There is no destination in mind, but their feet are moving regardless. Further behind them giving chase with her music blasting and strobe lights flashing is Queen Candice in her Octobot Queen Mk.I, throwing all consideration for her surroundings out the window and devoting everything to eliminating her targets ahead. All while destroying everything in sight, she offers some commentary worthy of deeming the situation a final boss fight. In the city, many of the locals were checking out the commotion from their windows, clearing the streets out of fear for what else could go wrong after witnessing the unveiling of the gigantic machine. Given a notice of their situation from a bird's eye view by Felix, Jonah ponders his options. As it stands, they're being chased by the electronic behemoth capable of wreaking havoc with its enormous range and unbelievable strength. So far she hasn't activated any other functions for some ominous reason, but he interprets that as a miracle based on the warning from DJ Octavio earlier. Leading the way around a corner, Jonah looks back at Hachigo, Han, and Charles who were carrying the unconscious trio of Grand Elites. Sky and DJ Octavio questioned why he was running away with them, to which he explained that the queen wasn't in her right mind, and that he also needed to ensure her Grand Elites were safe by all means. They didn't trust him entirely despite his intentions-especially the growling DJ Octavio, however Hachigo accepted him and found that in a dire situation it was people like him that could make a difference.
"With that in mind, tell us how to stop her." she requests, almost sure that he had to know something as the man who was always with her.
Charles got flustered by her request and stuttered on the response, cracking under the pressure of her calm stare that carried the swirl of a cyclone and sharpness of a razor. "Please don't kill her highness! Promise me that, and I'll tell you how to beat her." he proposes, shutting his eyelids.
"Why should we?" Han asked., perplexed by the suggestion when they're running for their lives.
Charles struggled to make a sentence-mostly because DJ Octavio watched him intently-ready for him to say the words that'd set him off, "Because I love her! Regardless of who I am, she saw me as an equal, someone capable of making a connection with. I cherished the moments I spent with her, and I refuse to lose her because of your personal grudges and politics!" Veins sprout on the former king's forehead as he went bloodshot with rage, the extremity of detail to his face so stressed that he broke in a cold sweat from the heat emanating from his body; he wants to kill Charles.
His face wrinkles with steam, "You filthy-"
"You have my word." Hachigo interrupts, not interested in the love triangle; "Spill it, how do we beat her?"
"She's got a setup similar to how I had my octobots. Instead of my wasabi stalks and tentacle balls, she replaced it with an extra panel for controls. Those giant chrome exhaust pipes you see on the back give her extra speed that can run us over like roadkill, and those platinum fists with golden brass knuckles-"
Hachigo sighs, "I asked Charles, your highness…"
"Oh-er, sorry."
All is forgiven since he was having a moment of nostalgia, but much like he said, Candice's Octobot iteration had some striking similarities to the King's former mech of Cephalon HQ, but differed greatly in several functions. That extra control panel served to give her several extra functions like a special armor tenfold the strength of what the other mechs had, homing missiles, an ink railgun, splat bombs, and suction bombs as just a few to name, also maintaining the ink showers from the previous design. Charles laid out the plan of how to defeat her majesty without taking her life: Firstly, dodging was of the utmost importance, as most of the attacks and functions on that mech could kill anyone in an instant, maybe two or three strikes for Hachigo and Jonah. Secondly, the only way to combat the mech was to send all of her attacks back at her since nothing else carried enough power to defeat the giant with that armor. Lastly, this was a three person job, two for up close and one from afar. The people up close would serve as the bait, they would have to dodge every attack and attempt to return fire. They must do their best to keep her confused for however long it takes and drag out the fight, for the one afar to get up high. For the person afar, the way to defeat her laid in the very top of the mech where the most vulnerable part of the mech was from the lack of protection. One solid strike with an impact weapon would do the trick, the problem was, getting up to the top in the first place. As it stood, the mech was gigantic and would take scaling the buildings to reach the rooftops, add in that the mech will be moving fast and it'll be difficult to land that hit. Then there was what they had to work with, an injured Jonah, three unconscious Grand Elites, DJ Octavio, Han, Hachigo, and Sky, not really the most likely crew for such a situation.
"I'll do it." Hachigo insists; "I'll take Han and the two of us can be the bait. We're skilled enough to dodge her attacks easily, and we can give her a fight. Sky, you'll be filling in your mother's shoes, can you do it?"
