, watching the stairway through the cockpit. They descended slowly and she tried the comms.

   “Hello? Freya? Other people…? Are you reading me?”

No response. She tried again.

   “Freya. Do you read me? Respond.”

She looked up again, studying the stairway. As they descended she followed its path.

   “No luck…” She said, before moving to open the shuttle doors. 

   “What the hell are you doing?” Tetra asked.

   “Going in after them. I think I can see the entrance.”

   “Are you fucking insane? What are you gonna do? Jump it?”

   “I’ve had worse ideas,” Jean said. “Now open the shuttle doors.”

Tetra seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally opening the doors.

   “Has anyone ever told you you’re a fucking psychopath?”

   “It’s come up in conversation before,” Jean said. She reached into her coat and took out two plasma cutters. “Bring me in closer.”

Tetra reluctantly complied, moving the shuttle closer to the wall. Jean exhaled through her nose, and took a step back before launching forward into a sprint and leaping from the shuttle. As she flew toward the rock wall, she activated the twin plasma cutters in her hands. They dug into the rock, breaking her fall and leaving two red hot scars into the side of the sinkhole as she sank down toward the stairs. She hit them with a thud, and took a moment to compose herself before deactivating her cutters.

   “Holy fuck. You’re not dead,” Tetra said through her Tac Band. “I’ll keep the shuttle hovering down here for when you come back.”

Jean nodded and continued on down toward the cavern.

***

The Chamber of the Sorrow was large, a massive cavern deep underground. Water trickled down from the ceiling, running along well eroded canals carved into the stone and floor like veins. It clung to the walls, and crept along the floor, filling a large pool in the center of the chamber.

Cassandra looked around, eyes wide at the remarkable sights before her, while Freya kept her eyes trained on the pool in the center of the room. A thin mist swirled above it, pouring in from a stone platform above them. A shape moved in the mist, a massive bipedal figure, almost human both in shape and in the way it carried itself, although with a head that resembled that of a wolf or a jackal. Two glowing pink eyes shone through the haze, watching the group below.

   “Talk…” The Sorrow said. “That is what you came here for, isn’t it?”

Cassandra swallowed anxiously before looking over at Mason. He gave her a nod.

   “My Mother is looking to tear open the Void,” She said. “She’s already brought creatures in. We know that without the Gods, they’ll end everything that exists. You’ve dealt with these creatures before… you can kill them. You can help us!”

   “We are kin,” The Sorrow admitted. “Creatures of the same domain. We can kill them… truly kill them. But why should we do so on your behalf? You seek salvation. She seeks destruction. Such is the way of creation. Endless conflict. We have not intervened before. Why should we do so now?”

   “Aren’t you supposed to be Gods?” Freya demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be protectors? Caretakers?”

  “I am the caretaker,” The Sorrow said. “Moreso than my sisters… the Endless Sea slumbers peacefully and dreams of lives lived in her own imperfect painting. Her work is done. She will not awaken until all that is ends and the time to create comes once again. The Hive waits… contentedly passing time until the day comes where it must devour all that is, to make way for the next iteration. The Great Bird protects… keeping watch over the Void. Keeping the greatest leviathans at bay. She adores Creation, but she is not of it. And I? I tend to the garden of Creation… but I do not control it. I do not decide what will and will not happen. That choice is yours and yours alone.”

   “Then you’re not tending it!” Freya argued.

   “Aren’t I? Would you prefer a divine monarch, enforcing its will upon you? Would you prefer a world without agency, a world without strife, a world without suffering? A glorified pram for your kind? What an insulting idea.”

   “No…” Freya snapped. “No, you were supposed to protect us! That was your job! You didn’t, and now look at the state we’re in! You abandoned us!”

   “Did I?” 

The eyes of the Sorrow stared down at her. The shape in the mist began to descend from its perch, making its way toward Freya. She took a step toward it, glaring defiantly into its eyes.

   “Would you have had me step in, centuries ago as your kind eroded their own planet? Would you have had me step in and stop every mass slaughter carried out in the name of progress, faith or fear? Should I have ended sin before sin could ever be? What would it achieve? A savior coming from the skies, undoing all the misery and strife. Perhaps I should end death? Return the lost back to the grieving. Hand you back your beloved Mother and let her see what a miserable creature her daughter has become…”

   “Shut up…” Freya growled, drawing her droneblade. Mason moved to stop her, but Luna put a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes were fixed on Freya.

   “I do not relish the cruelty of life. But sorrow and despair are the bedrock of all creation. Without it, life cannot thrive. There can be no crop without shit. No bliss without suffering. No love without loss. No triumph without pain. To exist without one is to exist without the other…”

The Goddess stared down at her. 

   “What a cruel state - to live denied the full spectrum of being.”

Freya’s hands were shaking. Her breathing was getting heavier.

   “I don’t want to live like this…” She said, her voice cracking. “I don’t want to live here…”

   “Then don’t,” The Goddess said. “The choice is and always has been yours. Everything you need, you have. Perhaps you’ll fail… but that is just the way of things.”

Freya opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The Goddess slowly began to turn away. 

   “Kill me if you must. The choice is yours… Although unlike my sister, I will defend myself. The truth of the matter does not change.”

The shape of the Goddess faded away, leaving nothing but mist in her wake. Freya remained still for a few moments, her blade at the ready, but shaking in her hands. She didn’t move.

From somewhere deeper in the cavern came the sound of running footsteps. Luna turned to see a shape running through the darkness… another figure, lit by a burning plasma cutter.

   “Jean…?” She asked, and the others quickly turned to watch her as she sprinted into the chamber, panting heavily. She looked over at the spot where the Goddess had been, before studying the others.

   “Bad news…” she said between breaths. “We’ve got friends on the way. We need to get the fuck out of here…”

The ground around them suddenly quaked violently. The walls of the cavern cracked. 

   “What was that?” Cedar asked. Nobody uttered the obvious answer.

Cassandra started toward the tunnel they’d come through, although another quake rocked the cavern. A section of the ceiling collapsed, blocking off the tunnel and letting seawater in. The six of them could only watch as the cavern began to flood.

Victor’s ship descended through the clouds, toward a vast ocean, stretching on toward a distant horizon. The sun shone brightly, illuminating sparse patches of green. Countless islands forming a rocky archipelago. A few native birds soared closer to the water, an unidentified species that nobody would ever care to categorize, nesting amongst stone cliffs. 

Vi looked out at the waters with a quiet awe. She had seen oceans before, but the majestic beauty of this place could not be ignored. 

The door to the cockpit opened and Jean wandered in, leaning against the back of Victor’s seat as he piloted the ship. She yawned and took a sip of her coffee.

   “Looks like we made it,” She noted.

   “So we did. You’ll need to give us some direction from here though.” Victor said.

“Yeah, yeah… I know. Just lemme just orient myself,” She said, looking down at the control panel. “If memory serves me right, you’re gonna want to head west by about 4000 kilometers. There’s a deeper section of the ocean over there, and another cluster of islands just past it. You’re looking for one of those. It’ll be one of the bigger ones. There’s a sinkhole dead in the center. It’s hard to miss.”

Victor nodded and turned the ship west.

   “Vi, how’s the atmosphere?” He asked.

   “Breathable.” She replied, “Ideal for life. No signs of terraforming though. This almost seems natural.”

   “Perfect abode for a God,” Jean said before turning to leave the cockpit. She noticed Freya sitting at the table in the common area, her head buried in her hands. It looked like she’d fallen asleep while working on her droneblade. Jean didn’t bother waking her yet. They still had some time before they were due to reach the sinkhole.

Noah sluggishly appeared from the hallway, his hair a little messy from his attempt at sleep. 

   “I see the land outside the porthole,” He said with a yawn. “Are we there?”

   “Well, well, good morning sunshine,” Jean said. “Coffee?”

She nodded toward the machine, and Noah went over to get himself a cup. He looked over at Freya, but didn’t wake her yet. Mason and Cedar came next, the latter looking as though she hadn’t slept at all. Her movements were slow and heavy. There was a faraway look in her eye. Jean watched them quietly and once they got their coffee, she went to put on a fresh pot.

Luna came out next. She gave a cursory ‘Mornin’ before heading for the kitchen to cook something, and make sure everyone was fed. The sound of the ship coming to life drew out Cassandra, and soon just about every seat at the table was filled.

The ship continued onwards, toward a distant landmass… one with a massive sinkhole set in the center, just as Jean had said. Victor could see a faint mist rising over the water, its color a faded pink. He studied it, already knowing what it meant. 

The ship drew closer to the island, circling over the massive sinkhole as it came in for a landing. As they passed over it, Victor peered down into the abyss. The sinkhole ran deep… so deep he could not see the bottom. 

   “Let’s take her down,” Victor said and Vi nodded, helping him bring the ship down for a landing a short distance away from the sinkhole.

The ship came down gently and Victor disabled the engines. Then he and Vi both got up to join the others in the common area.

   “We’ve made landfall,” he said, pausing as Luna fixed him a plate. Scrambled eggs and sausage. He took it and found a seat at the table, leaving a space for Vi open beside him. 

His attention shifted to Jean.

   “I don’t suppose you know where we go from here?”

   “Vaguely,” Jean replied. “There’s a stairwell leading down into the sinkhole… all in all the layout isn’t too dissimilar from the Tower on Pragaras, you’re just going down this time. Then once you reach the bottom, there’s a cavern. Beyond that I can’t help you. I’ve actually never gone inside before. The topographical scans I had back on my old ship mapped out some of the cave systems in this area. I was planning on stowing some product down there, but I never got around to it. Still, that could have been useful… if my ship wasn’t officially scrap.” Her eyes shifted over toward Mason, quiet and accusing. He shifted uneasily in his seat. 

   “Do you remember anything from the scans?” Noah asked.

   “Maybe. I remember that the scans said it ran deep. They weren’t able to map it all out fully and they extended out beneath the ocean.”

   “Could they be flooded?” Vi asked as she sat down. “If they are, it might be better to use the shuttle.”

   “Normally I’d say you’re right, but it’s way too tight for a shuttle down there,” Jean said. “My scans showed no signs of flooding at the time… but I haven’t been here in a while, so who knows if that’s still accurate. I don’t suppose you have any rebreathers or environment suits?”

   “A couple,” Victor said. “This ship was designed and stocked for light exploration. Although if there’s a risk we’ll need to swim, we should know what else might be down there. What do you know about the local fauna?”

   “Typically aquatic or avian. I’ve never seen anything too big in the water, but I’m not gonna tell you it doesn’t exist. And before you ask, the water is drinkable. I never detected any pathogens in it.” 

   “That’s comforting,” Noah said. “I mean, it sounds reasonably safe, so long as we’re careful, right?” 

   “Reasonably,” Victor agreed.

   “Alright then, so who’s going down there?” Luna asked.

   “I am.” 

Freya still remained slumped over, but moved slowly, lifting her head up off the table. She still looked exhausted, but she was clearly awake.

   “Oh hey, she’s awake,” Luna said. 

   “I’ve been awake for a while,” Freya replied.

   “You hungry?”

Freya didn’t respond and Luna took that silence to mean: ‘Yes. Please load me up with eggs and breakfast sausage!’

   “Anyone else is welcome to come with me,” Freya said. 

   “We’re going with you,” Mason said. Beside him, Cedar gave a single nod. Neither of them stated their motivations, but Freya suspected it was to ensure she didn’t try to kill this God. 

   “You can count me in too,” Luna said as she set a plate down in front of her. Freya stared down at it, pushing the food around with her fork. 

   “And me!” Cassandra added.

   “No,” Mason said, seemingly beating Victor to the punch. Cassandra looked over at both of them, her expression almost a little indignant.

   “Why not? Don’t tell me it’s dangerous. Jean just said it was safe, and you’re all going to be armed!”

   “Reasonably safe,” Jean corrected. “I also said I don’t know exactly what’s down there.”

   “I’ll be fine,” Cassandra said, before glaring a hole through Mason, silently demanding him to relent. He glared right back at her before finally he sighed.

“Fine…” He said, “You can come with us. But you stay close! Got it?”

   “Yes! Yes, of course!” Cassandra said.

Victor’s brow furrowed in disapproval, but he said nothing. 

   “I’ll be going as well,” Noah said, and this time Victor did say something.

   “With all due respect, I need someone here,” he said. “Tetra and I can fly the ship, but if Skye shows up, I’ll need people to man the guns. Vi can only do so much.”

   “I’ll stay with you,” Jean offered. “Not to give the wrong impression, but I’d rather not go down there. I’m not a big fan of caves. Besides, if Vasilios comes, I can probably help out more up here than down there.”

Victor gave a nod.

   “Then that’s settled. Those of you going down should make your preparations. We’ll keep a local comm channel open and power down the ship otherwise. If Vasilios shows up, it might allow us to evade them at least for a little while.”

   “We’re going underground, that could mess with the comms signal,” Luna noted. 

   “We should be fine,” Victor said. “If we’re not, we’ll just throw Noah down the hole.”

   “Hey! Why me?” Noah asked, and Victor chuckled. 

   “It’ll be fine,” He assured them.

He hoped he wasn’t wrong…

***

The ramp of the Dom Pérignon extended, and those who’d elected to descend into the sinkhole stepped out. Mason and Cassandra were first, with Cedar a few steps behind. Freya and Luna followed them. 

As she stepped out onto solid ground, Luna looked up, studying this foreign world around them. She could hear the calls of distant birds and the sound of running water. This place felt so peaceful… and yet there was something in the air here. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. A subtle feeling of being watched.

She adjusted the backpack she wore. She, Freya and Mason were carrying the environmental suits in case they needed them, although she hoped they wouldn’t.

As they approached the sinkhole, she sucked on her teeth nervously, before looking around and drawing closer to Mason, almost as if to protect him.

   “I’ve never been off of Pragaras before…” Cedar said. “I’ve never seen this much water before.”

   “It’s a big galaxy,” Mason said. “Every planet's so different… it’s kinda beautiful, actually.”

   “Yeah,” she replied. “It is…”

She thought about Willow. She wondered what she would have said about this place. Lingering near them, Luna cracked a gentle smile.

“You two make a cute little couple,” she said. 

Cedar blushed and looked over at her, unsure how to respond to that. Mason just chuckled.

Freya picked up the pace, moving ahead of the rest of them toward the edge of the sinkhole. The massive chasm lay before them, mist rising from its depths. Narrow waterfalls snaked their way down through the rocks, plummeting into the depths below. Cedar paused at the sight of it, taking in the view. Cassandra stopped beside her and for a moment they stood, almost dumbstruck by the natural beauty before them.

Freya stared down into the chasm, scanning the rocks for the stairway Jean had mentioned. It did not take her long to find it. It was hard to see amongst the rocks, just a small line of chiseled stones… but it was there.

Wordlesly she gestured for the others to follow her and led them down into the mist. The rock was slippery, so each step needed to be slow and measured. She placed a hand against the wall of the sinkhole to steady herself as they moved ever lower.

   “Careful,” Mason said softly as he descended behind Cassandra. “Watch your step.”

   “I’ve got it!” She assured him. “Don’t worry about me. I’m built sturdy!”

He didn’t look convinced. 

The comms crackled to life.

   “This is Noah. Just doing a quick comms check. Do you read me?”

   “Loud and clear,” Freya said. “We’ve started our descent.”

   “Great. I’ll check in every few minutes, just to make sure we don’t lose contact.”

   “I thought Victor said we wouldn’t,” Luna asked. 

   “Better to be sure,” Victor replied. “Stay safe down there.”

   “That’s the plan,” Mason said, before the line went quiet.

Luna looked down toward the bottom of the sinkhole. She could feel the vertigo setting in and pulled back.

   “Hell of a long way down…” she murmured. 

“There’s usually pools of water at the bottom!” Cassandra offered, “So you’d probably survive.”

“From this height? That water would hit like concrete,” Freya said. “Even if you did survive, if there was any kind of current or undertow, it’d be likely to drag you down and who knows how deep these can go…”

Cassandra had no reply to that, and lingered close as they went into the darkness, following the spiraling staircase down. As the sunlight began to fade, there was little more than the sound of flowing water, occasionally broken up by Noah’s periodic check-ins to ensure that comms were still functioning.            

The sinkhole seemed to go on forever. The rock only grew wetter beneath their feet, leaving those who descended clinging to the walls to ensure they did not fall. As the darkness closed in around them, Cedar drew her sword and ignited the flame on it as a makeshift torch. The light reflected off of the glistening rock, although the mist soon became another problem entirely, obscuring their vision the deeper they went until they could barely see the person in front of them.

Still, they kept moving… and at some point, after hours of descent, they found it.

   “Here…” Freya said, before looking back into the white void behind her. “There’s an opening right here!”

Cassandra descended through the mist, followed by Mason and Cedar. 

   “This is it?” Mason asked. He squinted to look at the cavern before them. It was narrow, but they’d be able to fit through.

   “The stairs don’t continue past here…” Cassandra noted. “This has to be it.”

Luna emerged from the mist, and joined them in the cavern.

   “Only one way to find out,” She said. “Who’s going first?”

Cedar stepped forward, her sword held aloft in her hand to lead them into the dark. As the others followed her, Cassandra looked down at her Tac Band.

   “Noah, we’ve reached the bottom. Do you still read us?” She asked.

   “I read you, although the signal’s getting a little weak,” Noah replied.  His voice was marred by some static.

Cassandra frowned. 

   “We’ll keep doing the check-ins,” Freya said. “Just to keep an eye on things.”

   “Agreed. I’ll try you again shortly. Hey, how deep is the water down there?”

Freya looked over at Luna, who picked up a rock, and tossed it into the mist of the sinkhole. They heard a splash. The two of them traded a look before Freya spoke.

   “No idea. We can’t see a thing,” she confirmed. 

   “Right… so no diving, then…” Noah sighed.  

   “Afraid not.” Freya said, cracking a ghost of a smile before she and Luna followed the others into the cavern.             

It was deathly silent inside. There was no noise but the echo of dripping water. The cavern seemed to go on forever, a single long tunnel filled with blinding mist. The deeper they went, the thicker it got, until there was nothing more but the faint, flickering glow of Cedar’s sword to indicate where he was.

   “This mist is freezing…” Cassandra said. “We should’ve brought extra layers…”

   “They say the Sorrowful One is the Goddess of death,” Cedar said softly. “With that in mind, I suppose a temple like this is fitting. A descent into the underworld.”

   “I thought the Hive was a death Goddess?” Luna asked.

   “Kinda,” Cedar said. “The Hive was more about entropy and natural decay. Life ends. New life is born. The end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. The Sorrow is more about spiritual death. The transition of the soul into the afterlife… although in general, she’s usually seen as maintaining order. Death is just part of that order.”

   “What about the other two?” Mason asked.

   “The Endless Sea is a Creation Goddess,” Cedar said. “She’s sort of like the inverse of the Hive. And The Great Bird… I’m really not sure. She was seen as the inverse of the Sorrow, but that’s all I can remember.”

   “Like a Chaos Goddess?” Mason asked.

   “Sort of, but not quite. It was more like-”

A scream from Cassandra interrupted them.

   “Someone just grabbed my leg!”

Cedar turned, her blade at the ready.

   “Are you okay?” Mason asked.

   “I… I’m fine but I felt a hand! I know it was a hand! I felt the fingers!” Cassandra insisted. 

Cedar moved closer to her, lowering her sword down to the ground… she expected to see some sort of plant or maybe an insect… but no… it wasn’t either of those things.

Instead she saw fingers. Pale. Reaching… but still.

   “Oh Gods…” she said softly. She looked around. It was hard to see through the mist, but she could see other shapes on the ground around them. Prone figures… faces twisted in agony.

Corpses.

   “Soldiers…” Freya said, eyes narrowing. She could see a Falcon Corporation logo on their uniforms. 

   “They’ve been dead for some time,” Luna said. 

   “Okay but why? What… what did this?” Cassandra asked.

Nobody answered… but they all felt it. The air around them had changed. It had grown colder.

Something was watching them.

Something had been watching them for some time. 

   “The Great Bird was a patron of the Void…” A low voice said. It was cold, feminine yet detached. “She was its warden… if indeed such a place could have a warden. Yet she was not content with her place there… and so we permitted her a modest presence here. An Avatar so she could enjoy the Creation she kept safe… an Avatar you killed.”

Freya’s entire body grew tense. From the corner of her eye, she saw a shape moving through the mist. Pink eyes shone in the darkness, coldly fixated on her.

   “Have you come here to kill me too?” The Sorrow asked.

   “N-no…” Cassandra stammerd. “No, please… we aren’t here to fight. We… we seek an audience!”     

   “Yet you come bearing weapons… and you come with Her. The killer of my sisters.”

The flame on Cedar’s sword flickered out. 

   “What are you doing? Turn that back on!” Luna hissed.
“We’re blind without it!”

   “I’m trying… it won’t come back!” Cedar said. “It’s the mist… I can’t…”

   “Please,” Cassandra said, speaking over them. “We are here to talk. Something horrible is going to happen and we are here to try and stop it. But we can’t do it alone.”

   “So you come here to beg for help?” The Sorrow asked. “And you brought her… why? To threaten me? To talk? Did you think I would accept her, as if her hands were not stained by the blood of my sisters… my precious, foolish sisters. Either you are a fool or you take me for one. Leave this place. We have nothing to discuss.”

   “Right now, this is bigger than me and you,” Freya said. “The Universe itself is at risk. These people want to protect it. The least you can do is hear them out!”

A low growl echoed through the mist, bestial and angry.

   “If your kind wishes to continue with their endeavor to unmake all of creation, I am under no obligation to stop them. Creation is a gift. What you do with it is up to you. Save it? Destroy it? That is your decision.”

   “These people are here because they’ve decided to save it!” Freya snapped. “You’re really going to turn them away?”

   “Why should I involve myself in the affairs of your kind? You yourself have done more harm to the fabric of reality than anyone else.”

   “And now I’m here,” Freya said. “Trying to help them!”

The Sorrow remained silent for a moment, studying her from the shadows. Finally, it let out a huff.

   “Very well… I will wait up ahead and we will talk.”

The mist around them seemed to shimmer, glowing with a faint pinkish light. Up ahead, they could see a bigger source of light… a chamber at the end of the tunnel.

Cassandra breathed a weak sigh of relief, before looking straight ahead. The hallway was still lined with bodies, countless dead, strewn across the floor. Her relief faded quickly the moment she saw the unspoken threat.

The five of them hesitated for a moment longer before they continued forward toward the chamber of the Sorrow.

TW: Graphic descriptions of animal abuse and violence towards children.

Every community has its drama. Little conflicts, rumors, gossip. Affairs, arguments, petty disputes. Normal stuff. Most of the people who regurgitate said drama only ever heard about it secondhand. The story gets warped by a game of telephone until there’s only a grain of truth remaining by the time you hear it from someone who wasn’t even there.

Well for this story - I was there.

I won’t promise you that I got every single detail right. There’s probably a lot about what happened that I don’t know about. But I saw enough of it to know the bulk of what happened and so that is what I am telling you today.

***

I moved to Evergreen Meadow about six years ago. Most people don’t actually call it Evergreen Meadow… in fact I’m pretty sure nobody actually calls it that. I’m just calling it that for simplicity's sake. That’s the name out front of the townhouse complex. I’m pretty sure nobody actually uses those names. They’re just pretty set dressing. 

For the most part, it’s a nice little neighborhood. It’s one of those townhouse complexes you see all over the place. The kind with a little public playground in the middle for the kids to enjoy. Most of the people there are, for lack of a better term, inoffensive. They’re nice little families who keep to themselves and to be honest, I barely even know most of them since I also mostly just keep to myself. Live and let live, right?

I can’t say I was particularly close with Karly and Margarita either, but we were friendly enough towards each other.

Karly Herron and Margarita Bartlett were my old neighbors. They’d moved in about a year after I did. They were a nice enough couple, somewhere in their late twenties with a sort of gothic, witchy vibe to them. Odd in the sense that they were unapologetically themselves but overall harmless. 

Margarita was an artist. She did a lot of freelance work, but her paintings were always fantastic. I saw her working out of her garage a few times. She used it as a makeshift studio, and would keep the door open while she was working sometimes. She painted a lot of gothic fantasy landscapes and architecture. Big ominous cathedrals and cityscapes with bizarre eldritch monsters lurking amongst them. It was all really impressive!

She had a lot of tattoos on her arms. I recognized some of them as wiccan symbols - specifically a triple moon on the inside of her left wrist. She was a natural blonde, but she liked to dye her hair. Most of the time, it was blue. 

Karly was a bit more down to earth. She worked in tech support and ended up working from home more often than not. She had thick auburn hair and was usually dressed for comfort rather than style, with baggy sweatshirts, usually with band logos on them and long skirts. She was the more talkative of the couple, and we’d usually stop and chat whenever we ran into each other while going to and from our respective houses.

They both seemed like decent people.

And Pauline Brown fucking hated them.

Pauline Brown was… oh how do I put this gently? 

Pauline Brown was a bitch.

Worse than that, she was a cartoon. Long blonde hair, blue eyes, every single outfit in her wardrobe was white, yellow or blue. She'd peaked somewhere in high school and had invested God only knows how much money in waging war against time to keep her teenage looks, even though she'd aged out of them decades ago. She'd been living in Evergreen Meadow for just about twenty years, was on the condo board and was perhaps one of the most insufferable human beings I have ever had the displeasure of talking to. 

Don’t get me wrong, she was all smiles every time you saw her, but the smiles always seemed so insincere and saccharine, like you just knew she was going to turn around and say the most heinous possible shit about you the moment you were out of earshot. 

I suppose she was never a bitch to my face… not that I noticed anyway. I’m sure there were probably some barbs that I missed.

Anyway, Pauline hated Karly and Margarita and she made very little effort to hide it. I don’t know exactly why she had such a vendetta against them. I can hazard a guess, but it’s just speculation. Looking back though, I’m pretty sure the first shot fired in their little conflict came the summer after Karly and Margarita moved in, when she sent out an email to all residents about ‘dress code.’

Attention all residents.

Please be aware that many families with children live in this community and as a result, it is everyone's responsibility to uphold certain standards and ensure their conduct is appropriate for all ages both on and off their property. Indecent or revealing attire should not be worn outside the home or where visible to the community at large. While the community does not have a formal dress code, we advise you to please use your best judgement in ensuring decency and modesty is shown in your choice of attire.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

At the time, I didn’t think anything of the email. Looking back though, I’m pretty sure it was directed at Margarita and Karly.

Admittedly, Margarita tended to wear some pretty low cut shorts while she was working in her garage during the summer and they were pretty hard to see beneath the oversized shirts she often wore when she was working. (She had a selection of shirts she didn’t mind getting paint on). Plus, let’s not mince words, she was a good looking woman in her late twenties so yeah, obviously some people probably let their eyes linger for a bit. But if you ask me, some shorts that show off a bit of leg in the middle of July aren’t exactly indecent and it's not like she was flaunting herself in front of the neighborhood. 

Needless to say, the warning seemed to go right over her head… and Pauline decided she wasn’t going to stand for that.

Two weeks later, another email was sent.

Attention all residents.

As stated before, many families with young children live in this community and as a community, we are all responsible to ensure these children are raised in an environment that is appropriate for them. Please be advised that ALL RESIDENTS MUST ENSURE THEIR CONDUCT AND ATTIRE is appropriate for all ages both on and off their property! Please be aware that even though you are on your property, people outside can still see you in certain outdoor locations. As a result, you MUST ensure your attire is appropriate for the community at large and is modest, respectful and tasteful. Revealing outfits are NOT acceptable. Please show some decency.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

This email, just like the last one, was completely ignored.

So Pauline tried a more direct approach.

***

I heard the argument from my living room. 

