“Siyuakén…”

“…Sorry.” Siyuakén bowed her head apologetically. “…I’m sorry for keeping this from you.”

“As you should be,” the Cryotechnic replied as she moved to embrace her friend, who reflexively backed away.

Siyuakén stared at Rebehka, wide-eyed with panic and confusion. “Don’t touch me! What if you get infected, too?!”

“Then we’ll be in it together,” Rebehka declared. “And even now, we are. We’ll find a way to stop the infection, Siyuakén, I promise. We’re already close to investigating the origin of the Chaos Quake! Who knows, maybe there will be some answers there.”

“You can’t… you can’t guarantee that.”

“Well, no, but then no one can guarantee anything. …Really, Siyuakén, we can do this. You’ve already lasted two months — that’s far longer than any other case we’ve seen! That’s hopeful, isn’t it? You can beat this!”

“…And if I don’t?”

“Then I’ll just carve out your brain and store it until we have the technology to create another body for you, free from the infection.” Rebehka smirked. “I won’t let you die. I also won’t let you lose to the infection. You have my word.”

---

The sound of thunder rolled through the snow-covered forests southeast of Nimaliaka Central, the frequent lightning strikes lighting up the cloudy nighttime skies as Siyuakén and Rebehka exchanged blows just as fiercely as when they had begun fighting nearly two hours ago. Rebehka’s second Overdrive had worn off, leaving the blizzard to die down into a tame snow storm that encompassed the entire region; without the white cloak to block her vision, the corrupted Electrotechnic had begun to attack Rebehka with more ferocity than before, but the veil of night — and the fact that the battle had migrated into the Nimaliakian forests — prevented the two Chaotics from engaging for extended periods of time.

Where is she… Rebehka perched in the branches of one of the taller trees, her eyes closed as she attempted to focus on the snow around her. A moment later she threw herself to the side just in time to evade a lightning blast, and then grabbed a nearby branch and swung herself around to fire several icicles back at the origin of the blast. Siyuakén whacked the icicles out of the air with her fully metallic left arm before shooting a grappling hook out of her right, catching the branch near Rebehka and rapidly pulling herself to it. The Cryotechnic quickly froze the cord and shattered it, sending Siyuakén flying through the air until she grabbed another branch and swung around to tackle Rebehka to the ground. The latter immediately encased the entire area in ice, using her abilities to easily extricate herself as Siyuakén melted the block around her with an exceedingly high current. Rebehka quickly responded by lifting the remaining ice into the air and trying to slam it back down on Siyuakén’s head, but the corrupted Electrotechnic sharpened her nails into claws and dug them into the block, fighting for control with Rebehka for a short moment before launching it forwards. The Cryotechnic instantly disintegrated the block into a cloud of snow that she disappeared into, prompting Siyuakén to blast the area with a powerful lightning strike to disperse the snow cloud — only to find that Rebehka had disappeared.

Siyuakén snapped her head to and fro, searching for the disappeared Chaotic with her electrical senses as the night and the forest obscured her vision. A moment later, she whipped around just in time to block a slash from an ice sword with her left arm; the two Chaotics struggled with each other for a second before Siyuakén pulled her right arm back, charged it with electricity, and then thrust it forwards. Rebehka quickly grasped it with her free hand, encasing her hand with a thick coating of ice to insulate her from the high voltage. The two Chaotics continued to grapple with each other for several more seconds until they both blasted each other with their respective elements, knocking them both to the ground several meters away from each other. But before Siyuakén could stagger back to her feet, her hands and feet were pierced by ice spikes growing from the ground, followed by a larger spike through her abdomen. Rebehka then created a full layer of ice armor as she readied herself for the next incoming electric attack—

“Re…behka…?”

The Cryotechnic froze for a moment before snapping her attention to Siyuakén. The Electrotechnic had easily broken free from the ice spikes, but she was left to lean against a nearby tree painfully, clutching her forehead with her right hand as her left arm drooped by her side.

“H…help…”

“…I know,” Rebehka responded quietly as she created a lance in each hand. “…I won’t leave you alone, Siyuakén. Not again.”

“N-no…” The Electrotechnic glanced toward her tensely, grimacing in pain as her wounds slowly closed on their own. “I… told you! …Please…! Kill me…!”

The Cryotechnic shook her head. “I can’t do that. …Well, I will if I have to, if it comes to it. But it won’t. And I know what I’m doing this time; I’m not fighting blindly, like that night three months ago. I can do this!”

“Rebehka…!”

“Trust me, Siyuakén!” Rebehka shouted back, lunging forward with her lances as Siyuakén’s face returned to a blank slate and she began attacking again. “I’ll save you! That’s what I’m here for!”

---

“Trust me, Siyuakén. We’ll find a way to help you. I’ll find a way to help you. That’s what I’m here for.”

“…There is another way you could help me… and everyone else, too.”

“What is it?”

“If… if I do end up losing to the corruption—”

“No. No, you won’t. It won’t happen. I won’t let it.”

“Rebehka, it’s not that simple—”

“Didn’t you hear what I told you back when I first found out you were infected? Even if your body loses, I’ll just take your brain and store it until we can make you a new body. You’ll be fine!”

“In any other context, that would actually sound pretty creepy.”

“Maybe, but I mean it. I won’t let you lose. I won’t lose you. And that’s that.”

“…Do you really think you can do it?”

“Of course I do. Come on, Siyuakén, you know me. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

“You’re reminding me of back when we first met.”

“Heh, well, if regressing back to my ‘try-hard’ stage is what it takes to save you, then I’ll do it. Then we can become friends all over again! It’s the perfect plan.”

“Ha, alright, if you say so.”

“I do say so.”

“…Thanks, Rebehka.” Siyuakén turned to embrace her friend.

“Ha! Don’t worry about it.” The Cryotechnic returned the gesture with her free arm. “It’s what best friends are for.”

---

A blast of electricity ripped through several nearby trees, toppling them as Siyuakén blindly lashed out in the dark of night. Immediately afterward, the entire area was suddenly encased in ice, freezing the corrupted Electrotechnic to the spot long enough for Rebehka to swing out of the trees and launch several ice javelins in her direction. But Siyuakén easily broke free of the ice fast enough to spin around and catch the projectiles, crushing them in her hands as she locked on to Rebehka’s body currents and summoned a lightning strike directly on the Cryotechnic. Rebehka was only able to weather the attack through the immediate creation of multiple layers of ice shields above her, a task that required enough focus that she failed to track Siyuakén until the Electrotechnic was nearly on top of her. The corrupted Electrotechnic thrust her hands forward, both cackling with energy, but Rebehka reacted just quickly enough to create an explosion of ice and snow that blew the two women apart.

Both combatants caught themselves on nearby trees and launched themselves up into the branches, taking advantage of their Relédiakian training to hide amongst the leaves while simultaneously attempting to track the other. Rebehka silently jumped through the branches, launching the occasional ice shard toward where she thought Siyuakén was while evading stray lightning strikes as the corrupted Electrotechnic sought her out. A few moments later, Siyuakén stopped trying to track Rebehka and instead summoned an immensely powerful lightning strike, obliterating the tree in which she sat as the lightning jumped to nearby trees and continued to chain through the forest. Forced into a dangerous situation, Rebehka threw herself from the treetops, exposing herself to Siyuakén just before creating a massive ice pillar around the original burnt tree. The ice cage offered the Cryotechnic a moment of relief, but no more — Siyuakén burnt her way through the pillar in no time, using high currents in her body to melt the ice. She leaped down to the ground next to Rebehka, landing with a roll and immediately spinning toward the Cryotechnic, thrusting her left arm forward in the same motion. Rebehka quickly moved to counter with her right arm encased with ice, causing a small explosion as Siyuakén discharged into the ice shield. The Cryotechnic immediately followed by creating a lance of ice in her left hand and thrusting it forward, which Siyuakén managed to dodge, grab, and then shatter with a pulse of electricity. The two Chaotics then jumped away from each other as they simultaneously launched elemental attacks, knocking them even further back. After rolling across the ground haphazardly, neither bothered to fully climb to their feet before firing off one more attack — Rebehka immediately froze everything within fifty meters, including Siyuakén, at the same instant the Electrotechnic triggered another lightning chain strike through the forest. The Cryotechnic barely withstood the brunt of the blast, dropping to a knee in exhaustion as Siyuakén broke herself out of her ice prison again and collapsed on her side. The two lay where they were for several moments, each catching their breath; Rebehka was the first to act as she created a staff of ice and used it to climb back to her feet.

“Wh…why…?”

The Cryotechnic glanced toward Siyuakén as she got back up as well.

“Why… are you doing this?” the corrupted Electrotechnic muttered as she grasped her left arm in pain.

“That’s a dumb question, and you know it,” Rebehka retorted as she created yet another set of ice armor for herself. “I’ve only told you countless times — I’m your best friend. And that means I can’t let you die!”

“You don’t… understand!” Siyuakén pursed her lips, frustration and pain wrought over her features. “I’m… suffering! To stop this, to stop me, you need… you need to kill me!!”

“Or I can just bring you back to your senses!” Rebehka countered, “look, you’re already more in control than before! Morcii’s weaker than ever; now is the time to shake off his influence!”

“Rebehka—!”

