1.1: Dr. Zarin. Zhang. I called you all in here to discuss our… technology. I have good news and I have… not so good news. Good news is, the technology is nearing its final stage of being invented. The bad news is the market won't allow it. This Clovis Bray experiment will have to stay under wraps until I sort everything out, legal documents and such. Estimated time for that to finish is about… 3 years.

1.3: Why? They were all for the idea when it was first proposed.

1.1: Zhang, everyone knows the markets change just like the governments do. At first, yes, it was a promising peace promoter. But… they saw what Team 1 was working on and its capabilities and well… didn't like it too much. They saw it as too much of a risk. So until we have assumed full absolute control of our technology I'm afraid our work has been for nothing. My only request is to keep it safe and working until then. No advancements in the tech itself, just how we control it.

1.2: So what are we to do until then?

1.1: Explore new possibilities, Dr. Zarin. We continue doing what Clovis Bray has been doing since its been founded. We invent. Produce. One small setback isn't going to kill us. We just have to work out the final kinks and convince the people to vouch for it again. It is not our fault they cannot visualize the future like we can.

-End Transmission

BRANCH 1

Take the weapons and ~consume enhance replicate~

BRANCH 2

Take the wounds and ~consume enhance replicate~

BRANCH 3

Take the constructs and ~consume enhance replicate~

BRANCH 4

Take the organic matter and ~consume enhance replicate~

BRANCH 5

Take your directive and ~consume enhance replicate~

BRANCH 6

Take the structures and ~consume enhance replicate~

They reached the door. Finally.

Before stepping forward and ending their crusade, they all looked at one another. They had done it at long last. Given the reasoning that they had made it this far and that every hero's story involves casualties it's only natural that they succeed. They had to.

The one in the front turned to the rest, holding a large battle axe in his hands. Flames licked around the blade, warming the air around him and giving encouragements to his allies. "Brothers, Sisters, this is the finality of our quest. Our crusade. Whatever lies beyond this door is sure to hold glories. For humankind."

The words reverberated through the dark hallway, into their ear drums. But right as the glory and reassurance set in sadness fell upon the group. They remembered their fight all the way leading up to this point. Hundreds piled at the entrance, fighting to get through. Until their numbers slimmed. Down to nothing more than 19.

They remembered Weyloran. Being torn apart piece by piece by the hostile nanites.

Finalla, having her armor hijacked and putting a bullet into her own head.

Colovance. His selflessness had saved the entire group. Blown to pieces.

But now was their victory lap. The thing they'd all been waiting for. Beyond that door would be the purest form of the technology. The usable, nonhostile form. One they could utilize. One that the Warmind had no control over. That was what would make their destiny. Their future. And it all started with the door's console.

The Warrior walked to the panel, holding the massive axe with one hand and his Ghost with the other. With bated breath, he watched as the Ghost examined the terminal, hacking through its security protocols while the four rhombus-shaped lights lit up from red to blue, and the door retracted.

Their weapons slowly raised, as the sight of the room had come to their vision. But nothing looked hostile within.

And as soon as they had been raised, they were put back down. They all exhaled a single breath in unison, celebrating their achievements.

But their victory would be short-lived.

Lord Timur stepped forward, past Saladin.

One by one, like children, they poured into the room and gawked at the scenery. Instead of it being the sinister red color they had been facing, the technology in this room was… blue. It was beautiful.

Saladin dropped the axe, looking up at the swirling nanites moving through the room.

Slowly, more poured out of two consoles to their left and right. It remained the bright glow of blue, but Saladin noticed something else.

The existing particles began to… fade. Their bluish color was slowly losing its glow, turning lighter and lighter but for some reason not getting white. It was… changing color.

He gripped the axe right off the ground where he had it, watching the movement of the nanites began to increase and become more spastic and unpredictable. Some of the nanites began to shift to brighter colors. Orange, turquoise, yellow, bright red, purple, white even. As he saw the mix of beautiful colors, the grip on the axe lessened and he found himself gawking at it again.