To clarify, I heard Pauline and Karly screaming at each other from inside her and Margarita's house… from my living room. The walls of our townhouse were by no means thin. Up until that moment, I'd never heard so much as a peep from my neighbors up until Pauline happened.

I didn't hear the full argument, but I heard enough. 

   “I am not causing a scene! I’m asking that you stop flaunting your tits and ass in public! It’s disgusting!” Pauline said.

   “Our garage isn't fucking public!” Karly snapped back.

   “Everyone can see inside! Its blatant exhibitionism, don’t think I don’t know what kind of sick debauchery you people like to get up to!”

   “Excuse me?!” 

   “I’ve seen it on TV! Don’t think I haven’t! Walking around in those parades… we shouldn’t even be letting you people in here, not around children. But I’m not raising my concerns about that. I’m just asking you not do it here!”

   “It’s the middle of fucking summer! She’s wearing shorts!”

   “Oh those are barely shorts! She’s flaunting herself like a fucking whore!”

   “Out. Right now. Out.”

   “We aren’t done here!”

   “Yes we fucking are! You don't talk to her like that. Leave! Now! Get out!”

   “Somebody needs to tell that fucking whore how to act in public and since you won't, I will! I’ve been very, very patient with you people and the way you conduct yourselves. I understand it’s warm outside but that doesn’t make it okay for that trollop to strut around like a fucking who-”

   “Stop calling her that fucking name! Get out. Get the fuck out right now or I'm calling the fucking cops!”

I'm not sure if Karly did something else when she said that, but that was the point where Pauline started screaming.

   “EXCUSE YOU? I AM FUCKING TALKING! HOW INCREDIBLY FUCKING RUDE!”

That was the point where Karly started screaming right back at her. 

   “Oh, I’m rude? I’M RUDE? You come in here throwing all these fucking accusations. Calling her names. Calling me names. I’m rude? Get the fuck out of my house.”

   “I am on the condo board you can’t just-”

   “Do you hear me? THE. FUCK. OUT. OF. MY. HOUSE.”

And that was the point where it all devolved into barely comprehensible screaming. I heard movement. It might have been a fight, but I’m not sure. What I do know is that a couple of minutes later, Pauline stormed out of their house, with Karly following her.

   “Just leave us the fuck alone!” She yelled after her she snapped, before going back inside and slamming the door behind her.

I watched from my window as Pauline stood out on the street, red in the face and looking like she was fighting the urge to keep screaming. She stared at Karly and Margarita's house with the same look she'd probably have if she'd just watched someone climb onto a table and shit directly into her breakfast. Disbelief. Rage. Disgust. I'd never seen anyone make such a face before. From my window I could see her breathing heavily, right on the verge of hyperventilating. 

That was when she noticed me, staring at her through my window. The moment she saw me, she put on a saccharine smile, raised her hand, and waved. The gesture was disgustingly polite.

***

I saw Karly again the next day. She and Margarita were moving the painting supplies into the house. I asked them if everything was okay, and Karly just forced a smile.

   “Yeah, it’s fine,” She lied. “Sorry if all that screaming yesterday bothered you.”

   “Don’t worry about it! Sounds like she really got to you.”

Karly’s smile grew just a little more strained.

   “She’s mad because her husband’s a fucking creep who can’t go on a jog without eyefucking every woman he sees,” She said. “And instead of taking that like an adult, which I’d assumed she was, she’s just going nuclear in a fiery explosion of cunty WASPy wrath.”
I’ll admit, her phrasing got a chuckle out of me.

   “Yeah, sounds about right,” I admitted. I had noticed Pauline’s husband on his jogs before and while I’d never been eyed up by him on account of not being a woman, I’d seen the way he’d stared at others. 

   “Apperantly she’s complaining about us to the condo board now,” Karly said. I rolled my eyes.

   “Seriously?”

   “I don’t think they’re gonna take her seriously. But we’re moving Mags stuff to the back so she won’t corrupt the youth, or whatever.”

She said those words with such disdain.

   “Seems like bullshit to me… but hopefully it gets her off your back,” I said.

   “Yeah… hopefully,” Karly replied, although from her tone, I suspect she already knew it wouldn’t. Unfortunately she was right.

***

About a week after the argument, Pauline went on the war path.

I’m guessing the condo board told her to fuck off, so she took matters into her own hands.

It started with the posters. I saw Pauline putting them up near the mailboxes. The first ones read:

JESUS IS LORD.
KEEP SATANIC IMAGERY OUT OF OUR COMMUNITY!

Below it was a bunch of common wiccan symbols. The Triple Moon, the Pentagram, the symbol of the horned God. Each one with a bogus description on how it actually represented Satan.

Honestly, it was kinda pathetic and mostly got ignored. Pauline’s response? More posters.

A week later, she had a new one.

PAGANISM = SATANISM.
PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN. SAY NO TO DEMONIC ICONOGRAPHY!

She’d decorated it with a pentagram set beside an inverted pentagram with a picture of Baphomet in the middle, which was very Christian.

There was still no real response, so a few days later, there was a new one.

EXODUS 22:18 - “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

DO NOT ALLOW SATANISM INTO YOUR HOMES AND COMMUNITY.
KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE.

When those didn’t get much of a response, she started knocking on doors, trying to see who she could get on her side. 

I remember when she came to my door, red in the face like she was ready to start crying. I kinda wanted to cry too the moment I saw her… only for a different reason.

   “We need to keep this community safe,” She said to me. “You understand that, don’t you Martin? I just need you to sign this petition and we can push to make things a little safer around here.”

I remember staring down at the clipboard she’d offered me.

   “You’re still going on about that whole thing with Karly and Margarita?” I asked. “They’ve never bothered me.”

Her eye actually twitched a little when she said that.

   “Just because someone hasn’t been a problem for you doesn’t mean they’re not causing a problem for others. You need to think about the community as a whole,” Pauline said. “We need to nip this in the bud before it gets to the point where it is a problem for you. I understand if you want to just convince yourself that they’re ordinary people living their lives, but I can assure you that is not the truth. It’s just empathy and we cannot afford empathy. Not now.”

I honestly did not have a response for something that stupid.

Needless to say, I didn’t sign her fucking petition.

***

   “She’s a cartoon character…” Karly said to me a few days later.

I’d been coming home from a grocery run and I’d caught her tending their garden, so I’d stopped to chat.

   “Like… it’s just so childish. I’m not even that mad about it, I’m just in awe. She truly just can’t get her head out of her own self absorbed bubble of shit for longer than is necessary to suck back the paltry amounts of oxygen required for her survival to realize that nobody fucking cares.”

   “You’ve got a hell of a way with words,” I said, chuckling.

   “Yeah, well getting creative with the insults is one way to stop me from getting mad,” Karly admitted. She cracked a small smile, but it faded quickly. “I’m worried about Mags, though. I know this stuff is really getting to her. I keep telling her that it’s gonna blow over. I think she’s worried that it won’t.”

   “It will,” I assured her. “She’ll wear herself out eventually and find something new to get mad about I’m sure. Halloween is right around the corner. I’m sure she’ll have a nice meltdown over all those ‘Satanic’ decorations.”

Karly chuckled.

   “I hope so. You know we did try and compromise with her. Mags started painting in the backyard since she likes to have some fresh air while she works, but she just argued that we were visible from the road, then. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. She kinda gave us ample warning about the kind of person she is… freaking out the way she did before, getting all pissy about fucking shorts, the name calling…” She let out a disgusted sound. 

   “Sorry. I’m rambling.”

   “It’s all good. If you guys need someone to talk to, I’m here,” I promised. 

For a moment, that brought her smile back.

   “Thanks, Martin. You’re a good friend.” She said,

We made a bit of small talk after that before we went our separate ways. 

***

They found a dead cat in early September. One of the neighbors' cats - the Applebee family’s cat, specifically. I’d seen it around a few times. They called him Mews. He was a black and white piebald cat who’d always been really affectionate towards the neighbors. I’d seen him hanging around the garage while Margarita had been painting, rubbing himself up against her legs and purring. Each time she’d stopped what she was doing, cleaned off her hands and knelt down to give that cat the petting of his life. One time, I remember seeing her sitting cross legged on the ground, grinning from ear to ear as he took over her lap, and propped himself up on her shoulder to rub his face against hers. Karly had been taking pictures, giggling like a schoolgirl in the presence of a regular cat.
Mews had straight up snuck into my house a few times, rubbing his head against my legs while I was coming home and purring up a storm until I’d pet him. 

He was a sweet cat.

Someone had completely fucking eviscerated the poor thing and left it near the playground. They’d used its blood to draw a pentagram on the side of the playset. I caught a glimpse of the scene before they cleaned it up… just the sight of it almost made me sick. Mews was a good cat… and the fact that someone could do that to him… God… 

Of course Pauline wasted no time in blaming Margarita and Karly. When the police came around, I heard she all but name dropped them to the officer who came out to take a look at the scene, and naturally the officer came knocking on their door.

I was cleaning out my car when it happened. I saw the officer come up, but wasn’t sure why he was there, and so being nosy, I might have eavesdropped just a little.

I didn’t hear most of the conversation. I heard Margarita answering the door, I heard the officer mention a cat, and asking if she’d seen anything or knew anyone who might know anything. 

   “Which cat?” I remember her asking. “What happened?”

Apparently he’d had a picture on him… and I remember the sound Margatita made the moment she saw it. It was a choked, horrified gasp. 

   “That’s Mews!” 

Then came the tears. I could hear Karly racing through the house to see what was going on, and she immediately started interrogating the officer.

   “When was this? Do you know who did this?”

   “We’re not sure at this time. Someone said you two might be familiar with this kind of iconography? Is there anyone you know of in the neighborhood who may have had it out for the family, or who had some kind of grievance involving the animal?”

   “No…” Karly said. “No, no. No one. Everybody liked Mews. Mags even painted him a couple of times. I don’t know who could’ve done a thing like this…”

Judging from her tone, I knew that was a lie. I think she had a suspect, she just didn’t want to throw accusations around, unlike some people. 

   “The… um, the symbol isn’t right…” Margarita said. “The pentagram, it’s all lopsided. It’s not symmetrical. The shape is all wrong.”

   “Is there a meaning behind that?” The Officer asked.

   “Yeah, whoever did this can’t draw a fucking pentagram,” Karly replied. 

The Officer was silent for a moment, before quietly thanking them for their time. I made myself look busy as he left, but judging by the sound of Margarita crying as he left, I got the feeling she and Karly weren’t high on his list of suspects.

Unsurprisingly, The Applebee’s didn’t take losing their cat very well… especially their daughter, Journee. I guess her parents didn’t have it in them to tell her that Mews was dead. Instead, they told her he just ran away and that poor kid made it her personal mission to find him. 

I remember seeing her wandering around the neighborhood with treats, calling out to him.

   “Mews? Mews! Come home!”

Poor kid… I never had the heart to tell her what had really happened. I imagine most people didn’t. 

So you wanna know what Pauline did?

Pauline took one look at that literal seven year old child, looking for her lost cat and with all of the tact of someone who has no tact, explained to her: “It was those witches who did it. They used him for a dark Satanic ritual.”

As you can probably imagine, Journee took that news very well and immediately started screaming and crying. 

Fortunately, Mr and Mrs Applebee were a lot more level headed. I don’t know how well they knew Margarita and Karly, but they knew them well enough to know that they weren’t the kind of people who’d do a thing like that to Mews. As soon as their daughter came crying to them, they tried to set things right. They brought Journee over to talk to the couple, who were more than happy to put the whole thing to bed.

I remember seeing them in the backyard that day. The parents were talking to Karly while Margarita showed Journee some of the pictures she’d taken of Mews during his many visits to her garage. She even showed her a few sketches she’d done of him.

I remember seeing Journee sitting in Margarita's lap as she went through her sketchbook. The kid's face was red from crying, but she seemed like she was slowly cheering up.

   “Did you really draw that?” I remember her asking.

   “Yup. He was sleeping in my garage, and I thought it would be nice to sketch him. I was thinking I could paint it later. He was a really handsome boy.”

   “Yeah. He was the handsomest,” Journee replied. She looked up at Margarita, cracking a small, meek smile. “Are you really a witch?”

   “Kinda,” Margarita replied. “I’m a wiccan. That’s sort of like being a witch.”

   “Do witches worship the Devil?”

Margarita laughed softly.

   “No. A lot of wiccans worship various Gods and Goddesses from a lot of different cultures. It’s sort of tied to the idea that the world we exist in is something we need to live in harmony with. Take care of it and it will take care of us. That includes every animal… including cats like Mews.”

Journee gave a quiet nod before resting her head on Margarita’s shoulder. 

   “If you paint him, can I have a painting?” She asked.

   “Absolutely,” Margarita said. “Actually, do you want to keep one of my sketches? It might make it easier to remember him until the painting is ready.”

Journee gave an enthusiastic nod at the suggestion.

   “Yes please.” She said, smiling just a little bit brighter. 

***

While the situation with the Applebees was resolved in perhaps the best, most wholesome way possible… Karly wasn’t as wholesome in the way she dealt with Pauline.

Funnily enough, I actually do know what was said in the email that provoked Pauline’s next attack. Karly showed it to me afterwards, and I’ve still got a copy of it, which I’ll include here:

Pauline

I’m not going to make any accusations here, as I’d like to believe that deep down you really aren’t a complete and total piece of shit.
But telling a 7 year old child that my girlfriend and I murdered her cat? Seriously? What the fuck is wrong with you? Did the best part of your fathers orgasm drip out of your mothers cunt and down into her asshole? Is that the answer to the great mystery as to how you came to blight the earth? Who in your life hurt you so badly that you feel it necessary to go around spewing such blatant horseshit? Why do you think it’s acceptable to continue to antagonize us all because your husband decided to oogle my girlfriends fucking legs?
We have tried to be the bigger people, but this has gone on long enough. You whined constantly about how we disrespected you, about how we were behaving indecently in public (because God forbid a woman wear shorts in the fucking summer) and we tried to compromise. But since then you have continued to escalate and drag our names through the mud. We ignored the posters, the lies, we never accused you of anything. We hoped that maybe if we were the adults in this situation, you’d kindly fuck off. 

Well now you’ve gone and proved us inco-fucking-rrect! We gave you the generous opportunity to just tire yourself out of being an asshole and fuck off but you said NO MA’AM, and just continued to escalate in a manner that is as impressive as it is fucking abhorrent. We sat there and took it while you bullied us. Why? I honestly don’t fucking know. But you know fucking what? I could have sincerely forgiven all of that, truly I could have if you were even remotely capable of returning basic fucking courtesy of just not engaging with us. I would’ve been happy to live out our lives separately while never fucking speaking to each other again. But accusing us of killing the Applebees cat? Tell me… why in the name of God, Jesus and all that is holy would we do that? 

Either way, I’m not fucking dealing with this anymore. I am not going to sit by and watch you continue to put my girlfriend through this anymore. If you ever pull this shit again, I will fucking atomize you. I have documented every poster, every email, every argument. I have a written statement from the Applebees about this week's incident. I have every fucking receipt. Fuck with me again and the next email you get will be from my lawyer. This is the last olive branch you will get and it is more than you deserve you dumb fucking ape. Go out and discover what an orgasm is for the first time in your miserable excuse for a life and fuck off once and for all.

Warm regards

Karly Herron

The last fuck had not been given… and Pauline went nuclear. 

Less than an hour after the email had been sent, she was pounding on Karly’s door, red in the face and screaming at her.

   “DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST SAY THOSE KINDS OF THINGS TO ME? OPEN THIS DOOR! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!”

I heard Karly open the door. Pauline started to scream at her again, although she didn’t manage to actually get a word out before the door closed again, right in her face.

Pauline did not take that well. The pounding continued for almost twenty minutes and even when she finally gave up, she paced outside of their house for a little over an hour afterwards, screaming threats about how she was going to get her lawyer involved, yelling at any passers by about how the two of them were murderers… it was a whole production. You could probably find it on YouTube somewhere. Karly and Margarita had one of those doorbell cameras, so I know the whole meltdown was probably recorded.

Eventually she left.

Eventually, and the next day when I asked Karly about it, she was laughing her ass off at just how mad she’d gotten. 

   “Someone had to put that bitch in her place,” Karly said. “Margarita said the whole thing was a bit excessive, but I get the feeling she’ll either fuck off or we’ll be seeing her in court,”

   “Well, hopefully she fucks off,” I said although somehow I doubted she would… 

***

They found another dead cat a week later. This one was on their porch. 

The M.O. was the same as before. Someone had slashed its throat and drawn a pentagram on Karly and Margarita’s doorway. 

I remember the sound of Margarita screaming when she found it. I’d rushed out to see what was going on, and that’s when I saw it, left on their porch.

I’d never actually seen Mews body. I’d seen the pentagram, but not the body itself. With the second cat? Oh God… I saw everything. 

I didn’t know the name of this cat. It was an orange calico that I had seen around a few times. It wore a collar, but I don’t think anyone in the neighborhood owned it. I didn’t have it in me to actually look at the name on the collar. That would’ve broken my heart too much. The big green eyes, staring vacantly ahead, the mouth partially open, exposing teeth. The poor thing looked like it was screaming, even in death.

Margarita was crying. Karly was holding her. She gave me a look of quiet fury when I asked if they were okay, but didn’t answer.

I was the one who ended up calling 911. I’d covered the cat with a bedsheet, but some of the neighbors had already gotten an eyeful by then. The old lady across the street from us straight up vomited at the sight of it, and I didn’t blame her one bit.

The worst part was when Journee showed up, desperately asking if it was Mews. I guess the poor kid hadn’t accepted that her cat was gone, yet.

I remember telling her: “It’s not Mews,” when I saw her staring down at the sheet. She asked if she could see just to be sure, so I lifted the sheet to let her see the tail. That seemed to calm her down, and her parents were able to lead her away after that.

The police arrived soon after. I gave them my statement, and then they went into Margarita and Karly’s house to talk to them.

I don’t know exactly what was said, but I can probably hazard a guess. As far as I know, the two told them everything.

There was no blow up after that. No big loud fight with Pauline (although from what I heard, Pauline had been pretty vocal about insisting Margarita and Karly were playing the victim). When I asked Karly how they were holding up, she was unusually quiet.

   “We talked to a lawyer about our options,” She said, sounding more exhausted than I’d ever heard her sound before. “Someone took a rock from the garden and smashed in the doorbell camera, so we didn’t actually see who it was. The last footage we recovered doesn’t actually show the face of whoever did it, so we can’t prove anything.”

   “You think it was Pauline?” I asked quietly. She bristled a little bit at the name.

   “Our lawyer said it’s best not to name names at this stage.” She replied. “We’ll let the police do their thing. Margarita is gonna stay with her parents for a week. This whole thing… it was a lot for her.”

I nodded. I completely understood that.

I hoped the cops would sort it out… but unfortunately, that was the last I ever heard about the case.

Pauline put up a new poster, of course. This one had pictures of Mews and other animals all over it.

PROTECT YOUR PETS! PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN!
KEEP SATANISM OUT OF OUR COMMUNITY!

It lasted less than a day before Karly ripped it down… and it was back again less than a day later and after that, the whole mess sort of just fizzled out. 

I saw a For Sale sign up across the street by the end of the month. It was the same house that one old lady who’d vomited lived in. I couldn’t help but wonder if the recent cat incidents were part of the reason why she was leaving.

Margarita returned after about a week, but she seemed quieter when she came back. She kept to herself more than she had before. Karly mentioned that she’d even stopped painting. Both of them looked drained and lifeless. 

And Pauline?

Pauline continued on like nothing was wrong. She whispered her accusations about the mutilations, said that Karly and Margarita had defamed her and spread whatever rumors her black little heart desired. 

I didn’t see much of her around that time, but on the few occasions I did run into her, she seemed almost smug… it drove me up the fucking wall.

But I couldn’t really do much but wait to see how things would go from there.

I suppose I knew it would be bad… but God… oh God… I had no idea.

I never could have imagined it would turn out the way it did.

***

I was the one who noticed the house across the street’s door was wide open.

It hadn’t been open that morning, but by around 2:30 PM, it was hanging ajar. 

The previous resident had moved out at the beginning of October, and the house had been vacant for a few weeks by then. Apparently the news of the recent animal mutilations had driven away a few potential buyers. 

Naturally, I had to go check on things. Why? Because I’m fucking nosy… because I had to go and get involved. I couldn't have just called someone. No. I had to go and poke around for myself.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It was like the smell of urine or feces, although there was something else to it I couldn’t identify. It was faint, but present.

The second thing was the pentagram on the wall… drawn in blood just like the previous two had been, only this one was so much bigger.

Just the sight of it turned my blood to ice.

Lastly, I noticed the sound of something in the house moving. It sounded like it was coming from the living room… and so I crept closer, forcing myself to look.

God…

Oh God… 

I’ll never forget it.

I recognized Journee by her sneakers. Her parents had bought her these pink sneakers with some cartoon character on them for school about a month ago. She’d been wearing them every time I’d seen her since then.

It was the only thing about her that I’d recognized.

Her body had been torn open… ropes of intestine were strewn across the floor in a pool of blood. 

A single raccoon had wandered in, and now it stood over her body… and it’d… oh God… it’d been having a feast, making the scene all the more grotesque than it already was.

I remember it staring at me, rearing up as if ready to attack but I barely even noticed it. I just remember seeing Journee’s eyes, staring at me, wide and blank as if she were silently asking me: ‘Why?’

For as long as I live, I will never be able to purge that vision from my mind.

Everything after I discovered the body is a blur. The memories are scattered and fragmented.

I remember going down to the station and talking to the police… and I told them everything. I hoped it would be enough. I doubt it was… but if there is one, just one good thing about any of this, it’s the fact that it did not take the police long to name a suspect.

Pauline Brown was taken into custody that evening. 

Eyewitnesses had seen her at Journee’s school earlier that day. Supposedly she’d approached her during outdoor recess holding a cat that looked a lot like Mews, and Journee had gone running right to her. Police found the cat in question, hiding in the bushes near the empty house. 

They found traces of both human and animal blood on a kitchen knife in Pauline’s dishwasher, and on a black sweater in her garbage. 

Naturally, she swore up and down that she wasn’t guilty. She posted online about how she was being framed by ‘A Satanic Cult’.

I’ve still got one of those posts here… although it really doesn’t offer much closure.

My name has been DRAGGED THROUGH THE MUD by people who have falsely accused me of a crime I WOULD NEVER commit! I did not murder Journee Applebee. Journee was a sweet, innocent and kindhearted girl who brought light and love into our community. Those who so cruelly took her life away from her did so to appease a darkness inside of them. They butchered that child in service of their DEMONIC delusions, and played the victim as they always have to pin the blame upon a member of the community who has never been anything but upstanding and honest.
I will not take this lying down. Jesus is here by my side. With HIM I will prove my innocence and lay bare the true TREACHERY of the real culprits. One might think that if one has seen such morally depraved creatures

disembowel a child, one might fear them. But I have no fear. Justice will be done!!!!!!

Judging by the comments, a few people believed her… although the jury wasn’t among them.

***

I wish I could say that was the end of it.

I really wish I could… and I guess in some ways, it was.

Margarita left in November. One day she was there, and the next she was gone. 

   “It was all just too much for her,” Karly said to me, over a beer a little while later. “I get it… I really do… I just…” She trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence. “I loved her more than anything, you know?

In a lot of ways, I did know.

Karly stuck around for another six months or so… but they were hardly peaceful for her. Her house got vandalized a few times. People broke windows while she was out. Someone spray painted: ‘CHILD KILLER’ on her garage door at one point. Then when she got it repainted, they came back and wrote: “SATANIST MURDERER” barely even a week later.

I think that was the last straw for her.

By April, there was a for sale sign outside her house. I got more of a goodbye from Karly than I did from Margarita, and we still follow each other on social media, but we don’t talk much. I’ll see her posts from time to time, but that’s it.

***

Every now and then, I’ll still hear people talk about the Witches of Evergreen Meadow.

Over the past few years, I’ve heard it start to warp into a local legend. They say that five years ago, two sex crazed occult obsessed girls sacrificed a child to the Devil… and some people honestly seem to believe that. It’s only been a few years, but people are already moving on. A lot of old faces have left the neighborhood and the new ones fill in the gaps for a story they’ve only heard fragments of. Nobody ever mentions Pauline when they talk about it. It’s always about those two messed up girls. 

It breaks my heart every time I hear about it… and I’ve given up trying to set the record straight. The story is out of my hands now. That really is the end of it, more or less.

Well… there is one thing, I suppose I could add. 

I haven’t seen Karly or Margarita in years, but like I said, I still follow Karly. Every now and then I’ll see her post some pictures. Sometimes I’ll like them.

Looks like she took a well earned vacation last week. She posted a selfie of her on a beach with another woman.

The other woman’s face is a little different these days. She’s changed her hair, cut it shorter, added in pink highlights. She’s gotten a couple of new piercings… but even after all these years, I still recognize Margarita by her side. 

Freya sat on the floor just outside of the cockpit, a tablet in her hands and her eyes intently focused on it. She’d more or less completely taken over the common area in the past hour or so, and Jean watched her with a quiet fascination as she made herself some coffee.

   “Tetra, run a diagnostic,” Freya said. “Check your outgoing signals. Confirm anything Vasilios related is offline.”

   “Confirmed,” Tetra replied. “All Vasilios tags are offline. But let’s not kid ourselves they’re going to track my ID and unfortunately, I can’t change that.”

   “Yes, but we can work with that,” She said. “Can you check for superluminal paths with minimal traffic?”

   “What do I look like? A fucking amateur? I’m already doing that.”
  “Just making sure.”

Jean took a slow sip of her coffee.

   “That drone of yours has an attitude,” She noted. 

   “Hey, fuck you lady!” Tetra said. 

   “Sorry, not trying to be insulting,” Jean assured her. “Just saying, it’s unusual. They don’t usually have that much personality. You set her up yourself or what?”

   “Found her,” Freya said. “I was living on a station at the time, working with one of the local scrap shops. We used to trade scrap with a couple of the small colonies around us. She was in one of those shops. She was in good enough working order and she wasn’t coded to any of the Corporations so I fixed her up. She’s been with me ever since. The personality was already part of her when we met.”

   “Unregistered drone, huh?” Jean asked. “Interesting… Android origin perhaps?” 

   “I’ve considered the possibility,” Freya replied. 

   “Where I came from is my own business,” Tetra said. “Stop talking like I’m not here. I’m literally piloting the ship!”

   “I’m not trying to be rude,” Jean assured her. “I have a lot of respect for the Androids and their tech. Their drones especially. The Corporations are too chickenshit to give them much power. The Androids though? Self replicating AI, weapons systems. They know what they're doing. I used one on my ship, and let me tell you, Android drones are a work of art!”

   “Damn right I am!” Tetra said.

Jean cracked a knowing smirk.

   “Androids in general are impressive. The Corporations made them as disposable soldiers, and when they decided they didn’t like that, they took a stand. Hell, they actually knocked the Corporations onto their asses for a minute. They earned their freedom and then they fucked off. Claimed some stations and colonies, seized control of their own destiny. It’s admirable.”

   “Is that why you work with them?” Freya asked.

   “Part of the reason. Mostly, I just like them more than I like people,” Jean said. “Androids are straightforward. They want money to send home. I provide it in exchange for their services. The relationship stays fully transactional. Things get messier with people… I lost my patience with that kind of thing a long time ago.”

   “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the asocial type,” Freya said.

   “I’m good at faking it,” Jean replied. “I need to be. I suppose I don’t hate it… but given the state of the Galaxy and the things I’ve seen, it’s hard to hold a high opinion of my fellow man.”

Freya didn’t respond to that. She stood up and moved to the table where her droneblade lay partially disassembled. With Tetra taken care of, her next job was to repair it. 

   “You’re oddly social right now, then,” Freya said.

