It took my eyes approximately ten seconds to refocus after the light was released. And when I did...well, I was left speechless.
On the previously barren top of my ship now lay an alien forest. Surrounding us were membranous, glowing trees, vaguely similar to the white thing located within the Transference room of the Tenno Orbiters. Also, flaky white stuff was falling from the sky, and according to my scanners, it was snow...in the middle of a region that did not experience snowfall at this time of year.
Oh, and Melissa was just standing frozen next, a stunned look on her face...wait, did she recognize this?
….I mean, she WAS one of these things, if the one in the Progenitor temple has been honest...had it?
"Hey," I began, trying to take things slowly, "you seen these before?"
"Yes," she replied. "...My mom used to grow them back home. They're called Auralis grandis. They're..."
She went quiet after this, her expression growing somber. I got the feeling that she was remembering something rather sad.
Instinctively, I put my hand on her shoulder. It might not do much, but if it made her feel better, l...
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. I'm guessing you have some of these back at your hub?"
"Yeah, greenhouse level on my tower. They're from a bag of seeds my mom gave me. They're...all that I really have left of her now."
"I see."
"Are you done speaking now?"
Instantly, the two of us turned toward the enormous mass of the flesh that compromised the Coelohim that had made this forest.
"Impressive, isn't it? The land our makers bred us to create? This was to be what would become of the worlds we would have won following our mastery of the multiverse."
"And I take it that the Progenitors never got those?"
"No. The Elder Ones chose to forgo such concessions for their victory, instead falling back into their home realm. They still live there, if memory serves right."
"Then why do you live here?"
"To protect their secrets from YOU!"
"Me?"
"...Well, both of you. Those who would abuse the power of the progenitors do not deserve to live."
"How the hell is HE at fault here?" asked my ROB. "I'M THE ONE WHO GAVE HIM THE DAMN THING!"
…..Wow. I really didn't expect her to defend me like that.
"You may not have been at fault for owning this wonderous machine, but you still used it."
"So?" I inquired, annoyed. "Why is that a bad thing? The Progenitors are long dead."
"Which makes your actions tantamount to grave robbing."
"Again, I took it and gave it to him, so only I am guilty of grave robbing. Besides, I'm certain they would approve of us...of him trying to make the multiverse a better palce-"
"WHY DO YOU THINK OUR CREATORS WENT TO WAR ACROSS CREATION IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"
..What?
"Our makers tried to make the lives of all better. True, many appreciated it, but inevitably, some grew jealous of our lords. Once enough shared that opinion, conflict was inevitable. Much suffering came of this war, suffering that should never happen again. And that is why I exist - to stop those who do not deserve this technology from abusing it. Only the Tenno deserve this technology."
Ok, I've heard enough of this. "...Really, your reasoning is absurd."
"Such mortal beings like yourself cannot comprehend my reasoning, and in the end, it is unnecessary. My directives only allow one solution to the problem you present."
"Let me guess, my destruction?"
"No - the destruction of you, and all who know of you. Only once all evidence of this location is removed will it be safe once more. And for that, all who can take up your cause - allies, subordinates, kin - must die."
.̶͚̮̦̩̦͇͙̥̣͈̤̥̰͔͇͔̾̇ͬ́͛̏͋ͫͣ̚̚͢͠.̡̨ͧ̓̆̌̓ͧ̌ͩ̊ͧ̍ͦ̕҉͖̜̞̯̟͔̹̫̘̰̹̰͢Fͥ͆̊͂ͥ͊͗̓͒̔̚҉̛͕͉͈̻Ų̵̪̺̤̝̱̥͔̦̭̱̯͎̟̞͈̑̆ͥ̒C̫͍͈̞͕̭̻̜̙͓̙͔̔͊ͦͩ́͡Ķ̴̴̖̮̠͖͔͍̪̝̬̭̩̹̙͍̈͐̓̓̑̈̀͌ͥ͆̿̌͆́̀ ͓͚͍͖̺̳̟͉͍̦̞͈͍͙̙̩̤̜͋̿ͨ̍ͩ͢T̴̖̦͓͔̫̦̘̺̞̐́ͫ̀ͦ̄H̷̨͔̭̺̠̥͉̜͈̞͓͍̳͇̅̾̈̔̇ͩ͐̈̀́̚̕A̧̱̻͉̯͎̲̘̠̥̗̟̞̪̬̬ͯ̒̀̈́͢ͅͅŢ̵̻̞̯̗͖̟̰̼̦̔̾̀͛͂ͅͅ ̡̢̨͈͖͈̻̗̤̮͉̝ͥ̊̇̏ͨ͑̔̇ͫͥ̌ͭ̅͛̄ͯ̌N̡̘͓̹̱̹̼̟̜ͤ̾ͯ̎̕͜Ọ͙̭̯̘͉͈̪̣͈̼̟̬̪͕̃͋ͪ̄͆̐̒͆̀̅̄̈́̉̀̀̚͡I̎ͣ͑ͩ͆ͧ̽ͥ̅ͨͣ͢҉̜͉͕̥̖̭S̵̛̹̩̫̮͓̘͚̱̹̮͍̼͈̲̃̌͊̄ͥ̏̐ͤ̒ͨͫ͟͞͡Ę̴̝͈̦͈͇̭̝͙͇͚̬́ͨͮ̋͂̒͛̒̇́̀͛̊͌͐͡!̒͊͑̍̐̅ͪ̉̍͆́͊̓͊҉̷̞̻̞̙ͅ!ͫ͐̃ͯͥͦ͛͏́͏̧͎̺͉̖̝̫͚̠̙̫͇̥!̶̪̖̞̼͙̞̝͍̽ͩ͐́ͨ̉̅̈́ͣ͗̓ͫ̾͑͊͑̄͊̉͠͡͠
A beam of light surged from my hands toward the creature, and managed to destroy one of its tentacles, causing it to cry out in agony.
