The Remnant city chapter. A short one, but one I have had some fun makign some changes to. Particular the boss battle which some eagle eyed people may recognize. ;)
Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 20
The Chosen
The Salarian ark had just finished docking as the Tempest arrived. With refuelling and resupplying underway, Scott head to speak with Tann and the other Nexus leaders. As he entered Tann's office, the Salarian appeared to be an argument with Kesh.
"Ryder made a sentimental choice, saving those Krogan. He looked at them and thought of you."
"Ryder's his own person. Just admit you don't like Krogan." Kesh said.
The conversation was interrupted though as they all noticed Scott.
"Ryder. We were discussing how things ended with the Archon." Said Tann.
"I did what I had to. If there'd been a way to save both, I'd have taken it." Scott said.
"Noted. Though it's good to see ark Paarchero reunited with the Nexus."
"Yet I have to question what we've gained, provoking the Archon and The Dark One like this?" Kandros asked.
"They had a map showing the location of Meridian." Scott said, activating his omni tool and projecting the image of meridian in front of the others. "Now we have it. It's the central control centre for the terraforming network. We get that working, we save the Initiative from its starvation crisis."
"Based on what data? This is all alien science." Tann said.
"While I appreciate what you've done for us, Ryder, we're not equipped for a war with the Kett. After what you've done, they'll be defending Meridian with everything they've got." Kandros added.
"So that's it then?" Scott asked rhetorically. "You're just going to sit by while our people starve to death while the Kett flourish?!"
"We didn't say that…" Addison tried to say, but Scott interrupted her.
"Oh really? Sure sounds like it. But I can see you've made your choice. I won't waste my breath with you."
With that, Scott turned to leave.
"You go after Meridian; you're on your own." Tann warned.
"Fine by me." Scott simply said.
Back on board the Tempest, Scott had already put a new plan into motion. If the nexus wouldn't' help, he'd go to the ones he knew for certain would…
Everyone gathered in the meeting room and Scott addressed them.
"The Nexus leaders think our search for Meridian is a waste of time. Maybe they're right… but we don't have any other options. And I am not about to just sit by waiting for a solution while innocent people suffer and die."
"Just to clarify, you're denying a direct order?" Cora asked.
"From them, yes. That's why we're getting help from an alternate source. I've sent a message to the other Helldivers in Andromeda. They're spread thin fighting the Kett, but they think they can spare a small fleet to help us. They'll keep the Kett busy whilst we slip onto Meridian." Scott replied.
"It won't fool them forever." Said Vetra
"The Tempest is small and fast. I don't need a big window. We'll drop you off and make our exit before the Kett catch on." Kallo said.
"Once we're on Meridian, it'll be a small team. Move fast, figure out its secrets." Said Peebee.
"Right behind enemy lines. Good time to assess their numbers, defences…" said Drack.
"And when you're ready, we'll extract you the same way we got you in." Kallo finished.
"If we come back with actuals on Meridian? The Nexus will sit up." Said Liam.
"Alright then, let's do this."
Hours later, the Tempest was en-route to Meridian… followed by a small fleet of Helldiver ships. As Scott had said, they were mostly busy fighting the Kett so they didn't have many ships to spare. But they had several small ships available, two larger cruisers and one dreadnought (the biggest classes in the fleet)
Hardly a large number capable of fighting the Kett head on, but they were only meant to be a distraction anyway. Keep the Kett occupied while the Tempest snuck in. With any luck, they could use some of Meridian's defences to their advantage.
As the fleet went ahead and attacked first, Kallo and Suvi observed the whole battle from the Tempest's bridge. Almost immediately, some of the ships managed to take out one of the main dreadnoughts in a few seconds.
"Sure am glad they're on our side." He said.
Reacting to the swift destruction of one of their mains hips, some of the other Kett ships altered course, partly breaking formation. In doing so however, they exposed a gap…
"You've got an opening. Go quickly!"
