The power in the Nova’s cockpit flickered back on. Imi’s eyes adjusted to the change in lighting and she ran a scan of her body. No damage sustained.
Kirrik unhooked his harness and squeezed his neck. She could tell that he was tense from the impact. She unbuckled and pulled out her screen to check the Nova’s diagnostics. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she felt different since she had woken up from whatever form of sleep Rhessian had put her in. Her own memories blurred with those of her creator. Imi blinked. There wasn’t time to parse through who she was at that moment in time. Emily, Nira, Imi. They had all joined into one singular mind.
“Everyone alright?” Kirrik asked.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Imi groaned. She was shocked they hadn’t already combusted into a fireball.
“I knew you were an idiot but I didn’t realize you had a death wish,” Nox added from behind her.
Kirrik ignored the comment and looked around. “Z?”
“Out cold,” Nox informed him. “He took a pretty nasty hit when we landed.”
Imi knelt down and put her hand against Zaius’ forehead. It was warm, but not feverish. “He’ll be fine, but Nox is right. He’s nowhere near conscious right now.”
“This was your time to shine, Z,” Kirrik sighed. “Take it easy. We’ll follow through with your plan.”
Imi pointed at her screen. “Surprisingly, the Nova is still fully operational,” She said as she swiped through the report. “It’ll take a bit more throttle to lift us off, but somehow you didn’t completely break everything.”
“I’ll take that as our first win,” Kirrik quipped. He made his way out of the cockpit. Imi slid the screen back into the wall and motioned for Nox to follow her. She dropped out of the emergency exit behind Kirrik, and observed the bridge. Zanathum shutters had rolled down to close the breach left from the Nova’s entry, and the ship’s holo-screens fizzled. Kirrik drew his pistol, his grip firm, and led them further in. Reclaiment bodies were spread across the floor amongst the Nova’s scrap, but everything else was too quiet for Imi’s liking. Dim violet lights barely illuminated the space. They clustered together.
“I’m sure you’re thinking the same thing I am,” Imi said to Kirrik as she drew her own pistol. They had been in similar situations too many times.
“Nox, is there any specific terminal that can help you establish a better connection?” Kirrik asked quietly.
Nox looked at all of the screens, then settled her gaze on the one closest to the shuttered window. “That one over there. The main screen.”
Kirrik jerked his head toward the screen and put a finger over his lips. Nox tiptoed over to it. Imi stayed behind as Kirrik accompanied her to the halfway point. He froze. “Wait! Stop there.”
A light scuttle carried across the pitch-black ceiling. Imi aimed her weapon at the noise. Her eyes switched to a thermal view, but she didn’t see anything out of the norm. “I don’t think we’re alone, you two.”
She felt a heavy thud behind her and swiveled to face a towering Kunar female. Four spindly Kanutic appendages, byzantium-colored and spider-like in nature, emerged from her back. Imi shifted to the left as the Kunar swiped one down, then slashed at her with another. Imi fired her pistol at her attacker, but the Kunar snaked back into the shadows.
“We already took care of one of you,” Imi called out. “We can handle another.”
“Rhessian was a fool,” the Kunar responded. Her voice carried across the bridge. “I promise you I won’t be as easy to kill.”
Kirrik laughed, but kept his finger on the trigger of his pistol. “Which r name are you, then? Revicia?”
The Kunar lunged at Kirrik and stabbed toward him. Imi tried to fire more rounds, but held back to avoid hitting her partner. “Rana,” the Kunar snarled. “I want to hear you scream it as you die!”
Imi slid forward and fired into Rana’s side. The solar rounds ricocheted off of her armor with soft pings. Rana stabbed down at Imi as she rolled by.
‘Too close,’ Imi thought. ‘I need to be more careful.’
Kirrik summoned his Kanushin and wrapped a chain around one of Rana’s appendages, yanking it back. Rana flipped sideways and loosened it from Kirrik’s grip. Colored sparks flew into the air as the two traded Kanutic blows. Imi could sense the mounting aggression from Rana’s end. She was out for blood. She saw Nox drop down to the ground and crawl toward the main screen.
“Time for a distraction,” Imi muttered to herself. She hopped onto Rana’s back and pulled at her upper two appendages. Rana reached up with her arms and grabbed Imi by the hair. Rana launched her into Kirrik and they tumbled across the floor.
“You two are pathetic,” Rana crowed. “This fight has only confirmed my suspicion that Rhessian was the weakest link and deserved his fate.”
“I can tell you Kunar have a lot of love for one another,” Imi responded dryly.
“Oh, if only you knew,” Rana said.
Imi caught Kirrik looking past Rana and noticed Nox was a few feet away from her target. Rana traced their eyelines to the young woman. Imi mentally kicked herself for giving away Nox’s position.
“Oh, look! Another little bug,” She purred, her eyes burning intensely. “This one’s crawling on the floor, just waiting for my boot.”
Rana leapt into the air and tried to stomp on Nox, who rolled out of the way. Kirrik flung out his chain around Rana’s leg and pulled her back. He followed up with a flick of the wrist and swept her legs out from under her. Rana’s appendages stopped her fall and launched her back up. She snickered.