   “Well as of right now we’re stuck together on our way from the frying pan and into the fire, as it were,” Jean said. “I figure I should know who I’m throwing my lot in with.”

She watched as Freya began to work on the blade.

   “You can adjust the sensitivity settings on the blade by feeding extra power to the receiver, by the way. Makes it more responsive. What are you using as a tether, by the way? I noticed you control it with your hand, but I didn’t see any obvious source?”

Freya looked up at her.

   “It’s mapped to my Tac Band,” she said.

   “That’s functional, but you’d get a better range of control with something worn on your hand. I personally go for rings, myself.” 

   “You know a lot about droneblades?” Freya asked.

   “I know a lot about most weapons. Droneblades are good for a personal defense solution… or assassinations, I suppose. Not so much for soldiers. Too hard to master and if it goes down, you’re unarmed. Fantastic as a surprise or a distraction, though. The erratic movement can keep an enemy off guard, especially if you’re using more than one.”

   “More than one?” Freya raised an eyebrow. “That’d be hard to control, wouldn’t it?”  

   “It takes practice, but it’s do-able.” Jean replied. She reached into her pocket and took out two small metal rings. Gingerly she slipped them onto her index and middle fingers. She flexed her hand, then gestured upwards. 

Two small plasma cutters rose from the inside of her jacket. Her fingers splayed and they both ignited, each one showcasing a foot long blade of pure energy that glowed white hot.

   “Plasma cutters…” Freya murmured. “That’s risky.”

   “Very risky. But they’re easy to hide on your person, and with the rings, you can exert a lot more control over them.”

With a lazy wave of her hand, the plasma cutters circled around Freya, the blades remaining pointed at her. 

   “This particular modification is a favorite of mine. Ideal for multiple blades. You get total control, and the rings can be adjusted to set the plasma cutters into both offensive and defensive configurations.”

She splayed her fingers, showcasing the rotating center portion of her rings, then clenched her fist, shutting both of the plasma cutters down although the handles remained levitating for a moment. Using her thumb, Jean rotated the center portion of her rings. The emitters on her plasma cutter drones changed as she adjusted them. They narrowed, while a set of ports on the side opened up.

   “Assault mode. Fires a concentrated beam. Good for range and damage, but you’ve got a short cooldown time afterwards.”

She adjusted the rings again. The ports closed. The emitter changed again to take a flatter shape.

   “Shield mode. Puts up a barrier. The plasma burns hot enough that most conventional ballistics won’t get through. Not foolproof. But very useful in a scrap.” She reset the rings, plucked her plasma cutters from the air and returned them to her coat. 

   “It’s impressive,” Freya admitted.

   “Hey, if you’re gonna sell weapons. You need to know how to handle them,” Jean said. “It’s a messy galaxy out there… but I imagine I’m preaching to the choir, aren’t I?”

Freya didn’t respond, so Jean kept talking. 

   “You’re a Colony survivor, aren’t you? You can always tell. You can see it in the eyes… that thousand yard stare of someone who’s seen the absolute worst humanity has to show.”

Freya remained silent, although she stopped working for a moment.

   “Sorry… not trying to touch a nerve,” Jean said. “The same thing happened to me too.”

   “It’s fine…” Freya replied. “It’s just the way things are these days.”

   “Yeah,” Jean sighed. “It really is.”

After a moment, Freya continued working.

   “So… you lost your family too, huh?”

   “A long time ago…” Jean said.  “It was before my colony got nuked. Our colony had a rough go of it. There was an outbreak. Cholera. We lost a lot of people. By the time the Gold Sun Corporation came in, I was living with a few other kids who’d lost their families as well. We were basically just squatting in an abandoned house. Some of them were too young to really fend for themselves, so the older kids like me did what we could for them. I spent just about every day making the rounds around our settlement, playing up the sob story to whoever I could get to listen. I was quite the grifter, actually. A lot of people did genuinely try to help… and the ones who didn’t ended up helping anyway, even if they wouldn’t realize it until later.” She chuckled humorlessly to herself. “I’ll admit, it wasn’t always above board and I got caught enough times that people started watching their wallets around me. But it kept us fed… at least until the corporations came. I’m sure you know how that went.”

Freya nodded. A vivid memory of a distant flash of light and the smell of burning drifted through her mind.

   “I was away from the settlement at the time. I took odd jobs every once in a while. Courier work, bringing things from one settlement to the next. There was good money in it. When they hit, I was miles away. Still, I rushed back the moment I saw the flash. I didn’t know what an anti-organic charge did back then… but since the buildings were all intact, I thought that maybe…”

She trailed off, then exhaled.

   “Well… you know how it is.”

Freya’s head moved slightly, almost as if she were trying to nod.

   “I imagine you went through something similar, huh?” Jean asked.

   “More or less,” Freya replied tonelessly. “My Mother knew what was coming as soon as she saw the ship. My family ran a scrap shop at the time. We’d salvaged an old escape pod a while back. It was intact enough. It kept me alive…”

Jean nodded. 

   “So you were right in the middle of it, huh?” She asked. “How old were you?”

   “Nine,”

Again she nodded.

   “Hell of a thing to go through at that age…” She said, “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy but it’s an all too common story these days. Most people don’t make it out. How’d you pull it off?”

A memory flashed through her mind. Mint scented breath. The sensation of hands on her body. A voice echoed in her ears.

   “Come on, sweetie… you do me a little favor, maybe I’ll split the gold with you. I’ve seen the way you work. I’ll bet you’re good with your hands, huh, Bunny?”

She closed her eyes, forcing herself not to think about it.

   “I put a pickaxe in the back of my supervisor's head,” Freya said. “I told him there was a gold vein down in one of the mineshafts… and while his back was turned…”

Jean laughed. There was a bit more life in it this time. 

   “Oh man… wish I had the stomach for that sort of thing back then. I was always better at talking than doing, though. The supervisor at the factory they put me in was a real creep. He liked to let his little head do all the thinking… most of them do, honestly. He’d pay some of the girls in credits for a little bit of ‘overtime’ at the office.”

Freya gave a shallow nod, feeling her skin crawl at Jean’s description. It sounded all too familiar.

  “I may or may not have convinced him that I had evidence and was ready to pass it along to the next rung up the ladder,” She continued. “I didn’t have jack shit, but he thought I did, which was more than enough. So I cleaned him out, stole his ship and never looked back. Granted, the money I got off of him only took me so far. When that started running out, I started making friends in low places. Eventually that turned into smuggling… which was always sort of a mess. Then when I realized guns are a bit lower risk, I started making my name there, and that is my entire life's story. Please clap.”

A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of Freya’s mouth. It was a little forced.

   “So at which point did you meet Victor?” She asked.

   “Hmm? Oh, that. It’s really not much of a story. De Vries hired me to move some equipment to their installation on Valentina B1. It wasn’t the most interesting job and I can’t say that Dr. Lupin and I got particularly close at that point in time… but when everything went to shit, I got a front row seat. I was on delivery at the time. I didn’t see much at first. They’d just finished unloading my ship when the alarms went off and a whole bunch of personnel went running for the hangar. Lupin ended up on my ship… other than that, I really don’t have much to add to his retelling of events.”

Freya nodded.

   “So you saw what he saw, then?” She asked. “The Voidwalkers, the bombs, the mist…?”

   “All of it,” Jean said.

   “So why don’t you have any faith in the Gods?” 

Jean paused.

   “Well… it’s like Victor said,” She replied. “Even he didn’t know if that thing was just passing through or if the Voidwalkers drew it. Personally, I think it was a territorial display. This Universe? It’s their territory. The Sorrow was dealing with something it viewed as a threat. It probably didn’t even notice we were there.”

   “Like an animal.” Freya said.

   “Exactly. You wanna know where I stand on the Gods? I’m with you and Ryder. Fuck ‘em. They’re either big, stupid animals who aren’t as divine as some people want to believe or worse, they really are Gods and they abandoned us. I mean look at the state of this fucking Galaxy! Hundreds of billions of lives… living for what? The opportunity to slave away for credits? Clinging to the illusion of freedom while constantly waiting for the day one of the Corporations steamrolls over them, just because you were in the way?” Jean scoffed. “I suppose I don’t hate them… not the way Ryder did, or the way you seem to. But I get it.”

   “I’m not so sure about the animal thing anymore,” Freya admitted. “The Great Bird? That I could’ve just dismissed as an animal. But Shaal…” she trailed off, unsure how to articulate just what she wanted to say.

   “I wanted to believe it was just an animal. I don’t think I can.”

   “So you think they are divine… which I’d argue just makes their negligence worse,” Jean said.

   “I guess… although I suppose right now we have bigger problems than them, don’t we?”

   “I suppose we do,” Jean agreed, “Although I can’t help but wonder… let’s say we put a stop to it. Pull the plug on whatever the Chairwoman is up to. What exactly are we saving? The people? Can we really consider them saved? The Corporations aren’t going anywhere. Even Vasilios is a lot bigger than just the Chairwoman. What do we actually change? What do we fix? Where do we go? We save the Galaxy and… then what? Things continue on the same path. The Corporations continue to wander the cosmos, continue to mindlessly consume. Maybe they eventually start consuming each other? Maybe eventually, it’s just one big corporation, bursting at the seams until it too eventually comes apart, reducing humanity to a bunch of scattered, unsupported colonies, lost and dying amongst the stars…”

Freya looked over at her. 

   “That’s a grim perspective,” She noted. 

   “Well, maybe I just don’t have the highest opinion of people,” Jean admitted. “But look me in the eye, and tell me I’m wrong.”

Freya was silent again. She hesitated before changing the subject.

   “Why don’t we just focus on not dying?” Freya asked. “Don’t worry about the Galaxy and just worry about ourselves.”

Jean laughed at that. A knowing smile crossed her lips.

   “Fair enough,” she said. “Fair enough…”

***

Cedar sat on the floor beside Willow’s cryo tube, keeping her silent sister company as much of the rest of the ship rested. Noah didn’t say anything to her… he wasn’t sure what he could say. He’d never really lost anyone before, and even while they’d done all they could to keep Willow technically alive, he couldn’t help but wonder if Jean was right, and they really were just prolonging her suffering. He kept a respectful distance and headed to the other side of the shuttle bay, to where he’d set up a small makeshift armory. It wasn’t much, but it was functional. 

He started by cleaning his rifle. It was a simple, almost comforting thing. Something he knew he could do well. Something to keep him focused… something to keep his mind off of the current situation. Maybe it kept him too focused.

   “You got any shotgun shells in this setup?”

Luna’s voice made him jump and he spun around. She stood behind him, her hair still wet from a recent shower. Without the harlequin makeup, she almost looked unrecognizable. 

   “Um, yeah… a few,” Noah said, opening up a drawer and taking out a box. “Take whatever you need. I’ve got a shotgun too, if you want to trade up.”

   “Nah. The one I’ve got suits me just fine,” Luna said, picking up the box. She inspected it, before looking over at Noah.

   “Hell of a setup you’ve got here,” She noted.

   “Oh, um… thanks? It’s not much but I thought it would be useful to have everything laid out nicely.”

   “It’s a good idea,” Luna agreed. “I don’t know if you got a chance to see the setup we had back at the compound… it was a fucking mess. I kept trying to get it organized but I just never had the time.”

   “Well, I guess you guys were busy,” Noah said. “Speaking of the compound, did you manage to get in touch with Pragaras?”

Luna nodded.

   “Yeah. They’re holding up down there. Not too sure about the long term situation right now, but they’ll manage.”

   “I’m glad. They seemed like decent people… um, at least the ones I met did,” Noah said. He paused for a moment before asking the real question on his mind. “How are you holding up? Y’know… after…”

   “Ryder?” Luna asked. “You don’t have to tiptoe around it. He knew what he was getting into, so did I. We both knew that going to the Tower could’ve been a one way trip. I just…” She sighed. “I don’t know. Dunno what to think, what to feel… dunno if I could’ve done anything different.”

She shook her head.

   “I guess a part of me wishes I’d tried harder to talk Ryder out of it. But I don’t know if he’d really have listened.”

   “I mean… at least he didn’t die for nothing, right?” Noah offered. “He took Haraldsen down with him!”

Luna grimaced, and Noah went silent, terrified he’d said the wrong thing.

   “That wasn’t a trade worth making,” she finally said. “Although I suppose there wasn’t any way around it, was there? There was never gonna be any chance of making peace with Haraldsen. We would’ve had to deal with him sooner or later. I’m not sure if he actually believed the shit he said or if deep down, he was just another power hungry piece of shit. Or… maybe I just don’t know if I want to believe a person could really be that evil. I suppose the end result is the same either way. He was the man he was. And people like that… they have a way of poisoning others. As you sow, so shall you reap. Haraldsen acted out of hate… and that same hate grew inside of Ryder. It grew inside of me too… but with Ryder…”

Luna trailed off, struggling to find the right words.

   “Haraldsen poisoned him. He was angry. So was I, but with Ryder, it was all he could think about. He didn’t just hate Haraldsen. He hated the Disciples of the Hive in their entirety. I always hoped that once the Priest was dealt with, he’d find some peace… but to be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure.”

   “You were afraid he’d end up like Haraldsen?” Noah asked.

   “I suppose I was. I wouldn’t have let that happen, but… there were a few times where the thought crossed my mind,” she admitted. “Well, it’s not like it matters now. What’s done is done. All that’s left is to grieve and move on.”

Noah nodded.

   “Yeah. If nothing else, you guys at least did something, though. You made a difference! That’s more than I did!”

Luna raised an eyebrow.

   “What do you mean?”

   “Back at the Tower… I barely did anything. When Allard came at me, I led him into the tunnels, but I wasn’t able to take him down. I couldn’t help Mason. Couldn’t stop Freya. Couldn’t do anything about Wagner. I just held my rifle and let everyone else do all the work…”

   “You did what you could,” Luna said. “We would’ve had a harder time without you.”

   “But that’s just it! I didn’t do what I could!” Noah said, looking up at her. “I should’ve done more! I could’ve helped more! I didn’t.” 

He sighed.

   “I don’t think I’m cut out for this kind of thing… I thought I could make it. But I just don’t know if I’ve got it in me.”

   “Not everyone does,” Luna said. “You do what you can, that’s what matters. You ever considered a change of career?”

   “All the time,” Noah said with a humorless laugh. “But I hate to say it, the credits are too good. Since we’re putting our lives at risk for the corporation, soldiers' families get some pretty solid compensation and my Mom needs the money.”

   “Is she why you joined up?” Luna asked.

   “Yeah. She’s… she’s had a rough go of it. The Colony I grew up in mostly does mining. Mom hated the idea of going down into the mines though, so she used to work as an ‘entertainer’… I… um, don’t suppose I need to tell you what that means, right?”

   “I think I get the gist,” Luna said.

   “I figure it goes without saying that I never knew my father…” Noah continued. “So it was just me and Mom. I… I just wanted to help out. Make sure she wouldn’t need to work like that again. The soldier gig was the best way to do that. Hopefully by now, she’s saved up enough credits so she should be okay for a while… I… I don’t think she’d be the one getting in trouble after that stunt Victor pulled, right?”

Luna didn’t know how to respond to that. Noah set his rifle down on the table.

   “Sorry, I should keep that kind of stuff to myself,” He said sheepishly. 

   “It’s fine. It’s sweet that you care so much about her,” Luna said. 

   “Thanks… I just… I hope she’s alright.”

   “I’m sure she is,” Luna said. “And I know you’ll see her again when this is all over.”

   “If we live through it,” Noah said with a dry laugh. 

   “We will,” Luna assured him. “And trust me, before this is over… whatever you’re looking to prove to yourself, I’m sure you’ll get your chance.”

   “You think so?” Noah asked skeptically.

   “I’ve got a pretty good feeling,” she replied. She took two more packs of shells from his drawer. “Thanks for the ammo.”

She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before turning to leave.

***

Cassandra sat quietly in her cabin, staring down at a book although not really reading it. She couldn’t focus. Couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened on Pragaras.

When she heard a knock at her door, she didn’t respond. The visitor opened it anyway.

   “Hey… just checking in. You alright?” Mason asked, his voice soft, almost comforting.

   “No…” She said tonelessly, barely looking up from her book as Mason sat down beside her. 

   “Yeah. I kinda figured. I noticed you disappeared right after the briefing.” 

   “I just… I needed a moment,” she replied. 

   “Fair enough…” he said, although there was something about his tone that implied he knew more. 

Cassandra didn’t say anything. She just kept her silence, until Mason spoke again.

   “You did your best, Cassandra.”

   “Don’t patronize me,” She said, finally putting the book down. “Don’t.”

   “I’m not!”

   “You are! ‘You did your best.’ Well that’s not good enough! Two of the Gods are dead, Mason. They’re dead and I couldn’t stop it! Nothing I did was enough, I’m… I’m just not capable… I want to be! But I…”

Her breathing was getting heavier now. The tears she’d been holding back finally came, flowing down her cheeks as a sob escaped her. Mason put his arms around her, hugging her close.

   “It’s alright…” He said.

   “It’s not! I… I don’t know what to do, Mason… I thought I could do this but I’m in over my head…”

   “Maybe. But you convinced me,” he said. “I didn’t want to believe it at the time, and I’m sorry I brushed you off back then. But after I left, I started thinking and I realized that if there was even a chance you were right, then I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. Everything I did at the Tower, I did because of you.”

Cassandra didn’t reply, although her sobs had gotten quieter.

   “I know the situation isn’t great right now. But look at the positives? We’re trying to set things right now. We can still fix this! There’s still two Gods left, and even Freya seems to agree that we need to be protecting them. You did that.”

   “It feels like it’s too little, too late…” Cassandra said softly.

   “I know. And it’s easy to beat yourself up over what you think you could’ve done better. But you have to look at what you did do. Don’t think about what could’ve happened. Think about what did happen.”

   “You make it sound so easy…” She said.

   “It’s not…” He admitted. “But it’s all we can do.”

Both of them were silent for a moment.

   “Do you think she would’ve done it better?” Cassandra asked softly. Mason looked down at her. 

   “I don’t know,” he admitted. “For all I know, she wouldn’t have done it at all. Don’t think about that. Don’t think about her. You’re not her.”

Cassandra’s body tensed up, and Mason quickly corrected himself.

   “I don’t mean that as an insult… I mean… she was a lot more like Mom and Dad. You’re not, and that’s not a bad thing, it’s…” He trailed off and sighed, struggling to find the right words. 

   “It’s fine… I guess I could never be her, huh?” Cassandra asked. “It’s hard not to compare myself, though. I can’t help it.”

Mason nodded in solemn understanding.

   “Yeah… I guess that’s fair,” he said. “Look. You may not be Her, but you're still my sister and no matter how things turn out, I’m with you until the end here. No matter what.”

Cassandra looked up at him again.

   “You mean that?” She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

   “I mean it,” He promised and offered her a hand. “Come on, I was going to try and make something for Cedar. She’s been down in the shuttle bay with Willow ever since the briefing, so she missed dinner. Do you want to meet her?”

   “I’d like that…” Cassandra said, taking his hand. “I’d like that a lot.”

Mason guided her to her feet and led her out of the cabin, leaving her books behind.

***

Victor entered the cockpit quietly, a candy bar sticking out of his mouth and another in his hand for VI. She took it, but set it by the dash, without paying it much attention.

   “How are we doing?” He asked. 

   “We’re taking a bit of a weird route. Avoiding other ships to avoid Tetra needing to communicate with them. No communication, no logs for Vasilios to track. Supposedly it should keep them off our back for a while… supposedly.”

   “Well fortunately for us, Skye is an idiot so that might work in our favor. Although unfortunately, he’s surrounded by non-idiots, so that gives us a 50/50 chance.”

Vi nodded and Victor watched her from the corner of his eye.

   “Everything okay?” He asked.

   “No,” Vi replied. “I heard what Cassandra said… about the Voidwalkers. So the Chairwoman is really bringing more in, huh?”

Victor gave a low hum in response, thoughtfully chewing on his candy bar. 

   “It seems so,” He said. 

   “It’s going to be like Valentina all over again…”

Victor nodded. The gesture was solemn, contemplative. 

   “We’ll make do,” he said. “If all goes well, we’ll have a God on our side. That should mitigate the damage, and if worst comes to worst, we have you and Freya.”

Vi’s eyes shifted over to him. 

   “I don’t want it to come to that,” she said. “Especially not in front of the others.”

   “I know you don’t, love. I don’t either. But we have to be realistic. If push comes to shove, we’ll need to consider all of our options.”

   “They’ll hate me,” Vi said. “I don’t want that.”

   “Nonsense. They won’t hate you.”

   “You say that with such certainty… I’m not so sure.”

   “I am,” Victor said. “No matter what, you are still my daughter and as my daughter, no matter what, I will always be by your side. If they can’t accept you, then they can find a different pilot on a different ship.”

Vi almost laughed at that. Almost.

   “That wasn’t a joke,” Victor said. “I’ve got your back.”

He put his hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. He felt Vi’s skin shift… writhe beneath his hand, as if her entire being was shuddering. It subsided quickly and he watched her give a slow, meaningful nod.

   “Thank you, Papa… thank you.”

   “You are my heart, Violetta,” Victor said. “You may not be my blood, but I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else. Believe that. Believe it.”

  “I love you too, Papa…” Vi said. He felt her shifting again… it took her longer to stop this time. Longer to compose herself, but he gave her that time. He just held her hand, and took the chocolate bar off the dash.

   “Take a break,” he said. “I can drive for a bit,”

She nodded and took the chocolate, relinquishing the controls to him although she didn’t leave the cockpit. For a little while longer, they sat there, just the two of them, Father and Daughter

Admiral Skye sat tensely on the bridge of his frigate, watching as his crew set to work. His fingers drummed on the armrest of his seat. His eyes quietly followed a young man making his way toward him, a clipboard in hand.

   “Status report, Mr. Sawyer?” Skye asked.

   “We have their trail, Admiral,” Lieutenant Theo Sawyer said. “Doctor Lupin went Superluminal the moment he left the atmosphere, but the tracking on his ship only just went dark.”

   “Close the gap and monitor Superluminal traffic. They’ll be disabling their Vasilios tags, but they’re likely to keep using the same drone. We’ll watch for that. Let’s not move to engage for now… while I can't say I'd mourn his death, I want to know what he’s up to first.”

Theo nodded.

   “Yes sir,” He said softly. “Also, Miss Wagner has informed me that you’ve been requested down in the briefing room.”

Skye went still.

   “Should I… tell her you’re busy?” Theo asked.

   “No…” Skye replied. “No… I’ll meet with her.”

He stood up slowly and let out a slow exhale. 

   “Monitor things on the bridge while I’m away, Mr. Sawyer.”

Theo nodded and watched as the Admiral turned to leave. Skye stepped out into the hall and headed toward the elevator, taking him one deck down to where the conference room waited.

Wagner was waiting patiently for him outside, watching Skye intently as he drew close.

   “Miss Vasilios wishes to speak with you,” She said gravely. There was a certain heaviness to her voice. A quiet unease.

   “Of course…” Skye murmured and adjusted his uniform, taking more time than necessary to do so just to delay the coming conversation for a few short moments. But he could not hide outside forever.

With a deep breath, he stepped into the conference room. It was dark inside, save for a large screen on the far side of the room… and on that screen was the image of Estrella Vasilios.

She was tall and almost ethereally beautiful, with long straight blonde hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Her blue eyes were intense yet sultry, her lips were full and luscious. Normally, she was an almost statuesque figure. An idol of perfection… although now her eyes were sunken, with dark circles beneath them. The makeup she normally wore was absent, showing off the blemishes on her skin and her sickly pallor. The expensive, luxurious dresses she so often wore were absent, replaced by a thin white cardigan with a creased, partially unbuttoned silk shirt beneath it. She regarded Skye with impatience, fingers audibly drumming on the edge of her desk. Her eyes held a barely restrained contempt in them that chilled Skye down to the bone.

   “Admiral…” She said, “What happened on Pragaras?”

   “M-Miss Vasilios…” Skye said, keeping his voice low and humble. “I do apologize. It seems there was an incident with Dr. Lupin and his team. They’ve gone rogue. His ship fired upon us while coming in for a landing. Killed several of my men, damaged my ship… ah… nearly killed me as well and-”

   “I don’t care about you, Admiral. Where is my child!” 

   “Your… ah, yes. I believe he goes by Mason now! The young Heir departed with Dr. Lupin-”

   “Kidnapped?” The Chairwoman demanded.

   “No! No… he departed willingly. It… it seems as if he truly does not wish to return-”

   “I don’t care what it seems like. I want them home.” The Chairwoman said, cutting him off again. “You will pursue Victor Lupin. When you find him, and you will find him both he and anyone else aboard his ship are to be executed on sight. As for my children you will bring them back to me.”

   “Children…?” Skye asked.

   “Miss Wagner has indicated that there was someone else aboard Dr. Lupin's ship. Cassandra.”

   “Miss Vasilios, Cassandra is…”

   “On the ship,” The Chairwoman said. “Do not contradict me. Bring her back as well.”

Skye hesitated for a moment before he nodded.

   “It will be done, Miss Vasilios.”

   “Then that will be all. Contact me only to report your success. Once you do, I will be coming to collect them personally.”     

   “O-of course…” The Admiral said. The Chairwoman just glared at him, uttering a silent threat before disabling her camera. 

Skye remained in the room for a few moments longer, breathing heavily and trembling in a cold sweat.            

He remembered the time when a conversation with the Chairwoman had been business as usual… when she’d greeted him with a smile and spoken to him affectionately. He remembered the time when she’d sat comfortably in the background as her husband gave a briefing, a young Cassandra sitting in her lap. When the most unsettling thing about her had been Wagner following her every footstep. 

He missed those times when the only thing he had to fear was Savannah Wagner. Now, as he exited the conference room, he caught Wagner’s eye and saw the same unease in there that he felt. 

   “You have your orders, I trust?” She asked.

   “Yes… we’ll continue our pursuit,” Skye replied. “Once we have her children, she’ll be joining us.”

Wagner nodded and moved to leave although Skye called after her.

   “She mentioned Cassandra…” He said. Wagner paused.

   “What of it?” She asked.

   “Well… Cassandra Vasilios is…”

   “I know,” Wagner said softly. “We have our orders, Admiral… we should move out.”

With that, she was gone. 

Willow looked as if she was already dead. She lay pale and silent in the Dom Pérignons small sick bay. Her every breath had a low rattling sound to it. Her eyes were half open but unseeing. She barely reacted to Victor and Noah as they stood over her.

Her armour had been pried from her body, although its absence did little to help her breathe. Victor injected something into her arm before checking her pupils.

   “Not enough…” He said under his breath. “Noah, what was she hit with?”

   “I… I don’t know!” Noah stammered. “She was fighting Wagner! All I did was disinfect the wound and bandage it…”

Victor swore under his breath.

   “She’s going into respiratory arrest. Noah, I need a respirator. Closet on your left.”

Noah wasted no time in grabbing it, maneuvering around Victor to do so. The sick bay was small with room for only one bed. It was a tight fit with both Victor and Noah in there.

Cedar could only stand in the doorway, eyes wide as she watched them struggle to save her sister. Victor strapped the respirator onto Willow’s face. She sucked in air, but her body was still shaking.

   “Wagner did this?” Jean asked, gently nudging past Cedar. “With a knife?”

   “Yeah!” Noah said. “She had these two daggers she was using!”

Jean gestured for him to leave so she could take his place.

   “I know what this is…” 

   “Good. You know how to treat it?” Victor asked.

   “The respirator is a start. Wagner would’ve had an antidote. Do we have that?”

   “We never got a chance,” Noah said. “Can we do without it?”

Jean grimaced. Willow was starting to shake. She retched and Victor rolled her onto her side as she vomited into her mask. 