"We should get them as close as possible to here." Said Suvi. "Intense readings. Could be some kind of control centre."
"No decent landing sites. This could get messy." Kallo sighed.
"How messy?"
Meanwhile in the cargo bay, everyone was finishing gearing up for what was to come. Scot had chosen Peebee, Jaal and Vetra for this. Peebee naturally seemed like a good choice for this given her experience with Remnant. Jaal and Vetra meanwhile… while he just felt like bringing them along. Although he was interested in seeing how their new upgrades did against the Kett. A part of him eagerly hoped it would have them running scared.
"Ryder, looks like a flyby is our only option. I'll get as low as possible, but you'll have to eject over the target area." Kallo said.
"Helldivers practically do that for a living. Should be a walk in the park." Scott simply shrugged.
"For you." Vetra added.
As the ramp gently lowered, everyone holstered their weapons and prepared for the jump.
"So far so good. The Kett haven't detected us."
Finally, they saw the opening and jumped. They fell for several seconds before the jump jets activated and slowed their decent. Well… apart from Scott who simply let himself fall and land on the ground hard, denting it slightly with the force of his landing. As a Helldiver, he'd missed doing that.
"Alright. Let's see what we have to work with here." He said.
They made their way across the bridge and soon found themselves in large room overlooking most of Meridian. A quick scan of a nearby terminal gave them an idea of what to do next.
"Hmm. It would seem Meridian isn't that dissimilar to the vaults. Monolith towers connect to each other. Activating the towers will most likely activate the command hub." He said.
"So we could bring Meridian online right now? Forget scouting, let's do that!" said Peebee.
"And the Kett?" Jaal asked.
"If this is like the vaults, then maybe there's a purification field as well. Let's head to those towers and see what we can find." Said Scott.
So far, their path to the towers seemed clear. That was until Scott's suit spoke up.
"INTERCEPTING ENEMY TRANSMISSION!"
"One of the enemy ships got through the blockade. Khi Tasira has been infiltrated." A Kett said.
Surprisingly, a new female voice replied. And it didn't sound like that of a Kett female either.
"Find the intruders, but do not kill them. The Dark One wants them alive."
"That didn't sound like a Kett voice." Said Vetra.
"Didn't sound like The Dark One either." Peebee added.
"We'd better watch our back then. Sounds like we have something new to deal with." Said Scott.
Next they entered a large chamber filled with what looked like pods of some kind. As Scott accessed the console they needed however, lights came on in the pods to reveal a rather surprising sight.
"What the hell…"
Inside the pods… were Angara. They remained motionless as they lay in the pod. It didn't even look like they were breathing.
"TRANSLATING." Scott's suit said as he scanned the pods.
"Pattern One-Three. Viability: 56.2%. Genetic template transmitted for testing." Scott read aloud.
"They were doing… things to the Angara?" Jaal asked.
"Looks like they were doing experiments of some kind." Scott said.
"We have to save them. Get them out, somehow."
Jaal went to try and open a pod but Scott gently stopped him.
"Jaal, wait. These aren't the Angara we know. They're not even alive." He said.
"I don't understand. They look so…"
"According to the scans, the Remnant language lists these bodies as genetic templates… a blueprint."
"The Angara… we came from here? They… created us? Why?" Jaal said, almost in shock.
"Does it matter why? Where you came from doesn't change who you are." Scott said supportingly.
"True. And we still face the same conflicts. I just… feel as though something has shifted. I… I need to think. I need to speak with the Moshae. Meridian creates life, and The Dark One could use it to do the opposite. Destroy everything. It's up to use to make sure that doesn't' happen."
"Hey, Jaal. You know, if you… want to talk, about… rhe stuff you found out. I'm here." Peebee said supportingly.
"Are you reaching out because I am now considered a Remnant curiosity?" Jaal retorted, sounding almost a little angry.
"What? No! No, I didn't mean it like that!" the Asari immediately said.
Surprisingly though, Jaal burst into laughter.