"You mean you want me to take to the top? Are you sure!?"
"You've got youth on your side and you're Maya's own, aren't you? The blood coursing through your body is the same as hers. If there is anyone I trust with my life, it's one of hers." the octoling said with conviction letting Sky know that in all her years, if there was anyone she considered her equal, it was the inkling who donned the black cape.
Sky wanted to blush at the thought that Hachigo-of all people-placed her life in her hands, but she knew now wasn't the time to be bashful about such praise. "Alright. But I'll need my lucky gun if we're attacking a sweet spot."
"Already on it." a voice called over the communicator, belonging to the 1st Leg of the Resistance; "I'll bring your gun with as much ammo as you need, just meet me near the sanctuary."
Sky examines her surroundings and measures the distance between them and the queen, "She'll be hot on our tail, though. We can't risk too much damage to the city."
"Alright better yet, let's split up. We'll lead the queen away from the city and into the outskirts; That should give Jonah a chance to take everyone to the sanctuary. Han can accompany them and pick up your gun as well and meet up with us. The last thing we want is her attacking there of all places."
"But if we head to the outskirts, I can't rely on the rooftops anymore. Her weak spot is at the peak, remember?"
"That just means you'll have to take her down before we get there. Do I need to repeat myself, young Royale?" Hachigo taunts Sky, knowing her weakness was the comparisons to her mother since out of all of her children who was the closest to Maya, Sky was like a spitting image of her.
Sky blushes furiously trying to hide her growing smile, "No ma'am!"
"Then what about the city!? If we're trying to lure her away from the city to avoid damage but still attempt to fight her on the way out, then...huh!?" Han racks his brains trying to make sense of this plan.
"I understand your confusion but trust me on this one. There's not a lot of time for debate…"
"What if she comes after us?" Jonah asks, concerned about the baggage he has to carry and the possibility of the sanctuary coming under attack.
"She follows whoever has her attention the most and that would be…!" They all turn their attention to DJ Octavio, who'd been silent for a bit. Without a moment's hesitation, he's nabbed by Hachigo and their plan is put to work.
Gone their separate ways, the first phase of the battle begins with Hachigo And DJ Octavio attracting the livid queen's attention and in turn gives time for Han and Jonah to make their escape to the sanctuary, also allowing Sky a chance to sneak over to a nearby building and ascend to the rooftops. Candice yells with such scorn for her husband that even Charles got shivers, never once hearing her reach such a spiteful tone. DJ Octavio trembled bit, knowing better than anyone how his wife got when she was this upset, and knowing that her hatred for him runs deep; Hachigo looked at him with a plain expression, wondering what he must've done to piss her off so badly that she'd cheat on him with a far weaker man, rubbing salt in his wounds even more with just her disgusted expression alone. DJ Octavio asked her which side she was on, his pride shattered. Candice sends a dozen fists at the king wishing for his death as payment for his failures as a husband, father, and leader. Hachigo's eyes shine as her gun is revealed, firing several times, she deflects all of the flying fists back to the queen that do considerable damage. Candice howls holding her head, as if it was about to explode. Slamming her fist on the dashboard, she curses the name of Hachigo and blames her for being a traitor, resolving to kill her as well for siding with him. Hachigo shouts at DJ Octavio to run, getting prepared for a one on one against the mechanical giant; people nearby hiding in the buildings peeked through their windows and doors to witness the bizarre moment, hearing the queen's voice echo through the city like a siren. Also listening to the sounds of battle are Jonah, Han and Charles carrying the unconscious trio, they received word that reinforcements arrived earlier and allowed them to secure the palace shortly after they left. Jonah's happy to hear their victory, learning from Felix that the reinforcements were some inklings who apparently knew Sky, Pastelle and most importantly, Princess Magenta. Surprised to hear the Princess's name in such a situation, Jonah was thankful to know that even when she was fighting her own battles, she still remembered her homeland. In turn, Felix confirmed that those Inklings were heading to the sanctuary with the rest of the 8 Legs. With that news given, Jonah asked of everyone in the 8 Legs and if they made it-the answer he received bringing such a shock he nearly dropped to the floor holding himself from hurling, his worst nightmares coming true. Faye. Sigmund. Veronica. Porter. All of them died in the line of duty. Han could feel the devastation in his silence as he listened to young Felix's regretful tone, understanding it must've been so hard on the boy to see everyone he'd worked with dying before his eyes. His response solemn, Jonah notified him that they'd be there soon. Afterwards, Han and Charles stayed silent to show respect to the grieving captain who saw those fallen warriors as family.
