The swarm rose from the maw of the peak and filled the sky. Their numbers clouded the sun so densely that noon turned into nightfall.
Jax: "What now, Commander?"
Eve: "I don't know. This could be the beginning of the end."
Sappherine: "But I don't understand, we defeated Vestos. What else is left?"
Eve: "His body's gone, his mind remains. The swarm is his mind."
Cetra: "He polluted the Essence of the Sacred Tree and used its power to unleash the plague."
They watched as a face formed out of the swarm, each creature serving as a pixel of the unmasked terror. Soldiers, Alliance and Thelarians alike, stared at the sky in horror.
Eve: "Cetra, there must be a way."
Cetra: "I have a suspicion, but I can't be sure. You must talk to him."
Eve: "Alright, take the lead," she said. "Hannah, let's get to the Soul Drifter."
Hannah followed her.
Razmos stood nearby with his warriors. "It doesn't look like our ships are any good up there now."
Cetra: "Regardless, we are compelled to fight. Kayden, guard the cannons; we need to stun them. Sappherine, command the spacefighters they must not escape the orbit. Team Alpha and Bravo, secure the perimeter against ground invaders, protect the installation. Aura, fly with me, lead your flight squadron."
They all replied in one voice, "Yes, Mother!"
Cetra's bio-organic exosuit shimmered in brilliant gold. Her huge wings spread wide as they spread wide, with a deafening shockwave she catapulted towards the sky. Aura followed her, leading Nomad and IC soldiers in flight-capable exosuits.
he Cyber girls and aliens braced as zombie-like creatures in twisted forms charged toward the base compound. Cannons erupted, unleashing volleys of fireballs, plasma, and laser energy into the aerial and terrestrial threats.
Inside the cockpit, Eve commanded, "Badgy, connect me now!"
Badgy flowed to the console and plugged into a power port.
Pilot's console lit up, and a holographic interface revealed Primethean.
Eve: "We decimated Vestos, but the swarm was released."
Primetheas: "Of all the cycles, this was the one and you finally did it. He's gone for good."
Eve: "We still need to take care of the swarm."
Primetheas: "On the other hemisphere of the planet, there's a secret place. There you'll find the Root of the Sacred Tree. I'll transmit the coordinates directly to your badge."
Eve: "I get there. Then what?"
Primetheas: "Eve, then comes the difficult part."
Eve: "I'm all ears."
Primetheas: "You'll put the badge inside the tree's core. I'll overload the polluted energy with detrimental data; the tree will become inert. A pulse will be released that will kill the swarm across the entire system."
Eve: "That didn't sound difficult."
Primetheas: "To maintain the connection, you'll have to stay in physical contact. It will deprive you of all your powers, permanently. It might even kill you."
Eve sighed with frustration.
Eve: "I'm truly heartbroken. That's it?"
Primetheas: "Very well. I'm sending you the location."
The transmission terminated.
Eve: "Badgy, ready to turn yourself into a compass again?"
The Soul Drifter's screen lit up with text and emojis: "Just like the old times, Ma'am."
System navigator detailed the exact location with pin point accuracy on the other side of the planet.
Eve: "Glad you learned to talk, can you fly as well?"
Text: "Sure can!"
The Soul Drifter lifted and raced away.
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Back at the mountain, the swarm attacked everything. The creatures made no distinction between Thelarians or Alliance nor between metal or flesh.
Thelarian generals turned their cannons against the swarm, but it was no use. They were too close to the peak. Those on the ground either fought or ran. Alliance forces clustered around the camps.
Sappherine manned a cannon bunker and shouted orders when Axel came running to her.
Axel: "It's Hannah!"
Sappherine: "Don't wait for instructions, boys, fire everything you've got!"
She ran to a console, and the screen lit up showing Eve and Hannah.
Eve: "We found a way to destroy the swarm."
Hannah: "And it involves our queen laying down her life!"
Eve: "That's not what it looks like."
Sappherine: "Somebody talk clearly!"
Hannah: "The tree. Eve's going to destroy it to stop the swarm but the process has high probability of killing her in the process."
Sappherine: "No way. That's not a solution. Turn back now!"
Eve: "This is the only way."
Sappherine: "Only way my ass. If you don't turn around right now, I'm taking a ship straight into the swarm."
Eve turned to Hannah, "Do all my maidens have to emotionally torture me? Can't they just say we quit like good girls?" She chuckled.
Sappherine: "I'm not kidding, Eve. Turn around now!"
Eve: "Alright, alright. Hear me out. If it gets messy, Hannah is free to do whatever it takes. Desperate times, Saph, trust me for once."