"Got you. You should see your face!" he chuckled.
Even Scott and Vetra couldn't help but laugh as well.
"Jaal!"
The second tower had a very different layout. As Scott accessed the controls, the whole place seemed to hum into life and several things on the walls started to gently however off the ground. They were ships.
"Flight control systems online. Welcome, Administrator. Exploration vessels on standby." EDI translated.
"We've seen Remnant ships, but none in working condition." Scott said.
"The system is saying it cannot retrieve commands from the Meridian engine." EDI said.
"Meridian Engine? What does that…"
He was interrupted however when they noticed several more Kett on the lower levels. They hadn't seen the team yet, but things wouldn't stay that way for long. It was hard to tell also, but it looked as though something was following them in their wake. A black fog of some kind. It was too dense to see if there was anything inside it, but the heavy sound of metal footsteps indicated there was definitely something.
"They're going to be trouble." Scott said.
They fought their way through more Kett until they reached what appeared to be the control centre. As Scott accessed the controls however, little did he know they were all about to be met with disappointment.
"Translating… "Connection lost. Meridian Engine not found." Said EDI.
"What does that mean exactly, EDI? Is there damage here? Do we need to restore something?" Scott asked.
"I'm afraid not. Systems are intact, but they are searching for a component that doesn't appear to exist." EDI replied.
A recording of a female voice then followed.
"Final administration log: The enemy's weapon may cause widespread damage. All our weapons, our ships, will not be able to protect us. We need to disengage Meridian from command core, which will remain here to draw fire. Meridian contains all the work of the Jaardan. Nothing else matters. I will send it far. We can return one day. Continue the process of renewal."
"So, this isn't Meridian. The Archon was wrong. That's funny. I mean… it's horrible. But it's funny the asshole had no idea. We'll be able to bring it back, right?" Peebee asked.
Sudden gunfire forced them all into cover as several Kett filed into the chamber.
"There's more of them!" Vetra said.
"We're getting out of here, one way or another…" Scott said. And then a sudden idea hit him as he noticed the Remnant console. "Of course!"
Running up to it, he accessed it.
Sure enough, Meridian's auto turret defences came to life and all opened fire on the Kett ships, essentially adding the Helldiver fleet.
As several of the dreadnoughts all feel at once, the Kett suddenly ceased firing. Gazing at their destroyed ships in both shock and fear they turned and broke into a retreat, much to everyone's surprise.
"You did it. They're retreating!" Peebee cheered.
As the Kett fled however, both Jaal and Peebee suddenly spotted something. Among the many bodies of Kett that were retreating, something was slowly emerging from the horde.
"Uh… Scott?"
Scott turned round to see what they saw. Three dark figures of some kind, neither Kett nor Remnant. But none of them were The Dark One either. Their bodies were armoured with some of the gaps gently glowing the same black and red glow as that of The Dark One and a very faint, but noticeable black fog like the one they'd seen earlier with the Kett also followed in their wake.
The first and largest of the three was almost as large as a Kett fiend, nearly 3 metres tall in height and enough muscle to make Drack and Ali look skinny by comparison. His helmeted face seemed to be that of a skull and the dark energy weave ran through his skin almost like actual human veins.
The second one in the middle had an undeniably more female appearance. She was still tall for one though at 6 feet and had a rather broad and intimidating build. In her right hand was some kind of staff or spear, crafted and glowing with the same energy that made up her body. She was adorned with black robes, the ends of which seemed to be made up of the same shadow and fog that she and her allies appeared to be producing. The lower part of her face appeared to be visible, human in appearance but her skin was a dark grey and seemed to be dry and cracked, almost dead looking in fact with the cracks themselves also gently glowing. The upper part was hidden behind some kind of helmet, the eyes of it burning a sinister dark red.
