Almira Galaxy. Planet Taktaros. Razmos Club.
Eve had stationed Cesnas and Team Bravo at Yarkhzaer. She had come to Razmos to ask a favor when the report of an attack on Yarkhzaer arrived.
"Are you kidding me? Three hundred generals?"
Sappherine's voice echoed from orbit. "I've already requested assistance from HQ. Other commanders are en route."
Eve paced the room, frustration tightening her movements. "Alright, let me wrap up here and get back to you." She ended the comm and pressed her palms on the table. "Dear Godfather of Dust, you heard her. This is the time. Are you in or out?"
Razmos puffed his cigar slowly before replying, "We're taking my ship."
Nomad braced for hyperspace jump. Razmos followed with hundreds of his own ships.
The orbit of Yarkhzaer looked like a vision of hell.
Razmos deployed his spacefighters while his cruisers merged into formation with Meerkat's allies and the Alliance fleets. Cannons blazed against cannons, lighting up the void with streaks of red and violet plasma. It felt like the Dark Galaxy war all over again.
Civilians had already retreated into the bunkers. Meerkat's army, their allies, and the Alliance forces clashed on the ground with unrelenting fury.
Eve opened comms from the command center aboard Razmos' flagship. "Mira, we need more support."
Mira responded sharply, "Spacefighters deployed. Additional IC fleets are on the way."
"Give me Kayden!"
"I'm here, Commander," Kayden answered. "What do you need?"
"Pack everything. I want my soldiers on the ground with flight-capable exosuits, D-class weapons, and full ammunition reserves. Supply dropships, orbital cannons, all spacefighters on standby. Give me everything Nomad's got."
Cesnas, K'thar, Vorlag, Aura, Zohan, and Voila guarded the mountain's entrance and fortified the temple ruins. The shrines were in ruins, smoke and dust billowing through the cracks of the stone.
Eve, Meerkat, Razmos, Mira, and the rest of the Eve Squad arrived to join them.
Three hundred generals. Three thousand ships.
.
And now, the generals themselves had entered the field.
Vorlag transformed into his rhino form and charged, smashing a general into the cliffside. The impact shattered rock and sent shockwaves, but the general stood unfazed and countered with a single powerful strike. K'thar joined him, his four arms moving like a turbine as he unleashed a flurry of blows, yet the Thelarian general parried with supernatural precision.
Voila dissolved into smoke and vanished into the chaos. No one could see her fight, but enemies were being shredded apart, falling like petals into a grinder.
Eve and Aura ascended high into the air, commanding the squads equipped with jet-packed exosuits. They form aerial defense against anything coming to the crater from the sky.
Zohan used his telekinesis to hurl massive fragments of debris at Thelarian soldiers trying to climb the mountain. Kayden, Axel, and Zara provided long-range support, targeting enemy artillery and intercepting transports descending through the atmosphere.
Razmos engaged two generals who attempted to breach the temple cave. His armored brutes swarmed the ridge behind him, roaring as they clashed with Thelarian tactical teams. The ground quaked under the force of their battle.
At the mountain's base, Meerkat led his demon legions against the enemy frontline, while his commanding officers shielded the civilian bunkers . Hannah led Cesnas on weaponized hoverbikes, darting through enemy formations and obliterating cannon vehicles with precision strikes.
Above them, the skies were a graveyard of fire and wreckage. The planet's orbit swarmed with capital ships locked in devastating exchanges, their explosions painting the heavens with burning trails. Debris rained down through the atmosphere, but energy shield domes protected the bunkers, the crater's summit and Meerkat's base camps.
Hours passed, and the war raged without pause. The battlefield turned into a storm of flame, dust, and chaos. Thelarians commanders proved formidable opponents; soldiers on foot were easy targets but their numbers a difficult problem; the generals were the real challenge.
Even seasoned galactic champion like Razmos was faltering facing just two of them.
Nomad's orbital cannons aligned with her command, raining down plasma storms upon the enemy. The mountain became a beacon of resistance — the last stand against the darkness returning from the void.
Keyden: "Commander, we need more firepower here. The generals are overwhelming us."
Eve: "Aura, take the lead. I'm going to the ground. Hannah, deploy Team Alpha to the base. Assist the Chief."
Eve ignited her jetpack and launched toward the temples, cutting through the thick air as plasma bolts and wreck streaked past her. Eve's arrival gave them precious breathing room as she took on the generals. She charged forward, slicing through mechs, soldiers, and elite commanders with the full destructive force of her exosuit arsenal.
Razmos' high-tech exosuit unleashed devastating cannon fire from his forearms, waves of energy tearing through the advancing Thalerian lines.
Down at the base, the Chief's forces were stretched to the limit. Meerkat had sustained multiple wounds but refused to yield. His warriors followed him with fearless resolve. Hannah joined the fight, leading the Cesnas as they formed a defensive perimeter, doing everything they could to keep the enemy at bay.
Eve's plasma blades flared as she leapt across the slope, cutting through a squad of armored marauders. The ground trembled under bombardments.
A missile screamed from above and slammed into Razmos, sending him crashing into a rock face. K'thar sprinted toward him, deflecting incoming fire with his shield.