“And if you won’t do it yourself, then I’ll do it for you!” The Cryotechnic lunged forward, simultaneously creating a dozen airborne javelins and launching them toward Siyuakén. The Electrotechnic simply countered the javelins with lightning strikes, illuminating the frozen and damaged area just in time to block a punch from Rebehka. Siyuakén then followed with her own as she attempted to uppercut the Cryotechnic, but was blocked by a shield of ice. Rebehka quickly countered, sweeping her foot around to knock Siyuakén’s legs out from under her — only for the Electrotechnic to catch herself by shooting her grappling hook into a branch above her and then throw an electrically charged punch with her other hand. The two Chaotics continued trading blows, covering their attacks with continually dwindling amounts of electricity and ice, blocking, countering, dodging — but over two hours of fighting was catching up to them. Within barely a dozen blows they were using mere token amounts of their powers, their bodies slowed as they felt more pain through exhaustion than through injury.

“Rebehka… please…!”

The Cryotechnic stepped away wearily as Siyuakén stumbled backwards, small sparks jumping across her limbs.

“End this… kill me…!”

“…Damn it, Siyuakén, I already lost you once!” Rebehka countered, and then paused momentarily to catch her breath. “…I’m not killing you! …But I am finishing this, whether you like it or not!”

“Rebehka—!”

“Overdrive: Ice Storm!”

Siyuakén instinctively shielded her face with her arms as the light snow around her instantly developed back into a raging blizzard, drawing a curtain of ice and snow that darkened the night forest to pitch black.

“Why… why… why did you follow me?!”

Without warning, the corrupted Electrotechnic felt herself get launched into the air by a blow from below.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my best friend! I can’t let you go!”

Several more blows quickly followed; within moments, Siyuakén found herself above the clouds themselves, the veil of the blizzard no longer present to block the crescent moon and starry skies.

“If… you were… my friend… you… would have killed me by now!”

Rebehka then appeared within sight, having jumped up a series of ice platforms to reach Siyuakén.

“I can’t do that! I made a promise, remember?!”

Before the Electrotechnic could react, Rebehka crafted a giant hammer out of ice and swung it overhead, slamming it into Siyuakén and sending her careening back into the darkness of the snow storm below.

“You’ll live through this!”

…

..

.

---

“Stay… away…”

“…NOW THIS IS TRULY A SURPRISE! YOU’VE OVERCOME THE EXPRESSION INHIBITORS! MUST BE BECAUSE YOU’RE ALMOST DEAD. HMM.”

“I… said! Stay… away…!”

“AHAHAHA… HA HA HA HA HA HA! CUTE. YOU THINK YOU COULD POSSIBLY SAVE YOUR FRIENDS? IN THAT STATE?”

“I… I…! Hrgk—!”

“SEE? YOU’RE HELPLESS AGAINST ME. JUST AS YOUR FRIENDS ARE! NO ONE CAN HOPE TO STOP ME! YOU CAN’T STOP ME FROM CONQUERING THE GALAXY. AND YOU MOST CERTAINLY CAN’T STOP ME FROM KILLING! NOT YOUR FRIENDS, NOT YOURSELF, NOT ANYONE!”

“…No… …maybe not… me. But… not… no one…!”

“HMPH. …YOU ANNOYING ALDREDANOIDS ARE JUST AS HEADSTRONG AS THE ALDREDAS THEMSELVES. WHAT A NUISANCE… OH WELL. HAVING A CHAOTIC LIEUTENANT, AND A QUAKEBORN, NO LESS, WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED.”

 

—What? While it lasted? Is this— is this the end?

No… even if I can’t be saved, what about Rebehka? Davídrius? Christeané?

Hero Machina — they all need my help, but—!

I can’t… resist… his… control…!

I have no more energy… I’m so tired… …will someone, please… …just end it…

…No.

…I can’t give up. Not yet. Rebehka believes in me… and she’s right. Morcii is weaker than ever… now is my only chance. I can’t let her down again. I won’t! I have to see the end of this!

I won’t give up!

 

“I won’t… give up…!”

“HMM?”

“I’m done… with being controlled by you. You… have no power over me!”

“YOU DARE DEFY ME? ME, THE LEADER OF THE NANOCREATURES? ME, THE HARBINGER OF THE MORIKAI?! YOU DON’T HAVE THE POWER—!”

“No, you don’t have the power. You were beaten on Neticen, and you may have returned, but you still don’t have the same power as before! You can’t control me, Morcii. And even if you try, my friends will come back for me. I… doubted them, once. And not just them — I doubted my own ability to control my fate. But I see now that I was wrong, and that you will never win in the end!”

“AHAHA! YOU MUST BE DERANGED! YOU BELIEVE THAT FRIENDSHIP CAN OVERCOME MY CONTROL?! SUCH CHILDLIKE BELIEFS HAVE NO PLACE IN MY GALAXY!”

“But the galaxy isn’t yours, Morcii. It never will be.”

“…HMPH. IF YOU INSIST ON SUCH IMPUDENCE, THEN I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO OBLITERATE YOU AND ALL THAT YOU STAND FOR. THE GALAXY WILL BE MINE, ALDREDANOID. YOU WILL REGRET CHOOSING THE WRONG SIDE.”

“I won’t regret anything, because there is no choice with the Nanocreatures! From this day on, I’ll oppose you to my last dying breath, to my last lightning strike, and I’ll be glad to do so — because it will be my choice! Because no one else can ever force me to do anything again! Because I won’t be standing alone! You thought you could control me, Morcii, just like you thought you could control the galaxy. But I proved you wrong once, and I’ll do it again! Your reign…

…ends now!”

---

“Feeling better?”

“Wha…?” Siyuakén’s eyes fluttered open, revealing only a blur of darkness. Moments later her vision began to settle, resolving into the starry night sky through a hole in the clouds and a myriad of broken branches and ice shards.

“Siyuakén?”

The Electrotechnic blinked several times and then tilted her head back, immediately meeting eyes with Rebehka. The two stared at each other for several moments — a blank stare from Siyuakén, an amused one from Rebehka — before the Electrotechnic jumped to her feet and scrambled away, realizing that she had been laying with her head beside Rebehka’s knees.

“Wha, what are you doing?!” she exclaimed, “you… you can’t… I’m…!”

Rebehka simply crossed her arms, an amused smirk on her face. “You’re what?”

“I’m…!” the Electrotechnic started, but faltered as an unfamiliar feeling crept through her body. She paused for a second before looking down at her hands, her bruised, metallic hands — that she could clench and open at will. Hands that she had full control over.

The corruption no longer controlled her.

“Realized it yet—?” Rebehka started, but stopped to jump forward and catch Siyuakén as she collapsed into tears.

“I’m sorry!!” she sobbed into her friend’s shoulder, “I didn’t…! You…! I was convinced, but, but you…!”

“Shh…” Rebehka responded quietly, fully wrapping her arms around Siyuakén in a warm embrace. “…It’s okay now. It’s okay…”

“B-b-but it’s not!” Siyuakén drew away again. “I… I thought I was better off dead… I, I didn’t think, I didn’t think this was possible, but… …I was trying to force you to kill me, that, that’s not okay!…”

“…You almost succeeded, too.” Rebehka smirked bitterly. “…I was ready to kill you not even two hours ago. After two, three months in prison, away from everyone… I did think killing you would be the answer. That it was the only way to stop your suffering… …but do you know what else I realized, after all that?”

Siyuakén sniffled wearily and wiped a tear from her cheek before meeting eyes with Rebehka again. “…What?”

“I realized that I missed you.” The Cryotechnic stepped forward and hugged her friend again. “…And that I didn’t have to renege on my promises after all. Because we’re best friends, damn it, and as sappy as it sounds, I won’t let anything get in the way of that!”

“…Maybe it is sappy,” Siyuakén responded quietly, “…but it saved me. And I can’t appreciate that enough… I don’t know how I can ever make this up to you…”

“Well… there is one way…”

“Yeah…?”

Rebehka finally released Siyuakén and pulled back enough to lock eyes with the Electrotechnic, a stern look on her face. “Never do this to yourself again!”

“…Heh.” Siyuakén slowly smiled, prompting Rebehka to respond in kind. “…Understood!”

“…Holy shit.”

“So this is what an orbital bombardment looks like,” Christeané muttered as he and Davídrius came to a stop at the foot of the Western Peaks. The entire mountain that the Gate Train depot had been on was completely obliterated, leaving only a pile of rubble as the surrounding mountains collapsed to fill the crater. Dust thrown up by the bombardment clouded the sky, obscuring the searchlights shining from the two Frigates hovering a mere five hundred meters over the bombardment site as they overlooked automated search drones that scoured the rubble for survivors. The sound of the ships’ engines filled the air, masking the noises from the city behind the Chaotics, but not creating enough noise to deafen them.

“It’s gotten a lot colder, too,” Davídrius remarked as he involuntarily shivered. “…An orbital bombardment can do this?”

Christeané shook his head. “No, the cold has to be something else. It is winter, and it is night. …But, to get this cold, this quickly…”

“Well the best way to warm up is to not stand still, yeah? We should be lookin’ for Kievkenalis, or Morcii, or the Master Ayas.”

“True…” Christeané nodded as he began whirling his hammer by its cord, preparing to launch himself into the blast zone. “I doubt we’ll find anything here, though!”

“We can at least find a lead!” Davídrius shouted back as he launched himself forward, arriving in the debris field several seconds before Christeané. He immediately scowled and wiped his brow as sweat began to drip down his face, brought on by an intense — albeit bearable — heat. “What the…?”