The third and final one seemed to be female as well, but it was harder to tell for certain. At 6 foot 5 and with claws for feet, this one was by far the strangest. Unlike the others which had a more biological look to them, this one seemed to look less so. Almost as though she had been constructed from parts of metal or scavenged Remnant bot parts rather than flesh. The metal seemed to compose her entire body, hands legs, torso and everything. Her face was a blank helmet with a faint red glow shared by her allies. Similar to the other female she wore a sleeveless trench coat which in turn also had black smoke emanating from the end.
"Okay… these are new." Scott said, both with curiosity and nervousness.
Neither of the three phantoms said anything, they simply glared at the team. Then without warning, they all suddenly attacked. The large one and the mechanical one went for the team directly whilst the more shadowy one remained back. If anything she seemed to become even more surrounded by the black fog and suddenly used it to fly up to a higher vantage point. Once finding a spot, the staff she had been carrying suddenly changed. Various parts of shifted and changed shape until it had transformed into a shape that unmistakably resembled a sniper rifle, which she immediately took aim with.
Scott quickly pulled Peebee into cover as the female phantom opened fire, her shots barely missing. One even managing to scrape Scott's shoulder.
The large and mechanical phantom meanwhile went after Vetra and Jaal. Both managed to use their jump jets to shoot out of the way as the large one swung his huge fist at them, punching right through of the room's pillars. The relief was short lived though as Vetra pushed Jaal out of the way of the mechanical phantom that lunged at him, her hands moulding themselves into blades. Vetra was quickly able to bring up one her own omni blades which clashed against the phantom's.
Scott meanwhile was still pinned down by the sniper. Every time he opened fire, she suddenly fly to another vantage point in a cloud of black smoke. It was like trying to shoot at a shadow.
As the phantom went from point to point however, Scott finally saw an opening. Timing his hot just right, he activated his plasma cannon right at the phantom landed on her next point.
The shot hit her rifle dead on, frying most of it and knocking her off balance, causing her to fall to ground level.
As Scott prepared to reload however, he noticed he was out of thermal clips for his Remnant. That would complicate things. Cursing angrily, he holstered the rifle and drew his SMG instead.
Popping out of cover, he advanced on the female phantom that had finally picked herself back up. Right as she immediately tried to make a swipe at his feet, Scott jumped, his jump jet providing a boost.
As he fired his SMGat the phantom however, she suddenly threw up a shield of some kind. Almost exactly like a biotic one, but coloured the same black and red as the dark energy running through her body instead of the traditional blue that normal biotics had.
Shot after shot from Scott's SMG bounced off the shield as he in turn landed on top of it. Once the clip had emptied, the phantom deactivated the shield and pushed him off. Scott was quick to react though and immediately kicked her weapon out of her hand. She in turn though did the same to him. A violent exchange of punches, kicks and countered attacks followed as the two attempted to melee each other hand to hand. Despite Scott's speed and strength however, the phantom seemed to easily match him.
Eventually, they finally broke apart as Scott managed to kick her away. Angered by this, the phantom then suddenly drew two short bladed weapons in each hand, throwing all four right at him. The first, second and third, he either dodge or managed to counter, whilst the fourth one he caught in his hand just as it came within inches of his helmet.
The Phantom seemed almost surprised by this and almost acted impressed.
"You think you're the only one who's good with knives?" Scott said, gently tossing the knife away.
The female phantom though replied to this non-verbally by stretching her hand out, to which her sniper rifle suddenly returned to. It then shifted back into the staff it had been earlier.
Scott knew where this was going and slowly drew his sword for the first time in so long. In a way, he was almost glad to finally be able to use it properly since coming to Andromeda. Although at same time he knew he wasn't fighting an enemy with natural abilities.
"You will belong to The Dark One. He commands it." The phantom said in a deep, but definitely female voice.
Peebee and Jaal meanwhile were still battling the large one. No easy task at all. Every single attack they tried seemed to have no effect. Any shots either bounced off his armour, or any that did embedded in his skin didn't' seem to cause any pain.