“That’s the best you can do?” She teased.
Imi rushed past Kirrik as he created four ruby disks in his hands and tossed them at Rana. They burst into deafening shrieks when she used her appendages to strike them down. Imi took advantage of the distraction, landing a solid kick to Rana’s chest. Rana rolled back and returned to her feet. She jumped to the wall and scurried back up.
Frustrated at their lack of progress, Imi fired at Rana as the latter crawled across. “You talk a lot about bugs, but the only one I see here is you!” Imi shouted at her.
Rana darted down and crawled across the floor, slashing at Kirrik as he stepped back. He tried to strike her with his Kanutic chain to no success. She tackled Kirrik and lifted him with her hands. Imi gauged her options. Direct attacks seemed unsuccessful, but there was little else she could do.
“First, I’ll kill you, then your partner before taking my time with the girl,” Rana shared. She drove an appendage into Kirrik’s right shoulder. His arm spasmed and his pistol fell to the floor. Imi decided that there was no time to waste.
“Come on, let me hear you scream!” Rana goaded.
Imi charged in and sprung into the air behind Rana, but the Kunar slid and impaled her twice. Imi coughed and gasped for air as Rana drove her Kanushin through her chest and stomach. Despite her lack of humanity, Imi still felt every sensation.
“You couldn’t wait your turn, could you?” Rana grinned. “That’s fine. I’ll just have to rip you in half for the trouble.”
“Do your worst,” Imi coughed. If spurring Rana on meant giving Kirrik a chance to live, it was worth it.
Rana stretched apart her Kanushin as Imi screeched in pain. She could feel her circuits and metal insides being pulled. Kirrik kicked Rana, who responded with a scowl and a stab of the fourth appendage to Kirrik’s left shoulder. “Stay still and watch like a good boy,” She whispered.
Imi reached down and tugged at Rana’s Kanushin. The razored tips dug in further. She looked past Rana and saw Nox with her hands against the screen. Rana pulled her closer as a flash of green went off by the Nova.
“Where is your blood?” Rana asked, turning Imi with her Kanushin. Her expression switched from befuddlement to fury. “Why aren’t you bleeding?”
Imi coughed and gave her a smarmy grin. “I’m an android. Do me a favor, though?”
Rana raised an eyebrow as Zaius’ foot smashed across her jaw and jerked her head sideways. She stumbled and released Kirrik. He fell to the floor while Zaius springboarded back with his Kanushin to deliver another kick.
Imi noticed Rana monitor Zaius’ motion, waiting for the chance to strike. Imi wouldn’t let her have it. She grabbed the other two appendages of Rana’s Kanushin and stabbed them into her sides to prevent the Kunar from catching him. The pain threatened to overwhelm her sensors, but it had to be done. Zaius’s blow caught Rana in the knee and caused it to buckle under her. Kirrik grabbed his pistol and placed it squarely against Rana’s temple.
The bolt fired.
Rana’s Kanushin dissipated and her body collapsed to the ground. Kirrik fired two more rounds into her. “Tell the rest of the Regime to watch their backs.”
Imi felt the holes in her body empty and dragged herself away from Rana’s corpse. She laughed to herself. “You know what? You’re right. That isn’t very intimidating.”
Kirrik offered her a hand and helped her back to her feet.
“Is your body going to be alright?” Kirrik asked.
“She missed the important stuff,” Imi replied. It was a true statement, if not a little downplayed. “I’ll survive.”
Zaius dusted himself off as he approached with Nox.
“Looks like you made it to the fight after all, Z,” Kirrik said. “Thanks for the assist.”
Zaius shrugged. “I figure you’d do the same if the tables were flipped. We’ve got to look out for each other, right?”
“If you all are done, I’d like to remind you we’re standing on a literal ticking bomb right now,” Nox stated. “I sent out a signal that disabled the cruisers and scrambled the nav systems on the fighters. They’re not going to be a threat anymore, but we should go.”
Kirrik glanced at the Nova, then back at Zaius. “You think those fancy gauntlets of yours can give us an extra boost?”
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The sky rumbled and the rain poured down across the pad. Diah felt the chill of the rain soaking into her clothes. She couldn’t tell if the droplets streaming down her cheeks were her own. The sight of her dying mother was too much to process.
“Why?” Diah said as she started to break down. “Why did we have to be enemies until the very end?”
Diah knelt down next to her mother and stared into her eyes. “Why couldn’t you have just loved me?”
Wyrna swung her blade and stopped. Her arm dropped, the blade clattering to the floor before breaking into yellow shards. Diah’s dagger shifted in her chest. She reached up and pulled the dagger out, an expression of self-hatred developing on her face. Her body fell forward into Diah’s arms.
“Why did you do that? Why didn’t you stop?” Diah sobbed.
“Because I meant what I said, Diah,” Wyrna managed to voice between heavy breaths. “Only one of us was leaving this fight alive. Fate decided it wasn’t me.”
Diah’s chest heaved as she embraced her mother. Wyrna’s Kanushin fully dissolved and she placed her hand against her daughter’s face. It was warm against Diah’s tears.
