Chapter 59: Darkness of the Known

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8 Days Later

– Firdia, Skydiath 17, 8034 –

Lehmekarid, Gonaan, Siionleh, Egdonikon, Bowiisen.

Citaron, Citici, Metorilis.

Tau’cen Kii, Lis’talra, Y’kisdral, Dramantis, Bouy’Xis.

Oriciid’kas.

3 civilizations, 3 Homeworlds, 14 Transpaces, all belonging to the Core Space Alliance. The three civilizations of the CSA claim territory tens of thousands of light years across, encircling the galactic core and protecting hundreds of planets. Over a trillion people live under the CSA government. The Homeworld solar systems of Siionleh, Citici, and Y’kisdral alone host tens of billions of people, and the CSA capital world of Oriciid’kas is an economic and cultural juggernaut, featuring such grand engineering feats as terraforming almost every planet in the system and constructing enough space stations to allow nearly a hundred billion citizens to reside in that system alone. The Alliance has persevered throughout the millennia, standing up to such threats as the Drakkar factions all while developing their own territory and trade relations with the Nimalians, Syraus, and Black Suns. Their economic and military might is such that, between the three member nations, the CSA possesses a total of six Deathnaughts ­– giant warships stretching fifty kilometers from bow to stern, the man-made gods of space warfare, capable of tanking supernovas and dishing out enough firepower to obliterate planets. And that’s not even taking into account the massive space fleets of the Alliance, possessing enough strategic prowess to fend off most attacks from the technologically superior Drakkars. The CSA is truly a force to be reckoned with. And yet…

15 days ago, the Dra’kis border Transpace World of Bouy’Xis was lost.

The initial Nanocreature offensive was overwhelming. In four short days the metallic newcomers had broken down defenses that the Drakkars had failed to penetrate over the course of thousands of years, devastating the unprepared CSA fleets as they assimilated the defeated ships into their own ranks and descended upon the frightened and defenseless populace of Bouy’Xis. With the Citan border Transpace World of Metorilis and the Siion Transpace World of Gonaan also falling under Nanocreature attack, the CSA had no choice but to abandon Bouy’Xis, disconnecting its Transpace from the neighboring world of Dramantis in an attempt to slow down the Nanocreatures. But then…

10 days ago, the Siion Homeworld of Siionleh fell under attack.

Aside from being immensely powerful, the Nanocreatures were simply too fast. They had launched simultaneous offenses on Bouy’Xis, Metorilis, and Gonaan, and while the worlds were no more than fifteen thousand light years apart, the fact that they were separated by Dead Space forced the CSA to travel along the galactic arms by Transpace. And even then, they were too slow – whereas it took CSA ships over a month to traverse fifteen thousand light years, it took the Nanocreatures a mere two days, allowing them to hit Siionleh hard before the Siions could begin bringing in reinforcements. Nevertheless, with the assistance of the local Fortress World of Tranis, the Siions put up a fierce fight for their Homeworld, determined to not lose their original home to the new galactic menace. But just as hopes were beginning to rise…

6 days ago, the Citan border Transpace World of Metorilis was lost.

After a full nine days of defending the system, the Citans had lost thousands of ships and billions of people. The Nanocreatures had managed to make Planetfall within six days of attacking the planet, and once they began attacking and assimilating civilians and military strongholds, the Citans quickly began to lose their foothold. As with Bouy’Xis, Metorilis had been attacked before the CSA realized what a threat the Nanocreatures were, and as such it was very poorly fortified; in a bid to prevent future losses, the Citans decided to abandon Metorilis and pull their forces back to their Homeworld in order to set up proper defenses and come up with a solid countermeasure to the Nanocreatures. It was a decision that cost billions of lives, but the Citans hoped that they could save many more by sacrificing the planet.

On the same day that Metorilis was abandoned, the Nimalians finally entered the war directly. Under Commander Nikéyin’s orders, six full fleets – each a thousand ships strong – were dispatched to assist the Siions, with two of the fleets stopping to garrison the Siion Transpace World of Egdonikon while the remaining four moved on to help the Siions defend Siionleh. Additionally, the Earthian battlecruiser Genesis arrived at the Nimalian Homeworld, fully repaired and with several prototype Subspace Drives in tow. The Genesis was the sole non-Drakkar ship that could match the speed and firepower of the Nanocreatures, and it was quickly put to task assisting the CSA while the Nimalians researched the Subspace Drives and began attempting to mass-produce their own. And then…

4 days ago, the entire galaxy received a burst transmission from none other than Prosusicivious, the leader of the Prolatio Drakkars.

The Prolatio faction held the smallest territory in Drakkar space and were the least well-known of the six factions due to how rarely they ventured outside of their own borders. Whereas Exdominor and Surdeus – and even Mulmagnus and Telregina – appeared often enough to become immortalized in legends and stories across the galaxy, Prosusicivious was a virtually unknown name to the galactic public. So when he suddenly appeared on transmission channels the galaxy over, everyone was caught by surprise – and even more so by what he had to say:

“If you wish to defeat the Nanocreatures, you need only defeat their leader, Morcii. If you are able to take him down, then the rest shall follow.”

The fact that a Drakkar was offering advice failed to baffle no one and quickly gave rise to rumors regarding the nature of the Nanocreatures and how the Drakkars were faring. It was certainly true that the Exemplar and Sursum Drakkars had quickly abandoned their attacks on Siion space soon after the Nanocreatures appeared, so there was little doubt that the Nanocreatures were attacking the Drakkars and forcing their attention away from the CSA. From that light, many found it unsurprising that a Drakkar would offer advice as to how to defeat the Nanocreatures – their downfall would be beneficial to the entire galaxy. Yet many more were confused by the utter lack of malice or condescension in Prosusicivious’s words, a stark contrast from every line of communication with the Drakkars that anyone ever knew; and even more, how could he know that stopping Morcii would stop the Nanocreatures as a whole? How could that even be true? The Drakkar’s advice spawned hope where there was none previously, but the doubt that he was wrong still lingered even in the minds of the most resolute. Then…

3 days ago, the Siion Transpace World of Lehmekarid fell under attack.

1 day ago, the Dra’kis Transpace World of Dramantis fell under attack.

The CSA was spread thin. They had already lost two worlds and a further four, spread over tens of thousands of light years, were under heavy attack. The Nanocreatures had yet to attack any non-Transpace Worlds, but instead of relieving the CSA the fact stressed them even more – the Nanocreatures were clearly aiming to capture every Transpace, which would force the CSA to spend months traveling distances that could have otherwise been travelled in a few days. If the CSA lost control of their Transpaces their ability to defend their territory would be severely hampered, allowing the Nanocreatures to then run amok at their own desire. And while the Nanocreature strategy allowed the CSA to focus their entire might on defending the Transpace Worlds, it still wasn’t enough. The loss of the Transpaces was a fate that no one could allow… yet, it was a fate that appeared to be inevitable. The Nanocreatures were nigh-unstoppable, having already destroyed thousands upon thousands of ships, assimilated many more, and taken countless lives in the process. The longer and harder the CSA resisted, the stronger the Nanocreatures grew, and on top of that – whenever Morcii appeared on a battlefield, all of his opponents were doomed to death or corruption. After only twenty days and countless battle encounters, only six Chaotics remained who had entered battle with Morcii and survived to tell the tale… but even they were doubtful that they could last through a second encounter.

The only hope of defeating the Nanocreatures lay with defeating Morcii. Yet, no one alive could possibly match his absolute power. With each passing day, the galaxy’s fate grew darker, and there was little to suggest even the existence of a light at the end of the tunnel.

*             *             *

“I see you have re-enabled audio communication.”

“Yep,” Kevérin replied, glancing back at Kievkenalis before taking a seat in front of the computer that was hooked up to Arcán’s core. “Talking will be much easier when there’s more than two people trying to converse.”

“More than two…?”

“I’m here, as well,” Kievkenalis spoke up, “I’m Captain Kievkenalis Yumach, of the RPF. Well… formerly of the RPF.”

“Yes, I have been informed of recent events, including the formation of the NSD,” Arcán responded curtly, “I do still have some records on the RPF that I saved during my time in the hands of the SFC. Is there something you wish to speak to me about?”

“A couple things, yeah,” Kevérin nodded, “First off, and I know I’ve asked before, but I wanted to know if you know of any way to stop the Nanocreatures. Anything would help.”

“I have nothing more to add, aside from affirming Prosusicivious’s claim. Morcii and the Ayas he controls are imperative to the operational abilities of the Nanocreatures as a whole. Each Ayas Morcii holds allows him to control exponentially more Nanocreatures, and Morcii’s very existence as the head of the Nanocreatures allows them to coordinate in a highly efficient manner.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that the Nanocreatures aren’t even close to their full potential?!” Kievkenalis exclaimed.