"We are chosen by The Dark One himself to be a curse upon all his enemies. By facing us, you face your doom!" it said in a much deeper male voice.
Peebee made a desperate attempt to hit one of the phantom's legs with a biotic charged punch, but even that failed to work.
Before she had time to back away, the phantom immediately swiped her and she was sent flying hard into one of the pillars.
Jaal managed to get in close and stabbed the phantom's groin with his knife, but even that failed to elicit a reaction. I fact, the phantom simply grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the ground.
"Maybe I will let you live… ha! Almost kept a straight face." the giant said mockingly.
The death blow never came however as Peebee suddenly leapt onto the phantom's back. Grabbing hold of what she could of his skulled helmet, she continuously unloaded her pistol into it at point blank range.
Vetra's exchange with the mechanical phantom meanwhile continued with a clash of blade against omni blades. Most of the phantom's strikes, she was able to counter or avoid. That changed however when the phantom side stepped an attempted lunge from her and slashed Vetra's back. Thanks to her new armour, the blade failed to cut any of her skin. The slash though was still enough to knock the Turian to her knees.
The phantom's attention then went to the large one who was still struggling to try and shake Peebee off his head. The mechanical phantom leapt at the large one's head, her blades aimed at Peebee.
The large phantoms' struggles however caused him to move out of the way. In doing so however, the mechanical phantom's blades were now heading at Jaal. The Angara though swiftly rolled out of the way and both blades embedded themselves in the metal floor.
Jaal immediately seized his chance and used his knife again. The Angaran blade cut right through the phantom's arms, severing them both completely. No cry of pain or any sound at all came from the phantom as it staged back, trying to keep its balance.
Things though went from bad to worse for the mechanical phantom when Vetra used her omni tool to cut off both the phantom's legs, leaving it to flop around on the floor helplessly and limbless.
With one nuisance out of the way, Vetra and Jaal refocused their attention on the large phantom who was still trying to get Peebee off his back even as she continued to shoot at his head.
Scott meanwhile clashed blades with the other female phantom. Her staff spun with such speed ferocity that sparks flew with every strike of their weapons. For now, the Phantom pressed the attack, forcing Scott to defend himself. At one point he saw an opening and attempted to take it, but he ended up running into a kick to the face which made him stagger back. The phantom then did an upper cut with her staff, cutting some of Scott's armour and sending flying off the edge and onto ground level. Temporarily dazed, but uninjured, he eventually regained his bearings.
A small shockwave went through the room as the large phantom slammed himself against nearby pillar in the hope she squashed Peebee, but the Asari was able to move out of the way. As she saw her dazed boyfriend, she suddenly had an idea.
"Scott!"
As the Helldiver looked in her direction, she aimed her gun up as if pointing. Scott's gaze followed and he quickly caught on to Peebee's plan. He activated his shoulder cannon and fired. As the shot impacted, Peebee quickly leapt off the phantom. Sure enough the pillar fell, and thanks to their diversion, it impaled the large phantom right in the back. Surprisingly, he even yelled in pain and fell to the ground, clutching the pillar that had impaled his spine.
The female though suddenly lunged at them from out of the shadows, her staff raised and aimed at Peebee. Scott acted quickly and cast himself between them, his blade clashing with the staff once more.
The time though, the phantom had to contend with everyone who attacked her from all sides. She continuously switched back and forth between opponents, either attacking or blocking, her staff almost became a blur.
Peebee managed to duck under another swing while Scot, Vetra and Jaal pressed the attack. Seeing a possible opening, the Asari charged up her biotics. All three of her teammates noticed and moved aside just as she let her punch loose. The force of the biotic blast ended up knocking the female back and she lost the grip on her staff. She rolled back onto all fours, right next to her downed comrades.
"Get up!" she ordered.
"I can't." the large one said through gritted teeth.
The mechanical phantom could only continue to struggle without her limbs.