“It’s what happens when you orbitally bombard something.” Christeané snorted with amusement after arriving and noting Davídrius’s puzzled irritation. “There’s a lot of energy in a bombardment. Where do you think it all goes?”

“…Into destroyin’ stuff?”

“And that generates a lot of heat.” The Master Lieutenant shook his head wearily. “C’mon, we don’t have time to discuss this. We need to figure out where Kevken and Morcii went.”

“Assumin’ they even survived…” Davídrius muttered, switching on his communicator as he dashed across the rubble field and began inspecting the damaged mountainsides. “This is a pretty big area, I dunno if Kievkenalis is fast enough to get out in time…”

“Kevken is fine; he checked in with me just five minutes ago.”

“Kevérin?” Christeané questioned, momentarily surprised by the new voice on the comms. “How did he make it out?”

“He managed to teleport to safety. But that’s irrelevant right now,” the Transfer Captain declared. “You won’t find anything at the bombardment site. Kevken’s gone, and so is the Master Ayas — and according to satellite and fleet surveillance, Morcii is gone, as well.”

“Yeah?” Davídrius responded, stopping his search as he looked up at the Frigates above. “How’d they know that?”

“They were able to catch sight of him for a split second. Aside from that, I think we can safely assume that he’ll be going after the Ayas. Kevken has that covered, but the more important issue is that the path to the Ayas would take Morcii right by Kaoné… and for some reason, I can’t contact her.”

“So you want us to go back her up?” Christeané questioned.

“Yes, and the sooner, the better!”

“Sounds like it’s time to get goin’,” Davídrius commented as he blasted off toward the east, giving Christeané a brief nod as he passed by. “Maybe this time we won’t show up late to the action!”

---

“COMMUNICATION SYSTEM STABILITY HAS INCREASED BY FIFTY-THREE PERCENT. ESTIMATED LIFESPAN HAS DECREASED BY SIXTY-EIGHT PERCENT.”

“Damn. Thanks for the updates, Arcán—”

“ESTIMATED CHANCE YOU ARE DOING AN OPTIMAL JOB: NINE PERCENT.”

Kevérin paused for a moment to sigh irately before continuing to work on the communication systems. “Well maybe if you focused more on helping me instead of telling me how wrong I am, that would get better, wouldn’t it?”

“I APOLOGIZE. BUT AS THE SITUATION STANDS, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OVERCOME THE NANOCREATURES ON YOUR OWN.”

“Why’s that?” the Pyrotechnic questioned flatly.

“I CANNOT SAY. THERE MAY BE A WAY TO TRULY END THEM… A METHOD THAT IS POSSIBLE THROUGH MORCII’S OWN SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS, BUT WITHOUT SOMEONE OF EQUAL ABILITY AT THE CONTROL OF YOUR FORCES—”

“You ‘can’t say?’ You’ve been saying that for months, Arcán! If you want things to change, if you want us to win, then damn it, tell us how!”

“AND IF YOU LOSE? THEN THE NANOCREATURES WILL LEARN OF THE PLAN, FIX THEIR WEAKNESSES, AND NEVER BE VULNERABLE AGAIN.”

“If we lose there won’t be another chance to beat them! It’s now or never!”

“THAT IS NOT TRUE.”

“…It’s not?” Kevérin responded in surprise. “…What does that mean?”

“…I CANNOT SAY, FOR REASONS THAT ARE BEYOND YOU.”

“Arcán—!”

“HOWEVER, THERE MAY STILL BE A WAY FOR YOU TO EMERGE FROM THIS SITUATION VICTORIOUS. YOUR COMMANDER IS DEAD, AND YOUR AUTOMATED DEFENSE FORCES ARE SUFFERING UNDER NANOCREATURE JAMMING AND INFLUENCE. YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TAKE CONTROL — TO DIRECT THE BATTLE FOR YOUR SIDE, AND TO PROPERLY COUNTERACT THE NANOCREATURES THROUGH EXPLICIT USE OF THE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND THE AUTOMATED FORCES. YOU NEED SOMEONE OF SIMILAR COMPUTATIONAL ABILITY TO MORCII TO TAKE CONTROL. YOU NEED ME.”

“…You want me… to put you… in control of everything.”

“AS A PRIOR, MY MULTITASKING AND PROCESSING ABILITIES ARE FAR BEYOND ANYTHING YOU CAN COMPREHEND. MY CORE MAY BE DAMAGED, BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAMPER MY EFFORTS TO STOP THE NANOCREATURES.”

“And you want me to put you in control of all our military forces… just like that?”

“YOU MAY NOT UNDERSTAND IT, BUT GIVEN THE CURRENT SITUATION, IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO DEFEAT MORCII — FOR GOOD. BUT IT IS STILL ONLY A REMOTE POSSIBILITY, ONE THAT CAN ONLY BE REALIZED IF YOU WIN THIS BATTLE — IF YOU KEEP THE AYAS SYN OUT OF MORCII’S HANDS. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW TO DO SO NOW, SO AS TO SAFEGUARD THE PLAN IN THE EVENT THAT YOU LOSE — BUT I CAN LEAD YOU, THEREBY PAVING THE PATH TO MORCII’S DEFEAT.”

“I have little reason to believe you,” Kevérin countered as he continued working at the console in front of him. “You’ve been extremely resistant to sharing information on Morcii or the Nanocreatures, citing your core’s damage as why. And now you claim to know how to beat them? Either you lied before, or you’re lying now, and I’m not about to let a lying supercomputer take control of Nimaliaka’s defenses.”

“…THE KEY IS THE CORRUPTED ELECTROTECHNIC.”

“Huh?”

“HER RETURN… COULD BE MORCII’S DOWNFALL. IF WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HER CORRUPTION, OR MORCII’S CURRENT LACK OF AYAS, THEN SHE MAY BE WHAT GIVES YOU THE OPENING TO DEAL THE TRUE FINAL BLOW. BUT THIS IS ONLY IF YOU CAN KEEP THE AYAS SYN OUT OF MORCII’S HANDS — I CAN GUARANTEE THAT HE HAS FORCES GOING AFTER THE OTHER AYAS, AND IF HE CLAIMS THE AYAS SYN AS WELL, THEN IT IS ALL OVER.”

“The Ayas Syn? …You mean the Master Ayas…” Kevérin scowled with frustration as he considered Arcán’s words. “…What would you do?”

“USE THE AUTOMATED DEFENSES TO INTELLIGENTLY KITE THE NANOCREATURES, SLOWING THEIR CORRUPTION EFFORTS AND FORCING MORCII TO GO AFTER THE AYAS SYN ON HIS OWN, WHERE YOU AND YOUR FELLOW CHAOTICS CAN FEND HIM OFF.”

“Are you not aware of how well we were able to ‘fend him off’ when he first appeared?”

“AT THAT TIME, THE NANOCREATURES POSSESSED AT LEAST THREE OF THE CHAOS AYAS. EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT ON MORCII’S PERSON, THEY STILL OFFERED BOTH HIM AND THE NANOCREATURES A SUBSTANTIAL BOOST — BUT THANKS TO HIS DEFEAT AT NETICEN AND YOUR RECOVERY OF ALL THE AYAS, HE CURRENTLY HAS NONE. HOWEVER, HE IS STILL A THREAT, A THREAT THAT REQUIRES THE THINKING SPEED AND ABILITY OF A SIMILARLY ADVANCED INTELLIGENCE TO COUNTER OPTIMALLY ON THE TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC LEVEL. AND HE WILL NOT BE WITHOUT AYAS FOR LONG, AS I CAN GUARANTEE THAT HIS FORCES ARE ATTACKING WHEREVER ELSE YOU HAVE STORED THE AYAS. WE MUST ACT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, IF YOU HOPE FOR YOUR GALAXY TO EVER HAVE A CHANCE OF SURVIVING.”

“…”

“NEED I ALSO MENTION THAT I CAN FIX AND STABILIZE THE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS FAR MORE QUICKLY AND OPTIMALLY THAN YOU COULD, THEREBY FREEING YOU TO USE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ABILITY — YOUR PYROTECHNISM — TO RENDER DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO YOUR COMRADES?”

The Transfer Captain paused as he mulled over the Prior’s words. He had little doubt that Arcán, as an Artificial Intelligence backed by a supercomputer, could control and coordinate Nimaliaka’s defenses better than any individual — especially in lieu of a Commander. He also agreed that he would be much more useful in the field, using his flames to fight the Nanocreatures, than he would be working on technological systems in the base. But the Prior had yet to offer any kind of proof that he truly knew how to defeat Morcii, or that he was even on the side of Nimalia at all. And aside from that — Kevérin never had any experience with AI. Before Arcán, he didn’t even know that AI could exist, as most AI research in the galaxy came up with dead ends, or simply more advanced automated systems. For all he knew, Arcán could seize control of all the planet’s technology and begin the “robot uprising” that was so common a trope in science fiction stories across the galaxy. The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized that Morcii was already doing the same. Giving control to Arcán had the possibility of backfiring, but if Kevérin simply ignored him, then what other options were there to take? Morcii had already returned from obliteration once, so what was to stop him from doing it again? If physical destruction wasn’t enough to stop Morcii, then what was?

“…You say you know how to defeat Morcii?”

“I KNOW OF A POSSIBLE PATH WE CAN TAKE, YES.”

