"Why, exactly, are you worried about the Sentients accessing the Repository?" Asked Melissa, a confused expression on her face. "I mean, what could possibly be in there that is valuable to them?"
"It has technology from the Forerunners, the Imperium of Man, and Star Wars within it.."
"So? Those should hardly prove to be a challenge toward you-"
"...and a Progenitor Multiversal Gate."
"...what?"
"Yeah. It has a way for them to exit this universe inside of it. And frankly, I do NOT want to make the Sentients a problem for all universes."
"...Okay. So, the plan?"
"My forces are trying to hold them off, but they will only last a few minutes more at most. We need to reach the Repository right now so that we can repulse the acolytes."
"And then what?"
"I checked the schematics for the facility: it has biological defense drones that are meant to repel any raiders they encounter. It appears that the defense systems have been knocked offline, and their IFF systems are going haywire, so first we'll need to fix that. From there...well, hold the line until the defenses are back online."
"That's all?"
"I didn't exactly have a lot of time to plan!"
"Fine. Just know that after this, I won't be helping you anymore."
"Your boss mad?"
"That, and, honestly, I have spent too much time working with you. Things are getting boring again in that regard."
"Oh. Well, thanks for the last bit of help, then."
"Don't mention it. Though I must ask, what are you going to do once you have rescued all of those in the Repository?"
"Well, probably let them live in my hub universe until I can find their home universes, then, well, I'll probably send them home...assuming they want to go home. Some of them might not like how their universes turned out."
"True enough. What will happen to the Orokin?"
"...I guess I'll let them live in my hub."
"Even after what they have done?"
"Yes. The ones in the Repository aren't all bad apples, and even they deserve a chance at redemption."
"..Seriously?"
"Yes."
"...That's rather admirable of you."
"Thank you. Now can we get this show on the road?!"
XXXXX
Hastily, I prepared a force to intercept the Stalker and his acolytes. I readied up my avatar, as well as Umbra (who seemed to be oddly focused on the C4 I'd put in the armory, which he spent a couple of moments arming and disarming), all in preparation for this struggle. Internally, I bemoaned the fact that my first original warframe was not yet finished. Codenamed Malachosias, I had designed it as a hybrid damage dealer and healer, with an angel/demon duality motif. Unfortunately, it was still gestating, and would probably not be ready in time for the final battle with the Sentients - I was just pounding them so fast it wasn't funny.
Back to the battle at hand: I'd managed to call in Etran and Cyreesia to assist with this, as well as two other Tenno wielding a Trinity and an Atlas, which provided us with a well balanced team to face off against the Sentient's forces. The Acolytes and their master may be few in number, but quality trumped quantity here.
"So, you're headed to the Repository again?" asked Etran.
"Yes...Do you remember anything about it? Anything that you might have-"
"Hid from you? Yes. I apologize, but the ones who built the gate within it said that the Repository and its secrets were meant for us and us alone. That only we were to possess its power."
"Really?"
"Yes. I think they felt that only we were responsible enough to use it, but right now, I doubt that. You have certainly proven yourself responsible enough to wield what lies within."
"...Thank you. Now, onwards, to battle!"
XXXX
We arrived in the Repository just as some huge creature emerged and began attacking what appeared to be shadowy crawlers. Great - Misery had summoned his shades. Said shades were no match for the monster, however, which soon tore them apart, before turning to face us. As I looked the beast over, I noted that it looked similar to some of Melissa's creations, though still different in other ways.
I wonder who had created this...Coelohim. Yeah, that was what they had been called, Coelohim.
The beast charged at us, only to be cut down in a hail of gunfire. As its corpse began to cool, we marched onwards - time was of the essence here.
"So, what next?" questioned my ROB.
"Get to the security center, reactivate and modify the IFF to see my forces as friends in addition to the Tenno, set everyone else as an enemy, then either repel all of the Sentient forces or evacuate everyone stored in the Repository and scuttle the facility."
"Good plan. Where are you gonna send those you rescue? Your ship?"
"Iron Wake. Steel Meridian offered to hold onto them until I can ask them if they want to go with me."
"I see. So, now what?"
"Now, we FIGHT!"