The music gets louder, her exhaust pipes singing along ready to blow some steam while Candice continues the fight. Overhead on the rooftops watching while keeping hidden is Sky, who studied the structure of the Octobot Queen and memorized the several weapon functions she had. Like Charles stated, indeed there was a weak spot at the very top of the mech. But even from the top of these buildings, it was risky at best for her to aim since the queen would catch onto what they're planning, as well her being exposed on the free fall; if the queen didn't get her, gravity would. On her landings from such a drop with the exhaustion she had, there was a likelihood her body wouldn't handle the strain unless she channeled Midnight once again. But she already went her limit and beyond in the fight against Weiden, and to try something like that again would only repeat what happened to her in the winter, probably worse. If she's going to make such a risk, then she's only good for one shot, which meant she needed to be clutch. Her blood running cold with fear of failure, she remembers her journey and what's on the line. She can't afford to lose now with so many sacrifices made, not when lives have been forever changed. Wondering how Hachigo and DJ Octavio were holding themselves, she views them from up top as well. At the moment, Hachigo succeeded in creating space for DJ Octavio as he cleared it by a considerable distance, doing her best to annoy the queen by reflecting her attacks. From the suction bombs that spelled imminent doom for her to the homing missiles meant for DJ Octavio, Hachigo stared death in the face each time with a blank expression, unafraid of the consequences. The walls and the streets are drenched, the ground rumbling in response to the deafening music, the citizens of Octaria hiding in fear believing this to be the apocalypse. Still shouting her blameful thoughts on DJ Octavio, causing damage to the environment and to the ears of her citizens, she's unaware of Sky on the rooftops watching her every move. Another set of Platinum fists flying in the octoling''s direction, she once again reflects them with a blinding speed using the accuracy of her octoshot, distancing herself in preparations for the showers that follow. A spectacle of inkworks splattering everywhere, Sky was awestruck by the grace of Hachigo. A vantage point up that allows her to see the destruction unfold at an alarming pace, Sky's disturbed by how blindly Queen Octavio's rage went that she even crossed the line into harming her citizens. Why was she so angry with DJ Octavio? It looked as though the queen's ascension to the throne had some positives and negatives, overall doing everything for the greater good of the country even if it meant making certain people suffer, so why now was she trying to self destruct? Did the ends justify the means? It's complicated to find balance in a single person's life, so it's unfathomable to gauge the difficulty required for a powerful scale like an entire country where thousands, no, millions of people's lives are in your hands, and then there's the other things like controversies with other nations.
"My head hurts thinking about it." Sky shakes her head, clearing her thoughts again unable to ponder on the complicated subjects at such a critical moment.
Meanwhile, the others arrived at the sanctuary to a welcoming crowd in the bunker. Everyone was happy to see them but most importantly, they had to work quickly in getting back into the fight. Jonah agreed to stay behind and nurse the Grand Elites as well as visit those who were injured from battle, but before he could do so, he needed to confide in the remaining legs and meet Aaron and the Elites. Parting through the sea of citizens thankful to see him alive he arrives at the room where they all sat waiting. The first heads up are Denise and Felix, who rush to their captain and hug him immediately. When he looked at them, he could see the puffiness in their face to know they'd been through a lot; Han got the same response from his two apprentices, who were thankful he came back to them safely. After comforting their apprentices, the two men looked over to the crowd of inklings gathered by Pastelle. Right away, Pastelle introduced them from Aaron as the captain to everyone else; all of them assembled to carry out their own tasks: Aaron, Austin, Pearl, Ollie, and Apollo were their action unit while Chlora, Gileslie, and Cannola were there as support.
"We came on the orders of Princess Magenta of Octo Valley and we were able to secure the palace. As it stands the majority of the resistance is still there securing the zone for your arrival." Aaron reported, saluting the captain; Jonah held out his hand for a shake, which Aaron honored graciously.
"I commend you all for taking such a responsibility, if you hadn't come when you did..."
"No need to dwell on that, sir. What matters is what happens next." Apollo said, urgency written on his face, as were the others.
Pastelle came forward, "Captain Jonah, this is the team Agent 5-er, Sky-is part of. These are her close friends and I can vouch that they're amazing."