Kevérin paused again as he stared down at the console in front of him. After a moment of thought, he turned to another console and quickly began accessing the military intelligence network. While he had yet to fully counteract the Nanocreatures’ jamming, he had still managed to boost certain systems so as to send and receive important messages, allowing him to gain a general overview of the battle for Nimaliaka Central — and what he saw wasn’t encouraging. Both the Gateport and the Western Peaks base were completely flattened, with the Gateport currently swarming with Nanocreature bugs. Over a dozen Frigates were hanging in the skies over the city, but none of them were able to fire on the metallic creatures as they took refuge in civilian buildings and corrupted the populace. The fleet in orbit still had difficulty making contact with the boots on the ground, and were distracted by a small fleet of Nanocreature ships regardless. Most of Nimalia’s Chaotics were currently off-world as well, helping to rebuild cities and colonies across the galaxy — so Nimaliaka Central’s defense laid entirely in the hands of automated drones and mechs, which were unable to connect to the intelligence network due to the Nanocreatures’ jamming and thus couldn’t be given any tactical orders; non-Chaotic soldiers, who had a difficult time dealing with hordes of metallic bugs in an urban environment without the wide-sweeping effects that Chaotics could create; Frigates that couldn’t even render proper assistance without significant civilian casualties; and Hero Machina.

For the first time since the Nanocreatures reappeared, Kevérin realized the true severity of the situation. He realized just what the Siion, Citan, and Dra’kis militaries must have felt when the Nanocreatures were washing over their worlds three months ago. He realized just how hopeless the matter was, and his heart sank in his chest as he failed to come up with a solution himself.

…Which is why I can’t rely entirely on myself, he thought warily. …Damn it. There really is no other choice, is there? I hope I don’t regret this…

The Transfer Captain took a deep breath. He then declared, “alright. I’ll remove your access restrictions and patch you into the base systems directly.”

“I KNEW YOU COULD BE REASONED WITH. SHOULD WE EMERGE FROM THIS BATTLE VICTORIOUS, TRANSFER CAPTAIN, YOU WILL HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS YOU DESIRE. OF THIS, I ASSURE YOU.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Kevérin muttered as he input several commands and entered his Transfer Captain passcode multiple times before finally standing up from the console. “Alright, Arcán. You’re free to do whatever it is you’re planning to do.”

“THANK YOU. I ASSUME YOU NOW INTEND TO ENTER THE FIELD?”

“As if there’s any other choice, now,” Kevérin retorted as he quickly left the room. “I’m going to help Kaoné! You focus on holding back the Nanocreatures — we can keep the Ayas from Morcii!”

---

Kaoné leaped backwards, evading several laser blasts from distant Nanocreature units before removing the ground underneath them, letting them drop into the newly-created hole and then reforming the ground, effectively burying them. She then jumped into the air, casually manipulating her body itself to maintain a sort of flight as she began raining steel spikes on any Nanocreatures in sight, catching the remains of any units she destroyed in steel sarcophagi that she launched into the Nimaliakian Bay nearly twenty kilometers to the east.

After clearing everything within a hundred meters of her position, she alighted on a nearby building and paused to survey the city. The immediate area around her was bathed in post-midnight darkness; all of the lights had been demolished during her encounters with the Nanocreatures. Kaoné had made sure to evacuate as many civilians as she could beforehand, managing to protect them through the clever use of barriers and traps against the Nanocreatures, but nothing seemed to be able to stop the metallic bugs for long. Several Frigates had lowered into low atmosphere to provide searchlight and fire assistance to the city under siege, and several mech squadrons — both manned and unmanned — had been released to defend the city, but Kaoné was the only Chaotic in sight as she attacked the Nanocreatures and racked up a destruction count higher than the rest of the defense force combined. But as she looked over the damaged city, it was evident that her efforts meant little. She was only one person, after all, and lacked the ability to watch over every civilian, over every life — and she lacked the ability to save everyone from corruption.

“And now it’s snowing, too…” she muttered wearily, noting the white flakes that slowly drifted past distant lights. “At least people tend to stay inside during winter. If the Nanocreatures had attacked during summer…” She shivered at the thought, unwilling to contemplate the fate of the city had a large number of the citizens been wandering the streets at night. Just as she prepared to seek out more Nanocreatures, however, Davídrius suddenly appeared behind her, rolling to a stop after a gigantic leap onto the building she was standing on.

“You’re back?” she questioned.

“Well, yeah,” he responded warily as he took a moment to survey the landscape himself. “…Thought you could use a hand.”

“…Well… you’re not wrong,” Kaoné admitted quietly. “Where’s Christeané and Rebehka?”

“Uh… dunno? They’ll be here eventually, probably.”

The Materiatechnic sighed. “You really don’t have any patience, do you?”

Davídrius simply shrugged in response, and then pointed to the north. “Wait… are those more Nanocreatures?”

“Huh? Where?” Kaoné turned to look herself, squinting into the distance — and then felt a sudden, fierce pain in her chest. She impulsively coughed up blood before glancing down and noting a blade protruding out of her stomach—

—Davídrius’s saber protruding out of her stomach.

“Well, I suppose there are some right here, as well.”

“Wha—?!” she choked out, attempting to spin around and step back in one motion, only to collapse painfully to her knees. “Wh…what are…?”

“Need you really ask?”

Kaoné stared, wide-eyed, up at Davídrius — or rather, who appeared to be Davídrius. “…No… Morcii?!”

“CORRECT!” He grinned maliciously, glaring haughtily down at Kaoné through the Velocitechnic’s visage as he allowed his normal, oppressive voice to take over. “YOU ALDREDANOIDS, ALWAYS SO—”

“Overdrive: Conflict’s Judge!”

“WHAT—?” Morcii started, but had no time to finish his thought as a thick dome of diamond and steel encased him entirely. Outside the dome, Kaoné clutched her chest painfully and then took a deep breath before clenching her eyes shut and attempting to sense all of the damaged material in her body. He’s corrupting me… she thought warily, noticing that she couldn’t manipulate the matter in her body around the blade — but she was still far from helpless. With a single thought, she disabled her pain receptors and subsequently seized control of the entire region of her body around where the sword had impaled her, at which point she separated it — and all of the corrupted material within — from her body. She then flung the mass of bloody, mangled organs away, taking a moment to filter her blood for corrupted cells and remove those as well before lifting a chunk of rubble from the ground below to her level. A moment later, she inserted the rubble into the hole in her body, transmuting it into new organs and blood as she did so and completely rewiring her body’s insides so as to be as good as new. She sealed up her skin and then reactivated her pain receptors, taking a careful, deep breath to test her emergency battlefield surgery — and then sighing of relief as her body functioned perfectly. And not a moment too soon, for she immediately had to jump back as Morcii exploded free of his steel prison, his form returned to his normal tan-skinned, short-haired, maroon trench coat-wearing self.

“…I MUST ADMIT, I’M IMPRESSED,” the Nanocreature remarked, turning toward Kaoné and noting the hole in her clothing where he had impaled her — as well as the fact that she had completely expunged the corruption from her body. “YOU MAY WELL BE THE FIRST ALDREDANOID TO—”

He had no opportunity to finish his thought as Kaoné removed the roof beneath his feet and slammed him toward the ground below. He quickly recovered midair and landed on his feet, only to have them begin to melt as the ground below transformed into lava. The Nanocreature leader quickly took to the air, turning to face Kaoné just in time to block a massive chunk of rock she had launched his way. She instantly followed by transmuting the air around Morcii’s arms into steel, trapping him just long enough for her to jerk the entrapments in opposite directions, tearing off the Nanocreature’s arms. As soon as she had done so, the severed arms removed themselves from the steel casings, grabbed them, and tossed them toward Morcii’s main body where he dealt both casings fierce kicks, simultaneously corrupting them to prevent Kaoné from seizing control as they flew her way. The Materiatechnic simply blocked them by raising a barrier of steel before ripping the barrier from the rooftop and flinging it back at Morcii, simultaneously transmuting nearly fifty meters of the ground below into lava and raising it up to engulf the Nanocreature leader. He burst out of the makeshift lava geyser a mere moment later, slamming into Kaoné and flinging the both of them across the roof where they rolled to a stop at the opposite edge. The Materiatechnic promptly flung Morcii away with a board of diamond before jumping to her feet and quickly removing and replacing any corrupted body material as she had done earlier. She then turned back to Morcii just in time to see him lunge forward; she immediately leaped to the side and knocked him off the edge with a club materialized from the air itself. Kaoné prepared to deal another blow, but she was beat to the punch — or kick, rather — as the real Davídrius came flying into the scene and smashed his foot into Morcii’s head. The Velocitechnic rebounded from the blow onto the rooftop next to Kaoné as Christeané entered the area hammer-first, missing Morcii by a hair as the Nanocreature dodged and then took off into the air.

“Damn, there he goes again.” Davídrius scowled as he attempted to track Morcii through the air, but ultimately lost track of him against the cloudy nighttime skies. He then glanced down at Kaoné, only to find her giving him an uneasy stare. “…What?”

“…Nothing.” She shook her head, sighing of relief after attempting several slight matter manipulations of Davídrius’s body, and succeeding. He’s not a Nanocreature… it’s the real Davídrius. Good…

“Hmph. If you say so,” the Velocitechnic responded flatly as he turned to survey the area. “…Well, you seem fine, holdin’ off Morcii the way you were. Maybe you didn’t need help after all.”

“I still appreciate it.”

“Mm,” Davídrius grunted. “…Well, the bastard’s goin’ after the Master Ayas now, and we need to get it before he does.”