XXXXXX
Surprisingly little resistance was met as we marched toward the Security center - the corrupted managed to keep both the Acolytes' and the Coelohim's attention, leaving only the occasional shade or beast to fight. It only took us a few minutes to reach the facility and begin rerouting the defenses. Of course, that was proving to be challenging in its own right - the defense systems were proving very difficult to reprogram, and as they were derived from Progenitor tech, I was facing an equal here.
Just as I managed to finally modify the IFF, though, I felt another presence in the system. A Sentient presence.
So, the creation of the Progenitors now lurks here, as well.
What do you want, Hunhow?
To destroy the Orokin. The last trace of them besides the Tenno dwell in this tower. Killing them will bring the Old War to an end.
Most of the ones in this vault are innocent. Why do they deserve to die?
The Orokin as a whole were monstrous. All traces of them must be annihilated.
And what of the others who rose form their ashes?
The profit obsessed cult? The Twin Queens' empire? Why do they deserve to exist? They are merely extensions of the Golden Lords' evils.
True, but there are others who remain that are better than them.
They are too weak to bring about change. They must also burn.
So the Sins of the Fathers are passed down to their Sons?
Yes. Yes they are.
Suddenly, I felt a huge surge through the Security Systems, which briefly caused me to lose control of them. For a moment, the beasts turned their attention toward the Tenno, before reengaging the shades in combat.
"What the-" began Cyreesia.
"Sorry. Hunhow is inside the computer network. He's trying to rest control of Coelohim from me."
"And you can't shut him out?"
"Not completely. The system is resisting both of us, and I'm stretched thin trying to repel it and him at the same time. Taking it offline is out of the question, since I'm more or less certain that would just drive the Coelohim insane."
"Well, anything we can do to help?" queried Etran.
"No...well, you could ask Ordis to assist, but I'm aware of what happened when Hunhow accessed the Cephalon Weave, so I wouldn't recommend it."
"Fair enough. Keep us informed."
"Will do."
XXXXXXXX
Whilst I fought to keep the Security Network under our control, the Tenno were fighting off the assault just outside. Meanwhile, my bots and creatures, aided by several other Tenno, began moving the cryopods out of the Repository. I'd utilized the Ethereal Psionic network to open a portal between here and Iron Wake, where Steel Meridian and, ironically enough, the Perrin Sequence, were busy helping put them into an underground vault until the pods could be thawed. I'd expected fighting to break out when I heard that Ergo Glast and his forces were headed to Iron Wake, but things were surprisingly civil. When I had informed the Tenno of this development, Cyreesia had revealed to me that she had informed Glast about what was going on, and he had apparently considered it a good reason to put aside past grievances, if only for the moment.
Outsie, the battle was growing more intense - the Acolytes were directly taking to the field. Malice opened fire with his Opticor, whilst Torment used her vastos to unleash a hail of bullets, which shredded through Cyreesia. Help was soon to arrive though: within moments, a portal appeared behind her, and out popped a Nekros, who fired a soul punch into her, allowing the female Tenno to stand back up.
Oh yeah, I may have also used the Ethereal Network to send additional Tenno into the fight. More help was always appreciated.
Suddenly, a tendrilled monster burst out of a nearby room and roared. Violence tried to cut it down, only to be caught in one of its limbs and hurled around like a ragdoll for a few minutes, before subsequently being catapulted into a nearby wall, leaving a huge dent in the surface. A moment later, she faded away, bemoaning her injuries and urging her allies to fight on.
As the battle raged on, though, it would seem that things had become a stalemate. Cyreesia was now locked in a shootout with Malice, whilst Etran used the Paracesis to block of a blow from the Stalker's War. More shades joined the battle, trying to assist the Stalker in breaching the Repository, only to be repelled by the oncoming forms of my robots, my creatures, and the Coelohim that defended this installation. Corrupted forces also assaulted this position, attacking all they encountered. All of this made for a brutal battle.
Yet, somehow, we were winning.