“That is correct. If Morcii were to get his hands on the Ayas you currently possess, he would become completely unstoppable. The Drakkars and Aldredas were only able to stand up to the Nanocreatures because they were able to hold on to some of the Ayas; only the Morikai are capable of opposing the Nanocreatures with all the Ayas, but as you know, Morcii works for the Morikai themselves.”

“That makes using the Ayas against Morcii sound even more dangerous…” Kevérin muttered, “If we were to lose them…”

“It is true that using the Ayas comes with danger, but it is also true that the only way to defeat Morcii is to use the Ayas against him. The only objects in this galaxy capable of opposing the power of a Chaos Ayas are the other Chaos Ayas. Therefore, the Chaos State is an absolutely necessary countermeasure to Morcii.”

“Which brings us to the other thing we wanted to talk about,” Kievkenalis cut in, “The Chaos State. What can you tell us about it?”

“…You Aldredanoids are indeed an odd group. What makes you think that asking the same question over and over will yield different answers? I believe I have already spoken at length about the Chaos State.”

“Not true,” Kevérin refuted, “When I asked you about the Chaos State, you told me how to activate it, and then deferred to Mystryth on everything else. It’s possible that Mystryth didn’t actually tell us everything you think she told us, so I want to know what you know.”

“Perceptive. Very well, I will indulge you. You already know how to activate and, consequently, deactivate the State, yes?”

“Chaos State: Ordinal Tier, and Chaos State: Disengage, yeah,” Kevérin nodded, “You told me that much.”

“Correct. Of additional relevance to the activation of the state is the proximity of the Ayas you are using. No matter the tier, all of the Ayas you are using must be within ten meters of your center of gravity.”

“Ten meters, huh?...” Kievkenalis mused, thinking back to when Kevérin activated the Chaos State on Earth. “…That was pretty close, then. The Ayas the Earthians had was almost ten meters away from us.”

“I guess we got lucky in that regard,” Kevérin replied before turning back to Arcán’s console, “I also noticed that the Ayas Weapon got a massive power boost, more so than I did. Is that actually the case or was I just not using my full potential?”

“Which Ayas were you using?”

“Mystryth,” Kievkenalis stated after Kevérin threw him a confused glance.

“Ah. Yes, the Ayas Weapons do receive more of a power boost than the Chaotic themselves, but the ranged weapons become even more potent than any of the melee weapons.”

“What are the Ayas Weapons?” Kievkenalis questioned, “I remember that Hastryth was a chain weapon, and that Mystryth is a bow. What’s the rest?”

“Syn is a scythe; Arcán, a claymore; Tanivas, a staff; Matlés, a pair of gauntlets; Sendous, a pair of chakrams; Aldrace, a glaive; and Tsern, a spear.”

“Sounds like a medieval gallery,” Kevérin snorted, “What’s the actual benefit of using the Ayas Weapons if they’re all just melee ranged?”

“Each weapon is constructed on the spot from Chaos Energy itself each time they are used, hence the seeming ability to summon and dismiss them at will. This also makes them completely unbreakable and, furthermore, they will never dull. There is also the Subspatial Storage ability, which I have mentioned to you before.”

“Can multiple weapons be used at the same time?”

“If you possess the skill to dual-wield, then yes. You will, of course, need both Ayas on your person; however, using multiple Ayas Weapons at once is only truly a boon while inhabiting the Chaos State. Higher tiers allow the nigh-effortless use of multiple Ayas Weapons at once.”

“Will the weapons even be useful at the higher tiers?” Kievkenalis frowned, “If the higher tiers are powerful enough then it seems like they’d just obsolete the melee weapons.”

“While it is true that the Final Tier possesses enough power to potentially destroy the galaxy itself, there is always–“

“Whoa whoa whoa, wait, hold on a minute,” Kevérin interrupted, furrowing his brow before staring at Arcán’s console incredulously. “I almost thought that you said that the Final Tier Chaos State could destroy the whole fucking galaxy.”

“I did indeed say that.”

“….What.”

“Yes. Furthermore, the Eighth Tier is capable of destroying solar systems, and the Fourth Tier possesses enough power to destroy planets. Accordingly, the Third Tier and above grant the ability of unaided flight, and the Fifth Tier and above grant the ability of unaided vacuum survival. Such is the power of the Ayas and the Chaos State.”

“…We have four Ayas…” Kievkenalis muttered in awe, “…we have more than four Ayas!”

“Yes, but keep in mind that each Ayas can only be used by a single individual. If one Chaotic uses all the Ayas to engage the Final Tier, then no other Chaotic can use the Chaos State. It is often more useful to have several Chaotics in lower tier Chaos States than one Chaotic at a high tier.”

“But still… shit,” Kevérin responded incredulously, “When Mystryth said that the Chaos State could destroy planets or solar systems, I didn’t… I never thought that we’d actually have that potential. I could just go get the Ayas locations from Nikéyin right now and go on a planet destruction spree within the next week, do you understand how terrifying that is?!”

“Doesn’t Morcii have four Ayas?” Kievkenalis questioned, a frown rapidly forming on his features, “Doesn’t that mean…?”

“Fortunately, Morcii cannot activate the Chaos State. His… very nature prevents him from accessing it, so he does not yet possess planet-busting power – not on his own. He could create large and powerful Nanocreature constructs to destroy planets, but he himself cannot. That aside, pure destruction is not in his nature. Morcii would much rather capture and corrupt a planet and its populace than outright destroy it.”

“Our course of action sounds rather simple then, doesn’t it?” Kevérin crossed his arms, “We use the Fourth Tier Chaos State and whoop Morcii’s ass.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Kievkenalis refuted, “I trust Arcán, but we have no proof that what he’s saying is true. I doubt we’ll be able to convince Nikéyin or any of the other top brass to give us access to all the Ayas and then wave them under Morcii’s nose. It’s too risky.”

“On the other hand, it’s the only way to stop him…”

“Do not get carried away, Aldredanoids. Do not forget about the Ayas scattering factor of the Chaos State – upon disengaging it, the Ayas will scatter across some distance relative to the number of Ayas used in the State, forcing you to collect them again. If you use the Chaos State against Morcii but fail to defeat him, there is certainly the risk of him beating you to the Ayas once you disengage. While the Chaos State is the only way to defeat Morcii for certain, do not use it until you are certain you can defeat him. Until then, restrict yourselves to using the First Tier, as it is the only Tier that will simply return the Ayas to your possession upon disengaging.”

“…Got it,” Kevérin sighed, “…Damn, this’ll take some time to sink in. It’s almost like stumbling across a random sequence of numbers and then suddenly realizing two months later that it’s tomorrow’s jackpot lottery ticket. This is just… too much.”

“This is all information that we could have used weeks ago,” Kievkenalis stated, “…why didn’t you tell us until now?”

“You did not ask.”

“Don’t give us that shit,” Kevérin scowled, “…damn. Alright, I’m going to report this to Nikéyin. Maybe the research teams can verify some of it with the Ayas and come up with something before the CSA loses another world…” He turned to readdress Arcán. “You said previously that your memory banks were damaged, but you still seem to know a lot…”

“Are you suggesting that I have mis-diagnosed my own problem? Or are you daring to suggest that I am lying to you?”

“Well, no, but…”

“I assure you, Aldredanoid, that everything I have just told you is correct information. I also assure you that I have not lied to you.”

“All we have on that is your word.”

“Has anything I’ve said previously proven to be incorrect?”

“Most of the things you’ve said haven’t even been proven correct. It goes both ways.”

“I understand your skepticism, but it is not necessary. Nevertheless, I must indulge you… but do not take too long to make up your minds, Aldredanoids, as before long it may become too late to oppose Morcii.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kevérin snorted, standing up and turning toward the room’s exit. “I’ll be back later with whatever we can figure out about the Ayas. Kevken, let’s go.”

*             *             *

“Aw, Vélunis–!”

“What?” the Lieutenant glanced lazily toward Kaoné.

“What do you mean, ‘what’?” the Materiatechnic huffed, turning her attention away from her desk computer to give Vélunis a highly ineffectual glare. “I stepped out of the room for five minutes and you somehow messed with all my stuff!”

“Suuure, just blame me right off the bat,” he drawled, “You really shouldn’t jump to conclusions, Kaoné.”

“Yeah? Well who else would it be?”

Vélunis glanced around the Hero Machina office, which was currently inhabited by Kaoné and Vélunis alone – until the door opened a moment later as Wilkas casually strolled in.

“He wasn’t here before,” Kaoné declared adamantly when Vélunis turned back to her.