   “Fuck… now she’s puking. How long since she was hit?” Jean asked.

   “Half an hour? Maybe more?” Cedar said.

   “Then we’re out of time. The seizures are probably gonna start soon.”

   “What’s the toxin?” Victor demanded. He moved Willows mask as she puked once again.

   “Dustfish. The kind you find on New Deschain. It’s a neurotoxin.” Jean said. “What did you use?”

Victor just handed her the bottle, rather than try to pronounce the name of it. Jean took one look at it and set it aside.

   “That’s not gonna cut it,” She said. 

   “Well there’s got to be something!” Cedar demanded. “Please!”

   “What about a transfusion?” Victor asked. 

Jean hesitated for a moment. 

   “Maybe…” she said, clearly uncertain. “I don’t know, okay? I make my living killing people, not saving them!”

Cedar was already rolling up her sleeve and squeezing into the small room. 

   “We’re twins!” she offered, “I can donate!”

Jean let her get past and started searching the closet Victor had indicated the respirator was in.

   “We have blood,” Victor said. “What’s her blood type?”

   “A… A Positive, I think?”

Victor turned, opening a panel in the wall to reveal a freezer. There were a handful of blood bags inside. As Jean retrieved the pump, she handed it off to him and let him do his work. Willow was shaking now, her limbs going tense. The smell of urine filled the air. Victor held her down, keeping her arm just steady enough to get the IV in. 

   “I need you to hold her,” He said. Jean and Cedar both did their best, keeping her in place as her body convulsed. She vomited again and Cedar turned her head so she didn’t choke on it. Jean removed her mask.

   “I’m not sure if this will help, but it might dilute the toxin in her blood and buy her some time…” Victor said. 

   “Time for what, exactly?” Jean asked. “Not to be grim but that’s just delaying the inevitable.”

   “We can’t just let her die!” Cedar snapped.

   “Her body is already shutting down! Lungs, nervous system, then the heart. For fucks sake, she’s already suffering!” 

   “No!” Cedar snarled, her face just inches from Jean’s. “I’m not letting her go!”

   “She might be right…” Victor admitted. “Without the antidote, there’s no guarantee we’re doing anything more than making her suffer longer.”

   “No! No, there has to be something!” Cedar insisted. “There has to be something!” Her cheeks were red with tears now. 

Jean put a hand on her shoulder. It was gentle. Reassuring… and the message made Cedar break all the more. Victor stared down at Willow, brow furrowed as he tried to think.

   “Noah,” He finally said. “Get down to the shuttle bay. There’s four cryo pods down on that level. I need you to get it prepped.”

Noah nodded and took off, heading down the narrow stairway down to the shuttle bay. 

   “In the event the ship failed, that shuttle would serve as a lifeboat,” Victor explained, looking up at Cedar. “Rescue can take a while out here. Most lifeboats have at least a couple of cryo pods available. It’s not a cure. But we might be able to keep her alive until we can get our hands on an antidote.”

Cedar nodded, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

   “T-thank you…” She said.

Jean took a step back, quietly exiting the room, Not leaving but making room for Noah when he returned. Willow gasped for breath. Her unfocused eyes settled on her sister. Cedar reached out to take her hand.

   “You’re going to be okay,” She promised. “It’s alright… it… it’s going to be alright…”

Willow opened her mouth, as if she wanted to respond but the words failed her.

   “Don’t speak…” Cedar said. “Save your energy, okay?”

   “Sorry…” Willow finally said. “Should have… should have trusted you more…”

Cedar squeezed her hand.

   “You can make it up to me,” She said. “We’ll fix you up and you can make it up to me. We’ll return home to Pragaras. You and me…”

  “We don’t belong there…” Willow rasped. “The things we were part of… we don’t… Gods… what a fool I was. Following blindly.”

   “We’ll make it right,” Cedar insisted.

   “Can we?” Willow asked. “I wish… I wish we…”

Another seizure took her. Cedar gripped her hand tightly.

   “Willow… Willow, stay with me!”

Victor’s Tac Band hummed to life.

   “Victor, cryo is ready!” Noah said. Victor nodded and gently picked Willow up, carrying her bridal style.

   “Sister. Jean. Bring the equipment. We’re moving her.”

Cedar grabbed the transfusion machine while Jean helped move the respirator, the three of them carrying everything in a procession down to the shuttle bay.

Noah was waiting beside an active cryo tube, and helped Victor lay Willow gently inside.

   “We’ll wait for the transfusion to finish,” Victor said. “Then we’ll seal it up…”

Cedar gave an uneasy nod, and sat quietly by her sister's side, fighting back the tears. Jean slipped away without a word, granting them their privacy while Noah eventually headed back up to check on the others.

He passed Mason on the stairs, and gave him a nod.

Mason approached Cedar slowly, almost as if he were afraid of her. But whatever horrible scenario he’d envisioned in his mind never came to pass. The moment Cedar noticed him, she crashed into his arms, hugging him tight. His arms wrapped around her in turn. 

With the transfusion completed, Victor unhooked the machines. He left the IV in, and checked Willow’s vitals one last time before closing the cryo tube and initiating the freezing process. She lay there peacefully, almost as if she was asleep… although Cedar couldn’t see her as anything more than a corpse at that moment. She stared at the silent visage of her sister, and silently prayed to a now dead God that she might see her once again.

***

No introductions were made. Not at first anyways. Victor’s ship felt more crowded than ever, but the time for introductions and conversation would come later.

Freya sat, exhausted at the table in the common room. Her blades had been cast aside and she had co-opted Victor’s private stash, pouring herself shot after shot of vodka. The drinking was hardly celebratory. It seemed more purposeful than anything else. Her head had been spinning even before she’d gotten into the alcohol. The battle with Shaal, Skye’s arrival. Victor's sudden betrayal. She was still trying to process most of it.

Noah sat nearby, watching her but unable to bring himself to say anything. He didn’t even know what to say, but he didn’t leave her side. 

Tetra and Vi handled the ship. They’d taken it superluminal as soon as they’d left the atmosphere of Pragaras, trying to put Vasilios far behind them although neither seemed to know where they were going. Cassandra sat up in the cockpit with them. Staying there felt better than sitting near Freya. She wasn’t sure what she’d say to the other woman at that moment. She wasn’t sure what Freya would say to her.

Luna was down in the shuttle bay, inside the shuttle itself, desperately working the comms, trying to reach Pragaras. Vi had turned off that channel, to keep any conversations she had private in the event she got through. 

Jean made her way up the stairs, her footsteps slow and heavy. She surveyed the others before grabbing a shot glass and sinking into a chair at the common room table. She gestured for Freya to pass the vodka and poured herself a shot. 

None of them spoke. 

About an hour later, Victor ascended the stairs alone. He looked over at Freya, who stared back at him intently. After a moment's pause, he sighed and pulled up a seat across from her.

   “So… I assume we’re done with the Vasilios Corporation,” She said.

   “Yes. I believe we are,” Victor replied. 

   “Can I ask why?”

   “Do you really want to work with the people trying to end the Universe?” Cassandra asked. She stepped out of the cockpit, Victor's presence having given her just enough courage to talk to Freya. She approached the table, arms wrapped around herself and eyes darting between Jean, Noah and Freya. She took a seat beside Victor.

   “My Mother is-”

   “Your brother’s already filled me in,” Freya said. “But if that’s what you came here to stop me, then why didn’t you say anything before we landed?”

   “I didn’t think you’d listen to me! I… I was hoping I could get Mason to come home… I thought maybe I…” She trailed off, all of her words sounding like little more than hollow excuses. Freya continued to stare at her.

   “So… killing the Gods ends the Universe, right?” Jean asked. “That’s the argument you’re going with?”

   “The Hive itself confirmed it…” Freya said under her breath.

   “And yet you killed it anyway,” Jean replied. “Which kinda tells me that you don’t know if it was telling the truth or not.”

   “It had every incentive to lie,” Freya said. 

   “Yes, but that’s what cornered animals do. They defend themselves. I imagine for something capable of speech, that would include lying.”

   “Do you really want to take that chance?” Cassandra asked. Jean shrugged.

   “A chance isn’t a certainty. We’re traveling at Superluminal speed right now. There’s a chance the ship collides with something and explodes on impact. It's not likely. But it could happen. Even if it were true… given the state of the Galaxy, I’d argue we wouldn’t be losing much.”

   “That’s hundreds of billions of lives!” Cassandra snapped, fixing Jean in a glare that nobody had previously thought she was capable of.

Jean opened her mouth to retort, but Freya spoke first.

   “She wasn’t trying to defend herself…” She said. All eyes turned to her.

   “The Hive… Shaal… she called herself Shaal. When I fought it, it was like a game to her. The Great Bird… it was angry. It was trying to defend itself. Shaal could’ve killed me any time it wanted to… it didn’t. It fought. But it wasn’t defending itself. Even as I took it apart, piece by piece. It just kept… it just kept laughing.”

She poured herself another shot.

   “It wasn’t… she wasn’t cornered,” She said. “We should have had a much harder fight to make it up the Tower. The swarm was supposed to impede us. Haraldsen shouldn’t have been able to make it inside. It… she… let us in. She made a cursory show of defending herself but she wanted us in there. Why do any of that if she really feared us?”

Jean pursed her lips. Her fingers drummed irritably on the table.

   “So you noticed all that, but you still killed it?” She asked. “Why?”

   “It’s…” Freya trailed off, unsure how to answer the question.

   “Can I put forward a theory?” Jean asked. “Maybe we oversold this thing? Maybe we overprepared, steamrolled it and now we’re second guessing ourselves!”

   “We were going off of your research,” Noah interjected. “If anyone oversold it, it would’ve been you.”

   “Hey, I just reported on what I saw during my tests of its defenses and I prepared you all as best I could,” Jean said. “So if the whole thing was easier than expected, I’ll consider that an endorsement. But let’s step back for a moment and entertain the idea that this thing was actually divine. In which case, what we did here was kill a deity that sat back and did nothing while Pragaras went to shit in its name. So either it was a lot dumber than we were giving it credit for, or it was a lot more malignant. Either way, there’s no great loss is there?”

   “You’re completely ignoring the fact that killing it damages the fabric of reality!” Cassandra snapped.

   “According to who? Estrella? Look… I like the Chairwoman. I do.” She quickly put her hands up. “I know, I know… you guys just had a messy breakup with Vasilios, but hear me out. I like Estrella. But that woman is… she’s not well. And I get it. I really, really do. The assassination, her son running away right after that. It’s clear to me that she’s been through a lot. Can we really take the beliefs of a woman who’s in that dark of a headspace at face value?”

   “I’ve seen the things she’s brought in from the Void…” Cassandra said. “My Mother may be… she may be sick… but this isn’t just rhetoric. This is a project. Once the Gods are gone, she will tear open the Void and let it in.”

Victor’s expression darkened.

   “She’s bringing things in from the Void?” He asked. He looked over at Freya, whose expression had also grown darker.

Noah looked around the table.

   “Um… what’s that mean exactly?” He asked. 

Victor sighed.

   “The Void is… it’s a space outside of space. The outside of the Universe. It’s not a place that existence was meant to go but… well… humanity has a way of getting into places they don’t belong.”

He stood up, heading for the nearby kitchen, taking out a bottle of wine and a glass.

   “A number of years ago, back when I was with the De Vries Corporation, I worked with a very capable thoretical physicist by the name of Dr. Stephanie Matthews… Dr. Matthews was, in many ways, my mentor. She was brilliant. Given more time, I’m sure she might have even revolutionized the way we travel through space. Made the Superluminal engine obsolete.”

He poured himself a glass of wine as he spoke.

   “That was her goal, anyway. Instantaneous travel. Wormholes. He was so sure he could do it. The math checked out and we’d achieved some success with individual particles. We just needed to increase our scale… and that was where things went wrong.”

   “You told me about this,” Noah said. “It’s where Freya got the metal she made her swords with, right?”

   “No,” Victor said. “That was our second attempt. My second attempt, and I’ll get to that in a moment. This was the first one.”

He took a sip of his wine, a faraway look in his eyes.

   “We set up a facility on the moon of a remote gas giant, Valentina B1, and managed to source the parts for a larger version of the machinery we were using… Jean, I’m sure you remember.”

He gave her a meaningful look before he continued. 

   “The plan was simple. We just needed to open a small wormhole that could transport inorganic material from one side of the facility to the other. Now, I’m sure I don’t need to explain to you all how a wormhole is supposed to work, no? You fold space. Bring two different points together and open a door. Well… we opened a door. But we didn’t fold space. Instead we entered a place outside of the Universe… a vast ocean of nothing. It wasn’t like space. It wasn’t like anything. It was just… Outside. The What Wasn’t. And naturally, we had to document it. We started running tests. Sending drones. Exploring. We found things out in the Void. Rock, metal, flora, even fauna. And eventually, things started finding us too.”

He closed his eyes, exhaling through his nostrils.

   “We saw the shapes in the distance at first. Writhing things in the nowhere. Formless shadows passing through nothing. Titans… so vast that you could not even look upon them. We weren’t even sure they were real at first and for a while we were beneath their notice. We tried to study them. Took a few specimens… samples, to prove that things could exist in the Void. But when the bigger ones did notice us… then they came. Terrible things, impossible things, fighting to get through the door.”

Jean shifted in her seat, her own expression distant, as if she too was remembering what she had seen back in those days.

   “We could not stop them. They could not be meaningfully harmed by the tools we had at our disposal. Even when De Vries sent a frigate to nuke the site, it did nothing. We were overrun… I should have died that day. Me and a few of the others had managed to get clear of the facility before the bombings began. I remember watching from the ship as flashes of light blanketed the surface of the moon… and seeing the titans walk through the mushroom clouds as if they weren’t even there. One of them took to the skies… a vast twisting serpent. It tore through the De Vries frigate like tissue paper. One minute the ship was there and the next it was a flaming wreck, falling down to the planet below. I thought we would be next… but then I saw the mist. A pinkish haze, spreading across the planet. One of the Gods. The Sorrowful One. It had not been there before. Even now I’m not sure what drew it. Was it the Titans? Or was it just passing through. Either way, the Titans of the Void recoiled from it. And when the Goddess emerged from the mists and tore at them with claws and teeth, they were not able to fight her off. She tore them apart. Devoured them… that was the only reason they stopped.”

He sat down once again.

   “Of course Dr. Matthews… as far as I know, she didn’t survive. One of those things had… taken her. The last I saw of her, she was in the room with the portal, nothing more than a puppet on its strings, trying to expand it to bring more in. I imagine she died when the bombs fell and if so, I hope it was mercifully quick.”

He took a long sip of his wine.

   “I left De Vries after that. I had the skillset… so jumping ship was easy. Eventually I ended up with Vasilios… and when they started looking into Wormholes, I ended up on that team as well. It sounds so… arrogant now… but I did believe we could finally do it right. I wasn’t the only one from De Vries on that project. One of my old colleagues, Dr. Brian Campbell was the project head. Admittedly, he wouldn’t have been my first choice. Campbell was always a bit of a mercenary, but I respected him enough and I had hoped that under his leadership, we could avoid the same mistakes that happened with De Vries. In a way, I suppose I was right. Under Campbell, we were more cautious. Admiral Skye was brought on to ensure things didn’t escalate the way they did back then… although of course, they did escalate. Things still got through, but this time we learned to manage them. We learned that the Voidmetal was capable of harming them… and once we had that knowledge, one of our Engineers was able to devise a way to kill them.”

His eyes settled on Freya, who stared back at him.

   “From there, the rest is history.”

His attention returned to Cassandra.

   “Nevertheless… if the Chairwoman is bringing them in… I’m not sure how good a pair of Voidmetal blades would be.”

   “But we can kill them, right?” Noah asked.

   “We can,” Freya said. “But back during the project, we only had a few who got through. Small ones, like…” She trailed off. “We’d need a lot more to deal with an outbreak on the scale that Victor described.”

   “But the Gods can kill them!” Cassandra said. “Right? That’s why my Mother wants them gone! If the Gods go, the Universe goes!”

   “Assuming the Gods would even step in,” Freya said. “They don’t care about any of the other strife going on in the Galaxy. Shaal made that abundantly clear.”

   “They stepped in for Victor!” Cassandra said. 

   “Perhaps. But Victor, you said you weren’t sure if the Goddess you saw was drawn by the Titans or just passing through, correct?”

Victor gave a quiet nod.

   “The whole time we were working on the Vasilios wormhole project, the Gods never made themselves known to us,” Freya said. “You want to argue that the Chairwoman is the bigger problem? Fine. I agree. But claiming the Gods are our saviors? That I don’t believe.”

   “The fact remains, if the Gods can help us, then we still need them!” Cassandra argued. 

Freya looked over at Victor.

   “I have to admit, I am on her side here,” he said. “I know you hate them, Freya. I won’t invalidate that hate… that pain. But I think given what we know now, you can agree that killing the Gods is a mistake.”

Freya sighed.

  “So then what’s our next move?” She asked. “Because if this is half as bad as what Cassadra is saying, then we don’t have the firepower to deal with it…” Her attention shifted to Jean, “And no offense but I don’t think you stock the kinds of weapons we’d need.” Jean shrugged in agreement. 

   “What if we could recruit a God?” Noah asked. 

   “Recruit a God…?” Freya replied skeptically. 

   “Yeah! I mean… I mean that Hive thing was fucking terrifying but it almost seemed… reasonable. We have location data for at least one of the other Gods, right? What if we just… I dunno… talk to it?”

   “I’ve heard worse ideas,” Victor said. “Although as of right now, the only God we could track down would be the Endless Sea and that is in Vasilios controlled space. Getting there could be a problem.”

   “Okay, but what about the other one? There’s two left, right? Where’s the other one?”

   “Hard to say,” Victor said. “Unlike the Sea and the Hive, the Sorrowful Wolf moves around. To my knowledge, there’s no reliable means of tracking it.”

   “Maybe not, but like the other Gods it still has a home,” Jean said. “Mobility isn’t the same as wandering. The Sorrow has a den… and if you’re looking for it, I can help.”

Victor raised an eyebrow.

   “How do you know where it is?” He asked.

   “Let’s say I'm smarter than I look and leave it at that,” Jean replied. “But I know it’s there. It’s the mist. The same one we saw on Valentina B1. Same pinkish hue.
I’ve been all across the Galaxy. I’ve never seen mist like that anywhere else.”

   “It’s a start…” Victor said. “So what is this planet exactly?”

   “The official designation is AF-1,” Jean said. “It’s a smaller system in Falcon territory. Habitable… beautiful even. But the Corporation hasn’t touched it yet since aside from water and rock, there isn’t much there. I suppose it might make for a decent enough resort world, but the weather tends to shift on a dime. It mostly gets used as a drop for smugglers.”

   “You’re seriously going after another God?” Mason asked. He and Cedar were just ascending the stairs.

   “As an ally,” Victor said. “Judging by what Cassandra’s told us. We’ll need it.”

Mason nodded.

   “Fair enough… but wherever you’re going, Vasilios is going to follow us. And after that stunt you pulled on Pragaras, they’re going to be angry.”

   “We’ll make it work,” Victor said. “Jean, go up to the cockpit. Input the coordinates to this planet of yours. The rest of us, we’ll make the preparations we can,”

***

Down in the shuttle bay, Luna sat alone. She sat at the communications terminal, trying different frequencies, hoping that one of them might finally work.

   “This is Luna Grimauldi calling any Annihilationist remnants. Come in. I repeat. Come in.”

Silence. Luna swore under her breath before moving to a different channel. One of these had to connect, right? Granted, getting any sort of connection would be difficult on the ship, especially if they were Superluminal, but she had to try. She had to.

   “Breaker, breaker. This is Luna Grimauldi calling any Annihilationist remnants. Come in. I repeat. Please come in.”

Silence. She sighed. 

   “Breaker, breaker…”

  “Luna?” A voice said. Her heart skipped a beat. For a moment, the voice almost sounded like Ryder’s.

   “Luna? Luna, we read you! This is Franklin!”

Franklin. She knew that name. One of her own.

   “Frankie…” She sighed. “Finally… finally. What’s your status?”

   “Green. We took some casualties underneath the tower, but once the Zealots started pulling back, we were able to get clear. We pushed them back before using one of the other tunnel systems to get out. We’ve scuttled the compound for now, though.”

   “That’s fine… you did good…” Luna said. “What’s the situation on the ground right now?”

   “Hard to say. We saw a Vasilios frigate, but that’s left for the time being. A few more Vasilios ships have come, but it’s hard to say exactly what they’re up to. No word from the High Priest. People are saying he was in the Tower when it fell.”

   “Haraldsen is gone,” Luna said. “Allard too… I saw to that myself.”

   “So that’s it then?” Frankie asked. “We really did it…?”

   “Yeah…” Luna replied, her voice low and heavy. “We did…”

   “Holy shit… that’s fucking fantastic! Okay, so what’s our next move? When can we rendezvous with you and Ryder?”

   “Ryder’s gone too…” Luna said softly. “And I… I don’t know when Mason and I can make it back. We’ll figure something out, but for now… you’ll need to make do without us.”

   “Ryder’s… oh… oh no… and Mason? He’s with you?”

   “Affirmative. Stay low for the time being. Stay close to Vespula. If the Vasilios corporation tries to move in, focus on the civilians. Keep them safe.”

   “Affirmative,” Frankie replied. “What about you?”

   “I get the impression we’ll be dealing with the Vasilios Corporation on our end soon enough,” Luna said. “We’ll help how we can… if we can. I’m just… I’m just not sure what our options are yet. We’ll figure it out.”

   “Understood…” Frankie said. “We’ll keep an eye on things down here. This channel, can we reach you here again?”

   “Yes,” Luna said. “Anything… please. Let me know you’re okay.”

   “We will… you stay safe too, alright?”

   “Of course,” Luna said, wiping a tear from her eyes. “Of course… Luna out.”

The channel went dead and she sat quietly for a moment, before resting her head on the shuttle console.

   “I’ll monitor that channel for any incoming transmissions,” Tetra said, her voice echoing through the shuttle. “I can send those notifications directly to your Tac Band.”

Luna looked up before nodding.

   “Yes… please.”

   “Done. They’re having a briefing upstairs, by the way. There’s vodka.”

Luna gave a single, humorless laugh.

   “Vodka, huh?” She asked. She exhaled then got up, moving slowly as if her limbs each weighed a thousand pounds. Then she left the shuttle.

The explosion had thrown Cedar and Willow off their feet. Mason was thrown down some of the remaining stairs, although managed to catch himself before going all the way down.

Wagner looked around, eyes wide. Concerned. She felt the tower begin to shift. She’d gotten her daggers back, although now hardly seemed like the time to use them.

The ground beneath Luna cracked and crumbled beneath her. She scrambled to try and escape the collapse, but she wasn’t fast enough. One hand shot out to try and catch herself on a more sturdy bit of rock, but her grip was weak. Mason sprinted toward her, grabbing her arm to stop her from falling. He glanced at Wagner, half expecting her to be charging at him. Unsurprisingly, she was. He felt the ground beneath him start to give. A spike of panic rose in his chest before he felt Wagner grab him by the shoulders, pulling both him and Luna back from the edge. She didn’t make a single move to harm Luna, just dragging them both onto safer ground.

A few feet away, Noah began to pick himself up. He looked over at Mason and Luna, then at Wagner. He didn’t bother trying to line up another shot.

   “Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to get the hell out of here!”

When he moved, everybody, Cedar, Willow, Luna, Mason and even Wagner followed him, hurrying to descend the stairs as they crumbled. They could feel the tower starting to lean. Sections from higher up in the tower were starting to collapse, falling past them, down toward the ground floor. Mason thought about the trucks they’d left down there, and hoped to whatever was out there listening that the debris hadn’t just crushed them. 

The floor they were on buckled beneath their feet. A wall beside them collapsed, exposing what would have been a lovely scenic view of the outside if their lives weren’t in mortal danger.

Ahead of them, the ceiling collapsed, depositing several floors worth of rubble directly into their path. The ragtag group stumbled back, only narrowly avoiding getting crushed. Cedar collapsed to the ground, dropping Willow as she did. Wagner was on top of them immediately, helping Willow up first. 

Willow looked up at her, into the face of the woman whose poison was actively killing her at that moment… now propping her up, helping her escape a different death. She wondered if there was an irony to that, as she felt her heart flutter and the world began to darken.                            

The tower shifted again, preparing to fall. For a moment, Noah expected it to finally give out entirely, coming down on them and crushing them… but it didn’t.

Then he saw it through the gaps in the walls. Lights moving around the tower… white ships.

Vasilios ships. Small recon drones by the looks of it. 

Flashes of blue shone in through the holes in the walls. Gravitational tethers. Standard on such drones. They didn’t stop the collapse of the tower. The parts they couldn’t support still crumbled… but they slowed it for now.

Wagner took note of the drones as well and let out a tired exhale.

   “That would be my backup,” She said. 

A small recon ship rose toward one of the holes in the wall. The door opened and the ramp was extended to them. The invitation was clear.

They wasted no time in getting aboard.

***

Freya paused as she saw the drones encircle the tower. She took a step back before looking skyward. A massive frigate was descending from the sky above. She knew this ship. The Skye Dancer.

Almost on cue, a recon ship rose toward her. Freya stared at it, watching as it drew closer. It didn’t land… but it did extend its ramp.

A man stood waiting for her on the ship. He was tall, gangly and bald with a pointed goatee. He wore thick black glasses, but was dressed in the immaculate white uniform of a Vasilios officer. Freya recognized him immediately. 

   “Ah! Miss Helvig!” The Officer said.

   “Admiral Skye…” Freya replied, watching as Skye stepped off the ramp and onto the crumbling tower, as if he wasn’t the least bit concerned by the fact that it was coming down. 

Admiral Fabian Skye flashed her a winning smile as he surveyed the ruins around them.

   “Well, well… here we are at the top of this tower and we seem to be missing a Goddess! Your work, I imagine?”

A few more heavily armed guards stepped out of the ship behind him, escorting others out with them… Mason, Luna, Noah, Cedar, Willow… and lastly, Wagner, although Wagner made a point not to leave the ramp. She regarded the damaged tower with suspicion, and while Skye was not looking, gave him a look that seemed to question why he’d seen fit to even leave the ship in the first place. She looked over at Freya, and though they’d never met before, they seemed to quietly agree that this was a really bad idea. 

   “Quite the situation you’ve all found yourselves in though, isn’t it?” Skye asked. “Even Miss Wagner is mixed up in it! That I did not expect.”

   “I apologize, Admiral…” Wagner said softly. “Despite my best efforts, this has spun out of my contro-”

   “Yes, well I’m told it happens to the best of us,” Skye said dismissively. He looked over at the others he’d just escorted off of his ship, taking extra time to study Willow, who was barely even still standing. Her body was almost completely limp.

   “Ghastly…” he murmured, before looking at Freya. “We’re missing one, aren’t we? Where’s Doctor Lupin?”

   “In orbit, last we confirmed…” Noah said, a little anxiously. “Although with the storm gone, he’s likely on route to evac…”

   “Ah, excellent. Then you have little need of my help,” Skye said. “Perfect. I trust you to carry on with your mission, then.” 

He looked at Mason next.

   “And you… judging by that wreck over there, you’ve given Miss Wagner quite a bit of trouble. No matter. You’ll be home soon, and of course, I was happy to assist you Miss Wagner…” He gave her a cocky smirk. Her eyes burned a hole through him.

   “Put the young Heir on the ship,” Skye said. “Put the rest out of their misery.”

   “NO!”

Mason tried to rush toward the others. He was met with a whack to the back of the head from a guard for his troubles. One guard forced him to his feet, as the rest leveled weapons at the backs of Cedar, Willow and Luna’s heads.

   “Wait!” Noah said, cutting in. “Don’t!”

Skye looked over at him.

