He'd almost been there … he'd almost crossed that final threshold between day and night, that moment where he'd fade away and join the stars among the sky …
And then everything started blowing up.
"… T-Tobias? "
"Yeah," he wheezed, feeling like there was a knife in his lungs each time he took a breath. "I'm h-here." Maybe not for long, though. He was lightheaded and exhausted from the blood-loss; it was taking every ounce of energy he had left just to stay awake.
"I d-didn't think you'd w-wake up …"
"I didn't think so … e-either," he murmured, "but that was … one h-hell of a racket. What happened?"
"Captain T-Taube crashed the frigate i-into the p-portal. The explosion s-successfully d-destabilized it, and destroyed Spyglass's n-network."
"And … the others?"
"I o-ordered them to e-evacuate beforehand … they're s-safe."
He gave a small sigh of relief which he regretted immediately due to the stabbing pain that followed. "T-thanks, Kay. It … it was the right call."
Groaning from just the small movement of lifting his arm, he rebooted the ocular systems and let it fall back to his side. The monitors in front of him gave him a rather clear picture- the flaming wreckage of the Inferno had mixed with the debris of the demolished fold-weapon and its rings. He and KT appeared to be trapped on their under a large beam that had fallen across their legs- and in a few inches of rising seawater.
"Where … are we?"
"The c-cavern beneath the ocean w-where Spyglass c-constructed the w-weapon in secret. The b-border walls have c-cracked- it's filling up with w-water."
He looked around the massive chamber to see that she was right- the walls which had kept water out for so long had broken from the Inferno's impact, and they wouldn't stop the flow of water forever. Already, those few inches were now half a foot deep; but that wasn't what concerned him the most.
"And that?" he asked quietly, focusing on the enormous blue ball of energy that seemed to be growing above them. Lighting arced over its surface and it pulsated erratically with each passing second.
"The p-portal is becoming un-unsustainable. When it r-reaches the breaking p-point, it will envelop e-everything around i-it- as well as ob-obliterate the p-planet before d-disappearing."
"Well … we'll have a g-great view … of the fireworks."
The two of them were silent for a few moments, content to entertain themselves by watching as the crackling orb of Codex-energy continued to expand. Its aura bathed them both and the rest of the cavern in a luminous blue glow, one which caught Tobias' attention and made him realize what he needed to do. At last, he broke the silence.
"… I'm sorry."
"It's a-alright," KT hushed him. "Just r-relax-"
"No, this … this needs to be said."
He adjusted himself in his seat, feeling the dried blood caked onto his skin and armor crack as he did so. "I'm sorry for b-breaking my promises. I'm sorry for … for not being brave enough to tell you I love you. I'm sorry we n-never found the time to just … live. It was always about survival … about running from fight to fight and … and hoping we were lucky enough to m-make it through the next one- but we never had the chance to slow down … to just be us."
The water was beginning to seep through the cracks in KT's chassis now- he could feel the cold wetness pressing against his back, and he knew there wasn't much time left.
"We've been fighting for so long … and now it's finally o-over. No more Codex, no more Inferno … no more anything."
"We have earned a r-rest, haven't w-we?" she whispered warmly, her voice smiling.
"Yeah … we have."
He kept talking as he reconnected to her systems, feeling the link take hold and straining to move their left arm up from the ground.
"So most of all … I'm sorry that I'm not ready."
"… Tobias?"
"It'd be so easy to just give in," he muttered weakly, his vision swimming. "To let this all fade away, to sleep and not worry about waking up- but like I've always said … the right choice is usually the hardest one. And I'm not r-ready to give up on us."
"… So you t-taught me. What's the p-plan?"
Had their predicament not been so dire, he'd have smiled at her tenacity.