Jonah's eyebrows raised, looking at them all and indeed seeing the anxiety in their movements to know that indeed they had to be amazing talent carrying such nerves. Wandering from each individual, he turns to Aaron and eventually lifts a finger, "You love her, don't you?"
The tension evaporated.
Aaron's face flushed. The other Elites began giggling, and even Pastelle and the ninjas were unable to hold back their laughter after seeing the embarrassed Aaron. "W-what does that have to do with anything!?" Aaron shouts with reddened cheeks, unable to look at him directly; little did Aaron know that in a time like this where Jonah was hurt greatly, the one thing he could do to alleviate that agony was to lighten the mood-especially with love.
"Oh come on man, your knees are buckling wondering if she's fine. You're worried sick about your sweetheart, huh? No need to be so bashful!"
Aaron rubs the back of his neck with a displeased look, "Yeah..." he mumbles, which Jonah pats him on the back afterwards with an "Attaboy" on the second pat.
"How is she? She isn't injured or anything?" Chlora asked, worried sick about her friend.
Han smiles, "You all should know better than anyone how tough she is. Right now…"
The group is briefed on what's occurring right now, and what their intentions were. As it stood, the biggest priority was to bring down the queen now that her forces were stopped on both the surface and underground. The majority of the resistance were to stay in the palace and those not in the palace were here in the sanctuary protecting the residents, which meant only a handful could go and assist those who were fighting the Octobot Queen. As it stood, despite the capability of Agent 8 and Agent 5, they were still just two against a massive machine of death. It's a mystery for how long they could hold out, especially when Sky has no weapons effective for damage to that machine. Felix explained the current plan and immediately the Elites were on board to lend a hand as were Roujou and Ayumi, who wanted to join Han in delivering the weapon to Sky and fight the queen as well; Jonah decided to stay behind with Denise and Felix since they would head for the palace afterwards. Leading the way for Han, Felix handed him the trusty modded E-liter that Sky left behind before the ambush, explaining that she found it foolish to carry such a weapon in this situation, yet it had so much importance now. Armed and loaded with weapons, the dispatch team of Han and his apprentices as well as Pastelle and the Elites make their way to the battleground. As they depart, Jonah is led by Denise to the room where the remaining 8 Legs laid, his heart breaking as he saw the peaceful faces of Porter, Veronica, Sigmund, and Faye. Shutting his eyes with a shrink and wiping away his tears, he falls to his knees in defeat, finding it difficult to believe they too have left this earth. In the other room, Charles sat by the sides of the three Grand Elites and prayed for a safe recovery, promising to come for them when all is over, joining Han just before he left to see the queen. While Han and the others rush to aid the agent duo, the final boss fight is in its 4th phase already. In the first phase, it was a combination of throwing out some spinning fists followed by suction bombs and homing missiles. Following the failure to take down Hachigo and instead taking significant damage from her own attacks, Candice activated her defensive upgrades and proceeded to the following phases focusing on slowing Hachigo down by stunning her with a loud enough cry that she couldn't simply run away, similar to a beast's roar against a hunter to paralyze them for a second. Hachigo nullified the effects of the roar by attacking her as quickly as possible instead of running, noticing that it took time for her to build up such a roar. In the meantime between those loud cries, Candice threw out the same attacks but now included the railgun instead, lining up devastatingly long charged shots that could take down a building with it's force, even destroying the streets with its power. Careful not to be in a position where innocents would get caught in the crossfire, she's restricted in her motion. There's also the worry of DJ Octavio, who was still in her line of sight and only spared because of the persistence of Hachigo. Now in the 4th phase, Hachigo is still in it thanks to her experience in fighting disastrous enemies with a whole population on the line. She's swift and sharp on her dodges, and even deadlier on reflecting the queen's attacks. But even then, Sky could see that age was catching up to her as the increase in bombs and missiles worked against her. Even though she's seemingly invincible, this is too much. Once again Candice charges up for a shot with her railgun, but before she fires another devastating shot, she surprises Hachigo with a minigun. Going off without a limit, she forces the octoling to dance around her shots while lining up her up with another-an answer to the failed attempts to pin her down with the railgun. Hachigo clicks her tongue, pissed off that in just another 5 minutes she'd be at city limits and save everyone, and here comes Candice to ruin everything. Exposed within the narrow pathway, Hachigo's limited space works against her as the rail follows her every move; the queen's willing to hurt innocents to take her down! For the first time since she was a test subject, Hachigo felt the words ringing in her head as the rail gun blasts a bright light heading straight from her. Test Failed. She thought, treating this entire battle as a simulation with greater consequences than simply blowing up and respawning. Just then, something is thrown that reflects the beam at the queen and does significant damage at the same time. It's a close call for Hachigo, but the flash was so blinding she had no clue what happened, not until she saw a legion of people hopping through the air and heading in her direction. Han arrives with backup, reassuring Hachigo that she wouldn't fight this battle alone; Sky's shocked by the surprise appearance of Aaron and the others, a light shining in her eyes seeing her friends here to help. As the new faces show up and lend their support, Charles tries to calm Candice down, shocked to see her in such a state.