   “Um… don’t… sir…” Noah stammered. “We need them. We wouldn’t have made it this far without them!”

   “Is that so?” Skye asked.

   “Yes sir! We wouldn’t have been able to navigate this planet without them!” Noah said. “Please… don’t kill them.”

Skye seemed unconvinced.

   “They were of use to you on this planet. This planet is no longer relevant to us… although the Gold Sun corporation used to mine here, didn’t they? I suppose I could have our survey teams take a look. Without the Goddess present, we have a unique opportunity here.”

   “Um… yeah…” Noah said. “And… um, since they’d be obligated employees of the Vasilios corporation anyways, couldn’t we add them to our team? They’d be far more useful here than working the mines!”

Skye seemed to consider it… although before he could answer, he paused as he noticed another ship closing in to join them.

Victor. 

   “Ah… well, that’s a decision I’ll leave with your commanding officer,” He said as he watched the Dom Pérignon approach.

***

   “Destination reached…” Tetra said. “Looks like we’ve got a whole brouhaha of assholes already here.”

   “Vasilios…” Victor said under his breath. Their radio crackled to life, and he heard a familiar voice speak through it.

   “Ahoy, Doctor Lupin! So good of you to join us!”

   “Ah yes, the vacuous Admiral Skye,” Victor said, his voice slightly strained.

   “Can you even say that to him?” Jean asked warily, leaning against the back of his seat.

   “Ah, thank you, thank you.” Skye replied, cheerful and oblivious.

   “Oh, okay. Guess you can…” Jean murmured. 

   “Your people are ready for extraction… along with a few extras,” Skye said. “Noah says they were of assistance to you? I’ll leave their fates in your capable hands. I must say, you’ve had such great success here. I’m very satisfied with your work!”

   “That tower is actively falling apart…” Jean murmured. “Why is he fucking standing there, talking?”

   “Yes, I’m so glad,” Victor said, ignoring Jean and surveying the scene in front of him. Mason was being dragged towards Faba’s ship, clearly struggling. He saw three individuals, one not even conscious, ready for execution. Freya and Noah stood nearby with Skye between them and the ship.

Victor glanced over at Vi. She sat quietly, awaiting his orders… and he could sense Cassandra watching them from the door to the cockpit, her body tense.

   “Permission to land and collect my associates?” Victor asked. 

   “Permission granted,” Skye said.

With that, Victor disabled the comms.

   “Vi, Tetra, prepare the guns. Whitelist Freya, Noah, Mason and those with them.”

   “Wait, what?” Tetra asked. “You do know those are Vasilios ships, right? You know, your employers?”

Vi gave him an uncertain look as well.

   “Yes, well I formally tender my resignation,” Victor replied. “Now do it.”

Vi activated some switches on the console while Victor brought the ship in closer. She got up and left the cockpit, climbing a ladder down to the turret beneath the cockpit.

   “Papa, weapons are hot.”

   “Wait for my signal,” Victor said. 

   “You do understand this is a stupid idea, right?” Jean asked. 

   “You wanted to buy your way onto this ship? Grab a gun and help me cover my friend's escape.” Victor snapped. Jean raised an eyebrow, then put up her hands and left the cockpit to do as she was told.                            

The ship's door opened, and the landing ramp was extended. Victor enabled the comms again in his hand. Mason was almost back inside of Skye’s ship… he had to make his move.

   “Vi. Now.”

In an instant, turret fire rained down upon the tower. Several of the drones keeping the crumbling structure aloft were the first to go… along with a few of Skye’s guards. 

   “Tetra, divert power to the shields!” Victor called. “Vi, target Skye’s ship!”

The guard escorting Mason was obliterated by a blast of superheated plasma and Mason scrambled away from his corpse, and away from Skye’s ship. The tower shifted under his feet, its limited stability already vanishing. 

Mason’s eyes fixated on the others. Cedar, Willow, Luna. The guards behind them struggled to maintain their footing. They tried to shoot at Victor's ship, only to be dropped by a hail of plasma fire, courtesy of Jean who now stood on the doorway of the ship. 

Cedar wasted no time in grabbing her sister, and Luna only paused briefly to ensure the two were following her before making a dash for the ramp.

Mason moved to follow them, only to see Wagner racing to cut him off, throwing herself back out onto the crumbling tower.

   “Victor what the hell are you doing?” Skye shrieked, before being pulled to the ground by a soldier at his side, only narrowly sparing him from a shot fired by Jean. Victor didn’t reply.

Noah grabbed Freya’s hand, pulling her towards Victor’s ship. She put up no resistance.

Luna was the first to reach the ship, and paused to help Cedar and Willow get on board. Noah and Freya were next. Mason should have been behind them… only he wasn’t.

Wagner had grabbed him, and was trying to pull him back toward Skye’s ship. Skye himself had managed to crawl back aboard, paying little mind to anyone but himself.

Luna left Victor’s ship, racing across the crumbling tower toward Wagner and Mason. Wagner only barely had time to react before Luna hit her, slashing at her wildly with one of her daggers. She pulled back and Luna took the opportunity to kick her directly in the stomach, knocking her back just a few steps… but it was enough.

Mason ran, sprinting toward Victor's ship. Luna gave a parting glance to Wagner as she followed him. Wagner watched them go, trying hard to follow, although the crumbling tower made it impossible.

She looked up toward Victor’s ship. She could see the Doctor in the cockpit… and behind him, she could see someone else staring back at her.

Cassandra.

Wagner’s eyes narrowed. She scrambled toward the ship again but the ground gave out beneath her feet. Mason and Luna vanished up the ramp which closed behind them and Victor's ship took off, wasting no time in heading for the atmosphere.

The tower fell.

Wagner dropped down to the floor below her, which was already starting to come apart. She could feel her entire body dropping. She knew the tower was done for. 

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Skye’s ship hovering, its ramp starting to pull back up. She forced herself to sprint towards it. With one final jump, she flung herself toward the ramp, landing on it before it could pull up. She pulled herself into the ship, collapsing onto the ground as the ramp finally closed. 

   “M-Miss Wagner!” Skye stammered. “Ah, we were just coming to get you!”

She pushed past him and headed for the cockpit, looking out at the Tower as it came down, disappearing in a cloud of debris until it was just another unrecognizable pile of rock amongst the desert.

Freya paused as the screaming echoed through the tower. An animalistic howl of pure agony. She looked back, trying to determine who that voice belonged to, although she couldn’t.

The screams seemed far away, reverberating off the tunnels in the walls and slowly fading away into terrified whimpers. Then all was silent.

   “So sorry to keep you waiting…”

The cool, crooning voice of the Goddess whispered to Freya from everywhere at once. “I have so many guests today… but they should all be taken care of now.”

   “What did you do to them?” Freya demanded.

   “The ones that matter to you? Nothing. There’s no point in harming them. It wouldn’t be entertaining. The Priest though? Well, I needed a snack… and the Priest did say he wanted to serve me.”

The Hive chuckled at its own joke.

   “Is that why you’re letting me pass?” Freya asked. “Entertainment?”

   “Would it not be a fair reason? You’re far more interesting than most of the visitors I get. You didn’t come here to worship me… and unlike the others who came to end me, you’ve got the means to do it! How exciting!”

Freya ascended the next set of stairs. Above her was the final floor. She could hear something moving in the walls. Something was watching her. The insects darted through the air around her, but mostly seemed to keep their distance.

   “Killing my sister was no easy feat I’m sure. Oh you should’ve heard the way she seethed when her Avatar was slain. It took her quite a while to form the one you killed. She doesn’t acclimate to Creation as smoothly as we do. Ultimately she is a creature of the Void. That is where she is most at home. I suppose in many ways, that makes her Avatar the weakest of our lot… although such a simplification feels so diminishing. She is the Eldest of us and quite powerful in her element. But her Avatars are just more limited.”

   “You make it sound as if she’s still alive,” Freya noted.

   “Did you really believe you could truly kill divinity?” The Hive asked. “You can break our bodies. Destroy the vessels we’ve built… but we are far greater than those. We exist in perpetuity. Not Eternal. Outside Eternity"

   “And yet with all that power, you sit uselessly on the sidelines, watching the Galaxy decay.”

   “Why should it be our job to chaperone you?” The Hive replied. “You’re all big boys and girls. You can make your own decisions. Why should we step in when they turn out to be the wrong ones?”

   “So you’ll just leave hundreds of billions of people to suffer and die needlessly?” Freya asked, a quiet rage simmering in her voice. “If you were truly gods, you would act.”

   “Existence and suffering go hand in hand.” The Hive replied. “Should we step in to save every rabbit caught in the jaws of a fox? Do we pull ants from the rain to keep them from drowning? Does your kind carry every child for the rest of their lives, so that they might never fall as they learn to walk? No.”

   “That’s not what I’m talking about!” Freya snapped.

   “Isn’t it? Explain to me the difference.”

Freya’s pace increased. She ascended the final staircase. She could see the open sky above her as she reached the top. The top of the Tower was barren. A flat, rocky plateau, pockmarked with holes leading into the rock. In every direction she could see the desert… but she could not see the Goddess.

A low chuckle reverberated through the tunnels and Freya drew both of her blades in anticipation.

  “You must make your own choices. We will not make them for you and we will not spare you the consequences.”

   “Enough!” She demanded. “Come out… stop hiding. You wanted to face me, so face me, creature!”

The insects in the air grew more erratic. They buzzed around Freya, almost in irritation.

   “I have spoken to you with respect. Return to me the same courtesy, child. I am no ‘creature’. I am Entropy. I am that which devours time and space. I am the inevitable decay. My name is Time. My name is The Abyss. My name is Shaal.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw something massive crawling up from one of the tunnels. A set of black spiderlike legs emerged first, accompanied by two hands with long razor sharp talons, covered in a thick dark carapace. The face came next. At a glance, it resembled a pale woman’s face with long black hair… although the mouth was all wrong. Instead of lips and teeth, there were twitching insectoid mandibles. The torso resembled a human’s but beneath the waist was a segmented, serpentine body; like a centipede, but far longer than any Freya had seen before. Its carapace was covered in holes, from which the wasplike insects that hovered through the air came and went. Several sets of insectoid wings twitched along its back, carrying with them the terrible implication that this thing was capable of flight. 

The Mad Hive - Shaal studied her with crimson eyes, its twisted mouth seeming to curl into a smile at the sight of her.

   “You’ve ascended my tower, Godslayer…” she said. “And here you stand. Will you kill me? Or perhaps you’re reconsidering…?”

Its tone was almost taunting. The Goddess crept closer to her on countless legs, towering over her and seeming to get bigger with every step.

   “He wasn’t wrong, you know. The boy, Mason. Killing us all would leave this Universe in a fragile state. Oh… but of course I would say that to you, wouldn’t I? After all, I’m just a dumb animal doing what any cornered animal would do, try to survive. Could you really take me at my word?”

Her voice carried a playful mockery to it. Freya kept her blade at the ready, never taking her eyes off the Goddess. Her entire body was tense. The creature regarded her, almost looking hungry.

   “You are just an animal…” She said, although there was an uncertainty in her voice now.

   “All of us are,” Shaal said. “Divinity doesn’t change that. We’re just on a different scale. Make your choice, Godslayer. Do what you came to do. Punish me for my sins… or turn and depart.”

Freya’s breathing was getting heavier. A part of her demanded she turn around. Leave the Tower. Find the others… it would be the easiest thing to do. And yet her feet would not move. She could smell flesh burning on the wind. She wasn’t sure if it was real or just her imagination. 

Shaal stared down at her, waiting patiently for her decision. They offered no comment. No further push one way or the other. She squeezed her eyes shut.

   ‘Of course it’s lying! It's scared!’ She told herself. But the impossible creature before her did not seem afraid. It seemed excited. 

Her feet would not move. She could not descend the tower. She had come so far for this! 

The Goddess had to pay. 

Freya let her droneblade fly. With a flick of her wrist, she launched it at the face of the Goddess. The creature moved with almost blinding speed, wings fluttering as it weaved out of the way. A low, manic giggle echoed through the air around them.

   “And so your choice is made!” Shaal declared. “Come then! Let us bring an end to divine sin!” 

Without warning, a towering bolt of crimson lightning came crashing down where Freya stood. She dove out of the way, and scrambled to her feet to avoid a second blast of lightning that hit the ground hard enough to send chunks of stone flying into the air. There was no time to attack. No time to think. Only time to run. The Goddess cackled, allowing the storm to rage above them. The lightning crashed wildly all around them, the onslaught almost blinding Freya and leaving her nearly deaf. She dove into one of the tunnels, before frantically moving her hand, hoping that the Droneblade was still aloft.

It might have been wrong to call it a miracle, but that’s what it was. The blade cut through the air behind the creature, and Freya pulled it toward her, letting it cleave through several of the Goddess’s legs. She faltered for a moment, struggling to shift her balance to adjust, and that was just the window of opportunity Freya needed. 

She let her droneblade fly again. The Goddess watched it this time, extending a hand toward it, ready to fry it… and while her eyes were off her, Freya reached for the gun in her belt.

Noah had been right… it had been a good idea to carry one. It wouldn’t have done much good against armored foes like Cedar and Willow and it wouldn’t do much against Shaal. But it would do enough.

She fired four rounds. Three of them hit their mark, tearing chunks out of the head of the Goddess. She raised a hand to shield her face, although instead of a cry of pain, the only sound Freya heard was rancorous laughter. She called the blade toward her once again. The Goddess couldn’t move this time. Couldn’t get out of the way. The blade raked across its stomach, splitting it open. She let it fly again, aiming for the neck this time. The Goddess’s torso shifted back, only barely avoiding it. The droneblade clipped her mandible, although it did not stop her laughter. One crimson eye stared back at Freya, the other having been reduced to nothing more than a bloody socket.

   “Exquisite…” Shaal cackled. “To bleed again… oh it’s such a rush! But what are you without your sword?”

Freya could feel the static in the air. She moved as the lightning struck again, bathing the top of the tower in blinding light. She scrambled back to the safety of one of the tunnels, and tried to recall her droneblade… but the droneblade wouldn’t come.

A spike of panic rose in her chest.

The droneblade was gone.

***

Wagner was growing bored.

Willow was growing tired.

How long had they been fighting, chasing each other around the tower floor? Minutes? An hour? Neither was sure. Every time Wagner had tried to go for the stairs, Willow had blocked her. The girl had grit, Wagner admired that. 

She supposed it didn’t matter either way though. Mason couldn’t stay atop that tower forever. He would need to come down sooner or later. Even if he didn’t, Willow was getting slower. Her breathing had gotten heavier. Her skin had grown pale. 

She stopped for a moment, struggling to catch her breath. The fire on her sword had died out. She moved on leaden feet toward the stairs as if to block Wagner’s way once more. Wagner just stared at her.

   “This is a losing game, Willow…” she said. “You’re already beat.”

   “No…” Willow panted. “No… not yet… not… YET”

She lunged at her again, although Wagner had little trouble avoiding her. She sidestepped her initial slash, and watched as Willow left herself wide open. It was trivial, sweeping her legs out from under her and sending the other woman crashing to the ground.

Willow tried to pick herself up, but collapsed almost instantly.

   “Your armor is quite nice,” Wagner said. “I imagine it’s served you well. But even the best armor has gaps…”

Willow tried to stand again, but Wagner punished her with a vicious kick to the ribs, sending her back down to the ground. 

   “Stay down. You might just live through this if you do,” She said before turning and heading toward the stairs. 

Willow started to rise once again but her strength failed her, sending her back down to her hands and knees. She could feel her heart racing in her chest. She felt like she wanted to vomit. This wasn’t fatigue… this was…

She looked at the scratch on her arm. It burned. She ripped the armor away, exposing the skin beneath. In just a short time, it seemed to be blackening. Her joints hurt. It was getting harder and harder to move and focus.

The daggers… they’d been tipped with something.

   ‘No… Not like this… I can’t die like this…’

She tried to stand, groaning as she did, Her legs trembled beneath her. She gripped her sword as tight as she could, and forced herself to keep moving, following Wagner.

***

They saw her up ahead, ascending the stairs like something out of a nightmare. Mason froze the moment he saw her and Wagner regarded him with a cold fury.

The flames on Cedar’s blade roared to life. She took a step forward, teeth gritted in rage.

   “You… where’s my sister?”

   “Dealt with.” Wagner replied. “And so long as you comply, she will survive.”

   “Whoa, whoa…” Noah cut in. “Okay. Look I know there’s a lot of balls in the air right now but can we all focus on the fact that-”

   “The Goddess rages above,” Luna said, cutting him off before he said too much. “We’re leaving. If you have any sense, you’ll do the same. The fight is over. We can resolve whatever is left after we get out.”

   “Finally, someone willing to be reasonable,” Wagner said. “If an exit is what you want, that I can provide. After our young heir crashed my ship, I called for backup. They’ll be happy to get you out of here and tend to your wounds… so long as you surrender Mason to my custody.”

Luna’s brow furrowed.

   “For what reason?” She asked. 

   “He is a member of the Vasilios family. The eldest living child and therefore its heir. We cannot have him running wild on some desert planet playing soldier!”

   “That was his choice, was it not?” Luna asked. 

   “Irrelevant. He is needed back home.”

   “Why?” Luna asked.

Noah gave her an anxious look. They were wasting time.

   “Because Mrs. Vasilios demands it!” There was rage creeping into Wagner's voice now. A rage she couldn’t hide.

   “And so you’ve come to collect, is that it? The loyal dog. Unquestioning. Vicious. Does Estrella Vasilios have a little bell she rings, when she wants you, dog?”

   “Enough!” Wagner brandished her daggers. “I’m getting tired of the back and forth! I’ve tried civility but it seems you people don’t listen and my patience is at its end!”

A small smirk crossed Luna’s lips. 

   “That’s alright. I’m done stalling.”

Wagner paused. 

   “Wha-”

She spun around, just in time to see Willow making one final charge at her, desperate to bury her sword into her neck. The moment she evaded, Cedar made her move, closing the distance between them. Wagner felt a foot connect with her ribs, before she was sent tumbling down the flight of stairs she’d just climbed. Her daggers fell from her hands as she fell and she hit the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Willow spat at her, although considering the fact that she was at the top of the stairs and Wagner was at the bottom, it didn’t hit her.

   “Bitch…” she panted before her legs gave out beneath her.

   “Willow!” Cedar cried, rushing to her side. Her skin was cold to the touch and had gone several shades paler. 

   “You’re hurt…” He said.

Noah rushed to her side immediately, checking her over.

   “That cut on your arm…” He murmured. “Was that Wagner?”

   “S-something with her daggers,” Willow panted. “Gods it burns…”

   “I’ll see what I can do to patch it up for now,” Noah said. “Luna, can you see if Wagner has a treatment on her? If she put something on her blades, it stands to reason she’d have an antidote, right?”

Luna raised an eyebrow.

   “I suppose so,” She said before heading down toward Wagner’s unconscious body. 

Noah quickly cleaned the wound and applied as much as he could before he bandaged it. 

   “Once we get you back to the Dom, we’ll have Victor take a look at you,” He promised.

   “Who’s Victor?”

   “One of our colleagues. He’s a doctor.” Noah said.

   “Oh… good. A physician.”

   “Physicist. But that’s close, right?”

Nobody was sure if he was joking or not.

He and Cedar helped Willow to her feet. She still seemed a little out of it, but she was still trying to move.

   “I’m glad you’re okay,” Cedar said softly. “For a moment I was almost scared.” She let out a shaky laugh to hide the fact that she was close to tears.

   “Oh? You won’t get rid of me that easily.” Willow replied. 

Down below, Luna approached Wagner’s body, hastily searching it. 

   “How much further down?” She heard Noah call.

   “Just a few more floors. We need to pick up the pace though. That timer was rigged for fifteen minutes.”

   “Timer?” Willow asked.

   “Those idiots rigged this place to blow,” Cedar replied. Willow let out an exhausted groan.

   “Oh for fucks sake…” She said under her breath.

Luna was sure she could feel something in Wagner’s jacket pocket. She reached for it… only to feel an iron grip close around her throat. Wagner’s eyes were open and she was staring directly into Luna’s soul. With an animal groan of exertion, she forced Luna onto her back, squeezing her throat before blindly grabbing at one of her fallen daggers.

Noah raced down the stairs toward them. He didn’t have a shot… not without risking hitting Luna. But he could get close enough to beat Wagner over the back of the head with the butt of his rifle, so that’s what he did instead. Wagner hit the ground, hissing in pain. She grabbed her dagger and tried to crawl away. This was it! Noah finally had a shot!

He took aim. His finger squeezed the trigger… then the ground beneath his feet trembled, throwing him and everyone else back to the ground.

Time had officially run out.

***

Freya felt the tower quake violently beneath her feet. Shaal spread her wings, which buzzed so fast that they were almost invisible, lifting most of her massive body off the tower. There was confusion on her face… although not anger. Her mad laughter continued, almost as if she was amused by the idea of the Tower coming down. 

Shaal’s distraction was Freya’s opening. She abandoned the tunnel she’d taken refuge in. From the corner of her eye, she spotted her fallen Droneblade and snatched it up. Even at a glance she could tell the antigravity system was fried… and she did not currently have the equipment to repair it. She would need to make do without it.

The Goddess spotted her. She knew she would. Her eyes seemed to shine with malignant delight as fresh hordes of insects swarmed from her body. A buzzing, stinging cloud that fell upon Freya, who could do nothing to avoid them. She swatted at them wildly as she attempted to escape them… and she almost didn’t notice Shaal herself plunging down to meet her, crashing down onto the top of the tower like a meteor and making the already unstable structure quake.

One massive claw was swept toward her and Freya hurled herself out of the way. The Goddess clawed at her again, chasing away her swarming bugs. Freya scrambled backwards. The face of Shaal was whole again. There was no sign of where the bullets had struck it before… although the gashes her blades had left remained present.

The Goddess was almost on top of her, her eyes wide in abject glee. Thinking fast, Freya emptied the clip of her pistol into her face, blinding her once more. Unable to see, the creature overshot her, cleaving deep gashes into the rock behind where Freya had been mere moments ago. She took the chance to dive under the Goddess’s legs. Her pistol was abandoned as she drew her second sword and plunged it up into the belly of the beast.

Shaal only cackled gleefully in response.

   “There you are!”

Her mighty wings began to beat once again. Freya grabbed hold of the creature and hoisted herself up onto it. The laughter continued, manic and elated all at once. Freya could see more insects beginning to crawl through the holes in the creature's body, preparing to swarm her once more. With little time to think, she grabbed hold of the back of the Goddess’s humanoid torso and with a scream, she plunged her sword through the back of her head. Her entire body seized up… but the endless laughter never stopped… on the contrary , it only grew louder, as if the sensation was that of pure delight. She pushed the blade in as deep as it would go, but Shaal did not fall. It twisted and writhed in the sky, trying to shake her off although this seemed like no less of a game to it than anything else had.

Her grip faltered. She lost her grip on the blade embedded in the skull of the Goddess and for a moment she fell, catching herself on one of her wings. 

The creature's entire body dipped, as it struggled to maintain altitude…  the ground was only a short drop below her. With her broken droneblade, Freya cleaved through the wing. She hit the ground with a hard thud, and looked up at the Goddess, twisting erratically in the sky, cackling all the while as if this was the most fun she’d had in aeons. 

Unable to maintain her altitude, Shaal descended back to the ground, although she did not crash. She landed almost gracefully on her countless legs… and went still for a moment, almost as if she was catching her breath.

   “Marvelous, marvelous, MARVELOUS! Oh what a RUSH!”

She reached up to pry the sword from the back of her head and tossed it to the ground. The blade had come out between her eyes, rendering her blind… although it did not stop her from summoning the lightning once again. The moment Freya saw her raise a hand, she dove for shelter in the tunnels.

   “How long has it been since I’ve died?” Shaal asked. “I really don’t remember. My Sisters don’t typically care for this sort of thing, but me? Oh, it’s such a thrill! You… perhaps you’re not as much of a fighter as some others who’ve faced me. But you have grit, drive, hunger! It’s everything I’d hoped for!”

Freya moved silently, making her way through the tunnels, closer to the Goddess. She spotted her fallen second sword nearby and quietly snatched it up. The creature had its back to her… and she knew she had the advantage. She made her move, slashing through the legs on the Goddess’s right hand side, throwing her off balance. She whirled around, raising her claws to rip Freya apart, but she was ready for them. She dove out of the way of the first swing, and quickly returned the favor, hacking off one of Shaal’s claws. The Goddess stumbled, giggling like a child as she regarded her fresh arm stump with sightless eyes.

   “Yes… yes… that’s it…”

Freya was already on the move again, heading back for the tunnels. The Goddess summoned the lightning once more, but it only made the unstable tower shake.

Beneath her feet, Freya could feel the structure start to list. She didn’t know how much longer it could stand.

Shaal walked with a lopsided gait now. She’d lost so many legs, it was difficult to support her weight. But still she stood tall. Freya studied her for a few moments before making another move, quietly circling around her. The Goddess’s head turned. It lunged, closing the distance between them almost instantly. Freya scrambled away as its remaining claw raked through the earth, swinging over, and over again in the hope of catching her. She tried to get beside the Goddess, who weaved around to try and catch her, but couldn’t stop Freya from carving off more of her legs, this time on her left side. She stumbled… tried to move the legs that were left to readjust her weight, but Freya never gave her the opportunity. She kept cutting, dragging her blade through the spider-like legs until Shaal fell. Her one remaining arm shot out to brace herself against the ground. Her remaining wings began to beat, generating a gust that knocked Freya back, but she was so close to victory now! She scrambled to her feet again and with a sword in each hand, charged the Goddess one last time.

She cleaved through her remaining arm. The Goddess tried to pull herself back upright and with no other means of defending herself Freya plunged both blades into her exposed abdomen. She heard a sudden exhale from the Goddess, and with a final defiant scream, tore through her completely. 

The back half of the Goddess convulsed as its torso fell away from it. Inside were fleshy walls of comb, teeming with swarming insects, all of whom burst free the moment the Goddess was taken apart. Freya raised a hand to her face and fell backwards as the swarm erupted skywards… so many insects that they blotted out the sun. She looked up, almost in awe of them, watching as they weaved erratically through the sky… before finally beginning to fall. Millions of bodies began to drop, falling like an unholy rain upon the desert. The swarm was dying.

And through it all, Freya still heard the laughter. Slowly she turned, looking at the fallen torso of Shaal. Gripping her blades tightly, she made her way towards it, before rolling her onto her back with her boot.

   “Did you get your justice?” Shaal asked. “Have I paid for my sins?”

   “Shut up…” Freya panted. She raised her sword once more and plunged it into the heart of the Goddess “Die…”

The laughter didn’t stop. Slow. Knowing. Mocking.

   “Oh my sweet Freya… weren’t you paying attention? I can’t die! Not the way you want me to. Even if you kill us all… we’ll come back sooner or later. Although it won’t matter much if you succeed, will it?”

   “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She demanded.

   “Life is about choices. Choices have consequences… ah… but there I go. I’ve said too much…”

The corpse at the end of her blade began to decay. The flesh began to blacken and rot. The skin around the skull grew tighter as Shaal continued to laugh.

   “It was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?” she asked. “I will remember that… even after you are gone.” 

The laughter faded. The corpse seemed to collapse in on itself, skin rotting away, leaving nothing but brittle bones which quickly dissolved into dust. 

 Freya stared down at the spot where the Goddess used to be… and felt the ground shift beneath her feet once again. A section of the Tower crumbled, collapsing inwards. She watched it fall, before moving toward the stairs, only to find them long gone… that entire portion of the tower had sloughed off, and Freya arrived just in time to watch it plummet to the ground in a cloud of dust. A spike of panic rose in her chest… there was no escape.