But yet again he found distrust in the nanites. They began to twitch out of order, swirled together. The 6 different forms began to swirl into one form. One that seeks its enemies; kill them. The type of nanites they had been facing during their crusade. It shifted into yet another menacing color.

Red.

"Get to the console! Now!" Saladin shouted. His voice was now feverish and tinged with fear.

Felwinter nodded, unholstering a shotgun and sprinting to the right console as Lady Skorri dashed to the one on the left. Simultaneously, they whipped out their robotic assistants and granted them access to hack the panels. It was then that the real fight had begun.

"Protect the Ghosts!" Saladin ordered. Though the SIVA hadn't fully morphed to be hostile, it was getting pretty damn close.

The Lords Jolder, Timur, and Gheleon rushed to helping Felwinter on the right console while Perun, Radegast, and Silimar rushed to the left.

Saladin stood in the middle, placing the helmet firmly back on his head once again and holding the axe in its form. "Kill the corrupted nanites. Stop the replication while you can and maybe we can gain control!" He shouted.

The nanites that existed when they entered were completely crimson, beginning to attack the Iron Lords and Ladies.

A large swarm dove to Felwinter, who dove out of the way and unleashed a single bullet with his shotgun into the horde. The bullets displaced the SIVA and it reverted its course, swirling around the console and making a dash to the Ghost.

Saladin watched as a wave of nanites flooded in front of him, making a large arc and crashing down on him, like a large dangerous tsunami wave.

He swung the fiery weapon and made contact with the wave while the flames surged through the horde, incinerating most of the nanites and causing the rest to part.

To Saladin's rear, a force tackled into his body.

When he landed on the ground and his axe fell from his hands, he was met with one of the many SIVA-infused Frames he had come across on his conquest. "Frames!" He shouted, just as a dozen more poured in through the entrance.

To this one, he pulled out a small but handy sidearm and pumped a single bullet into the center of it, causing nanites to pour out and the electrical components to disable it for a moment.

Saladin shoved the Frame off of him, retrieving the axe and swinging at it in one swift motion.

The frame was cut in two, leaving the nanites disintegrated but 2 more frames filling its place.

The Iron Lords combatted the Frames, dumping bullets into them or slicing them to pieces in Radegast's case. Lord Saladin retreated to the entrance, killing more Frames on his way and holding the entrance steady from any attempting to retreat or get through.

"I will defend the entrance! Kill off the Frames!" He shouted, witnessing Radegast's combat against two of them. Radegast swung low, while the Frame created a small SIVA blade and deflected the charge, swinging back with its own counterattack and swiping Radegast right across the chest.

He reared back just as another blade impaled him from behind. To that, he merely shoved the Frame off of him and went for another attack.

"Radegast!" Saladin shouted, but he couldn't go to help. He was preoccupied with the frames entering the complex.

This one severed the Frame from its core, killing it instantly while he turned to face the other threat. He swung his blade as he did so, causing an easy block by the Frame and another swing at the blade. This time, Radegast lost. The blade made the loudest clanging sound as it impacted the nanyte blade, and Saladin watched as the desperation poured into Radegast's form as his blade was destroyed. Cut into two pieces leaving nothing more than a stub and a hilt. Then, the frame collapsed and the nanites poured out of its body, entering Radegast's armor.

The blade…

Saladin felt a tear roll down his cheek, down his stained face.

Meanwhile Felwinter's side of things there was only nanites attacking. Continued blasts from Felwinter's shotgun, shots from Jolder's machine gun, and bullets from Gheleon and Timur's weapons kept the nanites at bay. The Ghost was still fine, hacking into the terminal and making a noticeable difference in the amount of SIVA being produced.

The room was a sea of red, with small bluish white particles floating around that had been untainted by Rasputin's protocol. It hadn't yet identified the enemy. It was progress, but Saladin knew it wouldn't be enough.