“Whoa, you don’t know that,” Wilkas immediately countered, stepping forward to stand next to Vélunis’s makeshift desk. “I was totally here earlier. I was even here before you were here.”

“See Kaoné, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Vélunis smirked.

“Guys…” she groaned warily.

“Don’t blame us, we aren’t the ones who started randomly blaming people for shit.”

“But I’m not… hey, I’m trying to be serious here!”

“Well maybe you should try harder,” Wilkas replied nonchalantly.

“Aw,” Kaoné scowled, though her attempt to do so conveyed not even a fraction of the intimidation or irritation displayed by a scowl such as Davídrius’s. “Seriously guys, we’re at work.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Vélunis rolled his eyes, “Name one time I messed with anything actually important.”

“What–! …Well, I mean, you’ve only been here for a week, so that argument doesn’t really mean anything.”

“Wow, did you hear that?” Wilkas glanced toward Vélunis as he moved over to his own desk, “She thinks we’re criminals.”

“Wow Kaoné, why are you so prejudiced?” Vélunis smirked self-amusedly, “Is it ‘cause we’re from lower tier worlds? Huh?”

“That’s not–! Argh,” Kaoné responded impatiently, “…How can the two of you be like this when the whole galaxy’s at war?”

“Meh, the galaxy’s the galaxy, and here is here,” Wilkas shrugged, “Why bother thinking about it? It’s not like there’s anything we can do.”

“I guess…”

“Everyone here needs to lighten up,” Vélunis declared, “Nothing’ll get done if everyone’s just depressed all the time. Hell, Davídrius was walkin’ around earlier looking all doom ‘n gloom and I swear he just about made the walls themselves start crying. Damn.”

“He’s not completely unjustified, he did just lose his home…”

“Sure, but the last thing we need around here is a depressed Introtechnic with a hair-trigger temper. Dude needs to chill.”

“That’s easy to say,” Kaoné frowned.

“Well of course it’s easy to say. Everything’s easy to say,” Vélunis rolled his eyes again.

“…Is this what everyone from the RPF is like?”

“Wow, did you just stereotype us?” Wilkas glanced toward Kaoné incredulously.

“No, I–! Gah, you guys are so hard to work with!”

“Whoa, Kaoné, slow down,” Vélunis threw up his hands defensively, “We’ve only known each other for a week, I don’t think we’re ready for that kind of relationship yet.”

“What…?” the Materiatechnic stared at him blankly for several seconds before realizing the joke. She then pulled a face as she turned her attention back to her computer. “Haha, very funny.”

“Oh shit, Wilkas, she knows sarcasm!”

“Oh dude, that’s great, I heard it’s one of the highest forms of humor or something.”

Kaoné sighed warily as she shook her head, choosing to ignore Vélunis and Wilkas’s never-ending teasing as she got back to work.

*             *             *

“Davídrius? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the Introtechnic drawled, crossing his arms as he casually stepped up to the hospital bed, “I didn’t know I was interrupting anything. I can leave if you want.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Christeané smirked weakly, craning his head slightly in an attempt to better meet Davídrius’s gaze. “I just wasn’t expecting to see you. None of the nurses told me anyone was coming.”

“Not surprised. I didn’t exactly call ahead.”

“Oh, please,” Christeané snorted, and then winced slightly as he attempted to adjust his body brace, “We’re in Tekdecé. Don’t tell me you decided to run thousands of kilometers over an ocean on a whim or something.”

Davídrius responded with a blank stare.

“…You did, didn’t you.”

“Ocean running is actually very calming, I’ll have you know.”

“I bet it’s not as calming as laying on a hospital bed for weeks on end,” Christeané joked bitterly.

“Weeks?” Davídrius echoed incredulously, “Your operations finished a week ago. You’ve only been here for a week.”

“And I will be here for several more,” Christeané scowled as he allowed his head to fall back onto his pillow. “Do you know how restrictive this brace is? I haven’t moved at all since the operations.”

“Sounds terrible.”

“Don’t patronize me. Why don’t you try to take a piss when you can’t even move your body.”

“…I did not need that image,” Davídrius grimaced.

“Well it’s what you get for being inconsiderate.”

“Tch,” the Introtechnic snorted. He then glanced down at Christeané’s body brace, which held his arms fixed by his sides. “…So, uh… how did the operation go?”

“I’m still alive, in case you couldn’t tell,” Christeané smirked bitterly, “…barely feels like that, though. I’ve been hopped up on pain meds ever since I got out, it’s what almost makes not being able to move bearable since half the time I’m too delirious to notice. Doc says my body will have adjusted to the skeletal implants by the end of next week, and a week after that it’ll be safe to start physical therapy…”

“Shit… well, at least it sounds like you’ll be back to normal after that, right?”

“For normal-person normal, sure. But not Chaotic normal. I mean – I’m far from the first person to have a majority-skeletal replacement, and I’m definitely not the first Chaotic to get it, but I am the first Introtechnic.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah. No one knows what the skeletal replacement will do to my ability to withstand force, because no one even knows exactly what gives a Chaotic their abilities in the first place, you know? So I might not even be able to go back to Hero Machina, or even the NSD…”

Davídrius pursed his lips before sighing wearily and crossing his arms. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to knock Morcii around for ya.”

“Can you really say that after what happened on Maasen?” Christeané raised a weary eyebrow, “I mean, just fucking look at me. What if this happens to you?”

“…”

“…That said, I’ve got a bone to pick with you. …Pun unintended.”

“Some dark humor, right there.”

“Shush. Anyways, I at least convinced one of the nurses to get me the mission reports for the two weeks I’ve been out, you know, to pass the time, and one of them wasn’t very encouraging.” He furrowed his brow before continuing, “So… Siyuakén’s dead?”

Davídrius winced visibly and immediately looked away. “…Yeah.”

“And you killed her?”

“Look, it was either that or lose her to Morcii, alright? Don’t get on my ass about this.”

“No, I’m not… I’m not saying that you’re wrong. I probably would have done the same thing. I just wanted to know why you did it.”

“Why?” Davídrius bristled, “What, do you want a reason to blame me, too?”

“What? No, I never said that. Why would you think that?”

“…”

“Davídrius…?”

“I had to, okay? I’m not gonna let another one of my friends lose her mind and be forced to kill her own friends. I’m not going to fight one of my friends again. I don’t care what you or Rebehka or anyone says, I’m not doin’ that shit again.”

“Why are you getting so defensive all of a sudden? I never said I’d disagree, or even blame you.”

“You say that. It’s easy to say anything. It’s easy to do anything, too. Thinking about it, though…”

Christeané narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to say you’re having second thoughts about this?”

Davídrius sighed wearily as he glanced around the small room for a chair. Upon finding one he stepped over to it and took a seat, his gaze pointedly focused away from Christeané the whole time. “…Maybe. I don’t know. I guess, less second thoughts, and more… I dunno. Regret, maybe.”

“You regret killing Siyuakén?”

“No, not– …I don’t know. I regret not being able to do anything about it. I could’ve stopped it. It was on Sunova, you know, I think, and if I had just been paying attention– argh, damn it. First Selind, now you. Why’s everyone gotta get all up in my shit?”

“Because this doesn’t affect just you, Davídrius,” Christeané frowned, “Siyuakén was my friend too, you know, and the last thing I want to hear is that she died for nothing.”

“She didn’t–“

“I’m not saying that I disagree with what you did, I’m saying I have an issue with why you did it. How do you think Siyuakén would feel if she knew that you were getting all wishy-washy and hung-up over what you could have done to keep her alive?”

“…Huh…?”

“You’re trivializing her death. It happened, now deal with it. Do you know how disrespectful you’re being? You of all people should know that, because you’re the one who fucking offed her. It may have been the only course of action, but doubting it now makes you little better than a murderer who kills for no reason.”

“What the hell–? You think I don’t know that? What the fuck gives you the right to say that anyways?”

“Because I’m your friend, too, and that gives me the right to call you out on your bullshit.”

“…”

“Look, do you really think Siyuakén would want to see you drowning in regret instead of tearing Morcii a new asshole in her name?”

“…No…”

“Exactly. Keep doing what you’re doing and you’re just insulting her memory and her wishes. Not to mention insulting Rebehka and her attempt to save Siyuakén, since you’re the one who told her to stop trying.”

Davídrius stared at Christeané for several moments, lips pursed, before he smirked bitterly and looked away. “I guess you’re right,” he sighed, “…shit, feelings are hard.”

“Welcome to life in the adult world,” Christeané quipped.

“Says the guy who needs a nurse’s assistance every time he needs to take a piss.”

“…Come two months from now, I’m going to kick your ass, got it?”

“I don’t know, it might look bad if I beat up a cripple.”