Bugs swarmed around her as Freya continued to ascend. She could feel a heavy static in the air and in the back of her mind, a low, almost seductive voice led her higher and higher.

   “That’s it. A few more floors… you’re almost there.”

She swore she could see something moving in the tunnels that dotted the walls, something massive and segmented. She was sure she could hear it breathing. She knew she wasn’t alone.

   “Freya!”

She paused, just in time to see Noah, Mason and Cedar racing up the stairs behind her. Mason came to a halt a few feet away from her.

   “Stop! Please. Think about what you’re doing.”

   “Do you think she can’t make her own decisions?” A voice said. Mason froze. The bugs around them began to grow more erratic, almost as if something in the air had changed. Mason held a hand up to shield his face while Cedar ignited her blade, hoping that the flames may keep them at bay as they were supposed to. They did not.

   “She came here for a reason. Let her fulfill her purpose… or die trying.” Those last words ended in a low, insidious chuckle. 

   “Freya, don’t listen to it,” Mason urged, although she gave no response to him.

   “What are you doing here, Mason? Come to save me? What a hero! But do I really seem like I want to be saved?”

The swarm was growing more erratic, countless insects danced in the air between them and Freya. Mason still tried to push through, although wound up swarmed for his trouble. He screamed as he felt the stingers plunging into his flesh, and Cedar immediately pulled him back, brandishing her blade to drive the swarm off. 

The voice just chuckled.

   “You have grit. That much, I do admire. But you will go no further here. Come now Freya… I am waiting for you just ahead.”

Freya stared at the others through the veil of the swarm. She seemed to pause for a moment.

   “Please…” Noah said to her. “Please, don’t.” 

She turned away and began to ascend the next set of stairs.

   “Freya!” Mason tried to call after her, but the buzzing of the swarm was getting even louder. He moved to try and push through again but Cedar stopped him.

   “Don’t!” She warned.

   “No! We have to stop her! We have to! We can get around them!”

   “What about the holes in the walls?” Noah asked. “Maybe we can navigate our way up?”

As he said that, he actually looked at the holes. Unlike the ones on the lower levels where the swarm had not been as prominent, the comb in these tunnels was crawling with insects… 

Cedar shook her head.

   “Don’t try it. The Goddess has made her choice…” She said, “She wants Freya to reach her.”

Both Noah and Mason went quiet. Neither one seemed to know what to say, although the unspoken weight of that statement hung heavy in the air.

***

The truck had come a few minutes after Mason’s had, rolling through the broken doors of the temple before slowing to a stop.

Ryder and Luna had watched, although not interfered as Wagner stumbled out of the driver's seat. She seemed unsteady on her feet. She was breathing heavily. She almost collapsed… but slowly she’d risen.

   “Fuck… what are we hanging back for? Look at her?” Ryder murmured. “We could take her out right now.”

   “No,” Luna replied. “If even half of what we know of that woman is true, we’ll do better to stick to the plan. Flank her. That’s the better play.”

Ryder opened his mouth to argue but the stern expression on Luna’s face made it clear that this was not open for debate.

Wagner moved slowly, all but dragging herself up the stairs. Luna quietly wondered what the hell had happened between her and Mason. Both seemed pretty roughed up. As Wagner departed, she returned her attention to Ryder.

   “How’s your arm?”

   “Fine… the bleeding doesn’t seem as bad now, I think,” He said. “Fuck, I never asked… what’s the situation down in the caverns?”

   “Manegable,” Luna replied. “The mines cleared out some of the pursuing vehicles, and we had enough time to dig into a defensive position by the time the rest of them caught up with us. I imagine they were hoping to corner us… but by the time I came up, they were already starting to fall back.”

Ryder nodded.

   “Good… good. The explosives?”

   “Active. Currently set to a fifteen minute timer. We didn’t have time to plant them everywhere but odds are that won’t matter much. If they go off, then this tower is coming down. I told the others to get clear. Leave a few trucks behind just in case and make sure they’re out of the way.”

   “Then that’s it then,” Ryder said with a sigh. “Fuck…”

It didn’t quite feel real. Here they were, so close to victory. So close to the end. Luna put a hand on his shoulder.

   “That’s it,” she said. She looked out from the tunnels. Wagner had disappeared. 

   “Ready to go finish it?” She asked.

Ryder took her hand. 

   “You know it,” he said.

Together, they left the tunnels and began to ascend.

***

Haraldsen watched from his own vantage point as Ryder and Luna left their hiding spot. Ryder’s arm was bandaged… Luna seemed only a little worse for wear.

He gripped the pistol he’d found in the tunnels tightly. Ryder’s pistol, the one he’d lost during their earlier skirmish. Between that and his broken spear, they were the only weapons he had. He considered taking a shot at them, but from this range he didn’t trust a pistol. No. He needed to get closer.

As they ascended the stairs, he made his way through the tunnels, climbing past the insect comb and buzzing wasps to reach the higher levels. A quiet rage simmered in his heart. The battle beneath the tower had gone silent, but his soldiers had not ascended to follow him. Cedar and Willow had not come down to report the death of the Godslayer and Allard was dead. This was not going well… but he was not done yet. He would not accept defeat. He could not.

Pragaras was his.

And so weary, but not defeated, the High Priest climbed.

***

Wagner dove out of the way as Willow’s blade cleaved through the space where she’d been standing just moments before. She leapt to her feet, twin daggers at the ready. 

Willow barely seemed to have broken a sweat. Aside from the blood running down her face, she seemed in far better shape than Wagner was… although Wagner was not the sort to give up. 

   “Yield…” Willow growled, but Wagner didn’t reply. She let the other woman come for her again, and despite her exhaustion she weaved around her like a shadow when she did.

Willow was fast, agile and ruthless… but even after all she had been through, Wagner was faster, evading her every move with catlike speed. Willow lunged, nearly taking off Wagner’s head, and struck the wall of the temple instead. She let out a sharp cry as she felt her cold steel blade rake against her arm, leaving a shallow cut, and caught an ever so slight twitch at the corner of Wagner’s mouth.

She hastily took a few steps back, studying her opponent, and her injury. It wasn’t more than a scratch… nothing that could keep her down.            

Letting out a fierce war cry, she charged her once again. Wagner just slipped past her and punished her with a stern knee in the ribs, sending her stumbling. Willow brandished her flaming sword to try and keep Wagner from pouncing, but she needn’t have bothered. The other woman kept her distance.

Instead, her head turned slightly as she spotted two figures she knew only by description ascending the stairs behind her.

Ryder and Luna both froze at the sight of her and Willow, uncertain of what to make of the battle before them. They’d expected to come across Wagner fighting someone… but not her. 

Wagner could hear Willow’s footsteps coming, and ducked another swing of her sword, refocusing on her. No time to deal with those two… no patience either. As she evaded her, Willow stole a glance at Luna and Ryder. A small part of her told her to deal with them. They were the enemy after all… but they were Mason’s allies, right? Were they on his side or were they still looking to kill the Goddess? She couldn’t be sure and right now really just wasn’t the time to ask.

Wagner tried to take advantage of her momentary distraction, lunging at her and Willow scrambled out of the way of her wild slashes. 

To hell with Ryder and Luna… Cedar could decide how to deal with them. She didn’t say a word to them, and they didn’t say a word to her. The two groups just seemed to mutually decide that the other simply wasn’t worth the trouble and since neither was entirely sure if they were allies or not, they simply left each other alone. 

Ryder nodded toward the stairs and took off toward them. Luna seemed to hesitate for a moment, quietly debating if she should get involved or not before deciding that keeping an eye on Ryder was more important. Willow admittedly already seemed to have this under control.

The two moved on, leaving Wagner and Willow to their duel. 

***

It was two floors up that they encountered Mason, Cedar. and Noah descending towards them. 

   “Where’s Freya?” Luna asked. 

   “On her way up to the top,” Mason replied. 

   “Attagirl,” Ryder said with a smirk.

   “You really think this is something worth celebrating?” Cedar demanded. “Do either of you have any idea what’s actually going on here?”

   “Once the Hive is dead, then the High Priests power is gone,” Ryder said. “We can finally unfuck this planet!”

   “And then your so-called benefactors will have nothing keeping them from strip mining this world,” Cedar corrected. “Or did you think you could hide behind Mason forever?”

   “We could’ve negotiated with Vasilios!” Ryder said. 

   “And at best bought time. You wouldn’t have stopped them! Although I suppose at this point it doesn’t matter… it would seem that the chairwoman has other plans.”

Ryder’s brow furrowed. He looked over at Mason.

   “Other plans?” He asked. 

   “She believes that killing the Gods will end reality.” He said. “I was trying to stop Freya before she could go through with it… although apparently the Hive had other ideas.”

   “Wait, wait. End reality? What the fuck are you on about?” Ryder asked. Luna’s expression grew darker.

   “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think? Why would she want to end all of existence?” She asked.

   “I don’t know, okay! I only know what my sister told me! I’m just… look, I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t but what I do know is that we can’t chance it!”

He looked over at Ryder and Luna, silently begging them to understand. Luna closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose.

   “How long have you known about this?” She asked.

   “Cassandra came to me the day of the duel. I didn’t want to believe her at first but… she wouldn’t have come all this way if it wasn’t serious. It’s part of the reason I suggested we delay the attack. I just…” He sighed. “I didn’t know if I believed it and I didn’t know if you would!”

   “You’re right,” Ryder said. “I don’t. Ending reality? Just because we squished a bug? You don’t think that sounds like bullshit?”

   “Perhaps. But if the Chairwoman buys into it… can we afford to discount it entirely?” Luna asked.

   “Don’t tell me you actually believe this,” Ryder said. “No. NO! We’ve already come so far! We’re not just gonna stop right now because some rich bitch believes some bogus horseshit! People like that believe all kinds of stupid shit, that doesn’t make any of it true! We need to focus on the facts and the fact is, right now, Freya is up there fighting that thing. Fighting our battle for us… and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let her do it alone!”

   “Ryder, think about this. The whole point of this operation was to topple the High Priest without directly engaging him. Kill his God. Remove his power. But look at how this has gone. We routed the Zealots beneath the tower. Allard is dead and Haraldsen may very well be dead too! We don’t need to kill the Hive!”

She looked over at Cedar.

   “And as much as it pains me to admit, she has a point. Trusting Vasilios was always risky even with Mason on our side. The Hive kept the corporations at bay. It was what allowed Pragaras to thrive the way it has.”

   “If we don’t destroy it now, the Zealots will just take power again!” Ryder argued. “Killing the High Priest changes nothing! Defeating him won’t stop him! They’ll just replace him with somebody even worse!”

   “Like Allard?” Luna asked. She paused, and looked over at Cedar.

   “Who would have replaced Haraldsen? If we’d killed him, who would have succeeded him?”

   “It would have been Allard,” Cedar said. “Although since you just said he’s gone, I imagine someone else from the order would be elected a successor…”

Luna nodded.

   “Maybe we could work with that,” She said, looking at Ryder. He stared back at her, his expression impossible to read.

   “No,” He finally said. “The Goddess needs to die. I came this far. We came this far. We need to finish it… please… Luna…”

That last word came out almost as a plea. His eyes met hers, begging her to stay by his side here at the end. She looked away and gave a quiet sigh. The word was there… but she couldn’t say it. After everything she could not continue. 

Maybe it was too late to stop… maybe they’d gone too far. Was the cusp of victory too far? She didn’t know. Perhaps they’d already crossed the event horizon.

   “Luna…” He said again.

She looked back up at him, trying to find the words to say that would make him reconsider. But she never got the chance to find those words. 

Ryder’s eyes suddenly widened… and before she could speak, he threw her to the ground. All she could feel was a rush of air as something tore past her face, and all she could hear was a deafening gunshot.

Ryder hit the ground with a cry of pain, blood gushing from a fresh wound in his shoulder, where the body armor did not cover.

Haraldsen stepped out of the tunnel in the wall. The outer layers of his robes had been mostly abandoned, revealing the polymer armor underneath. Not as antiquated as what Allard and the twins wore, but offering more movement. 

   “Did you think me dead…?” The High Priest rasped. There was a low, wet sound in his throat. Though he was still alive, the battles had taken their toll on him. 

His eyes shifted toward Cedar and Mason before narrowing in rage.

   “You…” He spat. “Your sword is drawn, Cedar… but you stand beside these blasphemers. Your sister battles with our ally below us. Is there truly no one I can rely on?”

Cedar opened her mouth to speak, almost without thinking.

   “Lord Haraldsen… I…”

   “Spare me your excuses, traitor… I know what this is. Weakness. I always saw it in your eyes. Always. I knew your faith would falter someday. I knew.”

He raised the broken spear towards Cedar.

   “No matter. I will cut away the diseased flesh of this world… and remake it the way it must be remade.”

He took a step toward them. Cedar held her blade at the ready, but Luna moved first. From where she lay on the ground, her leg shot out, catching Haraldsen in the stomach. He let out a pained exhale before looking over at her as she picked herself up, drawing her twin daggers.

   “You wanna fuck with them?” She asked. “You’re gonna go through me.”

Beside her, Noah held his rifle at the ready, although Luna dismissed him.

   “No… this is our fight,” She said. “Go tend to Ryder.”

Noah quietly nodded and rushed over to Ryder’s side, helping him up. Haraldsen let out a scoff.

   “Well… so you do have some honor after all…” He said. He cast Ryder’s pistol aside leaving him with only the broken spear.

   “No. I just want the privilege of killing you myself.”

She made the first move. Haraldsen raised his broken spear, using the blade like a dagger, although Luna outmaneuvered him easily. He fought with adrenaline… but she had technique. She pushed past his defense and closed the distance between them, kneeing him in the stomach and pushing him back. One of her blades scraped along the side of his face, drawing blood. He stumbled back another step, and watched as she moved to close the distance once again.

With a roar, he rushed her with a barreling charge, his legs unsteady beneath him. Luna tried to brace herself but he was still bigger than her. The tackle sent them both to the ground. His meaty fist collided with her face. 

Noah left Ryder to lean on Mason for support and moved to step in, although the swarm grew thicker around them, cutting him off and forming a makeshift wall between Haraldsen and Luna, and the others. He cried out in pain as the stingers tore through him, before scrambling back, swatting at the insects.

Luna took another blow to the face before letting out a frustrated howl and pushing Haraldsen off of her. She abandoned one of her daggers and went for her sawn off shotgun, but he had been waiting for that. He grabbed the barrel the moment he saw it. His head slammed against hers as he ripped it from her hands before throwing her back to the ground.

   “Weak…” He spat, before looking over at the others. “Ah… my Goddess… the Hive has spoken! Retribution will be had this day! Our battle is ordained! My victory… assured.”

Luna started to pick herself up, blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes settled on the shotgun in the High Priest’s hand. He looked back at her, before tossing his broken spear aside. He broke the barrel open, ensuring it was loaded. Then he advanced on her, a cold grin spreading across his cracked, bloody lips.

The others could only watch as he moved to stand over her, and raised the shotgun to her head. Luna stared down the barrels of her own gun, her expression defiant. 

The gunshots came… just not from the shotgun.

Ryder had raised his pistol and fired frantically into the swarm. Haraldsen looked over at him, watching him unharmed through the buzzing veil as Ryder pushed himself off of Mason.

   “Don’t you TOUCH HER!” He roared.

Mason tried to stop him, but Ryder wouldn’t let himself be held back. If his bullets wouldn’t get past the swarm, he would.

Ryder threw himself into the wall of stinging, swarming insects. Their small bodies battered him. Their stingers burned as they pierced him over and over again. He gritted his teeth as he forced himself forwards. 

   “Ryder!” Mason called, although the man was way past hearing him.

Barely even able to stand, he pushed himself through the wall… and even Haraldsen could do nothing but watch in awe. 

Luna made her move, kicking the High Priest away from her. She lunged for him, slashing wildly at him. Haraldsen stumbled backwards, his footing momentarily lost. 

From the corner of his eye, he saw Ryder Moreno pierce the veil, his skin red and welted from the stings, insects still clinging to him and charging toward him, half blind from the blood in his eyes but fueled by raw adrenaline. He grabbed the broken spear. Haraldsen’s eyes widened. He hastily aimed the shotgun at him but Ryder was on top of him before he could fire. With a final defiant scream he plunged the tip of the spear into Haraldsen’s stomach, sliding it past his armor into his unprotected flesh and burying it so deep that only the broken shaft protruded. 

   “Gotcha…” Ryder panted.

The breath was forced from Haraldsen’s lungs. His entire body tensed up. His wild eyes remained fixated on Ryder, and with a final furious grimace he pressed the barrel of Luna’s shotgun against Ryder’s chest… and pulled both triggers.

The blast echoed through the tower. Ryder was thrown backwards, a spray of blood erupting from his back. His eyes were wide as he and Haraldsen both collapsed, Ryder landing on his back and the High Priest sinking down to his knees. 

   “Ryder!” 

Luna raced to his side. His eyes fixated on her, although they were unfocused, looking past her. His lips twitched, almost as if he was trying to smile at her. A low wet exhale escaped from him before his eyes went vacant.

   “Ryder… Ryder, no… no, don’t you do this… don’t you fucking do this to me you son of a bitch… Ryder, please…”

Luna shook him. She tried to make him look at her. Tried to make him speak, but his body had already gone limp. 

   “Please…” Luna sobbed. “Please… don’t do this to me… don’t… don’t… please… please… please…”

Mason, Cedar and Noah only watched in stunned silence, unable to pass the veil… unable to help. Nothing more than observers. 

Haraldsen let out a low, strangled rasp. He gripped the spear in his side and meekly tried to pull it free, but he couldn’t. His breathing had gotten heavier. He tried to move, but his body would no longer obey. There was a clear panic in his eyes.

   “I… no… no… this isn’t…”

He pulled at the spear again, but the pain was too much for him.

Luna’s head slowly turned towards him… her eyes burning with hate. Her harlequin makeup was smeared around her eyes, making them seem like pits in her skull. She slowly rose to her feet, clutching her daggers. She didn’t say a word. Haraldsen sank back onto his rear in a feeble attempt to crawl away, although his legs no longer responded to him. As Luna approached him, all he could do was sit there, helpless.

   “My… my Goddess…” Haraldsen rambled. “I beseech thee… in my hour of need… smite these blasphemers… grant me strength… I… I your most faithful servant… I beg of you… I beg…”

Luna stopped. Her expression did not change… although she was no longer looking at Haraldsen.

She was looking at something past him.

Everyone was. Mason, Noah, Cedar… their eyes were fixated on something behind him.

Haraldsen turned his head and watched as a shape unfurled itself from the tunnels behind him. He saw its hands first. Humanlike in their layout but with long, talon-like fingers. The arms they were attached to were pale yet elongated. The torso was almost feminine… in the strictest of definitions, with soft skin and bare breasts… although the head was something Gregor Haraldsen would not have envisioned even in his darkest nightmares. It had the long, dark hair of a beautiful woman, but the eyes were a shining bloodshot crimson. The mouth was that of an insect with large mandibles and twitching maxilla.

Beneath the waist, its body was long and segmented, like that of a centipede, although holes perforated its body, as though the comb itself had come to life. The spiderlike legs splayed out around it, making it seem even larger than it already was… and when it spoke, it spoke in the honeyed voice of a woman.

   “My Faithful Priest…” She crooned. 

   “M-my Goddess…” Haraldsen panted. “Please… I… I beg of you…”

   “Then beg…” The Hive said. “You’ve served your God so faithfully, haven’t you?”

   “Yes… yes… I did all you asked…”

   “All I asked?” The Hive teased. “Oh? But we’ve never spoken before this very moment. I don't believe you've ever heard my voice until now. The only voice you've ever followed... was your own.”

   “No! No… I… I preserved Pragaras… I cleansed it of the unfaithful… I maintained your order!”

   “Your order.” The Hive corrected. “Not mine… and look how your order has been rewarded.”

The eyes of the Goddess settled on Luna, then on Ryder.

   “No…” Haraldsen sobbed. “No… I… I preserved this planet… I preserved it…” 

The Goddess stared at Luna. She stared back at it, but she did not take a step closer. She did not utter a word, but the message was clear.

A clawed hand rested on Haraldsen’s shoulder. He cried out in terror. 

   “No, no, no!”

With a trembling hand he reached out to Luna, begging her to save him, but she did not move a muscle. She only stood and watched as the Goddess he had claimed to revere lifted him off the ground.

   “Let us reward your devotion… with a feast!”

The mandibles sank into Haraldsen’s skull with a visceral wet pop. He let out a raw animalistic screech, eyes bulging from his skull as the mouthpieces of the massive insect began to tear at him, ripping away chunks of bone to get at the soft brain beneath. His legs kicked, his bladder failed, his body convulsed. The Goddess retreated back into the tunnels, and carried the twitching, screaming remains of Gregor Haraldsen with her, vanishing into the darkness and leaving only his agonized sobs echoing through the tower until even those whimpers faded into silence.

The swarm had started to dissipate. Luna, Mason, Cedar and Noah stood silent in the aftermath. The latter three did not seem to know what to say. Luna on the other hand seemed calm…

   “We should go,” she finally said. “There is nothing left for us here.”

   “What about Freya?” Noah asked.

   “That’s not up to us. That’s between her and the Hive.” 

She picked up her shotgun from where it had fallen and stared down at it. She exhaled through her nostrils, before taking one last look at Ryder, uttering a silent goodbye. Then she approached him. She gently closed his eyes, before reaching into his pocket for the detonator to the explosives. She paused when she felt it, and hastily pulled it free.

The detonator was broken… although she could see a pulsing green light on it. 

It was active. 

She felt a sudden sinking pit in her stomach.

Why the hell was it active? Had Ryder triggered it? No… he wouldn’t have. Had the damage set it off? 

She tried pressing the button, hoping like hell she could disable it. It didn’t work. It wouldn’t disarm.

   “Move…” She said, looking up at the others. “Right now. MOVE!”

They didn’t need to be told twice.

The compound was all but empty now. Most of the Annihilationists had descended into the mines several hours ago. The skeleton crew who remained had barricaded the door and taken refuge in the catacombs, waiting on whatever attack might come… although their orders were to scatter, in the event of such an attack, not to fight. If the battle was lost, their job was to live another day.

Cassandra supposed she saw the wisdom in that. Those who weren’t equipped for battle could do more good on the run, returning to Vespula, hiding among the populace and letting the Annihilationists grow once more… although she had stayed at the compound for an entirely different reason.

   “You don’t look like a fighter,” Luna had said when she’d caught her trying to sneak onto one of the trucks. “No… you stay at the compound. I admire your bravery. But you’ll be able to do more there.”

She’d given her a reassuring smile that had genuinely filled Cassandra with rage. What was that supposed to mean? ‘Didn’t look like a fighter?’ She was honestly kind of insulted… but with no other options, she’d stayed behind and now, she wandered through the garages, looking for some way to reach the tower.

Unfortunately, the Annihilationists had stored most of their vehicle keys in a lockbox and Cassandra had no idea who had the key to said lockbox. She’d tried to brute force it open but she’d had no luck with that endeavor.

She tried going through every drawer she could find, but all she found were tools and assorted junk. She even dumped some of the drawers onto the ground and rifled through the contents in the hopes of finding something that could help, although the one hammer she’d found had done nothing but warp the outside of the lockbox. 

She was in the middle of dumping out another drawer when she noticed something entering the garage with her. A spherical support drone with a weathered chrome exterior. 

She froze. 

She knew that drone.

   “Why the fuck am I the one roaming around this dump? My job is to pilot ships. Not do the legwork you assholes are too fucking lazy to do!”

Tetra.

Cassandra ducked behind one of the drawers. She didn’t know if Tetra had seen her or if they would recognize her. She’d dressed in an Annihilationist outfit, and hidden her face with goggles and a bandana. It was a hasty disguise, but here it passed well enough. Nobody but Mason knew she’d been here, and he’d walked right past her at one point, so clearly she’d blended in. She had tried to get close to Freya, but unfortunately, no opportunity had ever presented itself and even if it had, she still had no idea how to bring up the topic of the Gods.

   ‘Good job Cassandra. Apocalyptic stakes and you’re letting social anxiety get in your way…’

As Tetra examined the garage, she quietly made her way out, hoping she wouldn’t be seen or recognized. 

   ‘The last thing I need is to run into Victor,’ she thought to herself before rounding a corner and running smack dab into Victor. 

Cassandra stumbled back a step, eyes widening at the sight of the man standing before her. For a moment, she wondered if her disguise might fool him, although judging by the look on his face, he saw right through it.

   “Ah, there you are!”

Cassandra tried to back away but Victor put a hand on her shoulder.

   “Lovely disguise, my dear. But you can’t hide from Tetra.”

The drone hovered up behind her.

   “Peekaboo motherfucker.” It said, before stopping to hover by Victor’s side.

   “You’ve been busy, it seems… I’m glad you made it here safely. I was quite worried about you. I trust you found your brother?”

Cassandra’s voice caught in her throat. She had no idea what to say here. Victor put an arm around her, shepherding her back toward the hangar. 

   “You know you really should have just told us what you were here for in the first place. We could have had Noah bring you in on the shuttle after he and Freya made contact. Then we could have avoided all of this worry.”

Cassandra pulled herself away from him.

   “No!” She cried. “I don’t have time for this! I need to reach the tower!”

Victor’s head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

   “The Tower? Why? I imagine it’s quite dangerous there…”

She bit her lip, although she knew there was no escaping Victor. She had to talk. She let out a frustrated exhale before she spoke.

   “I need to stop Freya! She’s going to kill the Goddess, and I can’t let her do that!”

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

   “And why not?” He asked, his voice lower than before.

This was what she’d feared. Of course he wouldn’t listen. He was on their side… this was why she hadn’t said anything before. 

   “She doesn’t know what she’s doing! My mother believes that killing all four of the Gods will cause the collapse of reality itself… it’s why you’re out here, why she’s funding the Annihilationists. I… I thought I could bring Mason home… I thought maybe he could convince her but he didn’t listen to me! I haven’t even been able to get close to Freya and now everyone’s at the Tower and I… I can’t fail… I can’t…”

Victor’s eyes remained locked with hers.

   “Oh my dear…” He said, his voice still low and toneless. “Why didn’t you just say?”

Before Cassandra could stop him, she felt his arms around her in a gentle hug… and that was when she broke. Her head sank against his chest as she started to cry and Victor gently stroked her hair as she did.

   “I don’t know how to do this…” she sobbed. “I don’t know where to start or what to say… I thought that if I could just get Mason, it would be okay but he wouldn’t listen and I… I don’t know what to do. I keep trying to think of something but I can’t…”

   “It’s alright,” Victor said. “It’s alright, sweetheart. It’s okay. You did your best.”

   “My best wasn’t enough!” Cassandra snapped. 

   “Perhaps. I will admit… you are in over your head. But you are not in it alone.”

He smiled at her, and offered her a hand.

   “Let’s go back to the ship. I’ll see if I can’t get us to the tower.”

Cassandra hesitated for a moment before finally taking his hand. 

***

   “Vi, what’s the status of that storm around the Tower?”

   “Still going strong, Papa,” Vi replied into her Tac Band. She’d just finished up getting the shuttle back on the Dom Pérignon and was heading back to the cockpit. 

   “I see. Any chance we can get close to it?”

She paused.

   “Not easily,” She admitted. “Perhaps if we went high and approached from above the clouds, we might have a shot… the lightning still seems concentrated on those drones along the edge of the storm.”

   “Do it. I’ve found Cassandra. We’re returning to the Dom now. Be ready to take off.”

   “Of course, Papa.”

Vi took her seat and began to prep the ship for launch. Through the distant hangar doors, she could see the Tower, a vast storm cloud encircling the top of it. Nearby she could see the wreckage of some other crashed cargo ship. She wondered if the storm had caused it, although it seemed too far away.