"Traitor!" she screams in response, growing far more agitated than before, probably because the man she believed to be on her side was now working with her enemy. She felt betrayed at how everyone seemed to turn against her, how anyone she gave credibility to seemingly saw her as a nuisance, as a mad woman with no conscience. She's fed up, repeatedly shouting that she wouldn't fall for their trap, following her instincts and firing away up top and noticing a figure run for cover. Everyone responds by launching their attacks at her, now having the capable weaponry to combat her durable armor but still careful not to enter her range for a swift attack. Everything is getting thrown out wildly, from hands to missiles, Candice is looking to cause as much mayhem and chaos as possible like a beast realizing its defeat. Her hopes to overwhelm them backfire as their accuracy prevails with her fists punching her instead and the missiles blowing up in her face. Stunned and unable to capitalize off of them dodge, Candice found her answer at the end of the row and now worked on simply defeating them before it became an uphill battle. While everyone keeps Candice preoccupied, Sky finally receives her weapon from Han, but Candice is now aware of her presence after firing at her earlier and pieced together everything: Hachigo's reinforcements, Charles' betrayal, and now Sky up on the rooftop. In her eyes, they were trying to lower her guard with his presence and keep her contained long enough for Sky to pull off some sort of miracle shot since she was the only isolated from the group, which wasn't far off from the truth. Her rage boiling to the max at the idea of her daughter's friend attempting to take her life, she enters goes all out with the Octobot Queen, mashing several buttons. Her armor is reinforced and all of her attack functions are bolstered. Peering ahead at the very end near the city limits, she makes her final declaration. The Final phase is here and she unleashes everything as a brisk pace, showing no restraint for any collateral damage to the nearby towns. Hand and the others work their hardest to reflect her attacks and dodge them in succession, aware that the most they can do is slow her down. Since her reinforced armor proved more durable than their ammo and they couldn't concentrate on a single area with the way they're being spread. Charles continues to plead with her in reconsidering her actions, noticing the danger she poses to innocent bystanders hiding in their homes. Those pleas fall on deaf ears as she's too far gone for any reasoning, but his attempts that led to her annoyance work in their favor as they shift their focus from her body to targeting her mobility, able to demobilize her and destroy her functions rather than the mech; without her weapons to release, it's just a hunk of metal, or so they thought. The desperate queen can feel the pressure suffocating her with the walls of defeat closing in, and as a last resort after exhausting her resources she relies on one last attack so devastating that it'll destroy Octaria as they knew it. Aiming her ray gun up high as the last weapon yet to be affected, she channels all her energy into blowing the ceiling in and burying everyone under rubble.