“Ha,” Christeané snorted, and then returned to a more neutral expression. “But really, Davídrius. I meant everything I said. Don’t forget it.”

“Yeah, yeah…” the Introtechnic waved him off, “I know, I know. …Hope you aren’t expecting me to thank you, though.”

“If you thanked me then I’d really know that something’s up,” Christeané responded cheekily.

“Tch. Everyone always assumes I’m an ungrateful bastard.”

“It’s because you are an ungrateful bastard. But don’t change, it’s what we all love you for.”

“Keh–! Of course you’d say that. Have fun on the hospital bed while I rack up all the glory from beating Morcii.”

“I’ll be sure to save a seat for when you come back in worse condition than I did.”

“Fuck you,” Davídrius responded with a smirk. He then got back to his feet and approached the room’s exit. “Anyways, I’ve spent enough time here. I should probably get back to Nimaliaka before the Commander or Kevérin throws a fit.”

“Sure thing,” Christeané replied, “Thanks for dropping by. And do us all a favor and actually figure out a way to stop Morcii, alright?”

“Aye, definitely,” Davídrius raised his right hand in a casual wave as he left the room, “We’re on it.”

*             *             *

“Come in!”

Nikéyin glanced away from her computer screen for just a moment as Archoné Culana stepped into her office. She quickly returned her attention to the screen and finished what she was typing as Culana silently took a seat across the desk from her.

“…Sorry, I’ve been very busy lately,” the NSD Commander apologized a moment later as she fully turned away from the computer and addressed the Archoné directly. “It’s nice to see you again, but I have to say, with how often I’ve seen you here in Nimaliaka I’d think you were our own Archoné if I didn’t know any better.”

“I don’t think Sonwé would be very pleased to hear that,” Culana chuckled.

“He also doesn’t request an audience with me nearly as often as you do,” Nikéyin replied, “…you are aware that long-distance communication technology exists, right?”

“Yes, but nothing can replicate the personal feeling of meeting in, well, person,” the Archoné countered, “Call me old-fashioned, but I would much rather speak with someone face-to-face than through a screen.”

“I’m surprised you have the time for all the travel that would entail.”

“I’m only the head of a single nation, Commander. You’re in charge of the military across the entire Nimalian Territories, and in wartime, no less. It’s no wonder you would be busy. Speaking of, how are you acclimating to the NSD?”

“I’ve had no time to acclimate at all – the Nanocreatures forced me to dive in head-long. Fortunately Rantéin and Acknos are being extraordinarily helpful when it comes to organizing the fleets… but I doubt that’s what you’ve come here to talk about, is it?”

“Straight to business, I see.”

“I’d love to chat, Culana, really, but I don’t have that sort of time.”

“Fair enough.” The Archoné shifted in his chair to a more comfortable position before continuing, “I’m here to discuss the Quake-born and the Chaos Ayas.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“In your possession are currently five of the Ayas, one of which is the Master Ayas itself, yes?” Culana held up his hand and began counting off on his fingers. “Syn, Aldrace, Matlés, Tanivas, and Mystryth. That leaves the Nanocreatures with Arcán, Hastryth, Sendous, and Tsern.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Each of the Ayas possess a name, Commander, and you would do well to remember them. The Ayas are more than simple generators of Chaos Energy.”

“Then what are they?”

“They are the keys to defeating Morcii and the Nanocreatures.”

Nikéyin sighed and flopped back in her chair, already exasperated at the Archoné’s speech. “I already know that the Ayas can be useful in that regard, Culana. You didn’t have to come all the way out here to tell me that.”

“No, it is because you think that that I had to,” he shook his head, “You understand that the Ayas have value, but you gravely underestimate that value. To you, they are little more than tools, reserve batteries to attach to weapons and machinery in an attempt to overpower the Nanocreatures, but that is not what they are. The Ayas themselves are tied directly to Morcii, and only the Ayas themselves can stop him.”

“…Mmhmm,” Nikéyin deadpanned, “…Is this all in the Oraculm?”

“I would not be so sure of it if it wasn’t.”

“So you’re telling me to put the Ayas on the frontlines against the greatest threat this galaxy has ever known because a book said so?”

“The Oraculm is more than a book, Commander–“

“No, that’s exactly what it is, Culana. It’s a book. It’s a lucky book, alright, and I’ll even agree that it can seem prophetic at times, but in the end it’s just a book. Can it account for the millions of lives that are lost each day against the Nanocreatures? Can it account for the fall of two Transpace Worlds? Can it account for the ever-growing fleet of Nanocreature ships that continues to attack and endanger the entire galaxy?”

“It can.”

“Culana–“

“Listen to me, Commander! I understand your reluctance to field the Ayas. I understand that you fear losing them to Morcii and allowing him to grow even more powerful. But without them we stand no chance of victory! You read the Quake-borns’ report from their time on Earth, correct? Do you not realize the power of the Chaos State?”

“Tyrion’s feat was indeed impressive, yes, but the Nanocreatures are incomparable to a single ICBM! You read the report from Maasen, didn’t you? Then you know what Morcii can do on his own, without even trying. Hero Machina are, quite literally, the only individuals in the entire galaxy to have come face-to-face with Morcii and survive the encounter, and that’s only because of the Earthians’ beaming tech. The ‘Chaos State’ is not enough to beat the Nanocreatures.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong, Commander,” Culana shook his head again, “The Quake-born did not survive only because of the beaming tech. They survived because they are the Quake-born of Nimalia, and it is their fate to survive. This much, I know for certain.”

“How? How can you possibly believe that?”

“Because I have faith in the Oraculm, Commander. It has yet to fail me, and I do not doubt its words. I did not take an interest in the Quake-born for no reason and, furthermore, it is no coincidence that they were the ones to recover every Ayas that you now possess. If you help them, they can retrieve the rest of the Ayas and stop Morcii. But if you hold them back – if you refuse to allow them to use the Ayas to their full potential – you will doom yourself and the rest of the galaxy to a slow, hopeless death, incapable of fighting back against a force which itself has already fully grasped and embraced the power of Chaos Energy.”

Nikéyin stared at Culana silently for several moments before finally replying, “Do you have anything to back up what you’re saying, besides the Oraculm?”

“I have no need. The Oraculm is more than enough.”

“No, Culana, it’s not,” the Commander sighed irately, “I can’t entrust the galaxy’s fate to claims that have no evidence to back them. We’re talking about billions, trillions of lives, here, all depending on me and the CSA and the Black Suns to make the right calls. Dangling the Ayas in front of the Nanocreatures like you’re suggesting is too dangerous. It’s too risky.”

“…Answer me this, Commander,” Culana leaned forward, his eyes focused directly on Nikéyin, “…Do you foresee a future on your current path? Can you possibly continue as you are and still beat back the Nanocreatures?”

“We have to,” Nikéyin declared, “I’ve had research teams working diligently on the Ayas for the past two weeks, and construction of Subspace Drives based on the Earthian prototypes began days ago. Between those and finding a way to reverse engineer the Earthians’ beaming tech, we can find a way to beat the Nanocreatures. It’ll be hard, and it’ll take time, but it’s the only sure-fire way to see the end of this.”

“That’s not entirely correct,” Culana refuted, “We will all see the end of this, one way or another. Whether or not it’s a good end is the question.” The Archoné slowly stood up and stretched as Nikéyin eyed him warily. “…Very well, Commander,” he eventually commented, “I’ve said what I have to say. It’s clear that you are convinced of your own path, and I cannot blame you for it. However, do not say I didn’t warn you. If you do not take proper advantage of the Ayas soon, you will lose the ability to take advantage of them at all.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nikéyin replied flatly, watching as the Archoné made his way toward the office door. “…I’m sorry that we can’t see eye-to-eye.”

“As am I,” Culana replied, opening the door and then suddenly stopping in his tracks to avoid running into Kevérin.

“Oh! Uh, sorry,” the Pyrotechnic quickly stepped away from the door, just as surprised to see Culana as the Archoné was to see him.

“Transfer Captain?” Nikéyin called, prompting Kevérin to turn toward the Commander, “What are you doing here?”

“We just got a message from the CSA,” he reported, “…they’re officially regrouping at and reinforcing the Oriciid’kas system, and they want our help.”

“…That’s to be expected,” the Commander responded, eyeing Kevérin wearily, “…Did they say anything else?”

“No, that’s not quite what I meant,” the Transfer Captain shook his head, “I don’t mean they want the NSD’s help – I mean, they do, but they also want our help. They asked for Hero Machina… specifically.”