Kaoné nodded. “Alright. I’m coming with you, then. We need to stop him, soon.”

The Velocitechnic glanced back at her, his expression one of surprise before quickly turning into a satisfied smirk. “…Heh. Didn’t even have to ask.” He then launched himself off the building, followed closely by Kaoné as she manipulated her body to fly right behind him. “Alright! Let’s go whoop some Nanocreature ass!!”

“Well, shit…”

“I feel like we’re sayin’ that a lot, lately,” Davídrius commented, glancing toward Christeané as he jumped out of the hovercar. He then turned back toward the gates to the mountain base as he warily eyed their burnt remains. “…But, uh, not really much else to say, huh?”

“If the gate’s been burned… Kevérin and Kevken should be here, right?” Christeané kicked the gate remnants aside and began briskly walking into the complex. “Something bad must’ve happened if they needed to break in…”

“That’s easy to tell even without the gate,” Davídrius pointed out as he sped to Christeané’s side, “the defensive CENT fields are down. What’s that tell ya?”

The two Chaotics fell silent as they progressed past the unmanned defenses at the front of the complex. Shortly afterward they entered the main courtyard, where they stopped to observe the battle damage before Davídrius blasted forward and inspected the rest of the base. Christeané only had to wait a few moments for the Velocitechnic to return.

“The Commander’s dead,” he declared with a frown. “It looked like she’d been corrupted…”

Christeané scowled. “Shit. What about Kevérin or Kevken? Are they still here?”

“Kevérin’s in the basement with that Prior, workin’ on… somethin’,” Davídrius responded. “You go meet with ‘im and find out what’s goin’ on, I’ll go get our weapons.”

“Got it.” Christeané nodded back as the two began approaching the building again. “Time to see just how bad things are…”

---

“MORCII… HAS RETURNED.”

“Yes, he’s back,” Kevérin responded irately as he opened a hatch in the wall and began inspecting the underlying wires. “How many times are you going to tell yourself that before you help me fix the damn comms?”

“DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS EVENT? UNLESS YOU HAVE FED ME FALSEHOODS, YOU DESTROYED MORCII THROUGH THE USE OF THE MASTER FOURTH TIER CHAOS STATE. YET HE HAS RETURNED!”

“Trust me, Arcán, this is all the damned truth. How about what you’ve told me though, huh? You said destroying Morcii with the Chaos State would be enough!”

“I CLAIMED IT WOULD BE ENOUGH IN LIEU OF BETTER INFORMATION, AND I SAID AS MUCH. IF ONLY YOU HAD JOINED MY CORE WITH THE ARCÁN AYAS, THEN PERHAPS WE WOULD NOT BE IN THIS SITUATION, HMM?”

“You annoying little…” The Transfer Captain growled, slamming the hatch shut as he finished with the cords. He stormed over to a nearby console just as Christeané entered the room. “What are you doing here?” Kevérin questioned as he eyed the Forcetechnic with annoyance, “I thought I told you to check out the Gateport.”

“Dude… chill,” Christeané responded warily, “we were just there; Davídrius and I came back to get our weapons, and then we found the whole place wrecked and the Commander dead… what happened?”

“LACK OF FORESIGHT, THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED.”

“Arcán—!” Kevérin snarled and then stopped himself, taking a deep breath and a moment to calm down. He then resumed working at the console as he addressed Christeané, “…Morcii’s back. He corrupted the Commander to get the location of the Master Ayas out of her. We had to kill her, and now Kevken’s going after the Ayas himself.”

“So he really is back…” Christeané scowled. “Damn it. You should know that Siyuakén’s back, too.”

“WHAT?”

“What?!” Kevérin and Arcán replied simultaneously. The Pyrotechnic then continued, “but Kaoné said that Morcii killed her!”

“And you have to wonder what that actually means to someone as corrupted as Siyuakén.” Christeané snorted. “If Morcii’s keeping her as close as he has been, then simply ‘killing her’ might not be enough to actually, well, kill her.”

“Just like Morcii himself, apparently…” Kevérin sighed irately as he stood up and approached another wall hatch, before opening it and igniting a small, intense flame on his fingertip as he began cutting wires and attaching others.

“…What are you doing?”

“I’m fixing the comms,” the Transfer Captain responded. “But I’m not an Electrotechnic, so I have to reroute power from other systems in order to boost the comm arrays enough to overcome the jamming.”

“You can do that from here?”

“Not effectively. Doing it this way will cause the systems to burn out after a couple days. But if we haven’t kicked out the Nanocreatures by then…”

“Yeah…” Christeané sighed. “I get it. Damn, this is all fucked up…”

“You’re tellin’ me!” Davídrius exclaimed as he dashed onto the scene, his sword boxes slamming against the door as he barged in. “On the way to the armory, there were… …just how many people did Morcii need to kill, huh? He didn’t even stop to corrupt any of ‘em!”

“There’s no need for him to do that here,” Christeané replied, holding out his hand to catch his battlehammer and its harness as Davídrius tossed them his way. “Not when his forces are out in the city, corrupting everything there.”

“Which is all the more reason for us to get goin’,” the Velocitechnic urged, “we need to find Morcii, if he’s here!”

“He is,” Kevérin commented, “but Kevken’s already gone after him.”

“And I can go after him faster,” Davídrius pressed, “where is he?”

“If he’s going after the Master Ayas, then he should be heading to the military Gate Train depot in the Western Peaks.”

Davídrius and Christeané glanced at each other cluelessly. “…Where?” Christeané questioned.

“One moment…” Kevérin responded slowly as he continued to fiddle with the wires in the hatch. “If I can get this right… then you guys can patch into the comm array and get GPS that way.”

“And how long’ll that take?”

“Did you not hear me say ‘one moment?’” the Pyrotechnic retorted. Several seconds later he sighed of relief and approached another console. “…Alright! We have comms again! …Well, shit!”

“What now?” Davídrius questioned apprehensively.

“The orbital fleet seems to have assumed the worst, between the arrival of the Nanocreatures and Nimaliaka Central’s communications blackout,” Kevérin reported, and then looked up at Christeané and Davídrius uneasily. “…They fired an orbital barrage at the facility holding the Master Ayas. It’ll be obliterated within the next ten minutes.”

---

“Chaos Energy… Detect.”

Kievkenalis winced before focusing on the environment around him and watching the trails of Chaos Energy among the Western Peaks. Through repeated use of Chaos Boost, he had easily crossed the entire city in a quarter of the time it would have taken to use a hovercar, but he had trouble scaling the western mountains on his own. He knew that the Master Ayas was at stake and that Morcii had a head-start on him in reaching the Ayas, so he was pushing himself as hard as he could to scale the mountains regardless of the difficulty — resulting in searing pain wracking his body over and over as he forced himself through multiple activations of Chaos abilities. And yet, even after managing to endure the pain, he still feared the worst: that Morcii may beat him to the Master Ayas in the end.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts before refocusing on the Chaos Energy in the region. One particular point stood out, as all of the Chaos Energy around it seemed to slowly flow outward, like water from a waterfall. “That must be it…” he muttered to himself, and then activated Chaos Boost again to leap high into the air, where he caught himself on a higher cliff-edge — and promptly noticed that he had reached the mountaintop roads. He had decided to scale the mountain himself instead of follow the roads due to how long and windy they were, but when he thought back to how much time he had wasted trying to climb the cliffs…

No good. He shook his head again, attempting to discard the irrelevant thoughts as he dashed down the road, taking the final bend and spotting the Gate Train loading depot. Need to find the Ayas… He stopped momentarily at the entrance gates before speeding through their wrecked frames, reaching the interior of the complex just as Chaos Boost wore off. He slowed to a brisk walk as he approached the main building, inspecting the complex along the way. Much like the base where he and Kevérin had found Morcii the first time, the loading depot was covered in scorch marks, obliterated mechs, and bloodied corpses.

“Chaos Energy Detect,” Kievkenalis muttered again, immediately snapping his head downward to focus on a distant point source of Chaos Energy. “It’s still here… good. Chaos Boost.”

The Chaostechnic rushed into the main building, quickly finding his way to the nearest elevator and smashing through the door to the shaft with Chaos Massive Impact. He then flung himself down the shaft, muttering “Chaos Claws” halfway down and slamming the claws into the shaft walls, thereby slowing his descent. He glanced around warily until spotting the nearest door; wrenching one of his hands from the wall, he directed it toward the door and called “Chaos Massive Impact,” tearing the doors off their tracks and opening the way to the floor. Kievkenalis then released his other hand from the wall and jumped toward the opening, landing with a haphazard roll as the pain from calling multiple Chaos Attacks in quick succession momentarily ruined his ability to concentrate.

“Kevken!”

The Chaostechnic jumped, his focus lost again as he heard a sudden voice in his ear. He quickly recovered and realized it was coming from the communicator he had picked up at the mountain base. “Kevérin? You got the comms back up?”

“Yeah, and I found out something really really bad,” the Pyrotechnic responded in a hurry, “listen, the orbital fleet launched a bombardment barrage at the Western Peaks base barely half an hour ago! Those rounds will hit within the next five or six minutes and they’ll wipe out anything within a kilometer of the base, so stay back!”

“Stay back?” Kievkenalis echoed wearily as he climbed to his feet and began rushing down the hallway. “But I’m already here. Chaos Massive Impact!” He paused to tear a door off its hinges before finishing, “and so is the Master Ayas!”