Much like Shiva feared and hence why she sent the Elites, the queen indeed was planning to destroy the nation if she didn't get her way. All the indecisive thoughts Sky had leading up to this moment vanished, her form of breathing altering with her irises and hair illuminating a cool but intense light blue, her expression fierce as the dire situation is put in her hands. Gone into squid form, she launches into the air and propels just at the right angle to make a last ditch effort. Her signature gun in hand, she's suspended in the air for what will be a tight window to land this shot. One eye close and the other peering through the reticle, she estimates the target she needs to fire to avoid harming her majesty, pulling the trigger and sending a thunderous shot cracking through the air. In an instant, the railgun is neutralized and the mech is brought down; free falling, Sky leans in with her shoulder and busts through the roof landing on the queen. With a brat on top of her and her mech immobilized, Queen Candice realizes she's been foiled just like her husband was many years ago-him at the hands of Maya, and her at the hands of her daughter Sky. The queen lowers her head, silently accepting her defeat while clenching her fists and gritting her teeth. Sky didn't bother saying anything since she can't imagine the frustration the queen must feel, after everything she said, after all she did, she still failed and was no different from the man she ripped apart for failing miserably time and time again. The silence soon turns to hiccups and poor attempts to hold back her frustrated tears, to which Sky looks away and pats her on the back, still angry about what she did to Hatu, Nali, and so many others, but understanding that this lady was still Shiva's mother, a woman she'd seen so many times to consider her a second in a way. After a few minutes of getting dragged out the mech, the defeated Candice looked gazes at everyone's disappointed faces, feeling her chest tighten with stinging guilt. I just wanted revenge. Her exasperated thoughts whimper with a shake of the head in denial at the hard truth. I wanted what belonged to me, my people, my husband...I wanted them to return what was rightfully our! We have the technology, we are the most advanced race, we are the superior ones! Why must we be humiliated and suffer in the wake of their incompetence!? As she recalls the faces of her two daughters that she treated poorly, her heart break realizing the horror she put her eldest daughter through. She tried so desperately to fill in the void for her people, to imitate that strength and resolve, but somewhere along the way it became warped, she lost sense of her purpose and mixed up her desire to do what was right for her people with her own selfish desires. They robbed me of my husband, my daughters of a father, and this nation of a leader...but as I stare at the thousands of faces here, I must ask. What have I done? I've robbed my daughter of her innocence and scarred her when I should've protected her. I placed an unnecessary burden on the other and forced her to hate the very image of herself. I harmed the nation I swore to protect…Her head lowered to soak in the defeat, she hears an incredible amount of cheers and praise given as the people of Octaria who gathered to witness history all chanted her name loud and proud and still expressed great love for her, forever remembering her as the queen who was willing to do anything for them, even if it hurt more than help, she embodied the true love of what it meant to be an octarian. In their eyes, her defeat was a wake up call that change was needed, but not by her hands, a revelation she tried hard to avoid.
"I surrender." she sighs, tired of everything; Charles joins her and gives a hug, thankful that she's okay. "Sorry for everything." she said in a mellow tone, but Charles didn't mind, professing that he's just as guilty as her. Everyone surrounds her and secures her arrest, marking a new chapter in Octaria's history. Hundreds of octarians and octolings are out and about to listen to what the former king has to say. They wondered what would come next for their underground nation, and if the king would retake the throne and usher in a new era or continue more of the same. The announcement he made sent shock waves that chilled the necks of all who heard, every octarian core shaken by the monumental declaration.
Meanwhile in Inkopolis, there's a cause for celebration as word of victory is delivered from their allies underground, which paired together with what they knew in Ravia confirms that the gamble Cap'n Cuttlefish and Mack Netifla made paid off in the end and results in a historical moment that will shape a new future. Everyone is relieved they managed to come together and protect their land from invaders, but this was only the beginning of it all in hindsight of the true goal of Rebirth. What mattered most is what happens afterwards: What were they to do with these invaders? What was next for people like Akane, and the Galloways? What is the fate of the Tower Bridge Unit members who fought here? Many questions looming, the biggest one was about Ikayumu. What they did was unprecedented and would likely have quite the consequences, but from the look of Simone Tokugawa, she didn't care at all because she felt it was all done for the right cause. Meanwhile in Ravia, Maya, Julian, and Luke review all the arrests they made, counting the members of the Tower Bridge Unit with the leaders of the Black Urchins and their runaway followers all rounded up as well; local authorities arrived and were assisting them, awaiting word from higher ups of Ravia of transportation. Sitting handcuffed with bruises and holes covering his body was Kida, who cursed under his breath the name of Julian who purposefully missed all his vital spots to make him suffer; his knees and elbows are blown out as well. While they sit and reflect on their failures, the Tower Bridge Unit was getting grilled by Luke. Scolding them like a parent, he expresses his disappointment and assures them they'll be serving some time as a punishment for their actions, but promising that he'll be there for them every step of the way, blaming himself for not showing greater guidance and being immature for holding grudges that he allowed it spread to them. Back at the conference, everyone is cleaning up. During that cleanup, all the talk is about Shiva and her amazing victory. People are celebrating her and marveling at what they witnessed. Close by the hotel are Azule and the others getting checked up at the infirmary, learning from Santiago that the mission was a success. With the biggest of battles behind them, the final chapter in this hectic mission of life and death for a future of a massive uncertainty has finally concluded.
Rapture is over, and so begins the Rebirth.