"We need to cut off Rasputin's hold on them!" The Iron Lord bellowed.

He changed his objective and found himself in front of the center console with his Ghost summoned and hacking into it. "Cut off any foreign connection. Including that with Rasputin. That's our only hope, our only way of controlling it for ourselves."

He rushed back into the room with his axe drawn, swinging it at another wave of the SIVA nanites and destroying that wave as well. He kept this up at every wave that approached him, slowly making his way to the left console when another figure smacked him to the ground from his right. The Iron Lord turned to face the enemy when he saw… Radegast.

"I'm sorry, brother." He heard the Lord mutter from under his armor. He heard the sorrow in his voice, felt it in his own chest.

He lifted his axe back up to see it deflected by the same SIVA blade Radegast had faced prior. It was also as if his movements weren't his own. Like the nanites were mimicking his from before, learning from his behavior and-

Saladin reflected another hit, shoving the axe into the chest of the Iron Lord while a small fire was set kindling across his chest.

The blade made a way to his chest, narrowly missing as Saladin deflected it and went for the instinctual right swipe.

The axe connected with Radegast's body unintentionally, sending his whole body ablaze while the SIVA particles burned with the Light-infused fire. He could hear his screaming from inside, imagining the pain and horror of being burned-smoldered within your own suit of armor.

Saladin rushed to the falling body of Radegast, gripping his chest plate and tearing it open, only to be exposed to a large wave of SIVA nanites that poured out and attached to Saladin's helmet, threatening to enter his body and take control like they had with Radegast's armor.

He fell back to the ground, tearing the helmet off as quickly as he could and sending it high into the air where he then gripped the axe and swung it at the airborne SIVA-infested helmet and connected with it. The helmet was then disintegrated and burned to ash on the spot, leaving Saladin defenseless on his head.

He threw himself to his feet, looking at the body of the Iron Lord that he had killed, seeing that he could not save his brother. The fire had already extinguished his life. Maybe if the helmet hadn't been an issue he could have saved him…

That was when he looked back on the chaos of the battle, seeing his brothers and sisters scrambling around trying to decontaminate themselves of the SIVA that he began to fester in their armor. Saladin watched the helpless Lords and Ladies claw at their helmets, only to lose full control and turn on each other.

He saw Felwinter throw Timur into a wall, sending his palm forward and a force that cracked his visor and sent blood flying from it, only to have a shotgun fire off a round right in his face.

Saladin then saw Gheleon tackle Felwinter, seeing the Hunter untainted by the SIVA, and pull a knife on his partner, sinking it deep into the chest plate of Felwinter. In a show of brotherhood, Gheleon left the knife away from the skin, but only planted it to rip the chest piece from Felwinter and attempt to get the SIVA out of the armor. Big mistake.

It was then that the nanites poured out, picking Gheleon up and releasing him higher into the air, right into the angry hive of SIVA that awaited him. Saladin could only imagine the screams and torment he was enduring. That was when he'd lost all hope.

His Ghost beckoned Saladin. "I've severed the link, but the existing SIVA is… following its directive."

Saladin let the words echo out, disappear into nothing. He knew that would happen. Deep down he knew that they could never contain SIVA. When given a directive, nothing would change its mind until the directive was complete. Until the Iron Lords were destroyed.

Seeing the loss of the battle, the loss of the crusade, Saladin shouted to his allies. "Iron Lords! Retreat!"

One by one, the remaining untainted Iron Lords turned their attention to him, one retrieving the Ghost from the console and sprinting to the exit.

As Saladin regained the hope that the Iron Lords wouldn't die off, more SIVA nanites dashed to their bodies, some reaching the exit.

Saladin diverted his attention from the console to face the escaping nanites, burning them to nothing with a few effortless swipes of his axe and ending that threat. He turned to face the door once again.

But it wasn't the same sight anymore. It was full of corrupted Iron Lords. The ones remaining were fighting the others, turned against each other. They were all doomed.