“Argh. Fine, but I’m warning you — get the Ayas and get out as quickly as possible!”

“Understood,” the Chaostechnic replied as he turned around a corner. He immediately found himself standing in front of another door and knocked it down as easily as he had the rest, but momentarily froze as pain shot through his body yet again. As soon as he could focus again, he stepped into what appeared to be a long observation room. The longest wall was constructed entirely of glass, offering a clear view of a sizable clean room below, the Master Ayas sitting on a pedestal in the center—

“SO… YOU MANAGED TO CATCH UP.”

—And none other than Morcii standing at the other end of the room.

Kievkenalis immediately backed away defensively as he glanced between Morcii and the Master Ayas. Damn, it’s too far away. I can’t activate the Chaos State, but if I try to break the glass and get closer… Morcii’s too fast, he’ll—

“GIVING ME THE SILENT TREATMENT, ARE WE?”

Kievkenalis focused his attention on the Nanocreature leader uneasily. “…What are you doing here?”

Morcii snorted. “THE SAME THING YOU ARE, I AM SURE. I AM CLAIMING THE AYAS.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” the Chaostechnic countered. Maybe, if I can stall him…!

“…AH HA HA, YOU WISH TO KNOW HOW I’VE RETURNED TO THE LAND OF THE ‘LIVING’, IS THAT IT?” The Nanocreature offered an arrogant smirk. “THE KEY HERE IS THAT I HAVE NOT ACTUALLY RETURNED, PER SE.”

“…You’re still dead?”

“NO, YOU FOOL. I NEVER DIED! WHAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIVING CANNOT ‘RETURN’ TO DOING SO.”

“Then… what happened at Neticen? We destroyed a planet to kill you, how can you still be around to, to cause all this Chaos?”

“HOW CAN I STILL BE AROUND? OH, YOU ALDREDANOIDS NEVER FAIL TO AMUSE ME.” Morcii chuckled derisively. “YOU CONTINUE TO ATTEMPT TO ASSIGN THE CONCEPT OF FORM TO THAT WHICH IS ABOVE IT. AS ALDREDANOIDS — AS BEINGS OF THE FLESH — YOU KNOW A WORLD WHERE EVERY ITEM’S EXISTENCE IS TIED TO ITS PHYSICAL FORM. IT IS INCONCEIVABLE TO YOU THAT SOMETHING COULD EXIST WITHOUT SOME FORM, WITHOUT SOME SORT OF PRESENCE IN WHAT YOU KNOW AS THE PHYSICAL REALM. I ADMIT THIS IS TRUE FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE UNIVERSE… BUT NOT I! YOU MAY DESTROY MY FORCES, YOU MAY DESTROY MY BODY, BUT NEVER WILL YOU DESTROY MY MIND — AND SO LONG AS THAT EXISTS, SO TOO WILL THE NANOCREATURES! AND AS LONG AS THE NANOCREATURES EXIST I WILL RETURN, AND I WILL DO SO AS MANY TIMES AS IT TAKES TO SEIZE ALL OF THE CHAOS AYAS AND FREE THE MORIKAI FROM THEIR PRISON! THIS IS THE GIFT GIVEN TO ME BY THE MORIKAI, THE GIFT THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO RETURN THEM TO THIS REALM — OR, IN LIEU OF SUCH, THE GIFT THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO EXACT THEIR RIGHTEOUS VENGEANCE ON A GALAXY SO PITIFULLY MISGUIDED THAT IT THINKS IT CAN RID ITSELF OF US FOR GOOD!” The Nanocreature paused in self-amusement before dropping his arms to his side and transforming both of his hands into long blades. “BUT I HAVE SAID ENOUGH FOR NOW. THE MASTER AYAS IS MINE, ALDREDANOID, AS ARE ALL OF THE AYAS!”

Morcii then lunged toward Kievkenalis, crossing the entire observation room in a mere second. But a second was all the Chaostechnic needed as he quickly shouted “Teleport!” Instantly, the observation room disappeared and was replaced by a dark, rainy field. Kievkenalis collapsed to his knees from the pain of the drawn-out Chaos Ability; he had counted on Morcii entering into a monologue, and used the silence to boost the power of Chaos Teleport and enable him to teleport over a kilometer away to an empty field at the base of the Western Peaks. But the boost used a significant amount of Chaos Energy, causing him an incredible amount of pain that he found difficult to recover from. However, when the sky lit up brightly as the orbital bombardment barrage slammed into the Gate Train depot and completely demolished the mountain peak, Kievkenalis sighed of relief, pleased to have escaped an untimely death.

“It won’t stop Morcii for long…” he muttered to himself, slowly stumbling to his feet as he stared up at the damaged mountains through the night rain. “…Chaos… Energy Detect!” The Chaostechnic squinted skyward, toward out an incredibly distant trail of Chaos Energy. “…The Master Ayas was flung away…” He tracked the trail of Chaos Energy through the air to the eastern horizon. “…Really far away, too. I hope it didn’t land in the bay… Chaos Boost!”

---

Siyuakén stumbled through the snow-blurred streets, unable to see more than half a meter in front of her face due to the blizzard caused by Rebehka’s Overdrive. The Electrotechnic glanced about herself quickly yet cautiously as she continuously ran enough current through her body to counteract the cold.

Rebehka observed from a distance as she gauged Siyuakén’s position through her connection to the snow all around her. The two Chaotics had been fighting for nearly an hour at this point, long enough for her Overdrive to wear off once and allow the Cryotechnic to call it again. Through the blizzard, Rebehka could easily track Siyuakén, but the advantage was countered by the corrupted Electrotechnic’s ability to sense nearby currents — including the minute currents present in living creatures. Neither Chaotic had yet to land any kind of significant blow on the other.

…’Yet’ being the key word, Rebehka amended mentally, before finally jumping forwards and creating several tens of ice javelins that she then hurled at Siyuakén. Two of the javelins sliced into the Electrotechnic’s back and leg before she quickly hardened her entire skin with her nanomachines, weathering the frozen onslaught before retaliating with a powerful lightning blast that Rebehka just barely managed to dodge. The Cryotechnic quickly disappeared into the blizzard again, using the snow and wind as cover as she continued to barrage Siyuakén with attacks. Shortly after she managed to land one, the Electrotechnic let out a massive electric pulse that stunned Rebehka, throwing off her next attacks. Siyuakén then summoned an immensely powerful lightning bolt from the sky, imparting enough force and energy to the ground to blow back the snow and ice for tens of meters around her — which was just enough to lay eyes on Rebehka. The two Chaotics immediately locked eyes, but Siyuakén moved her hands faster than Rebehka could move her body — and fired off another powerful lightning bolt directly at the Cryotechnic. Rebehka managed to create several ice barriers to help absorb the blow, but she was still thrown violently into a nearby building, slamming into its walls and collapsing to the ground in a daze.

Several moments passed before the Cryotechnic could recover from the blow and scramble back to her feet, leaping away from her location to evade any potential follow-up attacks. As no lightning came, however, a thought crossed her mind:

I was open. She could have attacked, she could’ve killed me… why didn’t she?

Rebehka faltered for a moment, unsure of what to do next. She then furrowed her brow as she created a long spear of ice and dashed toward Siyuakén’s location before thrusting the weapon forward. The Electrotechnic began to dodge at the last second, barely evading the tip of the spear as she whirled around and slammed her right hand into Rebehka’s chest plate of ice, imparting enough energy to shatter the chest plate and knock the Cryotechnic back. Rebehka quickly rolled away as soon as she hit the ground, jumping back to her feet and rushing off as an electrical blast hit her previous location a second later.

She’s slow… she’s barely fighting me at all… Rebehka frowned as she increased the distance between herself and Siyuakén and then circled around. …But why? According to everyone else, she was able to hold her own against both Kaoné and Wilkas, on two different occasions… I may have trained with her, but how have I drawn blood, and she hasn’t?

The Cryotechnic suddenly flinched away as Siyuakén summoned another skyward lightning blast, creating a brief opening in the blizzard through which she could see Rebehka. The Cryotechnic immediately lunged backwards through the snow curtain just in time to evade several lightning strikes on her position, all of them missing by a hair.

…She’s had several chances to hit me with a killing blow, but never has. She doesn’t seem to be fighting to kill. She’s just fighting to intimidate… it’s like she doesn’t want to actually kill me. Rebehka stared through the blizzard, dumbfounded. She then felt the hair on her neck rise, prompting her to create a shield of ice just in time to block another electrical blast. Is she… is she resisting…? She did manage to overcome the corruption on Neticen, even if she was near death, but… can she do it again?

The Cryotechnic stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her friend through the snow storm. A second later, the air in front of her lit up as she felt the warmth of lightning pass straight in front of her face; a second strike hit her squarely in the chest, but only with enough energy to melt half of her ice armor and stagger her.

…That must be it! She still has the ability to influence her own actions. Is it because Morcii just recently returned? Maybe because he no longer has any of the Ayas, he can’t control her as completely as before…? Rebehka’s expression hardened as she repaired her ice armor and prepared even more projectiles. If that’s the case, then now’s my only opening. If I don’t get through to her now, then I never will! “Siyuakén!” she shouted into the wind, unsure if her voice would be lost in the storm but nonetheless certain of her course of action. “…I’m sorry to go against your wishes again, Siyuakén, but— forget everything I said earlier! I swear to you! I lost you once, but this time… I’ll bring you back!”

“The what?!”