Normally, Scott would be merciful on defeated opponents, but he wasn't about to take any chances with these… things, whatever they were. They registered as neither living nor dead on his suit and they were almost certainly a creation of The Dark One.
Immediately, he raised his rifle which prompted the others to do the same. Even his shoulder cannon primed itself to fire.
"Any last words?" Scott asked coldly.
The female phantom glared at them for a moment until finally she replied.
"Meridian is not your planet to rule. Very soon, your greatest fear shall rise again."
Scott wondered for a moment what that meant. Literally? Figuratively? He wasn't even sure if he had a greatest fear.
His thoughts though quickly turned back to the phantoms he had at gunpoint.
"Not today." He said.
Right before anyone could pull their triggers however, a sudden explosion of fire forced them all to shield their eyes and back away from the extreme heat as The Dark One himself suddenly appeared in front of them. Immediately, the large spectre cast a wall of fire between him and the team, forcing them to back away further. As soon as that was done, he then grabbed all three of his phantoms and all four of them disappeared in another blast of fire, the wall of fire disappearing also.
"Ground team: Is everyone all right?" Kallo asked.
"Everyone accounted for." Scott replied.
"We saw everything from orbit. It was incredible. The entire city lit up… the scans went wild!" said Suvi.
"Any progress on Meridian? Have you got it working yet?"
"This isn't Meridian, or at least, not all of it. Hard to explain. We'll brief you later." Scott replied. He then turned back to the others. "So Meridian's gone, but shouldn't this thing know the navpoint of where it went?"
"I am searching all possible records." EDI replied. "Ryder, I've found something you may find interesting. There are further logs left behind by the Jaardan. They appear to concern The Dark One."
"Let's hear them then."
Long ago, the Jaardan had a great empire spanning many planets. It was a time of peace and prosperity. But soon, anomalies began to happen throughout the galaxy. Planets and suns were aging rapidly and dying. Something was draining them, causing them to become unstable and unliveable. Thus they created the vaults, hoping that terraforming would fix the problems. For a time, it did. But then one day, something fell from the sky of their world. In its crater they found a being unlike any they had ever encountered before. A being that appeared to be comprised of dark energy. He emitted a bright light that glowed warmly. He claimed to be an exile from a world undiscovered by the Jaardan, further than anywhere they had travelled. He explained that his race were the causes of the ageing worlds. His kind fed off energy from planets and stars, even suns. His kind though had little regard for worlds or stars that sustained life. But he opposed this, and for that he was banished. For a time they worked closely with this outcast, perfecting their technology and further spanning the vaults in hopes of fixing the problems. But they found out too late they had been deceived. All along, the outcast had lied to them. He was the one solely responsible for everything and had been using the Jaardan to learn how their technology worked. In particular, he became interested in their experiments to create new beings. In that time, he created the Scourge, an extension of himself. The Jaardan fought back, his true colours revealing themselves when he shed his appearance of light for one of darkness and shadow. Despite their technology though, his powers were too great. But in their final act of defiance, the Jaardan were able to use Meridian to sever his control with the scourge. They believed that this, coupled with the vaults being shut down would cause all planets to become unstable and would deprive The Dark One of any potential energy to feed off, thereby starving him to death. A few of them were sent in secret to ensure that they could reactivate everything when the time came. But they underestimated him, and within less than one solar cycle, he had fully exterminated the Jaardan. With the scourge no longer under his control however, it soon grew out of control, only making things worse. And without the Jaardan, The Dark One had no way to stop it since he couldn't use the technology. In the following centuries however, the Dark One allowed the Angara to roam free and become what they are now. He believed that he could manipulate them just as he manipulated them. He thought perhaps they might find a way to unlock the Remnant. But he was met with disappointment. So he tried again, mutating several captured Angara into the beings that became the first Kett. For a time, they served him without question. But as they grew more sentient and intelligent, he realised they posed a threat to him, so he allowed himself to become their aid, making them believe they had their own free will.