“The Kunar are working with the Uvari on Millik,” Wyrna revealed. “They will take everything from us. It’s up to you now. You must lead.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. Please don’t move anymore. We can get help. I can try and flag someone down,” Diah tried to reason.
Wyrna shushed her and pulled her closer. Her breathing grew slower. “I meant what I said before, Diah. Everything I did, I did for you. Not out of hatred. Never out of hatred.”
Wyrna took a choked, final breath. “Will you forgive me?” She exhaled.
Diah paused. Her mind told her to forgive, but her heart struggled. She swallowed.
“I do, mother. I forgive you.”
There was no response. In the time that Diah took to decide, Wyrna had passed. Diah’s heart burned. “No. No! Mother, please,” She uttered. “Please, you can’t go. Mother, please.”
Diah held Wyrna’s body and rocked. She shook her, hoping Wyrna would come back for the briefest of moments, just to hear her forgive.
“Mother, come back.”
The patter of rain.
“Mother, don’t do this to me! Not like this!”
The rolling rumble of thunder.
“Mom. Please don’t go.”
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Ravig stood over a battered Balakus, claws raised for a finishing blow. The clouds cried above them. Sky jumped over Rhug, then heaved her staff through the air at Ravig. He knocked it away, allowing her time to use what was left of her Kanutic energy to deliver an immense gust of wind into his body. Ravig flew into the building nearby.
Rhug swung at Sky from behind, but Balakus stepped in and grabbed his fist. Balakus used the momentum to swing Rhug over his head and drop him head-first into the ground. Balakus wiped the blood from his face and kept punching, knocking the defiant Overseer back down with every blow. Rhug tried to crawl away.
Balakus raised his fist to swing again, but Ravig’s Kanushin hit him across the knuckles. The General dropped back onto the street and tossed down a wall of Kanutic flame between the two sides.
“We need to go,” Ravig commanded.
Rhug pushed him off. “No, never abandon fight.”
Ravig grabbed Rhug’s face in his claws. “Our other forces notified me that the Requiem is in danger. I am not asking. I am telling you that we’re going.”
Ravig tapped his wrist and another fighter descended upon them. Sky shielded her eyes from the engine gusts as Rhug grabbed Ravig and hopped up onto it. It sped away into the clouds.
Balakus huffed beside her. “We settle this another time, then.”
Sky looked at the slashes on his back and placed her hand against them. Blue spread across his wounds. “I don’t have enough energy left to heal everything, but I can try to take care of these at least,” She told him. The slashes fused together into scars.
Sky dropped her hand, exhaustion settling in. She looked out across the street and into the city proper. Smoke drifted up across the golden rooftops, the orange of fire bouncing in the reflections. It made her sad to see such a beautiful city marred by an act of war. The Kunar cruisers rumbled alongside the thunder and blinked away one at a time in a flash of glowing white light.
“I wonder what that’s about,” Balakus pondered.
“Does this mean we’ve won for now?” Sky asked him.
Balakus smacked his lips. “No one ever really wins in war, Sky.”
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Zaius let out a sigh of relief as the Nova blasted through the shutters of the bridge and entered the black void once more. The fighters outside smashed and crashed into one another as the Nova zipped past. The escape pods launched into the stars, their destinations unknown.
Kirrik watched them with a solemn look. “We’re going to have to find her again now,” He said, his voice heavy with sorrow.
Imi put her hands on his shoulders and he winced. “You held out hope that she was alive and found her, Kirrik. What’s a second time around?”
The Nova drifted into a half-turn and settled. Zaius watched the Kunar flagship crack apart with beams of burning white light. A ball broke through and expanded in size, enveloping the fleet around it. It withered, and the Kunar were gone, an entire fleet decimated into stardust by its own weapon.
“Hey, Nox,” Kirrik said, eyes still glued to the window. “I’ll only say this once, but great job in there.”
Nox shuffled awkwardly from the compliment. “I guess you did alright. Imi did all the hard work, though.”
Imi held back a chuckle as Kirrik spun around in his seat. “Seriously, Nox? I thought we were… you know…” Kirrik trailed off.
“Isn’t my job now to make sure you’re always embarrassed and never happy?” Nox suggested.
Zaius felt a sudden stab in his heart. He fell back against the wall and grabbed at his chest, his breathing heavy. Sweat built up on his forehead. It felt like something buried deep within his soul had suddenly burst. His stomach churned.
Nox ran over and put her hand on his head. “What’s wrong?”
The worry in her voice grabbed Kirrik and Imi’s attention.
“Z? What’s going on?”
Visions of pink particles and mirrors engrained themselves into Zaius’ vision, then gave away into the darkest void he had ever seen. A sphere of purple particles throbbed in the center. He snapped back to the Nova.
“We need to get to Vensha. Something’s wrong,” He told them between breaths. “Diah needs us.”
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Diah cradled Wyrna’s body in her arms as the Chyl cruisers passed above her. The last of the Kunar ships flashed away, their attack repelled. The adrenaline of battle had long passed, and now only the pain remained.
Diah looked up into the sky as the clouds parted. The crimson moon smiled down upon her, unaware of her plight. Broken, she screamed.
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