And there was Lady Jolder's face. She gave a smile to Saladin. One that warmed his heart. Convinced him that everything would still be okay. He believed it. Until she held up her hand, revealing a detonator.

"No!" He shouted, running to the door in an effort to keep her alive, but she'd made her decision.

He ran into the closing door for nothing. He reached it, fists slammed against the titanium entrance while hearing the silence from the other side. Absolute nothingness.

"Jolder…" He said to himself in a whisper, just as the hall had been reilluminated with white lights rather than the ominous darkness. "Jolder."

Maybe if I had been quicker. Faster. More aware. We knew the danger that this mission would uphold, but our crusade's goals blighted our foresight. We were blind. And I am the last. I have nothing to prove for but the deaths of my Lords and Ladies. Hundreds of them.

Saladin knew he couldn't let anyone in the complex from then on. They'd successfully severed the Warmind's connection with the device, meaning it was anyone's game. All of the SIVA in that complex had to be sealed off. All of the SIVA.

You are a Guardian, the shield of the Traveler and the might of the City. You protect those who are meek, offering your strength in an effort to combat the Darkness.

You have been taken.

Stop resisting, put down your light. Your missions are over, you are free. You will be powerful now.

What are your orders, what purpose do serve?

To destroy the darkness, to drive a stake straight through its heart and watch it beg for mercy. You serve your machine God, the light. But you are one in a thousand, replaceable. No one needs you. You are foreseeable. Counteractable.

You need to be unpredictable.

There is a knife for you. It's shaped like [betrayal]

Take up the knife. Kill those close to you. Take your new shape.

V113NNI070XMX001

AI-COM/RSPN: SOLSECCENT/SxISR/NONSYSTEMATIC

CONTACT CONTACT CONTACT

TRANSIENT. NULLSOURCE. NULLTYPE.

This is a SKYSHOCK ALERT.

Assets; signal designation PAST PHARSALUS BLACK EVENT. Event duration 15 POINT 8 SECONDS. Event footprint includes outbound signal. Designation=outside of system.

No hypothesis on event mechanism (CONSIDER ALAMO). Bootstrap simulation suggests event is DIRECTED and INNUMEROUS

Source blueshift suggests IMMINENT SYSTEM ENTRY.

Source carrier suggests NON-IMMINENT TERRA ENTRY

I am invoking PHASE SHIFT A-23

STOP STOP STOP V113NNI070XMX091

Somewhere, [unnecessary dialogue, some imperial [intranslatable] is [intranslatable] a message; word that these [Commanders] are [Missing, [Annuled] they have no more ranking [Commanders] in [System A-25]. [Subject] [Occurred, [ENEMY ENEMY ENEMY]... Savor it.

Author's Note: Right, so big unfoldings occurring right now. As you know, SIVA is going to be a threat (Even though it is out of the timeline) As well as two others. The order that these cryptic messages appeared is chronological (the order that they're going to be dealt with.) I've had this chapter written for quite a while, mainly as a destination. I wanted to get my story here at some point, and I figured I might as well publish it since I'm going to be inactive for longer than I'm comfortable with.

The last two are the same threat, and props to whoever can figure it out. (Not that hard)

As far as the last message goes, just know that the events of TTK haven't happened yet and that message was sent a long time before them. Say… Ta'aurc's death.

Just a quick moment of thanks for all the viewers.

Guest (Vanguard of SIVA) You were my first review. Ever. Thank you for that.

Guest (Nullsilver2005) You encouraged me with that review. Thank you for that.

ODSK: Thanks for all of the reviews, my friend. (I can call you that, can't I? Oh well) You've given me a lot of motivation for the story.

Darktrainer and Guest thanks for tagging along with the story.

Again, thank you all so much for the many views and reviews and constructive criticism while I write this story. (Honestly thought I'd have quit it by now but getting the recognition really does help. Thanks guys.)

Before I get into my whole spiel or if it was too much just realize this was my second fanfic. Ever. So yeah. Thanks.