AN: Soundtrack Start: Destiny OST - End of the Line
Slowly, the Shades grew less numerous as Misery began to take hits. Malice, meanwhile, was forced to bail out when Cyreesia got a lucky headshot on him after jump kicking him in the chest. Furthermore, I was finally beginning to overwhelm the security system, allowing me to devote more attention to keeping Hunhow out of the system. The weakening of the defending program also allowed me to send in some of the bigger Coelohim without having to worry about them attacking my allies. And if that wasn't good enough, the Repository had almost been emptied, meaning that, even if we failed, we would be able to deny Hunhow victory - I'd already removed some components from the Multiversal Gate to ensure he couldn't use it.
Soon, Misery fell, and the Stalker's forces began to rout - without Misery to sustain the shades, the numbers were turning against them. Desperately, they tried to mount one final assault, but when that failed, causing Angst to go down, they cut their losses and run.
And just as that happened, the security system fell to my onslaught, allowing me to focus all my processing power on defeating Hunhow. The attack that followed burned him out of the system, and I'm pretty sure it also damaged his physical form to a noticeable degree.
So it seems the dreamers and their allies have succeeded.
Yeah, we did. Suck it.
...just as expected.
…..Huh?
Please. Did you really expect me to succeed in repelling you? I am well aware that you are more powerful than me. I merely sought to delay you, as per my wife's instructions. She would not have allowed you to receive the relic otherwise.
Who the what now?
My mate. The giant Sentient who commanded our first defense against you. Don't you think that it was rather easy to get the relic from her, even with the assault you launched on us?
...Maybe a little.
The Sentient destroyer of worlds just laughed at that.
Instantly, I was on the alert, looking to see if I had received any notifications about an attack.
None appeared, though Tylos had sent me another message, asking if he should prepare for new arrivals. I quickly sent him a yes, before sending out machines designed to increase the local gravity in an area and placed them in orbit of my hub star, where, once activated, they would begin to pull nearby matter into themselves until, eventually, a new world was born. Then I could have more room to settle in any new immigrants to my lands.
Oddly, no assault came when I sent out that order. Was Hunhow trying to screw with me?
Suddenly, a new proximity alert appeared on my sensors. A new Coelohim had emerged within the tower...and it was really, really, really big.
Melissa stood up as the creature grew near, no doubt sensing that something was wrong.
"Something headed our war?" she inquired.
"New type of Coelohim, larger than any that I have seen that aren't under your control and weren't in a vision."
"Well, we can take it down, can't we?"
"Yes, we can."
Oh how wrong I was there.
Moving my avatar so that it could join the team, I took cover behind one of the collapsible cover points, ready to engage in combat. Looking thorugh the cameras, I watched at as the new creature ambled toward us, noticing that it looked like a cross between a lizard, an arthropod, and a bird. Soon, it was just outside the entrance of the Repository, at which point we opened fire.
The beast shrugged off our attack, then opened its mouth and ro-AAAAARRRRGGGGHH!
XXXXXXX
ERROR: CMDR OFFLINE
REBOOTING...REBOOTING...ERROR, REBOOT FAILED
WARNING: DETECTING HOSTILE PRESENCE
ATTEMPTING TO PURGE
CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTEDGHOHO*#Y%(*Y((G*YW(#YOIGHLJH373194875983689134479586Gh350KEU384yKVHHFO85y398VH(*HKLHLHHHT^&(9hKGIKGUNBR57294HCJKGOTLBNCH8GHLVHLTH
XXXXX^*&(^XXXXX
I stood up, head pounding. The connection to my avatar had been severed. Additionally, my ship had tilted slightly, apparently from the backlash. Hastily, I righted it, before attempting tore-establish my link with my avatar...only to find it and Umbra mere feet away from me, inactive. Well, at least the avatar was - Umbra was quick to stand back up and begin checking over me.
Hastily, I reconnected with my Commander and-
"Commander, you cannot use your commander body," intoned the female Advisor AI from Planetary Annihilation.
"Why?!"
"Because...because it is already under the control of another."
"WHO?!"
Rather than speak, the female AI merely sent me a transmission:
CMDR_XENOSENTRY_00
CURRENT_OCCUPYING_COMMANDER: HUNHOW
...what the-
That was as far as my train of thought got before an explosion rocked the Extinction.
XXXXXXXX
AN: Please, Read and Review! This is Flamel15k, signing off!