*               *               *               *               *

==================== End of Chapter 59 ====================

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Data Entry: {null}

Chapter 58: The Power of Chaos

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– Firdia, Skydiath 8, 8034 –

(Monday, February 10, 2110)

“Sir! Blocks 7A and 7B have been compromised! Onboard security has been overridden as well!”

“Those motherfuckers!...” Krick slammed his fist down on his chair’s armrest in anger as he glared up at the information on the hologram display. “They had this all planned from the start–!”

“Suppression teams Bravo and Delta are trying to cut off the intruders, but the bulkheads won’t respond to their override codes!”

“Lockdown the beaming and weapons systems!” Krick ordered, “Set the ship on a stable MEO autopilot path and lockdown the propulsion systems as well!” He then clenched his teeth, growling to himself, “They somehow brought that anti-beaming tech with them… and they have override codes, too… how the hell did they get those?”

“Block 7C has been compromised!”

“They’re going for the secondary bridge! Get team Charlie over there ASAP! Under no circumstances can they be allowed control of the secondary bridge! …How the fuck did they get layout maps? Do we have a mole…? Damn it!” the Captain cursed under his breath, “Zhou never wanted to keep his anti-orbital platforms, they were just a means to lower our guard and allow a team on the ship. Was he shooting for the Genesis this whole time?...” He scowled again before raising his voice to address the rest of the bridge. “Send a burst transmission to SERRCom HQ informing them of our situation and then shut down all non-mission-critical comm receivers! We won’t let those bastards take control of our ship! We need to put them in their place and show them that they have no business messing with SERRCom!”

Krick leaned forward warily as the rest of the bridge let out a short cheer in agreement. “Nimalians…” he muttered, “I hope you didn’t fall victim to this damned trap, too…”

*             *             *

“…There it is!”

“The White Ayas…” Kievkenalis stepped forward, staring through the protective glass and into a massive chamber. Sitting in the middle of all the machinery was none other than the Ayas. “…Mystryth.”

“Wait, you actually remember its name?” Wilkas glanced at the Chaostechnic in surprise.

“You don’t?” Kievkenalis returned the glance.

“It’s not exactly relevant to our everyday lives,” Vélunis pointed out, “Hell, I never expected to actually see one of them. Memorizing their names was just another useless piece of trivia.”

“…Hn,” Kievkenalis grunted in response as he turned his attention back to the Ayas. The chamber behind the glass looked much like a repurposed reactor chamber, complete with blast shields and a deep cavity in the middle of the room filled with water. He casually reached forward to place his hands on the glass but withdrew them immediately, shaking them and grimacing in pain. “Ow! Ow, that’s hot!”

“That’s what you get for wiping your hands on everything,” Vélunis snorted.

“Wait, that’s actually weird,” Wilkas frowned, “Why’s it hot? What’s goin’ on in the chamber? If they’re just using the Ayas as a power source then there shouldn’t be this much heat.”

“…You can’t be serious,” Kievkenalis scowled after taking several more moments to inspect the chamber, “This chamber isn’t just a repurposed reactor – it is a reactor! The Earthians just hooked the Ayas into it!”

“…Wow, I knew the Earthians were primitive, but are they actually that stupid?”

“You’re the one to call them stupid,” Wilkas glanced at Vélunis amusedly, “Who was the one who came up with the great idea to sever the elevator cable and ride the counterweight all the way down?”

“I never said it was a great idea,” Vélunis shrugged.

“It’s completely different, anyways,” Kievkenalis cut in, “This is a terrible way to draw on the Ayas’s power. There’s no energy regulation, and on top of that, they just chucked it into a reactor! The Earthians clearly have no grasp of the power of Chaos Energy!”

“Well of course you’d say that, you’re a Chaostechnic,” Wilkas replied dismissively.

Kievkenalis glanced toward the Introtechnic impatiently before returning his attention to the Ayas. “This makes taking the Ayas a little harder…” he muttered.

“I’m more concerned about the lack of resistance, personally,” Vélunis pointed out, “I mean, yeah, we took the elevator shaft all the way down to the bottom floor, but you’d think there’d be more guards protecting the fucking power generator.”

“Maybe the Earthians really are just that stupid,” Wilkas shrugged.

“The whole reason we’re here is to forcefully shut down the anti-orbital platforms because the owners didn’t want to,” Kievkenalis countered, “Vélunis is right. For a place they wanted to protect so badly, there wasn’t much resistance at all.”

“We should probably look around for–?!” Vélunis started, but was interrupted as the facility suddenly shuddered, the unexpected vibrations knocking the three Chaotics to the floor.

“What was that?” Wilkas questioned warily after climbing back to his feet.

Kievkenalis quickly checked the Ayas chamber again, sighing of relief when he saw no signs of damage. He then turned back to Vélunis and Wilkas. “I don’t know, but whatever it is can’t have been good. We need to get the Ayas and then get out of here, quickly.”

“That’s easy to say,” the Introtechnic snorted as he glanced around the room, “What’re you gonna do, charge in to all that radiation, just to grab the Ayas? It’s not like you can just shut down a reactor, you know.”

Kievkenalis was about to respond when the ceiling directly above him suddenly collapsed. Vélunis immediately dived for the Chaostechnic, knocking him out of the way in time to avoid being squashed by a mound of collapsing metal and wires.

“You’re here!”

“Kevérin?...” Kievkenalis turned toward the metal mound confusedly just as the Pyrotechnic descended through the hole in the ceiling, using jets of flame to hold himself in the air before touching down on the ground and carefully setting Kaoné against the wall.

“…What happened?” Vélunis questioned after turning away from the unconscious Materiatechnic.

“This whole thing was a trap,” the Transfer Captain scowled, “We reached the control room and I was able to shut down the jamming fields and contact the Earthian Battlecruiser, but something bad is going on up there. And before I could figure out what, one of the anti-orbital guns fired on the control room!” He glanced over at Kaoné warily. “…I barely reacted in time to burn a hole through the floors and all the way down here, but the impact shock still knocked her out.”

“Wait, a trap?” Wilkas responded incredulously, “What makes you say that?”

“The Captain said it himself,” Kevérin replied, “And I have a really bad feeling about what’s going on with the Genesis. We need to get the Ayas and get out. Did you guys find it?”

Vélunis casually jerked his thumb toward the reactor chamber. “It’s in there.”

“Huh?” the Transfer Captain turned to inspect the chamber, slowly looking it over until his eyes widened in realization. “This is a reactor?!”

“Looks like it,” Kievkenalis replied, “It’s running hot, too. The glass is pretty hot.”

“And you guys have just been standing here, staring at it?!” Kevérin exclaimed.

“…I thought our armor would provide adequate protection.”

“You mean the armor that you could feel the reactor’s heat through?!”

The three Chaotics responded with sheepish silence.

“…Our armor will provide some protection, sure, but if we stick around too long then we’ll start feeling the effects of radiation poisoning anyways. We need to get the Ayas and get out,” Kevérin continued, turning toward the reactor chamber. “…We’ll have to cut down the reactor. Luckily it’s buried in a mountain, so if anything goes wrong, well. Not a problem.” He glanced back at the other Chaotics. “Grab Kaoné and get back to the surface; I’ll take care of the reactor. If I’m fast, Chaos Armor should be plenty of protection…”

“Stop!”

“Huh?” the Transfer Captain looked back at the room’s entrance, where a group of four Earthians dressed in protective suits had entered and were now baring bladed weapons. The Pyrotechnic then glanced away dismissively as he addressed the rest of Hero Machina. “Disarm them. I’ll figure out the reactor.”

“Uh, slight problem…” Vélunis scowled, “…we can’t.”

“What–?” Kevérin responded impatiently, but stopped himself when he realized he couldn’t generate any flames. “…A CENT field?!” he whipped around to face the Earthians, “You guys have a CENT field?!”

“I won’t repeat myself!” one of the Earthians repeated, stepping ahead of the squad, “If you value your lives, then stop what you’re doing and surrender!”

*             *             *

“We’ve recovered all of the blocks on level 7, but the intruders remain in the secondary bridge!”

“What happened to Charlie team?” Krick demanded.

“They were… repulsed. Two casualties, but no deaths. The boarding team appears to have some sort of battle armor with them. Witnesses report it looks much like the armor the Nimalians were wearing…”

“…Did America make a deal with the Black Suns?...” the Battlecruiser Captain mused, “That might explain where all their tech is coming from. But the Suns are only supposed to recognize SERRCom as Earth’s representative…” He paused for another moment before raising his voice, “Have they activated the secondary access systems?”

“Not yet, but they got past the initial security layer immediately. They must’ve had the override codes, somehow. The only thing keeping them from activating the secondary bridge are the activation failsafes: that this bridge, the primary one, is still intact, and–“

“And that they don’t have my personal codes,” Krick muttered, “...Alright. I hope none of you needed to use the restroom… lockdown the bridge! No one enters or leaves until this situation is resolved!”