A momentary silence followed as everyone processed what they'd just heard. So not only was The Dark One responsible for the disappearance of the Jaardan, but he was also responsible for the golden worlds being uninhabitable. All of it went back to him.
"It all fits now. The Dark One wants Meridian so he can regain control of the scourge and in turn use the Remnant to build a new race for himself." Vetra said.
"But what kind of race? One like him? We still have no idea what he really is, or where he came from." Peebee said.
"The Jaardan never truly knew either. Given that he lied to them from the very beginning, it is unlikely there was any truth at all to the story that he gave them." Said EDI.
"So where is Meridian now?" Scott asked.
"Unknown. Contact with the Scourge will have altered Meridian's original path. It would take countless years to determine its current location." EDI replied.
"Well… if the Scourge is messing things up, maybe that's where we should look." Scott said.
"At what?" Jaal asked, confused.
"I'm not sure yet." Scott replied. "Tempest, we're ready for extraction."
Back on board the Tempest, Scott gave everyone else the somewhat bad news. Despite their surprise though, they managed to remain optimistic about the fact that they'd still scored a victory against the Kett.
In the meantime, Scott had a small matter to attend to. Tann was calling.
"Ryder. You seem well." The Salarian said casually.
"Skip the pleasantries, Tann. Just say what you have to say and get it over with." Scott said.
"We know you defied us. You went for Meridian, in direct violation of initiative orders. Even though our reasons were quite clear."
"I answer to the Helldivers, not you. And frankly, they agreed that this is what they need. So frankly, I don't care if you disapprove."
"Yet… you were correct. We should have trusted your instincts. You have proven time and time again that you deserve the title of…"
"Yeah yeah, I get the idea."
"The initiative stands ready to provide whatever support you need."
Scott's first priority now was to check on Jaal. What they had learned about the Angara being created had definitely been quite the blow for him. He found the Angara in his usual spot.
"Hello, Ryder. Have you come to see if I'm finally broken? To see what discovering that my people were "invented" has done to me?" he asked.
"Just here if you need to talk. I can't imagine what you're feeling." Scott said sympathetically.
"I've been staring at the window trying to figure that out."
"That's new."
"True. Angara are usually very free with our feelings."
"Not talking about all Angara. I'm talking about you."
"I'm… numb. I'm in awe. There's a peace in knowing that though the universe is beyond your understanding, it doesn't need your understanding to function. That you may even have a hidden destiny."
"Does it matter? Your people aren't shackled to this new discovery."
"I agree. We don't owe anything to the Jaardan. Our destiny is our own. I'm not broken, Ryder. I'm excited. The Angara were created for a purpose. We were given vaults and golden worlds.. all these advanced tools. And there is nothing the Kett or The Dark One can do about it. The future holds more for the Angara than a never ending war on the Kett. Much more. It doesn't matter if we were created by a god, reborn from our ancestors or exist as the dream on an AI superpower. This discovery changes nothing… except ourselves. And that's…"
"… everything." Scott finished for him.
Jaal simply smiled back and nodded.
The Dark One remained silent with his back to his three phantoms, his "Chosen" as he often called them, who were now healed of their injuries as he observed the Remnant city from afar which now had a Helldiver fleet defending it in place of the Kett one. All three of them knelt before him, their heads hung low in regret.
"Forgive us, Master. We have failed you." The female said.
"The loss of the city is… unfortunate. But hardly a defeat." The Dark One said calmly. "They still do not know the location of Meridian. They will find it for us soon enough. And by the time they do, it will already be too late."
If some of you have already worked it out by now, could I very kindly ask no spoilers in the reviews please? Save it for PMs.
So, big news for the next one, we finalyl get tot he sex scene chapter of the story, and not jsut for Scott and Peebee. Nope. Next one will have all 5 sex scenes for the other couples.
Chances are, that one may take a bit longer. Next month I'm also going on holiday. But that's uauly good. I tend to do well at writing when I'm away.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one. See you next time! :)