Sappherine: "Hannah, don't do anything I wouldn't do. We can't encourage her."
Hannah: "Already prepared for that. Thought you'd want to know."
Hannah blinked at her.
Transmission terminated.
Sappherine turned to her staff and cautioned as all those on comms also heard the broadcast, "listen up! The queen's found a way to destroy the swarm. We just have to hold them up long enough. Can't give up now! Hit them with everything you've got!."
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The ship landed outside an icy cave. Inside, a single massive root rose from the frost, thick and ancient.
Eve: "Alright, that's it. Badgy, do what you gotta do."
Badgy flew out of her wrist, turned into a small octopus-like bot, and connected its tiny thread-like limbs to the root.
Eve: "Alright, that's it."
Hannah: "Wait, how will I know when to sever the connection... incase things go south?"
Eve: "I guess I'll be screaming a lot."
Hannah: "Makes sense."
Eve: "Hannah, how long have we known each other?"
Hannah: "Almost five centuries. Oh, you're about to give me a speech. Shit! Don't start now. We just talked about this. I am not good at this stuff."
Eve: "Listen to me, Hannah! Everyone I love is out there. You'd lay down your life for me, and I'd do the same for you."
Hannah: "You're serious, aren't you? So we are doing this? Unbelievable."
Eve: "You're the only cold-ass bitch I can trust with my life... and death. Saph isn't. Today, I need you to be that cold-ass bitch."
Hannah: "You're almost making me sentimental... Tell you what, do what you do. We're still counting on chances so I hope the odds are on our side."
Eve: "So do I."
Eve placed her hands on the bot. Electricity surged through her body into the root.
Hannah: "Is it working? Are you alright?"
Eve: "Stings a little," she said through her teeth.
The root pulsed and glowed. Its color shifted from green to yellow. The data overload was working, but after a minute, Eve's knees gave up. She fell.
"Alright, that's enough!" Hannah moved but she forbade, her hand still connected.
"No, not this time, Hannah!"
Eve looked into her eyes. Hannah felt her heart breaking. She pulled her hand back, powerlessly.
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Back at the camp, Zara noticed the change," something's happening to the swarm. They're getting slower and weaker."
Sappherine: "Looks like our queen's doing her magic again."
She tried to contact Eve, but there was no connection.
Signals couldn't reach the cave. Sappherine's heart skipped a beat. "I hope she's alright. C'mon queen, we've done this a million times. You can make it. You always do."
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Inside the cave, Eve body was completely drained, she fell flat. Contact was broken.
Badgy glitched and buzzed. The process began to reverse. Roots was slowly returning to green.
Hannah held Eve. "You can't do it. We tried."5
Eve gasped for breath. "then it will take us both."
Hannah: "Eve..."
Eve: "I love you, Hannah."
Hannah kneeled, holding Eve close, and reached for Badgy. Electricity flowed through their bodies.
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The creatures dropped from the sky like dying birds. Those on the ground went still. Soldiers shouted in triumph.
Zara hugged Kayden. Razmos muttered, "Damn, she did it again." Axel smiled. "I knew she could do it."
heers thundered across the battlefield. Plasma rifles fired celebratory bursts into the clear sky. The only survivors were those in the camp or in the Orbit.
Soldier rushed to hoisted towers and containers, gazing down at the lifeless swarm. Relief and joy swept through the them like a rising tide.
Sappherine smiled but remained uneasy. She tracked the Soul Drifter's signal and flew.
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Inside the cave, she opened her eyes. Water dripped from the icy ceiling. The dead root had turned to ash.
She tried to move but her body was weak. Her head turned to the most beautiful face she'd known, lying cold and still.
Tears filled her eyes. She reached out to touch her face, now covered in a thin frost. She looked like a sleeping Ice goddess.
She lifted her body in her arms, pressed it to her chest and cried.
The small bot crawled beside her. Glitching in sadness. Then came footsteps.
Sappherine entered with Zara, Axel, and Kayden. They stood in silence as she knelt broken and torn, with her body slumped in her arms.
Sappherine knelt beside her. The weight of loss silenced all thoughts.
Hannah was gone.
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When the Soul Drifter docked in the Nomad hangar, the in-house crew prepared to receive them with an elaborate array array of fanfare; banners, music, and cheers.
Kayden was first to walk off the ramp carrying Hannah's body.
The air turned silent.
The sound of celebration faded into a respectful hush.
She was dressed in her favored black combat suit when they placed her in the ejection pod. All squad members and crew watched as the pod was launched into the silent void.
Nomad and other ships fired cannons that burst into magnificent fireworks, a final homage. Every soldier raised their hand in a solemn salute.