“Yes, sir!” the rest of the bridge replied in unison as the bulkheads sealed shut. The Captain leaned forward wearily, crooking his head up to look at the various holographic displays.

“As long as I’m here and this bridge is intact, they won’t be able to seize control of the entire ship,” Krick declared, outlining the situation to his subordinates, “That means they’ll attempt one of two things: they’ll try to fool the ship’s systems into thinking that the primary bridge has been disabled, or they’ll try to brute force each system one at a time. Either will take a while, and if we keep on our toes, then we can keep it from happening at all. Understood? Don’t let your guard down!”

The Captain smiled to himself as the bridge responded again with a unified “Yes, sir!”

“Our priority is removing the intruders from the secondary bridge!” he continued, “…Tell the suppression teams to back off! Get them to levels 6 or 8, directly above or below the respective entrances in level 7. Vacate all bridge-airlock paths on level 7 and lock the bulkheads. Be ready to vent the halls on my command!”

“…Sir?” one of the officers turned to the Captain confusedly, “The suppression teams report that the intruders were wearing armor, so venting the level may not be enough to take care of them…”

“No, but it will limit their operating time,” Krick replied, “We can’t beam them out because of their anti-lock tech, and the suppression teams can’t beat them in a straight fight because of their armor. Starving them out is our best bet. If the Nimalians complete their mission and reclaim the Ayas, then we can bring them back on board to deal with the intruders, but for now we’re on our own–“

“Captain! It’s an emergency!”

“What happened?” he immediately snapped his attention to the left as another officer turned to him in a panic.

“The, the intruders have gained access to the missile control systems!”

“What–?! Did I not order for the weapons to be locked down the moment they turned hostile?!”

“Yes, sir, and they were, but the intruders still managed to claim access to several of the launch silos! They’re arming missiles as we speak!”

“Well don’t just sit there, take the damned system back! Damn it! Alright, unlock the point defense subsystems and immediately fire on any missiles that leave the silos!”

“Missile launch sequence has been activated for bombardment silos one through five!” another officer shouted from across the bridge.

“Are they insane?!” Krick exclaimed, “Do they mean to bombard the fucking planet?! Take down those missiles, no matter the cost!”

The Captain clenched his teeth in frustration as another display appeared amongst the already numerous holographic readouts, showing camera feeds of the five activated silos. A minute later each silo slowly opened, followed by the internal mass drivers activating and launching the missiles out the silos. Immediately the ship’s point defense systems locked onto the missiles and began firing, taking out two before their thrusters could activate and puncturing the fuel tank of a third just as its rockets ignited, causing an explosion that also took out the fourth missile.

“There’s one more!” Krick shouted, standing up without thinking, “Stop it! At all costs!”

The entire bridge remained tensely silent for several more moments before an officer slowly turned back to the Captain.

“…The missile has left fifty percent accuracy range,” he reported quietly, “and has entered the Earth misfire cone.”

“If we try to fire on it anymore we’ll just be hitting Earth ourselves…” Krick muttered, and then scowled. “…Damn it!” he slammed his fist into his chair’s armrest before falling back into the seat, “Contact SERRCom HQ and inform them of the missile. The moment we can figure out its target, transmit that as well. …How long do we have until impact?”

Another holographic display appeared, this one charting the location of the Genesis in relation to Earth, as well as the location and velocity of the bombardment missile.

“We’re twenty-five thousand kilometers out, but this is a bombardment missile, so…”

“…We have an hour,” Krick commented grimly, “…We have no more than an hour.”

*             *             *

“Surrender!”

“Alright, come on, let’s think this through,” Kevérin raised his hands warily as he turned to face the Earthians, “You may have a CENT field, somehow, but our armor still works. We’re just here for the Ayas, okay?”

The man in charge furrowed his brow in response as the three behind him glanced between each other uneasily.

“…Sergeant,” the CO muttered, “…go get someone who can understand these…” he looked the Chaotics up and down, his eyes lingering on their armor, “…Aliens.”

“Wait, what?” Kievkenalis responded confusedly, “What’s to understand? We just want that white stone–!”

“No, Kevken, they actually can’t understand us,” Kevérin interrupted, “…They must not have audio translation implants. To them, we’re just speaking gibberish.”

“That means they haven’t gone through the IID process,” Vélunis smirked, “Maybe we can scare them off with our dangerous alien diseases!”

“The whole point of us going through IID is so that we won’t have any dangerous alien diseases to spread,” Kevérin deadpanned, “…Our armor shielding would prevent that anyway–”

“Silence!” the Earthian CO barked, “…I know you aliens have tech that allows you to understand me. So sit there in silence until we can get someone who understands you! Got it?”

“…We can bluff it,” Wilkas remarked casually, turning back to Kevérin. “He doesn’t have any way of proving we can understand him.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we’re stuck here anyways,” Kievkenalis pointed out, “We still need to get the Ayas!”

“I would look for the reactor failsafe and activate it and then just snatch the Ayas out of the chamber…” the Transfer Captain grumbled as he glanced back at the Earthians, “…but I’m not sure how they’d take that.” He sighed. “If only we had a way to draw in the Ayas from a distance.”

“…Hmm,” Kievkenalis looked back to the Ayas, “…huh. That’s a thought. It might actually be close enough to be drawn in by the Chaos State, but, well… hmm. No one knows how to activate it, so I guess that’s pointless to think about.”

“Wait, what–?”

“I said silence!” the Earthian demanded again, this time just as two other soldiers entered the room, guns drawn. “Understand that your presence here can be interpreted as hostile action! We will not hesitate to shoot!”

“…You’re kidding,” Vélunis deadpanned, “Are the idiots really going to open fire right outside a reactor chamber?”

“Wait, Kevken,” Kevérin quickly turned to the Chaostechnic, “Are you sure we’re close enough to activate the Chaos State?”

“Well, I mean… maybe?” Kievkenalis shrugged, “Even if we were, does it matter? None of us know how. …Wait,” he stared at Kevérin confusedly, “…Do you–?”

“We’ve given you enough warnings!” the Earthian barked, “You have one more chance! Now remain! Silent!”

“…If this works,” Kevérin turned back to the rest of Hero Machina, speaking hurriedly, “It should give us enough distraction to knock out the Earthians!”

“Wait, what are you doing–?” Wilkas started.

“Alright, that’s it!” the CO snapped, “men, open fire–!”

“Chaos State: First Tier!”

A sudden burst of white light filled the room, blinding every inhabitant as the Ayas sitting within the confines of the reactor chamber spontaneously translated through space, phasing through the chamber until it reached Kevérin and disappeared into his body. He gasped and stumbled backward, but he recovered from his disorientation faster than anyone else could recover from the blinding light and stretched his arm forward. A mere moment later every one of the Earthians’ weapons burst into flames, prompting the wielders to drop them to the floor, where they turned into molten slag on impact.

“Wha… what the hell?!” the Earthian CO stuttered, stunned by Kevérin’s show of force. “B-but, we had a CENT field–!”

“Not anymore,” the Transfer Captain snapped his fingers, prompting an explosion of light from the hallway behind the Earthians.

“K-Kevérin!” Kievkenalis exclaimed, “You– you know how to activate the Chaos State?!”

“Arcán told me…” the Pyrotechnic looked down at his hands, “It… feels a lot like an Overdrive. Except… a lot more powerful.” He glanced back at the rest of Hero Machina. “I’m going ahead. I’ll try to contact the Genesis and see what’s going on; the three of you should grab Kaoné and get out of here.”

“What do you mean, going ahead–?” Wilkas began to ask, but by the time he finished his question Kevérin had disappeared through the ceiling, generating enough heat to vaporize everything in his path as he rocketed to the surface.

“Figures he’d leave us behind,” Vélunis snorted before turning his attention to the Earthians, who were beginning to flee the room. “…Let’s get out of here. No point in sticking around anymore.”

*             *             *

“The missile just passed the twenty thousand kilometer mark!”

“Do we have a heading yet?” Krick demanded.

“Factoring in current trajectory and remaining alignment correction fuel… the target is likely somewhere in North America.”

“…Would they really target one of their own cities?...” the Captain muttered under his breath, “Zhou personally authorized the boarding team, so I know they’re tied to him… …is this what he was playing at all along? He didn’t want the Genesis either, he just wanted to make it look like we fired on Earth?”

“Sir! Level 7 has been completely vacated!”

“Open every bulkhead on the level! Now!” Krick barked, “Suck the bastards into space!”

“Opening bulkheads! …Level venting! Oxygen levels at seventy-five percent… fifty… twenty-five… level 7 has reached vacuum status!”