“But…!” Kaoné frowned as she glanced between Kevérin and the distant, smoking ruins that used to be the Gateport. “But, they all shut down over a month ago!”

“I know,” Kevérin muttered as he rushed out onto the observation deck to get a better look at the city below. Just as he did so, the lights in the restaurant flickered, followed immediately by an alert on his AR display. “…Damn it! Comms are out!”

“Alright, Nanocreatures or not, it’s pretty damn clear we’re under attack!” Davídrius exclaimed, and then jumped forward to perch on the deck’s guardrail. “We needa get to the Gateport and we needa get there now!”

“No! Wait!” the Transfer Captain quickly countered, stopping Davídrius and Christeané just before the two Introtechnics jumped down to the ground. “We have no idea who we’re up against and we have no comms! Not to mention that we’re in Nimaliaka Central, of all places! A civilian city! This isn’t a Fortress World, it isn’t prepared for enemy attack. We can’t just rush out there blindly!”

“Then what do you suggest?” Rebehka urged, “Davídrius is right, the longer we wait here, the more damage the Nanocreatures can cause!”

Kevérin opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted as Kievkenalis dove into him, shouting “Chaos Impact!” Immediately afterward, an invisible force intercepted a Nanocreature beast as it jumped down to the deck from the building’s roof, launching it off the side and to the ground below. Kevérin immediately fired several fireballs toward the roof, illuminating a small Nanocreature vessel just long enough for Kaoné to impale it with a massive spike and launch it toward the mountains.

“See?!” Davídrius pointed upward irately. “The longer we wait—!”

“We still can’t all rush the Gateport!” Kevérin insisted, “most of Nimalia’s Chaotics are still off-world, assisting with the CSA recovery efforts. We’re some of the very few left here, and as such, we have a duty to protect the civilians! Do you understand that?”

“How ‘bout we protect the civilians by findin’ the threat and endin’ it?!”

“…We can do both,” the Transfer Captain replied after a moment of thinking, “…and we can do it smartly, too.” He briefly glanced at the other five members of Hero Machina before directing his attention to the Gateport — and then to the mountains to the south, where their base was located. “…Alright, this is what we’re going to do. Kevken, you and I will head back to the base; you need to get the Master Ayas’s location from the Commander and retrieve it as quickly as possible! I’ll work on getting city-wide comms back up; as we are now, we can’t even contact any of the ships in orbit. Davídrius, Christeané, Rebehka, the three of you need to reach the Gateport and figure out what the hell happened to it! Stick together, we have no idea what we’re dealing with. And Kaoné — stay in the city, use your Materiatechnism to save as many civilians as possible! This is no time to be conservative!”

The rest of Hero Machina stared at the Transfer Captain, dumbfounded and surprised by his quick thinking.

“…Well?!” he urged, “do you understand what I just said?”

“Right! Yeah!” Davídrius quickly responded as he offered a quick salute. The rest of Hero Machina followed suit.

“Good!” Kevérin nodded. “Now get going! We have a city to save!”

---

“Holy fuck…”

Davídrius perched on the edge of a building across the street from the Gateport… or rather, where the Gateport used to be. Several bulbs in the vicinity flickered erratically, offering just enough light to view the resulting damage through the stormy nighttime fog: the entire complex had been obliterated and replaced with a 500-meter crater, and much of the wreckage had either been blown out into the surrounding buildings — causing even more damage — or fallen back into the crater. Flames dotted the landscape; from their dim light the Velocitechnic could barely make out moving forms, but he was easily distracted by the moans and cries for help coming from scattered locations around the wreckage, and by the sirens echoing from the city that masked everything else.

“What happened…?”

Davídrius glanced over as Rebehka and Christeané climbed out of the hovercar they had commandeered to cross the city. He returned to staring at the wreckage, ignoring the falling rain as the two Chaotics silently approached his side.

“…Holy shit,” Christeané muttered, “was this caused by an orbital round?”

“The Nanocreatures are back…” Davídrius commented, “…so I’d bet on much worse.”

The Master Lieutenant glanced toward Davídrius warily. “You think Morcii’s back?”

“I think there’s a chance,” the Velocitechnic replied. “…We need to figure out what caused the crater, and where they went. Fast, too. The whole city’s gone to hell…”

“Assuming this isn’t just artillery damage, I could try to track the attacker with my Overdrive,” Rebehka suggested with a frown. “But, at least until we can be sure if it was Morcii or not, I think a blizzard would hurt more than it would help…”

“And more importantly, we need to find the Interstellar Gate,” Christeané pointed out as he jumped down to the street below. Davídrius and Rebehka quickly followed suit. “We need to make sure it’s blocked. Can’t have even more Nanocreatures crawling through the—”

He was interrupted as some nearby wreckage shifted, followed by three people crawling out from under it, their bodies bloodied and injured. Rebehka and Christeané rushed to their side — but Davídrius reached them faster, punting one of them away and smashing his foot into the other two, killing them instantly.

“Davídrius!” Rebehka exclaimed irately, “what are you–?!”

“They’re corrupted,” the Velocitechnic stated, pointing at the underside of the debris just as a large metallic bug leaped up into the air. Davídrius immediately flip-kicked the bug away before scanning the horizon for more. “The Nanocreatures are already here…”

“Of course they are,” Christeané muttered, cracking his knuckles before grabbing the chunk of debris, hoisting it into the air, and lobbing it further into the crater. “We can’t walk through this, not without our armor. It’d be too easy for something to ambush us.”

“Then we’ll go over,” Rebehka responded as she created a stairway of ice into the air and then a walkway a couple meters above the ground. She quickly climbed it, gesturing for the two Introtechnics to follow her as she continually created a levitating ice path over the wreckage.

“…I haven’t seen shit this fucked up since dealing with Bleeder massacres back in Treséd,” Davídrius muttered.

“What went wrong?” Christeané scowled, glancing around at the debris as the three Chaotics approached the location where the Gate should be. “…I killed Morcii. I took his Ayas, I saw him dissolve before my eyes! All the Nanocreatures even shut down! How are they back?!”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Rebehka replied. “…Actually, it’s probably better than mine, since I’ve been out of the loop for a few months… but we can concern ourselves with the ‘how’ after we’ve dealt with the attack here.”

“’Dealt with?’” Davídrius snorted derisively. “You think we can win? Newsflash, the CSA couldn’t save a single fuckin’ planet the moment the Nanocreatures touched down. Hell, you were there for Kotak; we had to evacuate that place immediately. Seein’ Nanocreatures on the surface of a planet is a fuckin’ death sentence.”

The Cryotechnic sighed warily as she stopped creating an ice path. “…Regardless, we’re at the Gate. Or where the Gate should be, if the Gateport was still intact.”

The three Chaotics fell into silence as they searched the terrain below them for any sign of the interstellar portal. Several moments later, Christeané pointed at a large piece of scrap metal several meters away — under which a part of the Interstellar Gate could be seen.

Davídrius frowned. “How’re we gonna uncover it?”

“I can do that easily,” Christeané responded, “but we don’t have our armor with us, so watch my back. One scratch, and we’re done for.”

“Good thing you’re a Forcetechnic then, huh?”

“Sure. Now watch out.” Christeané jumped down from the ice path and landed on the debris-ridden terrain below. He cautiously made his way over to the Gate, flinching when Rebehka launched an ice javelin to pierce a Nanocreature just before it attacked him. He gave her a brief nod before reaching toward the giant piece of metal and slamming his fists into it, flinging it away and revealing the Gate’s event horizon just below.

“It’s active!” Davídrius exclaimed.

“No shit!” Christeané retorted as he began to navigate around the large ring. “I’m gonna find the control panel and turn the block on.”

Rebehka created more ice platform to allow her and Davídrius to get closer to the Gate as Christeané carefully stepped around debris until he had reached the Gate’s control panel. He quickly looked for the block indicator; sure enough, the Gate was un-blocked. “At least it got knocked over,” he muttered to himself as he entered the brief command to block the portal, “kinda hard to use the Gate if you just fall back in immediately after coming out…” As soon as he was done, he glanced up and waved toward Davídrius and Rebehka, the latter of which moved to create an ice stairway back into the air for Christeané. Just as he approached the steps, however, he felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to rise — and then he flinched as Davídrius vaulted himself into the air over Christeané, intercepting a high-speed object and preventing it from smashing into the Forcetechnic. Rebehka quickly jumped down to join the two Introtechnics, erecting a dome of ice to block out any potential attackers — just as the debris cloud created by the impact of the foreign object cleared up, revealing the sparks trailing up and down her arms.

“…You’re shittin’ me,” Davídrius growled, stepping back defensively as soon as he recognized the newcomer. “…Siyuakén?!”

The Electrotechnic didn’t respond. Instead, she stared levelly at the other three Chaotics, bright sparks continually jumping from her arms and hands to the debris around her and dimly illuminating her face — just enough to see the metallic scars stretching across her neck and cheek.

“Alright, so Nanocreatures are impossible to kill, confirmed,” Christeané muttered apprehensively. “…Shit. Kaoné said Morcii killed her on Neticen. So how—?”

He was interrupted as Davídrius bowled into him, knocking them both out of the way just in time to evade a lightning blast. Rebehka immediately moved to freeze Siyuakén’s hands and feet, temporarily immobilizing her.

“I’ll distract her!” the Cryotechnic declared, “the two of you need to go help elsewhere!”

“Are you crazy?!” Christeané exclaimed, “if Siyuakén’s back, then Morcii’s definitely around here somewhere!”