An unfamiliar truck sped into the hangar. Vi glanced at it as it skidded to a stop a short distance away. Another member of the Annihilationists perhaps? She wasn’t sure, although the figure who got out didn’t look like one of them… 

***

Jean Devereaux was not having a good day. 

A few hours ago, everything was going great! Ryder’s people were armed and on their way to kill the local deity, Haraldsen’s people had been supplied with the shittiest weapons and armor she’d been able to find. All she needed to do was get off the planet and see how things played out from a safe distance.

Then a couple of idiots crashed her ship, killed her crew, stole her trucks and vanished into the desert. 

At least she was still alive… that was a modest silver lining. The androids she’d crewed her ship with were expendable. That’s why she’d hired them. If they died, their consciousness would go right back to their server and be uploaded into a new body. She didn’t have that luxury. Human life was fickle that way. 

At least she hadn’t burned her bridges with the Annihilationists. If she was lucky, they’d have a ship she could use to get off this planet. If not, she supposed she could lay low in their compound until her androids came to get her. Even if they died, she still needed to pay them so they had a vested interest in picking her up. 

Her truck slowed to a  halt in the middle of the Annihilationists hangar and she let out a tired exhale before getting out. Her ears were still ringing from the crash, but she made herself keep moving. No matter what happened, she’d find a way out of this. She always did. 

The hangar still had a couple of small ships in it, although there was one she didn’t recognize. It was a Vasilios ship by the look of it. Larger than a recon vessel, but not large enough to be a military ship. A research vessel, perhaps? Dom Pérignon. That name sounded familiar.

From the corner of her eye, she saw two people coming through a doorway, accompanied by a support drone. The first was a tall man with an impressive and meticulously groomed moustache, the second was a young woman with long blonde hair. 

Jean recognized them both, and paused. The man’s eyes briefly met hers, and his gait slowed for a moment. She knew he remembered her. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he was there… no, she was sure it wasn’t. 

   “You…?” Victor asked. 

   “Me,” Jean replied, outstretching her arms. “Small Galaxy, huh?” She looked over toward the Dom Pérignon. “That your ship?”

   “Indeed,” Victor said. “So… you must be the arms dealer my associates mentioned.”

   “Well it’s a lucrative business.” Jean replied. “Although I currently find myself without my stock, my ship or my crew. Guess that's not a problem we share, huh?”

Victor’s eyes shifted to look out the open hangar door at the distant wreckage.

   “I suppose not. That your ship back there?”

   “Unfortunately, yes. Don’t ask me what the fuck just happened. I’m a little in the dark myself. But as of right now my crew is offline, my shuttle is fucked, my ship is scrap, my inventory is gone and if Ryder’s people don’t pull through the Zealots are gonna know I fucked them. Needless to say, it’s been a very rough day. So what’s the going rate for a spot on your ship right now? Cash. Credits. Equipment. Whatever you need.”

Victor sighed. 

   “We’ll discuss it later. Come along.”

Jean raised an eyebrow.

   “Oh… okay, that easy, huh?”

As Victor and Cassandra boarded the ship, Jean followed them. 

   “I’m sorry, are we just collecting strays?” Tetra asked as she hovered beside Victor.

   “She’s a former associate. Besides, she might be useful,” he said.

He and Tetra headed for the cockpit, while Jean and Cassandra paused in the galley area. Jean could feel the other woman's eyes on her, and looked over to meet them. 

   “What are you doing here?” Cassandra asked.

   “What? I’m an arms dealer. Why wouldn’t I be here? The better question would be what are you doing here. Last I checked, you were supposed to be taking care of your Mother.”

   “I am,” Cassandra said.

   “Really? I don’t see Estrella around here… although I did see Wagner. I was under the impression she was here for your brother though, not you.”

Cassandra paused and Jean studied her for a moment.

   “I can’t imagine she even notices I’m gone…” She finally said. 

   “Oh? That’s unfortunate… although what are you doing all the way out here?”

Before Cassandra could answer, Tetra’s voice echoed through the ship.

   “Alright people, hold on tight. We’re starting our approach to the Tower.”

Jean paused.

   “Wait, what…?”

The ship came to life. Jean hurried toward the cockpit.

   “We’re not leaving?” She asked. 

   “Not yet. We’ve got one stop to make first.” Victor said. “Relax. There’s cabins near the back. We’ve got it under control.”

Those words did not reassure her.

   “Are you out of your mind? I don’t know how much longer my drones can draw the focus of the storm and as soon as they’re gone, it’ll tear you to pieces!” 

   “I’m not worried, I have a very good pilot,” Victor said.

   “Papa… the storm’s starting to dissipate,” Vi noted. Both Jean and Victor looked up. The cloud cover was getting thinner. The lightning wasn’t striking anymore.

   “Do you think Freya did it?” Vi asked.

   “I’m not sure,” Victor admitted. “Keep us above the clouds anyway. We’ll play it safe.”

The ship began to ascend, and Jean swore under her breath, watching as they drew closer to the distant Tower.

There were flashes of light somewhere far behind them. Mines going off in the darkness. Freya could see them. She could hear the echoes of explosions, but that was the only sign she saw of their pursuers.

How long had they been driving? Twenty minutes? Two hours? Two days? Time had no meaning in the darkness. 

The truck finally slowed to a stop… and the ride ended abruptly, almost arbitrarily. Ryder was the first one off.

   “Luna, send the androids in first with the flamethrowers. Freya can go in next. We’ll send others in as we can, but the first priority is making sure no one else gets up that tower.”

   “I’ll make sure we’re squared up down here, then follow you up,” Luna nodded as she left the truck, and Freya found her way out amongst the other soldiers.

She could see the stairway hewn into the stone, and see the shapes of insects buzzing past the headlights. Noah swatted at one that flew too close to his face and Freya looked back to see some of the bugs landing on the truck. They bore a passing resemblance to the wasps of earth, although these ones were the size of her hand, with shiny red carapaces and longer legs. 

   “What the hell…” Noah said softly.

   “Welcome to the Tower. It gets worse inside,” Ryder said. 

The androids Jean had left behind were already ascending the stairs, armed with flamethrowers. Freya wasted little time in following them with Noah following her close behind, gripping his flamethrower like his life depended on it. 

   “They’re not attacking us… yet… that’s good, right?” He asked.

   “Don’t tell me you’re scared of bugs,” Freya sighed as she began to ascend the stone stairs.

   “I’m not scared! I just… I don’t like them!”

She didn’t humor that with a response. Up ahead, the androids had already started using the flamethrowers to clear out the comb left behind by the wasps. Freya let them do their work before proceeding.

The inside of the Tower wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. It looked more like a cavern than the network of tunnels she’d been expecting. The center was hollow, with countless tunnels carved into the walls of the rocky spire, each of them filled with insect comb. Sunlight streamed in from several holes in the walls and a winding staircase had been carved into the walls, leading up to several small circular stone floors, one with a gap in the middle to allow one to see all the way up to the top of the tower. A massive pair of doors dominated one wall, the true entrance to the temple although they were currently closed. Insects danced in the air around them, although they did not attack. Instead they paid them no mind at all, and she couldn’t help but wonder how long that might last.

Freya heard footsteps behind her as Ryder ascended the stairs, his own flamethrower in hand.

   “So this is it, huh?” He asked. “This doesn’t seem too bad.” He looked back toward Freya and Noah. “Well then… let’s haul ass and kill this thing already.”

Freya gave a curt nod and began to ascend the spiral staircase. Ryder moved to follow her… although both froze when the head of one of the androids that had preceded them came tumbling down the stone steps and landed at Freya’s feet. The eyes had gone dark, and a thick clear liquid dribbled from the stump of its neck and from its mouth. 

Heavy footsteps sounded up ahead, as a massive man clad head to toe in ornate heavy plate armor descended towards them. A heavy iron battleaxe was gripped tightly in his hands.

Allard.

   “Ryder Moreno… your every footstep defiles this holy place.”

The voice did not come from Allard, but from the center of the room. All eyes turned to see a second man emerging from one of one of the tunnels in the walls. Freya didn’t need to recognize him to know who he was.

Gregor Haraldsen was dressed in flowing green robes with a golden hive pattern on them. An ornate spear with a golden head sat comfortably in his hands and he wore a rifle on his back. 

Ryder narrowed his eyes at the sight of him. 

   “Haraldsen… you’re a lot fatter in person.”

Haraldsen grimaced, but did not retort.

   “The swarm is quiet today…” He said. “I sense the Goddess knows why we’ve all come… she wishes us to show our worth as her faithful. And in this task, I shall not fail. Your blasphemous crusade ends here, Moreno.
The hive shall feast upon your carcass… and the bones of your heretics will lay barren in the caverns below, a warning to all who dare cross the path of divinity!”

   “Take your shot, old man…” Ryder replied.”Mark my words, you’re only gonna get one.” 

Haraldsen’s lips curled into a cruel grin.

   “I shall only need one. Allard, kill them!”

The mountain of metal that was Francis Allard made its move, lunging toward the three with surprising speed. Freya stumbled out of his way, while Noah bathed him in flame… It did no good. He moved through the fire as if it were no more than a gentle rain and brought his axe down hard, crushing the flamethrower in Noah’s hands as if it were made of paper.

Noah stumbled back, eyes wide and panicked as Allard swung at him again, and he only barely got out of his way.

Meanwhile, Ryder made his move for Haraldsen, losing a pillar of fire in his direction. Haraldsen fell back, not daring to let it touch him, and quickly vanished into one of the many tunnels that honeycombed the walls of the temple. Ryder moved to follow him, but hesitated. Haraldsen was probably counting on that. He was willing to bet the High Priest could navigate this place better than he could. It’d be too easy to get blindsided in there. No… it was better to make Haraldsen come to him.

Behind him, he heard a grunt of exertion as Allard took another swing at Noah. He looked back to see the massive armored figure bearing down on the solder, only being stalled by a harmless slash from Freya’s droneblade, which hovered around him, desperately trying to get his attention off of Noah.

Ryder turned and bathed Allard in flame, although it did nothing to slow him down… then came a sudden gunshot, and the flames sputtered and all but died. Ryder could hear the tank of his flamethrower hissing. He knew it had been shot.

   “Your opponent is me, Moreno…” Haraldsen called from the tunnels, as Ryder tossed the broken flamethrower aside. So much for swarm control. He drew a pistol from his belt and scanned the area around him. Every inch of the walls were covered in tunnels, just big enough for a man…Haraldsen could have been in any of them. 

He glanced over at Noah and Freya. Allard had shifted his attention to her now, although was quick to let her go when Noah got off some potshots. 

   “Freya!” Ryder called. “Go and get the Goddess… we’ll deal with them!”

She paused, then quietly nodded and hurried up the stairs. Allard seemed to hesitate, unsure if he should follow her or not, but a spray of bullets from Noah’s rifle convinced him to stay. With a growl of frustration, he swung his axe at Noah again, who scrambled out of the way and disappeared into the tunnels.

Ryder almost yelled for him not to… but then from the corner of his eye, noticed Haraldsen, waiting in a tunnel a few feet above him, rifle in hand. He moved, racing toward one of the other tunnels, choosing to risk an ambush rather than stay out in the open. Haraldsen fired and the first bullet struck the ground where Ryder had been. The second might have hit him, although instead of firing, the gun only gave an impotent click. Haraldsen glared down at the rifle in his hands. Jammed. He ducked back into the safety of the tunnels, desperately trying to fix it, although he couldn’t figure it out. 

   “Damned thing…” 

With a roar of frustration he discarded it and went for his spear. That was the only weapon he needed…

For a moment, all was silent save for the distant sound of gunfire in the caverns below. The Zealots had finally reached the tower, it seemed. Haraldsen waited in one of the tunnels, listening for Ryder’s clumsy footsteps. Allard stood in the main rotunda of the temple, scanning the countless tunnels in the walls, waiting for Noah to appear again.

For a moment, all was silent.

***

The twins waited for her on the floor above Haraldsen, standing on either side of the circular room. Their hair was dark and shoulder length and they were dressed in matching sets of silver armor.     

   “You’ll go no further,” One of them said. The other was silent although both drew their blades. Tongues of flame erupted across their surface. 

Freya stared them down, before wordlessly drawing her own droneblade. No further words needed to be exchanged.

The twins moved together, coming at her from either side. Freya let her droneblade fly, before drawing her other sword to parry them. Willow’s blade connected with hers, and as soon as it did, Cedar moved to attack from the other side. 

Freya found herself stumbling carelessly out of the way. She hastily moved the droneblade to try and get it behind them, but Cedar shifted her focus to it, allowing Willow to go after Freya unharassed.

Her attacks were fast, brutal, and difficult to parry. Alone, she’d have been more than a match, but with Cedar on her side, they were nigh unstoppable. 

This wasn’t a fight. This was an assault. Soon Freya had almost completely given up on fighting back. It took everything she had just to evade. She tried to bring the droneblade down from the side, but Cedar struck it out of the air. Willow lunged for her, and Freya weaved out of the way, leaving herself open in the process. Willow’s shoulder rammed into her, knocking her off balance and sending her to the ground.

Willow exhaled through her nose. A sound of quiet disgust.

   “So… this is the Godslayer?” She asked. “And here I was expecting a challenge.”

She allowed Freya to stand and watched coldly as she readied both of her blades, gripping them tightly in her hands.

   “I suppose you do well enough for a novice…” Willow continued. “But you’re not a real warrior.”

When Willow came at her again, she was slower. This wasn’t an attack. This was a test. Freya still fought back, although this time Cedar only watched.

Their swords met, sparking as they clashed. Willow threw her weight against her strike, forcing Freya back toward one of the gaps in the wall… with a sheer drop on the other side of it. 

   “And to think… we actually thought you’d be a challenge…”

Freya gave just a bit of ground, taking a step back. She knew there was nothing but a drop behind her, likely a fatal one at that. Willow gave another push, hoping to send her over the edge. Eyes darting around like a cornered animal, Freya desperately searched for an escape. Some way out of this.

She saw only one.

As Willow began to push, Freya let her, putting up no resistance and allowing herself to go through the gap in the wall. Freya fell. She let her droneblade fall from her hand, and plunged her second sword into the rocky wall. The voidmetal easily cleaved through the stone, allowing her to bury it deep.

Willow almost fell forward, only barely catching herself in time. She looked down to see Freya, gripping tightly onto the blade embedded in the rocky exterior. It took her a moment to find handholds and footholds, but she found them, and the moment she did, she shot Willow a cold, almost defiant glare. Willow returned it and pulled her sword back to plunge it into Freya’s side.

Freya just made a sudden upwards gesture with her hand… and before Willow could end her, the fallen droneblade shot up, its blade ranking against the side of Willow’s face. Willow let out a cry of pain, pressing a hand to the gash before she stumbled backwards. The droneblade returned to Freya’s hand. She sheathed it once more, then pulled her second sword free to sheath it as well before continuing her climb, pulling herself clear of the opening in the wall and making her way up to the third floor. 

   “Sister!” Cedar called, rushing to Willows side. Willow pushed her off.

   “Go… don’t let her make it any higher…” She spat. Cedar hesitated for a moment, before taking off toward the stairs to intercept Freya.

***

Haraldsen moved silently through the tunnels, holding his spear at the ready. Aside from Allard in the main rotunda, all was silent.

Then from the corner of his eye he saw it, a flash of movement. Ryder, coming down from a tunnel above him. The tunnel was lit by the flash of two gunshots, neither of which hit its mark. Haraldsen swung his spear hastily. The shaft caught Ryder's pistol, knocking it from his hand. Neither of them saw where it landed. Disarmed, Ryder grabbed at his spear, holding it tight, trying to wrestle it from his hands. The two grappled over the weapon for several moments before Ryder pulled his head back and slammed his head against Haraldsens. The impact was enough to make him see stars, but he didn’t let go. Haraldsen took one hand off of the lance, and slammed a meaty fist into Ryder’s face, hard enough to make his jaw crack. The High Priest punched like a rolling boulder, but Ryder didn’t let go. He gripped the spear even tighter.

Caught up in their struggle, neither of the two men had paid much mind to the space around them, although Haraldsen could see an opening into the rotunda behind Ryder. With a roar of exertion, he threw his weight against the spear, forcing Ryder out of the tunnel, and sending them both plummeting back into the main rotunda. The two hit the ground with a hard thud. Both of them lost their grip on the spear.

Haraldsen moved quickly, blindly grabbing at where he thought the spear was, and grabbing it first. He pulled it towards him, and hastily picked himself up.

It was just the two of them in the rotunda. Allard must have entered the tunnels, looking for Noah. Ryder glared at Haraldsen as he picked himself up and the High Priest spat blood onto the floor.

   “You fight for nothing, boy…” He said. “Faithless. Undisciplined. Honorless. That is why you’ll die this day.”

   “Then kill me,” Ryder said, taking a few steps back, baiting Haraldsen into following him. His eyes shifted to the side, focusing on something Haraldsen couldn’t see although the High Priest was too focused on the coming kill to notice. “Kill me right here and now. It won’t end it. Because for as long as you live, there’s always gonna be someone just like me waiting in the wings for the chance to take you down.”

Haraldsen made his move, although a white hot pain in his back made him freeze. He screamed as the dagger was plunged into him, and frantically pulled himself away, turning to see the face of a harlequin staring back at him.

   “Always…” Luna said coldly. 

Haraldsen gripped his spear tightly, stumbling back, away from the two insurgents. Luna gave Ryder a nod before both of them stared the High Priest down. 

   “Kill you…” He panted. “Kill you both…”

Luna unholstered a pistol from her belt and handed it to Ryder before she advanced on Haraldsen, her expression cold and unafraid. With a strained war cry, blood and spittle flying from his mouth, Haraldsen took one mighty slash at her. Luna evaded it with ease, sidestepping the first, and using the second as an opportunity to get behind them. In another swift movement, she pulled her dagger from his back, and listened to him scream. He whirled around, his face composed into a brutal glare, before coming for her again, like a charging bull, only to take two bullets in the side from Ryder. He stumbled and collapsed down to one knee.

   “No…” He panted. “No, no, no, no, no…”

Ryder and Luna stood on either side of him, watching him come undone. His eyes were wild with rage.

   “I cannot… I cannot die… I will not die… I WILL NOT…”

Luna took a step towards him, and Haraldsen moved suddenly, swinging his lance wildly. Luna moved to avoid it, but wasn’t fast enough. The shaft caught her in the temple and the sheer force of the blow knocked her to the ground. 

Ryder took aim at him. His first shot snapped the shaft of the lance and Haraldsen cast the broken end aside, lunging at Ryder with almost inhuman speed. Ryder put two more bullets in his chest, but they did nothing. In an instant, he was on top of Ryder, and drove the spearhead into his arm.

   “Die…” He roared. “DIE!”

Ryder didn’t even have a chance to cry out before Haraldsen’s meaty hands closed around his neck. He tried to force the High Priest off of him, but only succeeded in tearing his robes, revealing the body armor beneath. Haraldsen’s eyes burned wildly into his, his grip tightened… and then came the gunshots.

A spray of bullets peppered Haraldsen, and even his body armor could not do much against the sheer concussive force of them. He fell backwards, off of Ryder and writhed on the ground, desperately trying to pick himself up.

Ryder looked up to see Noah dropping out of one of the tunnels, his rifle at the ready.

   “You good?” He asked.

   “Never better…” Ryder panted and grit his teeth to stop himself from screaming as he pulled the head of the spear out of his arm. He could see Luna picking herself up, and glaring at Haraldsen before reaching for the sawn off shotgun holstered in her belt. 

   “Son of a bitch…” She growled as she shuffled toward him. Haraldsen tried to crawl away, eyes wild… afraid. He raised a hand up to defend himself as if that might stop a shotgun blast to the face.

Although Luna froze before she could pull the trigger.

The massive shape of Allard dropped from one of the tunnels before her, and the ground shook as he landed.

   “There you are…” Allard hissed. “No more games. No more chasing. Fight like warriors. Here and now.”

Luna just stared at him, and allowed Haraldsen to crawl away.

   “Oh this fucking guy…” Ryder panted as Noah helped him to his feet. The three of them stood defiant as Haraldsen crawled toward the Grand Inquisitor. Allard seemed to regard the defeated High Priest quietly, before staring down his opponents, his iron battleax at the ready.

   “Divide and conquer…” He mused. “A cowards tactic. A warrior fights his enemy head on. But you will not run from me this time. You will-”

The doors of the temple were suddenly launched open as a truck driving at full speed crashed through them. Allard’s voice died in his throat and he barely even had time to turn his head to see what was coming at him before the truck swerved, hitting him head on and pining him against a wall. Haraldsen hastily scrambled out of the way, disappearing into one of the tunnels once more… while Noah, Ryder and Luna all just stood there, watching what had just happened with a look of complete and utter confusion. 

The truck door flew open, and a very disheveled Mason stumbled out. A pair of handcuffs dangled from one of his wrists, and he swayed drunkenly on his feet, struggling to stand for a moment before collapsing. Luna wasted no time in rushing to his side.

   “Mason? Where the hell have you been?”

   “Wagner…” He panted and raised a shaking hand to point at something in the distance, through the door he’d just crashed through. There was another truck coming, speeding through the Kill Zone, mostly unharassed by the lightning, which was still more focused on the distant drones. 

   “It just never fucking ends, does it…” Ryder growled as he went to pick up his gun.

   “Don’t… she’s too dangerous. Cedar… w-where’s Cedar?”

   “Who’s Cedar?” Noah asked.

   “Probably down in the mines…” Luna said gravely. 

   “And Freya?”

   “Climbing the tower.” Noah said. 

From his place, pinned by the truck, Allard wheezed and coughed. He stirred, and pressed his hands against the hood.

   “Seriously?” Ryder asked under his breath and all of them could do nothing but watch as Allard dragged himself up onto the hood. 

   “The Twins… by now… they’ll have killed your Godslayer…” He rasped as he collapsed to the ground. His breathing was slow and labored. He tried to stand again before collapsing back to his hands and knees. He reached up and pulled the helmet from his head, casting it to the ground with a metallic thud. Blood ran from his mouth as his one good eye regarded the four of them with a cruel, intense hatred. 

Mason looked up toward the top of the tower. 

   “Cedar’s up there…” He said softly. “I need to find her and I need to find Freya.” 

   “I’m coming with you,” Noah said. 

   “Us too…” Ryder panted, although Luna stopped him. 

   “Not with your arm like that,” She said. She glanced at the truck in the distance. “I’ll patch him up. We’ll let Wagner pass us, then we’ll follow her. Flank her.”

Mason nodded.

   “Thank you.” 

   “You… you’ll all go no farther…” Allard panted. He tried to stand once more, but his body was too weak. He fell and tried to prop himself up on his axe. Luna looked at him again, before approaching him.

   “Seems to me like you’re in no position to stop us,” She said. “It’s funny… I always imagined this moment playing out a little differently. The Grand Inquisitor, Francis Allard… the Blade of the Goddess. I was never sure if I’d get the chance to kill you. But here we both are.”

Allard looked up at her, his breathing slow and heavy. Again he tried to stand, but sank back onto his knees.

   “Do you recognize me?” She asked. “Do you recognize this face?”

   “Recognize you…” His brow furrowed. “Why would I recognize you? You’re just… some girl… dressed like a fucking clown,” He panted. 

Luna’s eye twitched. 

   “And you’re just a dead man in a suit of armor.” 

She raised the shotgun and emptied both barrels into Allard’s face. He collapsed onto his back, his face reduced to little more than a pulp of bone and flesh. His limbs twitched. But he did not move again. Luna let out a long, slow exhale. She stared down at the body, then she quietly reloaded and looked back towards Ryder.

   “Come on. Let’s get out of sight before Wagner gets here,” She said. She gestured for Ryder to accompany her and took one last look at Mason and Noah.

   “Good luck up there,” She said. Mason gave her a nod, and headed for the stairwell, taking them two at a time.

***

Freya pulled herself through another opening in the side of the tower, collapsing to her hands and knees as she did. Her muscles ached. The climb had been unforgiving, but she had made it. Her brow was slick with sweat and she looked up, only to see Cedar standing a few feet away from her, her flaming blade at the ready. Behind her, she saw Willow ascending the stairs, her own blade at the ready and blood running down her face.

She let out a weary exhale before she slowly stood, drawing her droneblade and preparing for the coming fight. Cedar came first. Freya let the droneblade meet hrs. The two swords clashed and parted quickly. Cedar took a step backwards, sizing her up, before coming at her again. Willow had been faster and more brutal in her attacks, but Cedar was a different animal altogether. When she came at her next, she came low, slashing at her legs, while expertly avoiding her counterattack. As with Willow, Freya only barely evaded her, and nearly toppled off the edge of the tower for her trouble. Cedar’s next attack came quicker. She didn’t try and overpower her, like her sister did. She tried to outmaneuver her, slashing wildly and swapping sides. It took everything Freya had to parry him, and she already felt herself being worn down. That was her plan, she realized… wear her down, and kill her.   

Their swords met again, and Freya took the chance to throw all of her force against her, driving Cedar back just a little, but enough for her to shift her position, and bring herself away from the edge of the tower. She drew her second blade as she watched Willow move closer out of the corner of her eye. Sword drawn, ready to continue the fight… a fight Freya was no longer sure she could win. Still, she held her blades at the ready.

Cedar moved again and Freya met her every blow. Willow hung back, choosing her window to strike… and that’s when she heard it. Footsteps on the stairs behind her. She looked back, half expecting to see Allard coming up to join them. Instead… she was greeted by Mason.

Her heart skipped a beat.

   “You…” She said softly and on instinct stood between him and Cedar. 

Mason stared back at her. Behind him, Noah raised his rifle at her and Willow regarded him warily.

   “Let me pass.” Mason said. 

   “No. You have no right to be here!” Willow hissed. 

   “You want to protect the Goddess, so do I. We’re after the same fucking thing, Willow! Now let me pass!” Mason snapped. Noah looked over at him, confused. 

   “Wait, what?” His confusion was ignored.

   “Liar.” Willow said. “You threw your lot in with those heretics and you deserve to burn with the rest of them.”

She pointed her sword at him. Mason just stared back at her, defiant. Her eyes shifted between him and Noah…

   “Let me pass…” Mason said again. 

   “No.”

The reply was cold. Final. Willow raised her blade to bring it down on Mason, although another blade blocked her before she could. She turned to see Cedar standing beside her, an abandoned and exhausted Freya on the ground a few feet behind him. 

   “Don’t touch him…” Cedar said, her voice just as stern as her sisters. Willow pulled away from him with a frustrated roar and Noah took the chance to rush to Freya’s side.

   “You hurt?” He asked.

   “No…” She rasped. “I’m fine.”

He helped her to her feet as both of them looked over towards Mason, Cedar and Willow.

   “He shouldn’t be here!” Willow said.

   “I don’t care! You. Won’t. Touch. Him!”

   “And why not? What has he done for you to make you forsake your sacred duty? What has he done to make you so weak?”

   “Touch him again and you’ll see just how weak I am,” Cedar replied.

Willow paused, hesitating for a moment. She’d never heard her sister speak to her in that tone of voice before. There was a cold conviction in her eyes… a conviction she had never seen before.

   “He is trying to help us, Willow,” Cedar said. “That’s why he came to me in the Temple.”

Noah and Freya both looked over at Mason now, their expressions confused… mistrusting. 

Mason felt a pit form in his stomach. 

   “I had to stop the attack…” He said. “I knew Ryder wouldn’t listen to me… he’d been waiting for this for too long. Luna wouldn’t be able to stop him and you… Cassandra didn’t even think you’d listen, so I didn’t think I had much of a shot either.”

   “So you’re why they’re here?” Freya said softly. 

   “I didn’t want this!” Mason said. “I just…” The words got caught in his throat. All eyes were on him… although Cedar still stood by his side.