“Ping level 7 for life signs every five seconds! Are the bastards still there?”

“…Only one life sign in the bridge! Only two other signs are accounted for, the remaining three were sucked into space!”

“Ha, perfect!” Krick smirked, “Finally, something goes our way. Seal the bulkheads and shut all of the air vents in level 7! Maintain the vacuum state until all of the life signs have disappeared. With only one of them remaining on the secondary bridge, we can afford to wait them out. One man is nothing against an entire crew.” His smirk quickly disappeared as he turned his attention back to the screen displaying the status of the bombardment missile. “Still, I can’t trust unlocking the beaming systems. Even if it is one man, one man in charge of the beaming would be a disaster, which is a damned shame… we could beam the missile away, if only the ship weren’t compromised…”

“Sir?...” the nearest bridge officers glanced at the Captain warily.

“…Our shields can sustain a hit from a bombardment missile, right?”

“Um… yes,” one of the officers spoke up uneasily, “We can tank a bombardment missile easily.”

“Then that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Krick declared, “Unlock the propulsion systems and set an intercept course for that missile! I’ll be damned if we just let it hit Earth without trying to stop it!”

A moment of silence passed as the bridge officers glanced at each other; immediately after they responded in unison, “Yes, sir!”

“Good,” Krick smirked in response, “…Keep a careful eye on the propulsion systems. There may only be one man left in the secondary bridge, and it may be a vacuum, but we still can’t let our guard down.”

“Sir! Incoming transmission! It’s one of the Nimalians!”

“Put them through!” The Captain leaned forward, watching the various bridge displays until the comm channel opened. “Chief Captain Krick here.”

“It’s Transfer Captain Tyrion! We just retrieved the Ayas, but before we did, one of the anti-orbital cannons fired on the control room! What’s the situation up there?!”

“This was all a trap,” Krick responded irately, “We were boarded by a hostile team, and they managed to hack into the weapons system long enough to fire a bombardment missile.”

“A bombardment missile? As in, orbital bombardment?!”

“Yes, but we’re on an intercept course. We were far enough out when the missile launched that we should be able to overtake it and absorb the blast with our own shields.”

“Why not just beam it away?”

The Captain glanced up at the life signs monitor and scowled when he noted that the single sign in the secondary bridge had not disappeared. They must have atmosphereless armor. Damn! “I locked the beaming systems when we were boarded and we can’t risk unlocking them until all of the intruders are captured or eradicated. That means that we won’t be able to pick up you or your team until this has all blown over, either.”

“Understood–“

The rest of Kevérin’s statement was lost as the communication line suddenly filled with static, causing Krick to reflexively flinch. “What happened?” he turned to the communications officer.

“The line is still intact…” the officer replied, “Something must be interfering with it.”

“Interference… are the jamming fields still online?” Krick frowned, but his thoughts were cut short as the static slowly began to fade.

“––apta–– ––ou there? Captain––? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you now,” Krick replied, “What happened? There was some strong interference there for a moment.”

“It was a missile launch! A missile just launched from the base! It was huge! Ah– sending footage now!”

“What–?” the Captain froze as the missile launch footage appeared amongst the many displays at the front of the bridge. “…An ICBM? They had an ICBM stored there? Complete with a launch silo?!” He immediately turned to the rest of the bridge. “Scan the base location around the Nimalians! Find that missile!”

“…The scanners aren’t finding anything, sir!” one of the officers replied.

“What?”

“…It might be equipped with the jamming field tech!” Kevérin exclaimed, “That might explain the earlier interference!”

“Damn it!” Krick scowled, “We can’t do anything if we can’t see it! …Shit, this was part of Zhou’s plan too, wasn’t it?! This missile is just to guarantee a hit somewhere on the planet. He doesn’t even need the bombardment missile to hit anything, he can just use the fact that we launched a missile to blame us for whatever he just fucking launched on his own! That… motherfucker!”

The bridge and the comm line fell to wary silence.

“…I can stop it.”

“You what?” Krick spluttered, surprised by Kevérin’s sudden declaration. “You– …can you really do that?”

“I didn’t engage the Chaos State for nothing. I have to try!”

“…We’re talking about what’s likely an ICBM here, likely with a MIRV warhead – that is, it should be capable of hitting multiple targets. Can you really destroy that? And in such a way that you don’t detonate the payload?”

“I have to at least try. You said it yourself, you can’t do anything if you can’t see it– but I can.”

“…Ha,” the Captain smirked despite himself, “…Very well. I’m entrusting that missile to you, Nimalian. Don’t let us down!”

*             *             *

The moment the comm channel closed Kevérin rocketed into the sky, using his flame jets to propel him upwards at speeds unprecedented. But it was too little, too late – the missile had long since accelerated past his top speed and was racing ahead into the stratosphere. The Pyrotechnic attempted to follow, but his flame jets began to combust erratically and he began to have trouble breathing in the rapidly thinning atmosphere, prompting him to fall back to lower altitudes.

“I guess the legendary feats of unaided flight and vacuum survival don’t apply to the First Tier Chaos State,” he muttered, his glasses visually tracking the missile as it shrunk with distance. “I can’t attack it from here… so I need to intercept it when it comes back down!”

Kevérin immediately took off laterally in the same direction the missile was beginning to curve toward. He quickly realized that a single major obstacle stood in his way when it became distant enough to become impossible to track visually and began levelling out: he was simply too slow.

I can’t even break the sound barrier, he scowled deeply, …there’s no way I can catch up to it. If only I had a weapon! If I could reliably carry people while using my flame jets in a battle scenario I could carry Vélunis up here and have him summon something anti-missile, but– wait! The Ayas weapons! …But aren’t they all melee weapons? …Damn it, it’s all I’ve got! Let’s see what weapon belongs to the White Ayas! The Transfer Captain maintained his aerial speed as he attempted to focus on the Ayas he used to enter the Chaos State and summon its weapon. This can’t be hard; if Davídrius could do it, so can I!

Mere moments later a light appeared in Kevérin’s hand before transforming into the silhouette of a bow and then solidifying into one. The Pyrotechnic grinned, pleased to find himself with a long-range weapon – and then immediately frowned when he realized that, in the context of archery, ‘long-range’ meant little more than tens of meters. And to shoot down that missile… he glanced upwards, …I need kilometers. He then looked back at the bow, his frustration with the situation growing. What the hell am I supposed to use for arrows, anyways? Argh– useless weapon! He irately plucked at the bowstring, flinching back as an arrow appeared out of thin air the moment the string was displaced and then launched itself at the terrain below. Kevérin blinked, his expression blank as the arrow streaked through the sky and hit the mountains below instantly, impacting with a flash of light and creating a small crater visible from even ten kilometers high.

“Holy shit…” the Transfer Captain stared down in awe, almost forgetting to continue fueling his flame jets before correcting his flight path and returning his attention to the situation at hand. “So this thing definitely has more range than an actual bow… question is, exactly what is its range…” He quickly scanned the horizon before turning his attention back up to the skies. Due to its jamming field, he had no way of tracking the ICBM while it flew through the high atmosphere, but his recent communication with the Genesis allowed his glasses to track the Battlecruiser’s location, even in middle Earth orbit. “…Little optimistic for a range test,” he muttered, but he nonetheless turned the bow upwards, halting his forward momentum to instead hold himself in one place as he aimed toward the Earthian ship, bowstring stretched back to his ear. As with the earlier misfire, an arrow appeared, stretching and altering its length such that its tip was always notched, and its tail was always against the string. After making note of this fact, Kevérin returned his attention to aiming the arrow – and then fired. The arrow transformed into a streak of light, flying away with such force that the Pyrotechnic was suddenly flung downwards and spent the next several seconds re-orienting himself.

“Transfer Captain!”

“…You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Kevérin muttered before responding to the sudden contact. “Captain Krick? Is something wrong?”

“Did you see anything fire down there? A gun we somehow can’t spot?”

“Why? What did you see?”

“…A streak of light, almost like a laser. It almost hit us. I doubt it would have done any damage if it did, but if you have any idea what it was–“

“That was me.”

“…It what?”

“Thanks for telling me. I know exactly what I need to,” the Pyrotechnic smirked, “I know I can take down that missile now!”

“What are you–?!”

Kevérin cut the communication short and returned his attention to speeding through the air. Ha! So even if I don’t get super boosts myself, the Chaos State definitely boosts the Ayas Weapons to crazy levels of effectiveness. Maybe they really are the answer to stopping the Nanocreatures… He glanced up again, spotting a small light in the high skies that hadn’t been there moments before. But for now… I’ve got a different target!