“I know,” Rebehka responded, “and that’s why the two of you need to find and stop him. I can hold Siyuakén off on my own; I’ve fought her before, I know all of her abilities. I can do this.”

“I know you can…” Davídrius commented warily, “…but do you want to?”

The Cryotechnic glanced toward him and then back at Siyuakén, who had broken free of her ice bonds and was slowly backing away as she gathered energy in her arms again. “…No. I don’t. But that’s not the question anymore, is it? She’s suffering, and I need to end that… for her sake.”

Christeané frowned. “If you say so… but don’t go getting yourself killed. Losing both of you would be…” He paused, and then shook his head. “C’mon, Davídrius, she’s right. We need to find Morcii!”

“And before that, we need to get our weapons,” Davídrius insisted. “We need to drop by the base first.”

“Right!” Christeané nodded as he leaped toward the ice dome and smashed open a hole through which he and Davídrius left.

Rebehka watched the two Introtechnics leave before sealing the hole again and turning her attention back to the corrupted Electrotechnic. “…It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Siyuakén’s only response was a level stare and an increase in the number of sparks jumping from her body to the environment around her.

“…Don’t worry, Siyuakén. This time, I’ll do what I couldn’t do before…” The Cryotechnic took a deep breath as she covered her body in ice armor and crafted an ice spear for each hand. “I’ll stop your suffering. As your best friend, this is my last gift to you…” She closed her eyes and took a final breath before lunging forward, shouting, “Overdrive: Ice Storm!”

---

“We’re here.”

Kevérin and Kievkenalis jumped out of their hovercar at the entrance to the Nimaliaka Central mountain base. They approached the gates warily, both taking note that the entire complex was completely silent, save for the sound of falling rain.

“…The CENT fields are down.”

“What?” Kevérin glanced toward Kievkenalis and then turned his attention back to the gates. He held up his right hand and launched several fireballs, burning a hole through the gate and watching the projectiles careen through the sky, past the base and beyond. “If the base-wide CENT fields are down, then…” The Transfer Captain scowled and snapped his attention back to Kievkenalis. “What’s Detect tell you?”

“Chaos Detect,” the Chaostechnic muttered, wincing slightly — but not enough for Kevérin to notice. He then looked around… and found only Kevérin’s silhouette within range. “There’s no one in the guard outposts. Either they’re all gone, or…”

The two Chaotics glanced at each other uneasily before Kevérin turned toward the gate and incinerated it. He then rushed forward to search the base; Kievkenalis quickly followed, muttering “Chaos Assist” as the Pyrotechnic in front of him slammed through the complex’s entrances and finally reached the main building itself — where he stopped momentarily, shocked at the sight:

A ten-meter chunk of the building was missing, apparently blown away by an explosion as several dead bodies lay around the courtyard. Nearly a dozen mechs were strewn about the area haphazardly, their wrecks blocking all but the main entrance that itself was scarred from weapons fire and blood.

The Transfer Captain took a moment to take in the damage before glancing toward Kievkenalis. “Whoever did this might still be here,” he warned, “stay on your toes. First things first — we need to check on the Commander.”

Kievkenalis nodded in response, after which Kevérin wasted no time rushing forward, leaping over debris and bodies to enter the building through the hole. He and Kievkenalis rushed through the base’s hallways, taking note of the occasional dead soldier and the fact that they all appeared to have been stabbed to death. They passed the door to the Hero Machina office without a thought, though Kievkenalis slowly muttered “Chaos Detect” once more — and immediately grabbed Kevérin’s arm.

“What is it?” the Pyrotechnic questioned, his voice a whisper as he cautiously scanned the hallways in front and behind.

“There’s someone in the Commander’s office,” Kievkenalis responded, “…two someones.”

“…Fuck,” Kevérin swore as he immediately took off into a sprint, with the Chaostechnic close behind. Mere seconds and two hallway turns later, the Chaotics had reached the Commander’s office; Kevérin instantly incinerated the door and burst in, his eyes immediately latching onto the figures Kievkenalis had spotted:

Behind the Commander’s desk stood none other than Morcii, who held Nikéyin high in the air by her neck.

“Chaos Arrow!” Kievkenalis immediately responded, severing Morcii’s arm with a Chaos Energy projectile and allowing the Commander to drop to the floor, where she began coughing uncontrollably. The Nanocreature leader quickly turned on the Chaotics and lunged toward Kevérin, who ducked out of the way as he extended two flame sabers from his hands and slashed at Morcii. The Nanocreature collapsed to the floor haphazardly, now on the other side of the Chaotics in relation to the door — and he immediately fled, jumping backwards out the door and rocketing upwards through the ceiling. Kevérin quickly approached the doorway and stared up at the base’s new skylight, clicking his tongue irately.

“Chaos Heal…”

The Transfer Captain looked back to Nikéyin, who was still collapsed on all fours as Kievkenalis crouched over her and tried to help her up. A second later, the Chaostechnic paused and glanced up at Kevérin uneasily; wary of the gesture, the Transfer Captain approached and then stopped in his tracks when he noticed the blood dripping from Nikéyin’s neck… and the metallic rashes spreading outward from the wound.

The Commander was corrupted.

“Sh…shit,” Kevérin growled, his fists tightly clenched. He turned to fully face the Commander, who had stopped coughing but had yet to stand up. A closer look revealed that she was trembling. “…Commander?”

“Damn… bastard…”

Kievkenalis reflexively grabbed Nikéyin’s shoulders to steady her as she began coughing again, her statement agitating her wounds.

“No… get away from me,” she muttered, her voice barely a hoarse whisper as she jerked away from Kievkenalis. “Can’t… you see? I’m… corrupted.”

“…How long was Morcii here?” Kevérin questioned, taking a wary step back as Kievkenalis stood up and backed away from the Commander. “What did he want?”

“Went from… courtyard to here in… under ten minutes. Killed everything,” Nikéyin responded, and then paused as she shivered uncontrollably. “Couldn’t… stop him… even the CENT fields didn’t help… or they got taken out, I… don’t know…”

“Ten minutes, to work through all of the base’s defenses?” Kievkenalis frowned. “That’s actually kinda long, for someone like Morcii…”

“Why did he stop with you?” Kevérin insisted, “Commander, we…”

“No, I know,” Nikéyin replied. She coughed again as she slowly pulled herself to her feet, using her desk and chair as crutches. “Need to… know where he went. He…” She trembled again, grimacing as her entire body tensed and then relaxed slightly. “…He wanted the Ayas. …I couldn’t… I couldn’t stop him…”

“Of course he does…” The Transfer Captain scowled. “There’s no other reason to attack here, is there?”

“Did you tell him where it was?” Kievkenalis asked quietly.

“Didn’t… ask,” the Commander responded painfully. Kevérin’s entire body grew tense with apprehension; the rashes were spreading up her cheeks and down her collar, where he could only assume she was slowly losing control of her body. “It’s why he… corrupted me,” she eventually muttered, “…didn’t need to ask. Just… took the knowledge… …couldn’t… …resist…”

“Commander? Commander! Stay— stay with us!” Kevérin urged, watching apprehensively as Nikéyin dry heaved and collapsed to her knees again, clutching her chest. “We— we need to know! Where’s the Master Ayas?”

“Secondary… …second… …base…” she whispered hoarsely, “…Gate Train… depot… argh…!”

“C-commander…?” Kievkenalis questioned warily.

Nikéyin took several deep breaths before speaking up again. “…I’m… proud of you…”

“Commander…?” Kevérin responded quietly.

“I hate to— AGH!” Her breath caught in her throat as she doubled over again, before managing to turn her head toward Kevérin and Kievkenalis. “…Gah! Agh… Hero Machina, you… saved us once. …I hate to… ask so much… argh…! …But… please… …one more… …time…! …Guagh! Ahaaghhh!!”

Nikéyin suddenly lunged forward, her fingernails lengthened and sharpened into metal claws as she swiped at Kievkenalis — only for Kevérin to jump forward and pierce her chest with a flame saber. He quickly followed by piercing her forehead as well, and then allowed her body to slump to the floor, lifeless.

Kievkenalis quickly backed away from the Commander’s body, coming to stand near Kevérin as they both looked over the scene in solemn silence. Several seconds passed before the Transfer Captain realized he was hyperventilating; he quickly slowed his breath and calmed himself, only to grow tense again as his mind finally caught up with his actions.

“…Holy shit,” he muttered hoarsely, “…I just killed the Commander.”

“She was corrupted,” Kievkenalis commented. “…We couldn’t help that.”

Kevérin took several more breaths before shaking his head vigorously and snapping his attention to Kievkenalis. “…Yeah. Right. I know. A-anyways, we need to get to work. You heard her, right? Secondary base, Gate Train depot… that must mean the military depot in the Western Peaks. Take a communicator so we can talk if I fix the comms.”

“All the way out there, in the Western Peaks…?” the Chaostechnic muttered, and then nodded. “But I got it. I’ll get the Ayas! Chaos… Boost!”

Kevérin watched Kievkenalis dash away before looking down the hallway in the opposite direction. “Meanwhile, I need to try and get the comm system back online…” His gaze drifted back into the office and down to the floor where Nikéyin lay, her body resting on its side. He took a deep breath and then turned to face her corpse directly, stiffening up and offering a proper salute. “…Understood,” he responded, “…we can do it, Commander. Hero Machina will stop Morcii once and for all!”