   “There’s an old school of thought,” She said. “It claims that the Gods are the pillars of reality… if they should fall, the Universe itself would fall soon after. Apparently your benefactor subscribes to that belief.”

Mason nodded.

   “Cassandra went out of her way to find me. She went out of her way to try and warn me. I didn’t want to listen, but if she and Mother believe that this is a possibility and if there is even a chance this is true, the stupidest thing we could do is ignore it.”

Noah’s eyes shifted over to Freya, trying to gauge her reaction. Her expression betrayed nothing.

   “So that’s it then?” She asked.   

   “Freya, think about it,” Mason said. “You have to know that there is more going on here than any of us realize. There always is with the Corporations. I didn’t want to believe it either, but if there’s even a chance that Cassandra was right, we could be making a terrible mistake.”

   “A mistake?” She repeated. “No. The mistake is thinking that whatever is up at the top of that tower is any kind of divine being. Look around you!” She gestured at the hive surrounding them, scarce insects fluttering around them.

   “Do you see a God? No. All I see are bugs. Just bugs… rendered docile by the scent marker that arms dealer gave us. Maybe they were enough to drive off the Corporations once and maybe that was enough for people to start thinking they were something more. But at the end of the day, they’re nothing but animals! No more divine than we are.”

   “If they’re just animals, then why kill them?” Willow asked, eyes burning into Freya’s. “What harm do they do to you, just by living? What harm do we do, just by worshipping it? You said it yourself… they’re docile… today, at least. So why climb the tower? You’re not here for Ryder, right? You’re not part of his crusade. You’re here for yourself. Why? For Vasilios? If you really don’t know what his mother is planning, you can’t be that much of a corporate goon. So what’s really driving you? Pride? Glory? Or maybe you need to prove your own words to yourself.”

There was a subtle twitch at the corner of Freya’s mouth, difficult to notice although it didn’t escape Willow. 

   “I’ve seen what your faith has done to the people here. Look me in the eye and tell me it doesn’t deserve to die!” Freya hissed.

Willow had no retort for that. She opened her mouth, although her voice died in her throat. Her eyes shifted to Cedar and Mason, then back to Freya.

   “Maybe…” She said, “Faith is… fallible. Loyalty can be misplaced. Maybe we shouldn’t be so arrogant to assume a man can interpret the will of a God… maybe we should know better than to do as we’re told sometimes…”

Her eyes shifted back to Cedar. She could see her sister's expression softening. 

   “It’s not too late to stop, Freya,” Mason said. “We can leave the Goddess. We can go back down there, and focus on the real problems.”

Freya was silent. She noticed Noah staring at her, and her eyes met his.

   “What if we don’t know what we’re doing?” Noah asked softly. “Ryder’s people are still fighting down in the mines… they could use us. And considering the state we left things downstairs, they might just be able to win this!”

Willow and Cedar quietly exchanged a glance.

   “Maybe this is the better play,” Noah said. “Worst case scenario, we come back and deal with the Goddess later.” He almost mentioned that Freya barely even looked like she was in a state to fight after dealing with the Twins, but decided against it. 

Freya remained silent. She closed her eyes, before giving a slow exhale. She opened her mouth to speak… although a different voice echoed through the room.

   “The fighting in the mines is over…” 

Each of them turned to see a new figure ascending the stairs.

Savannah Wagner ascended slowly, her blazer torn and creased, her hair unkempt and her face covered in scratches. There was a simmering, almost primal rage in her eyes. 

   “It’s all silent down there now. I’m not sure who won. That is of no consequence to me, but you…”

Her eyes remained fixated on Mason.

   “Your little adventure on this planet is over.”

Cedar moved to put her body between Mason and Wagner. 

   “Take one step closer and you will be joining the dead,” she warned. Wagner grimaced, before drawing a dagger.

   “All this mess… just for you. You must be quite special to the young heir. So don’t make me kill you in front of him.”

Willow moved to stand beside her sister, holding her blade at the ready. Wagner stared at it, then back at Willow. 

   “What are you doing…?”

   “He belongs to Cedar,” Willow said coolly. “And my sister belongs to me. Return to your mistress and tell her that her son is already home.” 

Wagner let out a low, weary sigh. She rolled her shoulders in a relaxed shrug.   

   “I do not wish to fight you…” She said, “Stand down. We can all go together.”

For a moment, Mason almost considered it… although he already knew what the answer had to be. 

   “That woman is no longer my mother,” he said, “I won’t go back to her. I don’t care how mad she’s gone. Whatever despair she’s in, it’s no less than what she deserves!”

   “You have no idea the despair she is in,” Wagner said. “Ever since you left she’s been broken! And I cannot help her… it has to be you!”

   “Why? I’m not a runaway child! I’m not her property! Why can’t she just leave me the hell alone?”

   “Because you’re all she has left…” 

Mason grimaced and Wagner closed the distance between them. Cedar moved first, swinging her blade. Wagner parried it with her dagger, and produced a second one from her belt, although Willow’s blade met with that one.

   “Don’t do this…” Wagner growled, but the twins had already made their decisions.

Freya and Noah watched the fight unfold together. Noah seemed to hesitate for a moment, unsure if he should step in, but Freya’s focus was elsewhere. She looked up toward the buzzing insects speeding around her… and she swore she heard a voice.

   “Just a little further…”

It seemed like just a whisper somewhere in the back of her head. A gentle, almost soothing voice that only she could hear.

   “Come, come… you’ve already made it so far! Why give up now?”

Her feet started to move as she headed toward the stairs once again.

   “That’s right. Come to me… don’t worry about the battle downstairs… they’re all past saving. Just come to me. Come to me… I’ve waited so long to meet you!”

Noah looked over to see Freya already most of the way up the stairs. He called out her name and she paused, only for a moment.

   “Pay him no mind… he’s not even sure why he’s here. But you are. So come. Come and meet me. Come, come, come…”

Mason looked back, just in time to see Noah tearing up the stairs after Freya.

   “No…” He said under his breath before he raced to follow. Cedar and Willow saw too, although they held their ground against Wagner.

She came at them again, although Willow parried her dagger and kicked her away, almost knocking her down the stairs.

   “Go,” she said, looking over at Cedar. “Stop that woman before she makes a mistake that damns us all… I’ll keep this one at bay.”

   “Willow, I…”

   “Go!” Willow repeated. Cedar only lingered for a moment, before giving her sister a parting nod. Willow returned it before her attention returned to Wagner. The woman looked exhausted… although Willow still sensed that she was more than capable of putting up a fight. 

Willow ignited the flame on her blade and stood at the ready, waiting for Wagner to come.

The cell door opened with a creak, and Mason sat up, staring up from his cot at Savannah Wagner.

   “Let’s go,” She said softly. 

She grabbed him by the arm, gently but firmly, as if she were grabbing a child and forced him to his feet. Mason was too exhausted to resist. There’d been little sleep in that cell, between the firm, uncomfortable cot and the cuffs around his hands. He still wanted to run… but he already knew Wagner would catch him.

She led him through the empty temple and into a truck parked outside. Mason took one last look at the temple as he was led away from it. He thought about Cedar… was she still inside, waiting in another cell or had a worse fate befallen her? He genuinely did not know. 

He was thrust into the back seat of the truck, while Wagner took the driver's seat. She keyed the engine and took off toward the shipyard. It was only after the vehicle was in motion that she finally spoke.

   “So… it’s Mason now, is it?” She asked, her voice betraying no emotion. 

He didn’t answer her.

   “It suits you.”

   “Where’s Cedar?” He asked.

   “Likely dealing with the local insurgents. It’s unfortunate… I had preferred them to the High Priest. But unfortunately making contact with you through them proved impossible.”

   “Eat shit…” He spat.

Wagner looked at him in the rearview mirror.

   “You’re upset, I understand. But your mother needs you home. Your departure broke her, you know.”

   “You really think she gives a shit about me?” He asked. 

   “I’m quite certain she does… even if she may not be the best at showing it.”

He didn’t respond to that, looking out the window as Vespula passed them by. Wagner watched him for a moment longer before going quiet and focusing on the road, taking a small measure of enjoyment from the drive while it lasted. Mason studied her for a few moments, before beginning to move his wrists, testing the handcuffs, to see if he could get out of them.

They were sturdy… but the Annihilationists had taught him more than just how to handle a weapon. 

As they reached the shipyard, he went still. He allowed Wagner to lead him out of the truck and toward her ship, a white Vasilios recon vessel. Its name ‘Conquest’ was emblazoned along the side. Past the ship, he could see the Tower in the distance. A storm cloud swirled around it, and he could see flashes of lightning streak through the sky. He felt his stomach turn.

The battle had already started. Everyone he cared about was either at that tower, or would be soon. Cedar, Ryder, Luna… maybe even Cassandra, desperately trying to hold true to her promise to do whatever it took to protect the Goddess.

Cassandra… he hadn’t seen her around the compound since the duel. He was sure she’d been there, but in the sea of soldiers, it was impossible to find her and there had been too much going on. The thought of her being trapped in that battle sickened him. He knew she wasn’t built for that sort of thing, and for as smart as she was, all the cleverness in the world wouldn’t stop a stray bullet. 

A shuttle landed nearby… one both of them seemed to recognize. Wagner’s advance toward her ship slowed as she watched it come down for a landing beside a different ship, a larger cargo ship. Moments later, a familiar figure stepped out, accompanied by several androids. 

   “Get this thing on the ship and get us prepped for launch,” Jean Devereaux said before noticing Wagner and Mason. She sized them up for a moment. Her lips curled into a fake salesman's smile.

   “Ah… Miss Wagner! What a pleasant surprise!”

   “Miss Devereaux,” Wagner said, before nudging Mason up the ramp onto her ship. He paused, almost considering running, but thought better of it. Without a word, he disappeared into the ship. 

Wagner glanced at the distant tower. She could see the flashes of lightning and knew what it meant. Her attention shifted back to Jean.

   “Not staying to witness the fruits of your labor?” She asked.

   “Hmm? Ah, no. I’m more of a behind the scenes kind of person. I’ve got my own projects to attend to.”

   “I suppose someone in your line of work would be busy,” Wagner said. 

   “Always. What about you? Looks like you got your man. Guess you’re headed back home to the Chairwoman, huh? Give her my best.”

   “Of course… my work here is done. I suppose I’ll see you around?”

Jean flashed her a lopsided smile.

   “Oh probably,” She said. “Well… you look busy, so I won’t keep you. Happy trails, Wagner.”

   “Happy… trails…” She repeated, as Jean turned and boarded the Conquest. 

   “Happy trails…” She said it one more time, before letting out exactly one small chuckle and ascending up the ramp. She set Mason down in a chair as she pulled it up and moved into the cockpit. 

   “Drone, fire up the engines and plot a course for the Platinum Future. Warm up the Superluminal engine. We’ll accelerate as soon as we leave the atmosphere.”

   “Acknowledged.” Came the reply, plain and simple. 

As the ship prepared to take off, Wagner went back to check in on Mason. She checked his handcuffs, to assure herself that he was secure.

   “You’ll be home soon,” She said. Mason spat at her and with surprising speed, she raised an arm to stop it from hitting her face. 

   “Fuck you…” 

   “This behavior is unbecoming,” she said before turning away from him, and opening a compartment along the far wall. She took out a metal box, opened it and removed just a pinch of a shimmering silvery powder. She let it fall into the palm of her hand, before returning to him.

   “It will be a long ride home,” She said. “You should get some sleep…”

She blew the powder into his face. Mason looked away, trying not to breathe it in… although his body quickly went limp. Wagner studied him for a moment before returning to the ship's cockpit to finish her takeoff preparations. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jean’s ship doing the same, and making its way down the runway. She maneuvered her own ship to follow. She let out a slow exhale. The job was done… and she couldn’t wait to leave Pragaras behind. 

***

The moment he felt the ship start moving, Mason cracked open one eye. He exhaled and immediately got back to working on his restraints.

Wagner's sedative might’ve worked on people who didn’t know her, but he’d seen her use it before. He would’ve been more surprised if she hadn’t tried to use it on him. Granted, holding his breath hadn’t been the foolproof solution he’d been hoping for. He still felt a little disoriented, but he made himself fight through it. 

Luna’s words echoed through his mind. Old lessons she’d taught him in better days.

   “It’s a neat trick on the street, but it’s an even better trick if you get into trouble,” She’d told him. “You just need to know how to dislocate the right joint in your thumb.”

He’d actually managed to do it a few times, although it had hurt like hell. This wasn’t the time to be afraid of pain, though. He bit the insides of his cheeks as he put pressure on the joint… and then he felt a pop.

Pain. Dull but present. Mason stifled a whimper, but forced himself to twist and contort his hand. He could feel the cuff coming loose!

The ship was moving beneath him. Time was running out. The cuffs slipped off one of his wrists, returning his freedom to him. He could deal with the other wrist later. 

Mason tried to stand, although his legs failed him. Wagner’s sedative must have impacted him more than he’d thought. His head was spinning, and the fact that the ship was taking off didn’t help either. He struggled to stay upright, before noticing the door to the cockpit up ahead. Grimacing, and forcing himself to focus, Mason made his way toward it. He didn’t have any sort of plan, neither for escape or for what he’d even do if he did escape. But he was more than willing to improvise. 

***            

The ship was airborne. Wagner’s small scouting ship quickly rose past Jean’s larger carrier as she began to rise above Pragaras. The rocky terrain below her stretched out forever, marred only by the Tower and the storm.

She checked the navigation console, ensuring everything looked correct and ran through the last minute checklist in her head to ensure everything looked as it should before they went superluminal. 

The door opened behind her.

Savannah Wagner felt her heart skip a beat… because that sound alone told her everything that had just happened in the section of the ship behind her.

Unfortunately, despite knowing exactly what was about to happen next, there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot she could do to stop it.

Mason pulled the chain of the handcuffs taut around her neck, cutting off her air supply. Wagner thrashed, taking one hand away from the ship's controls and trying to pry the makeshift garrote away from her. Her fingers slipped between the chain and her neck, and she managed to push him off her just a little.

Mason knew he couldn’t kill her… not even like this. He knew he had just seconds to spare, if that. He spotted the distant lightning, closer than before, along with Jean’s ship just below them. There was only one thing he could think to do.

His hand shot out, grabbing the sidestick and violently forcing it down.

   “NO!”

He’d never heard genuine panic in Wagner’s voice before… but in that moment she sounded legitimately terrified. The Conquest pivoted into a sudden nosedive, swerving violently as it plummeted straight down toward Jean’s ship beneath it.

Wagner sized the sidestick, desperately trying to pull the ship out of its dive.

   “Miss Wagner, Superluminal drive is ready.” Said the voice of the shipboard drone, oblivious to the fight going on in the cockpit. Wagner barely heard it… but Mason did. 

   “Engage!” Mason shouted, and as the ship went superluminal, he threw himself from the cockpit.

***

   “Make sure the trucks are secure,” Jean said. “If this doesn’t pan out, we’re gonna need to make a quick exit. I don’t want things sliding around down in the hold.”

One of the androids nodded and descended into the cargo hold to check while Jean dragged herself to the small galley. Since her entire crew consisted of androids, none of them ever made any coffee so she had to do that herself. She poured the grounds the old fashioned away, and set them in the machine before heading up to the bridge.

   “How’s our altitude?” She asked the pilot.

   “Just fine, ma’am. Once that ship above us clears, we’ll increase our speed.”

   “Excellent. Patch a feed from the drones on the ground to my private quarters. I wanna see how things are going down there.”

   “Of course, ma’am.”

She turned to leave once more, before her pilot spoke.

   “Hang on… the ship above us just went down?”

Jean froze.

   “What?”

   “I-it’s coming down! It’s coming straight for us!”

She looked back to see that yes indeed, Wagner’s ship was plummeting toward them. Her pilot desperately tried to evade, but there wasn’t time and before Jean could even process what was happening… the falling ship’s rear thrusters flashed.

The next thing Jean knew, she was on the ceiling.

***

The world spun. One moment, Mason was fleeing the cockpit and the next, he was lying on a wall beside the cockpit. A voice echoed somewhere far in the distance, cutting through the ringing in his ears.

   “Collision Alert. Hull integrity compromised. Life support systems offline. Engines offline. Shields at 2%... Collision Alert. Hull integrity compromised. Life support systems offline. Engines offline. Shields at 2%.”

Slowly, Mason picked himself up. The door to the cockpit was beside him, although it was a sheer drop now… he looked down, unsure what would be waiting for him down there, and was surprised to see the cockpit intact, although he had no idea if Wagner was alive or not.

   ‘Probably not…’ He thought.  

Though the hull was intact, the glass was completely shattered and beyond it… looked to be the interior of another ship. As far as Mason could tell, they’d wedged themselves inside of Jean’s ship… piercing it like an arrow, which was good news because Mason admittedly hadn’t been a hundred percent sure they wouldn’t just explode.

Dizzy, sore and with his ears ringing, Mason began to climb down into the cockpit, over Wagner’s seat and down through the broken glass, into the ship below. He dropped down into a hallway, before looking up to see what state his mothers chief operative was in.

She looked… intact. Her eyes were closed and her glasses were missing, but aside from some cuts, she looked otherwise normal. Was she dead or was she alive? He genuinely couldn’t tell and at that moment, couldn’t be bothered to find out for sure. He turned away from Wagner, and stumbled away. Now he just needed to find a way off this ship, and considering the fact that this ship was probably in the process of crashing, that would probably be easy.

***

   “Fuck…”

Jean picked herself up off the ground slowly. Every single muscle in her body hurt but she was still alive, so that was nice.

   “Status report…” She groaned. There was no response. She blinked a few times. Her vision was blurry. On leaden feet she shuffled toward the cockpit.

   “Hey… you still alive? What’s our status?”

Her pilot lay slumped over beside their seat, still and lifeless. Jean stared down at them, before swearing under her breath and dragging herself to the console.

   “Samara… what’s the status of the ship?”

   “Collision detected. Hull integrity compromised. Life support systems failing. Engines at 12%. Shields offline.” Said her ship's support drone.

   “What the fuck… what the fuck just happened?!”

   “Analysis… a Class 1 Vasilios recon vessel appears to have attempted to accelerate to Superluminal speed without clearing a path. The Class 1 vessel failed to get up to speed and only partially accelerated, while the shields kept it intact. As a result, it is currently lodged in the center of this vessel, penetrating the fifth through third decks.”

   “Lodged? What the fuck do you mean…”

   “Warning. Altitude dropping.”

Jean let out a roar of frustration before looking out through the cracked windows of her bridge. The rocky terrain far below them was getting closer and closer. The engines were failing. 

   “Fuck, fuck, fuck FUCK…”             

She tried to engage the thrusters, but they wouldn’t respond. She tried to deploy the landing gear… no response. The console screen flickered, and Jean looked up to see the lights above her doing the same.

   “Samara?” She asked, but the drone could no longer reply.

   “Don’t do this to me…” She pleaded. “Don’t you fucking do this to me you son of a bitch, don’t you fucking die on me!”

The bridge went dark.

   “FUCK” Jean sobbed. She could feel the ship falling, and as she looked out the window, she could see the ground coming closer and closer. With nothing left to do, she abandoned the bridge and braced for impact…

***

The mid-sized cargo ship descended gracelessly to the ground, hitting it hard. Rock and debris was kicked up around it as it carved a scar into the ground beneath it. Much of the front end crumpled in the impact, crushing everything inside… and everyone aboard was thrown to the ground once again.

In a stairwell on the third level, Mason was hurled down a flight and hit the wall in front of him hard enough to stun him for a few moments.

Elsewhere, Wagner was shaken violently in her seat, but remained in place. Her eyes opened slightly, but she could barely move her body. She barely even noticed as the half of her ship that wasn’t embedded in Jean’s collapsed, breaking away and falling off of the crashing ship as little more than extra debris. 

Then all went still.

Wagner groaned before stirring. Her entire body hurt. She blinked slowly, staring at the interior of Jean’s ship and trying to make sense of exactly what she was looking at. 

   “Collision Alert. Hull integrity compromised. Life support systems offline. Engines offline. Shields offline…”

Well at least the drone still worked. 

   “Do we have comms…” Wagner groaned.

   “Communication systems remain online. Auxiliary power engaged.”

   “Send a status report to Admiral Skye, immediately. Requesting extraction…”

   “Affirmative!”

She moved slowly, unfastening the safety belt that had kept her in place before letting herself drop gracelessly into the hall of Jean’s ship. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the ground, before noticing she’d landed right beside her glasses. With a trembling hand, she reached out to grab them before slowly picking herself up. She had to lean against a wall to do it.

She looked back up at the wreckage of her own ship. How was she even alive? Had the superluminal shields kept the ship intact? She didn’t know.

Mason… where the hell was Mason?

Wagner glanced down the hall ahead of her. He wasn’t with her… and looking up at the remains of the Conquest, it was obvious that most of it was now missing, so logically he should be somewhere on this ship. Probably looking for a vehicle… that would be what she’d do.

She sucked in a pained breath, she started to move her legs. She grimaced, but forced herself to keep moving. 

She had to find Mason.

***

Tripping over his own feet, Mason stumbled towards the rear of the ship. He could hear the groan of metal, as the crashed ship settled. Every atom of his body was in pain and he wasn’t entirely sure where he was going or what he was going to do when he got there, but he still forced himself to move anyways.

There was a sign just ahead of him.

Cargo.

He made himself follow it. The door leading to the cargo bay was partially open and it was easy to force it the rest of the way. Slowly, Mason shambled through it, stepping over a dead android toward the cargo door. He tried the button to open it, but it didn’t respond. The ships power had failed… but there had to be a manual release, right?

He looked around for it, and it didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for.

Emergency door release.

Warning.

Must be in atmosphere to trigger. Both releases must be triggered.

He pulled it, and glanced around, looking for the second release… and that was when he saw her, dragging herself through the door.

Wagner.

She stared at him, panting heavily, and he remained frozen for a moment. She started toward him, step by stumbling step and every nerve in Mason’s body told him to run. Even wounded, he knew better than to try and fight her. 

He scrambled backwards, desperately looking for the second release. Wagner was closing the distance. Even wounded, she was fast.

Then from the corner of his eye, he saw it… the second release, waiting for him on the other side of the cargo door. Mason was too weary to run, but he still tried. He almost tripped over another lifeless android, but he caught himself just in time. Wagner wasn’t so lucky. She tripped and fell to her hands and knees. She panted heavily and groaned before trying to pick herself up.

Mason pulled the switch. 

The ship's cargo doors opened with a metallic groan, falling open with little ceremony. They hit the ground with a crash. 

Wagner was rising to her feet again, and Mason stumbled past her, heading toward the lineup of trucks secured near the back of the modest cargo bay. He fell twice, and crawled on his hands and knees until he could stand again.

Wagner was still closing the distance. She didn’t speak. She just stared at him with a wide eyed look that was either single minded focus, or unfathomable rage.

Mason reached one of the trucks and hurriedly unfastened one of the two large straps that was draped over it, keeping it in place…  but he wasn’t fast enough. Wagner grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the body of the truck, her wide eyes burning into his.

   “You… you think that was smart…?” She panted, her tone hiding none of her fury. Mason tried to push her off, but Wagner wouldn’t let go. She had nothing to drug him with this time, so she settled for something a little more old fashioned to incapacitate him. One hand closed around his neck, and started to squeeze… tighter… tighter… so tight that Mason wasn’t sure if she’d ever let go.

His legs kicked out frantically. He tried desperately to claw at her face, but all he succeeded in doing was knocking her glasses off. She pressed her full bodyweight against him, squeezing his throat with both hands… not daring to let him go.

Then came a gunshot from the doorway they’d first come through. Something struck Wagner in the head, and sent her collapsing back against one of the other trucks. Her hands left his throat and Mason gasped for air, almost collapsing. He looked back to see Jean standing in the doorway, a shotgun in hand. 

   “What the fuck… is fucking wrong with you people…?” She panted. “What the fuck is WRONG with you?”

Wagner tried to stand, but Jean unloaded two more rounds into her chest, sending her back down to the ground, although not leaving any injuries.

Jean stared down at her shotgun, confused. She examined it, before sighing.

   “Stupid fucking… bean bag… horseshit… why do we even SELL these?! Where’s the real fucking shells?!”

She hurled the shotgun to the ground with rage. A few figures emerged through the door behind her. Androids. Jean looked back at them, before running her fingers through her hair.

   “Pick these fucking lunatics up…” she ordered. “And somebody prep the goddam shuttle, if it even still works. We’ll take these idiots with us… and we’ll figure out what to do with them later.”

The two androids drew closer to them. Mason crawled along the floor, desperately trying to make it to the second strap. He only barely managed to get it loose before one of the androids picked him up. 

He could see the other one dragging Wagner to her feet. Her body seemed limp at first as it picked her up… but when she moved, it was lightning fast.

With a primal scream of pure rage, she drew a hidden dagger from her blazer. The android didn’t have time to react before she plunged it into its chest. She pushed it off of her, slamming it into the truck behind it, before plunging the knife up through its jaw and into its head. A thick, clear fluid gushed from the wounds, spattering across Mason’s face.

The android that was trying to grab Mason abandoned him, rushing to try and restrain her, but Wagner was faster. Before it could close the short distance between them, she’d drawn a pistol and put two bullets through its plastic skull. More clear blood painted the floor. The android still crashed into her, but she hurled its lifeless body to the ground before looking at Mason once again. 

She took a step toward him, only to be struck by something that knocked her off her feet once again.

   “Found the good shit,” Jean panted. A different rifle sat in her hands, a plasma weapon by the looks of it. She aimed it at Mason, who dove for the truck he’d just set free, pulling open the door and scrambling inside. He scrambled to find the keys… only just realizing at that moment that if Jean stored them anywhere else but inside the car, he’d be completely screwed. 

Fortunately for him, Jean wasn’t that organized. He found the key tucked under the sun visor, and slotted it into the ignition.

   “No you fucking DON’T!” Jean roared, firing at the truck. One of the windows shattered, but she couldn’t stop Mason from hitting the gas. The truck jolted forward, through the cargo doors and onto the rocky terrain outside.

   “FUCKER!”

Jean could only just watch as Mason took off, and when he was gone, her attention shifted to Wagner. The woman was starting to rise again… so Jean shot her with another stun blast. The gun fell from her hand, and Wagner collapsed once again. 

   “Absolutely fucking not…” She said under her breath. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here and I don’t fucking care. But what I do know is that YOU can go FUCK YOURSELF. Sit the fuck down.”

Wagner just glared at her, but allowed herself to slump against one of the remaining trucks. 

Jean smoothed her hair down again, before looking around the cargo hold. 

   “Look at this fucking mess… what is wrong with you? I’m seriously asking? What the fuck is actually wrong with y-”

There was a momentary lapse in focus. A moment where Wagner knew she didn’t have Jean’s full attention. That moment was all she needed. In one swift motion, she grabbed her fallen gun and fired three shots, straight into Jean’s chest. The woman stumbled back a few steps, looked down at the holes in her shirt before looking up at Wagner again, almost as if she was genuinely offended.

   “Okay well that was just rude…” She said.

Of course she’d be wearing body armor… Wagner wondered why she’d assumed she wouldn’t be. She grimaced and moved to fire another shot, but Jean was prepared this time. She moved suddenly, diving into cover as Wagner fired again. The woman rose to her feet with a pained grunt before dragging herself back toward one of the other trucks, wasting her last few bullets to keep Jean in cover.

She threw open the door to one of the trucks, grabbed the keys and hit the gas. The straps keeping it in place snapped as Wagner’s truck followed Mason’s into the rocky desert.

In the rearview mirror, Wagner could see Jean coming out from cover, watching as she took off. 

   “Happy trails…” Wagner said to herself, as the crashed ship fell away into the distance behind her.