The Transfer Captain continued to stare at the small light as his glasses scanned it and confirmed it as rocket exhaust. That thing must be hundreds of kilometers away, but it’s already on a return path? That’s incredibly short-ranged for an ICBM… but no time to think about that! He flipped through the air, stopping his flame jets and initiating two short bursts in front of him to slow himself to a standstill before hovering in the air casually. Taking the bow in his left hand, he lifted it up toward the distant missile and drew the bowstring back, using his glasses to magnify and trace the light – until it suddenly sparked, creating enough light to reveal the missile just long enough for the Pyrotechnic to see it split into multiple pieces. “It broke up…?” he muttered, and then scowled. “Shit – this is that MIRV thing the Captain was talking about, isn’t it?!”

Without hesitating further he fired at the falling warheads, sniping two of them out of space. He immediately drew the bowstring back again, arming the bow with another arrow before firing once more, taking out three more of the warheads – the arrow merely grazed each of them, but even that was enough to obliterate them. The Pyrotechnic smirked to himself but suddenly frowned as the HUD on his glasses began to fuzz.

“…Even without a proper detonation, those warheads are giving off a strong enough EMP to overpower the Armor’s EM shielding?...” Kevérin scowled. Just how powerful is a proper detonation, then? Hmph. Let’s not find out!

The Transfer Captain immediately notched another arrow and took careful aim before beginning to machine gun the distant warheads, firing arrows from the bow as quickly as he could draw back the string. The tactic was messy, but it worked – in no time at all he had knocked out another five warheads, leaving only two remaining. His glasses zoomed in on each individually, creating HUD elements to follow each warhead as Kevérin carefully tracked them with the bow. With another shot, he knocked out another warhead and began preparing to shoot down the final one – only for his glasses and armor to suddenly short out.

“What–? Agh–!” he grimaced in pain as the disabled armor weighed down on his body, its lack of power preventing it from supporting itself. He quickly began losing altitude, unable to easily correct for the deadweight until he enveloped himself in fire, flaring the flames to high enough temperatures to expand the metal plating and tear it off of his body. As soon as all of the plating fell off he cooled his surroundings, looking himself over warily. …If not for the Chaos State, I would’ve just fused the underarmor to my skin, he scowled, this will be difficult to remove. …Now, for the final warhead… He turned back to the west and notched another arrow, preparing to track the final warhead, but froze when he noticed the lack of important assistance:

His glasses had been burned away by his earlier extreme heat.

“Fuck!” he shouted irately, glaring up at the skies in a desperate attempt to locate the final warhead. I can’t even contact the Genesis now! I’m on my own… at the worst possible time! He began machine gunning the bow again, firing off a reckless stream of arrows into the skies above in an attempt to score a lucky hit. Where is it? A missile like that would go at least above the stratosphere, wouldn’t it? Maybe I can spot it if the heat shields flare up!... There!

Sure enough, the final warhead had begun to glow slightly due to reentry. Kevérin immediately began aiming for it, firing several arrows, only for each to miss without his glasses HUD to help perform aim correction. “I can’t hit it like this…! Damn it! It’s useless without the computer corrections–!” The Pyrotechnic suddenly paused as an odd sensation slowly swept across his hands, as though he were holding them over a warm stove. I’m not generating any flames from my hands, but I’m still sensing a new heat source, he glanced downward, and then back up at the glowing warhead curiously. …A new… heat source… shit, from this far away? No way– agh, well it can’t hurt to try! He quickly reached out with his right hand toward the warhead, dismissing the Ayas weapon as he attempted to judge the warhead’s distance and then… snapped his fingers.

Immediately a flash of light enveloped the warhead before disappearing, leaving behind nothing that Kevérin could see from such a long distance.

The Pyrotechnic stared forward in shock before turning his attention down to his hands. “…Holy shit!” a grin slowly spread across his face, “…I did it! Shit, I actually did it! I just single-handedly stopped an ICBM!”

*             *             *

1 Day Later

“Do you understand the utter stupidity of the actions you have taken over the past several months, Zhou?”

Kevérin froze as soon as he stepped foot on the bridge of the Genesis. In front of him sat Captain Krick in the commanders’ chair, and in front of the Captain stood a woman of tall stature. Both Earthians were staring forward at a video display at the front of the bridge that displayed a stout man with greying hair and old, narrow eyes.

“…I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, General,” the man replied, ignoring the new bridge occupant.

“It’s time you stopped feigning ignorance,” the woman shot back, “I would have preferred continued American support for the future, but given your outrageous decision making ability I think forcing you completely out of the SERRCom effort will be far more beneficial for everyone involved.”

The old man frowned. “You wouldn’t dare. And even if you would, you have no proof that I am in any way related to the unfortunate events that transpired yesterday.”

“Don’t patronize me. And don’t underestimate SERRCom’s connections, either. If you truly believe that no one on Earth knows of your actions, then you are terribly mistaken.” The woman paused for a moment to sigh before continuing, “In order to protect Earth and prevent future incidents, SERRCom is ordering that you hand over the Interstellar Gate. Furthermore, you have one month to completely disarm every single nuclear warhead you own and hand them over before we move in and force you to.”

“You cannot possibly–!”

“We’re already backed by the rest of the U.N., Zhou. If you want to resist, feel free, but this isn’t the twenty-first century anymore. I will not hesitate to put this ship’s orbital bombardment weaponry to the test if you insist on continuing to make poor decisions.”

“…”

“I will send you more detailed orders later today or tomorrow. Until then, sit tight, and do. Not. Do. Anything. This order has the weight of the General of the Space Forces behind it.” The woman nodded curtly. “Dowley out.”

The entire bridge let out a collective sigh as soon as the video connection was cut. Kevérin finally began approaching Krick and Dowley as the Captain turned to the General with a smirk on his face.

“You really showed him, ma’am,” Krick commented gleefully, “I never thought I would enjoy seeing Zhou put in his place so much.”

“It needed to happen,” Dowley responded flatly, “Before he was just jockeying for power, but the moment he put innocent lives on the line to gain that power, he had to be dealt with.” She glanced back at Krick and then to Kevérin, who stood next to the commanders’ chair stiffly. “…Excuse me,” she looked him over, “Who might you be?”

“Ha, this is Transfer Captain Tyrion,” Krick answered proudly, “He’s the CO of the Nimalian team that retrieved the Ayas. He’s also the one who single-handedly stopped that missile from hitting the North American West Coast.”

“Ah, I’ve heard nothing but praise about you from the Captain,” Dowley smiled warmly before saluting Kevérin. “And I must thank you, myself. As both the General of the Space Forces, and personally. Were it not for your assistance, I’m sure Earth would be descending into another war right now.”

“Well, uh, thanks, I mean, you’re welcome,” the Transfer Captain responded sheepishly, “But it wasn’t, well, I had some help, sort of. …Anyways, I’m glad everything’s fine.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘fine’,” the General sighed, “…Not yet. But things are looking up. This Battlecruiser was truly a godsend; I’m not sure what we would have done without it. It may very well single-handedly carry SERRCom into the future.”

“Haha, that’s asking a lot of it,” Krick remarked.

“It might be… but the future is the future.” Dowley turned back to Kevérin. “I understand the rest of the galaxy has its own problems at the moment?”

“Um…” Kevérin replied uneasily, “The Nanocreatures are a threat to you, too…”

“Yes, but unlike the rest of the galaxy, we can’t do anything against them. We barely have a fleet, and our defensive technology can’t even stand up to a handful of Chaotics. That’s why I’m entrusting the Genesis and its crew to you for the time being – I’m sure you Nimalians will be able to put it to far better use than we ever could.”

“I don’t think I can thank you enough,” the Transfer Captain commented, “Even the beaming systems alone could be invaluable. Between it and the Ayas, I’m sure we can find a way to stop the Nanocreatures, or at least seriously impair them.”

“I’m glad you think so, Captain.”

“I appreciate the praise you’re heaping on the Genesis,” Krick spoke up, “but I’m afraid that the intruding team did a number on the ship. We’ll need to stop for some repairs and restaging, but after that I can set a course for Nimalia.”

“How long will that take?” Kevérin glanced toward the Captain.

“No longer than a couple days, hopefully. Don’t worry, Transfer Captain – I was there for the Maasen incident. I know what the Nanocreatures are capable of, and I won’t let you down. You can count on us Earthians!”

“Don’t get carried away now, Captain,” Dowley smirked, “…but that should be it for now. I’ll return to SERRCom HQ to iron out the fine details of Zhou’s situation; in the meantime, I trust the Genesis to the two of you.” She saluted. “Good luck.”

“Thanks a lot,” Kevérin returned the gesture, “…I’m sure we’ll need it.”

*               *               *               *               *

==================== End of Chapter 58 ====================

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