"You alright?" K'thar shouted.
Razmos groaned, pushing himself up. "This only motivates me."
K'thar extended one of his four hands, hauling him to his feet. Without hesitation, both plunged back into the fray, tearing through enemy lines in synchronized fury.
Explosions rolled through the valley as aerial reinforcements descended. Keyden's voice came through Eve's comm, "Commander, the Chief needs backup now. He's being overrun."
"On it," Eve replied, her visor flaring as she vaulted off the ridge. Her body morphed mid-air, xenoforming before she crashed into the enemy ranks with the fury of a phoenix, cutting a blazing path through waves of Thalerian troops.
High above, a Thalerian general stood at the edge of his ship's platform. Two lieutenants knelt beside him.
"Keep the Doomslayer occupied," he ordered coldly. "Focus your fire on the base. Draw her attention. And prepare me a ship."
"As you command, General Kolzak!"
Kolzak was a towering eleven feet, built like an iron giant. His golden armor gleamed beneath the dim stormlight, yellow eyes burning with malice. His ship broke formation, diving toward the mountains. Several other vessels followed, concentrating their barrage on Eve's position.
Eve countered their assault, darting between incoming fire as commanders rained down from above. Her claws and plasma blades carved through the assailants.
Hannah: "Keyden, they're trying to corner the commander! I'm moving to assist!"
Eve, suppressing the surge of her alien trigger, replied sharply through comms, "I know what they're trying to do. All teams, guard the cave. Don't let them breach!"
'I must stay conscious,' she thoughts as she faught, 'I'm useless if I lost my control to hyperxeno or alienform.'
Multiple generals slammed onto the shrines, their landings shaking the mountain like thunder. One dropped near Razmos and sent him flying with a single punch; it was Kolzak himself, far more powerful than the rest.
"Damn it!" Eve muttered, her combat speed doubling as she blurred through the horde of enemies. Xenomode had shredded her exo, flight was impossible. Hannah and Cesnas struggled to keep up. "Aura! Lost my exo, pick me up!"
The ancient temples were reduced to rubble. The Eve Squad fought desperately against the generals. Their weaponry was designed for aerial combat, but this kind of direct sky-drop caught them completely off guard.
Two generals restrained K'thar while a third bashed him relentlessly. Another hurled Vorlag into the dirt. Sappherine, Keyden, Axel, and Zara retreated toward the defensive line, covering each other with suppressive fire. Voila, cloaked in smoke and moved towards a general but he was sharp. He blindly caught her by neck extending his hand into the smoke. He was crushing her windpipe as she struggled to phase away. Wound Zonan hurled a huge rock at him to set free, he smashed the rock with his other hand, but shockwave gave Voila escaping chance.
Meanwhile, Zorlak stormed into the cave, annihilating anyone who stood in his path. By the time Eve and Aura reached the gates, he had already reached the tree. Eve tore through the soldiers and entered the sacred chamber.
Inside, Zorlak held the artifact, its surface glowing like molten crystal.
Zorlak: "You fool. You should have destroyed it when you had the chance."
He drove the artifact into his chest. Eve lunged—but it was too late. A shockwave burst outward, hurling her across the cavern as the ceiling cracked apart. Zorlak's scream echoed through the chamber. "Come into this world, Master! Rise from my death! My body is thine!"
Eve's eyes widened. "He's unleashing Vestos!"
A monstrous figure materialized—dark skin veined with gold, a helm of pure energy, armor glowing like a dying sun. Black fumes poured from his body, each breath radiating waves of infernal power.
Eve could already sense the enormous power, energy radiating from his body. She had defated him in simulation (Virtuality), but this was reality.
"I told you I would return," Vestos spoke, his voice thundering like a thousand beasts roaring in unison.
Eve steadied herself. "And I told you I will destroy you again. Enjoy that body while it lasts."
He laughed with a terrible rumble, echoing sound that rattled the cave.
"Of course, you'd assume this vessel is temporary," he said. "But my servants found a way to make it permanent."
'The Tree?' Eve thought. "So the Thalarians have been working for you all along."
"The Primetheans think they're the only ones who can whisper," Vestos replied with contempt.
The realization hit her hard. Of course, The Dark Siders had aligned, Vestos was the perfect boss.
Eve lunged, but Vestos moved faster, gripping her by the neck. She was still in xenoform, yet even with her enhanced strength she couldn't break free. Then he inserted the artifact in his chest. Energy flared like lightning, cavern roof completely came off. The crater yawned open to the heavens.
Green energy from the Tree surged toward Vestos, while Eve's own blue aura was drawn out of her body, merging with his. The tree shot a beam of energy skyward as Eve went limp, thrown aside like a broken doll.
Sappherine, Hannah, Keyden, and Axel rushed into the cavern, opening fire. Their plasma rounds scattered against his armor without effect. Axel reached Eve, "Commander!"
Eve weakly stirred and whispered. "Fall back."
They launched out of the collapsing cave.
Keyden's voice rang through comms, "All units, retreat! Abandon the cave! The crater has been taken; regroup at the base!"