"The capsules," he groaned, marking one of them with the ocular systems. He'd seen it earlier when looking at the portal- it had been cracked open, leaving just enough room for a person to enter. "They were designed … to withstand t-transport through the portal. If anything can survive-"
"They can," KT finished, beginning to understand excitedly. "If you c-can manage to m-make your way o-over to one …although i-it's a snowball's ch-chance in hell-"
"You once told me … our whole relationship i-is a series of snowballs," he chuckled, "and besides- non-zero probability of success."
"Let's do this."
Gasping from the pain of moving, he lifted their left arm up and over the front of the chassis- then positioned his fingers along the edges of the hatch. He began to pull, crying out from the strain as it gradually weakened … and finally-
After one last tug, the door opened. With no time to lose, he disconnected and began to pull himself forward- his legs still had only the most limited feeling in them. He grabbed the edges of the opening and pulled himself up, barely feeling as the metal sliced his palms and slicked them with blood. Now on top of the chassis, he lowered the hatch and found KT's optic staring back at him.
"Trust me."
"Always."
Pressing his hands against the seals along the side of her 'head', the SERE kit released itself from the hull and allowed access to the data-core within. Once it was in his grasp, he let himself slide off and into the now foot-deep water, no bothering to waste precious energy on climbing down.
Whatever happened next was up to him.
He couldn't even cry or yell from the pain that his torn muscles inflicted upon him as he began to drag himself with one arm through the water towards the capsule- he didn't have the strength anymore. The most he managed were guttural moans that he couldn't help but emit whenever his back and arms protested against him.
Above him, the portal waited for no one. It was getting dangerously close now- soon it would snap back to its singularity point, and if that happened with him outside the capsule- maybe even inside, but he wasn't thinking about that possibility at the moment- it'd all be over.
The meters he traveled across the watery cavern may as well have been miles for how much exertion each one demanded from him. Trailing behind him was a stream of red-water, stained from the blood of his newly-reopened wounds. But none of it mattered- he could only focus on one thought, one mantra that he repeated over and over in his head …
One final effort.
His fingers touched the edge of the capsule.
…
The others, sans Gates and Gray who had been prepped for surgery in the medical bay, watched through the shields of the Cardea's hangar doors as the portal suddenly stopped enlarging. In that moment, it snapped back to its original size and unleashed its final stage- a flare of blinding light and energy as the planet of Regis cracked apart and disintegrated in response.
After a moment, it died down for the last time and they saw the results; a collection of massive, floating chunks of what had once been a beautiful planet. For many, it had been their graves.
Vale watched the scene numbly. She knew that what they'd just accomplished had been nothing short of a miracle. Humanity had fought together as one, attacked an omnipotent AI with influence spanning across the galaxy- and managed to survive. Victory had been all but a fantasy in each of their minds- and yet, today it had been made a reality.
But all she could think about was those who wouldn't be able to see it.
"Lieuten- er, Captain Vale? Ma'am?"
She had half a mind to just ignore the comlink, to request just five minutes to be alone with her thoughts- but with Barker and Fenrir dead, that left her as the next-in-line to lead the Embers, and that wasn't a duty she could ignore.
"Yes, officer- what is it?"
"I just thought you'd want to know- we kept track of all active Titans signals to ensure that they made it off the planet safely."
"And?" she snapped, her patience wearing thin. "What about it?"
"The chassis requested by Admiral Four and KT-0298 … the signal is gone now- but just before the explosion, its SERE kit was removed and the data-core was pulled."
For the second time that day, time seemed to freeze.
"What?" she whispered, not daring to believe what she'd just heard. "You mean that …"
"I don't mean to give false hope- we don't know anything, that's just what the readings told us-"
"Start scanning the rubble," she ordered, marching away from the hangar and making her way towards the command bridge to the confusion of her teammates. "Scan for anything- a radio broadcast, a data-core signal, hell- an oddly shaped slab of metal, it doesn't matter! I want every last rock in that debris field overturned before we even consider leaving! Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am!" he responded at the sudden change in her volume and motivation.
"We're finding those two- I don't care how long it takes!"