"I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM MY FOLLOWERS OR MY FAMILY!"
"...So be it."
Then, suddenly, a huge cloud of purple smoke surged from the monster.
AN: Soundtrack Start - Parasites, from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
The minute the smoke hit me, I fell back, as did Melissa. Following this, the creature began to slam its tentacles around, trying to hurt us. Occasionally, it would fire off a powerful beam of energy from one of its tentacles, or from its eyes.
Well, time to fight back.
Pulling out my decurion, I fired at the beast, aiming for its eyes, whilst Melissa started tearing into the creatures flesh. The monster was actually bewildered by this, wondering why she would attack one of her kin.
"Because you hurt the only person I've knonw in the last coupe of centuries who gives a crap about me and isn't my boss or surrogate family!"
"...What?!"
Melissa declined to answer that, instead beating the creature's body in.
As this continued, our forces began to recover their wounded - the sentients had since fled the battle, determining that remaining in this fight would only lead them to defeat.
Hopefully, this didn't provide them the opening to make a comeback.
That being said, the creature was taking quite a pounding - how could it take so many cuts and bullets without dying?
"Do you really think anything less than progenitor technology can hurt me?"
"...Thank you for shooting yourself in the foot."
"...What?"
A moment later, a pillar of light descended on the beast, causing it to roar in agony, then grow silent.
Whilst its body began to twitch, Melissa joined me in continuing to pump it full of lead and lasers. Best to make sure it is dead.
"And stay down."
Sighing, I turned back to my ROB...just as a strangely colored boom jumped toward her. As the machine exploded, I felt something pierce into my chest.
Staring down, I dimly realized a large claw was now sticking out of my chest.
"So...childish."
Before me was a humanoid creature, vaguely similar to Melissa's alien form, which soon drove another blade into my chest. At this point, my brain had stopped registering pain, lest I be rendered defenseless from agony.
Somehow, I still felt that blow.
"...You fight well, but your defeat was inevitable."
Towering over me, the monster put its hands around my throat and began to squeeze.
"Die fast."
Then, suddenly, something surged into the beast.
"Leave him alone!"
XXXXXXX
Melissa tore into the Coelohim, biting and tearing, her true form now unleashed. Everything Flame had seen so far, from her humanoid appearance to the monster she had been on the Drengin homeworld, was a façade. This was what she was...and this would probably be the last anyone would see of this form.
She had expended a lot of energy during this fight - more than she had in the last few months. In her weakened state, this had...taken its toll on her body. Her flesh now ached, and she was certain that transforming back into another form would likely be impossible. As is, she was just holding back enough strength so that she could live to have her soul healed.
But if that wasn't possible, so be it - at least she could die making amends to her pawn.
The Coelohim, however, disagreed.
Deflecting her punch, it grabbed her and threw her into the ground with such force that the back of the ship dented. Capitalizing on this offense, it leapt onto her and started pounding away. Her torso and head became soaked in her own blood, yet the monster continued ot hit her, determined to see the life drained out of her.
"..S..St...Stop!"
Amazing, the monster did just that. It moved to punch her again, yet it couldn't bring itself to strike her. As this revelation came, its eyes widened in shock.
"...Traitor.."
Then, it shook itself, and gently held out a finger to her face.
When the claw at the end was able to scratch her unimpeded, the creature pulled back its arms to deliver another blow...only to take a laser to the back.
Bewildered, it turned, and found the Commander staring at it.
"This is our fight, and I am not dead yet."
As he finishedhis declaration, the human pulled out his zaw blade and took up a fighitn stance, as did the monster.
Now, at last, the final battle would begin.
XXXXXXXXX
Deep within the ship, a mass of technocyte flesh moved. Appraching the ship's sound controls, it lightly surfed through the available sound files, before selecting one an hitting play.
AN: Soundtrack Start - Europa by Globus
A fitting way to send off this battle, no?
XXXXXXXX
AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!