Void stared at the portal. So, this was the accessway that her foe was using to travel to and from his home base? How could he leave it so….unprotected?
…Okay, maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit – he had included a fair amount of defenses here, including a nuclear self-destruct system on a three second timer and enough firepower to completely atomize a city besides, but all of that had been useless against her – the boy had been so distracted fighting her 'brother' (a term even they considered unable to describe their relationship) that he had neglected to pay attention to any of his sensors, allowing her to sneak over here with ease. From there, she had easily disabled his security systems, even rendering the self-destruct system inert. Ultimately, his actions had all amounted to nothing.
It was a shame the Commander would have to die here – Void was sure that he could still offer something of value to her masters' cause. Unfortunately, he had slain Main, which meant leaving him alive was no longer on the table. Oh well, she could find others the would further her masters' plans. There were always more commanders being created – Random Omnipotent Beings could hardly resist the urge to make them.
Activating the portal, the machine readied to march onto the Commander's host-world. Today, the light he had ignited would be extinguished.
"You know, you shouldn't talk out loud. I do, sometimes, and people say it makes me sound crazy."
Completely unsurprised by the outburst, Void held out her hand and fired off several bursts of energy. Said bursts destroyed all of the projectiles aimed at her, while also incapacitating the two who had tried to strike her down.
"Did you honestly think those petty attacks would hurt me, tiny human?"
"...No, but this might."
Before she could inquire as to what the boy was talking about, a sharp pain emanated form her back, followed by a small explosion as something hit the portal. Her scans revealed it to be energy from the Orokin Void.
"...Seriously? You just a beam of energy at a literal hole in the space time continuum that could potentially destroy the universe if damaged...just to wound me?"
"Well, it worked, didn't it?"
...Her communication systems had been removed by that attack.
"True, but not for long-"
Without warning, a bolt of energy emanated from the portal and struck her back. Crying out in pain, Void collapsed, body smoking.
How? How had that blow wounded her? There was no way it could unless...unless.
Disregarding the battle around her, Void scanned the portal, searching for a certain signal...one that she found rather quickly on the other side.
So that is where those treasures had hidden themselves. Well, time to find them again.
Sensing that the duo was about to attack again, Void summoned a projectile to fire at them. On impact, the duo vanished from the face of the Earth.
She hadn't killed. But trapping them in another universe without any way to escape was close enough. And there was nothing either of them or their followers could do to reverse this.
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Shaking myself off, I took note of our surroundings. My former pawn appeared to have been dazed by his landing, but swiftly recovered, allowing both of us to examine where we had arrived.
"...What happened, and where are we?"
I shrugged. "Looks like that bitch machine sent us to another world...hey, can you contact any of your other forces?"
"..Nope."
Fuck. "Neither can I. And I lost the power to open portals to other universes."
A loud snarl revealed that we were not alone.
"And I think the goblin people wearing red robes are not happy with us trespassing on their lands."
"Well, then hope for a Deus ex Machina."
Suddenly, a roar reverberated through the air. Turning toward it, we saw an enormous plant-monster heading our way, followed by other members of its kind.
"That Deus ex Machina better show up fast, then."
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As the one known as Void entered the portal, all was calm. The various denizens of the hub continued on with their lives, unaware the machine was coming to end their world.
Yet within the portal annex, four minds pondered the coming crisis, wondering what they should do. Laying down and dying was not an option, nor was allowing them to rejoin those they had left behind. Choices had been made, and turning back now was no longer an option.
A decision was soon made - they could not allow Void to ravage their new home. Their last hopes rested upon the Commander they had united with, and allowing him to fall was unacceptable. The invader would know what they were doing if they acted to brashly, though, so they would have to shift him between worlds for him to reach salvation. His ROB was also an anomaly that could aid them, which meant keeping her alive was of equal importance to aiding the Commander.
As for keeping Void from wrecking this world, they could start by transporting her to a location where she could not immediately harm others. After that...
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"What do you mean that you can't find my dad OR Cass's mom?"
"I'm sorry, Rory, but they just seem to have vanished! I'm still trying, but I don't even know where to look!"
Sighing, I forced my emotions down. Getting mad at Synais was not going to make things better.
Of course, that didn't make any of us feel better.
Of the dozen plus kids in the room, Cassidy and me were probably the ones who were taking this the hardest. Everyone else had already lost one set of parents. They most definitely didn't want to lose another set of parents (well, parent, since Vivian and dad weren't a couple, as far as I knew), but having some experience with this kind of loss allowed them to lean on each other and fight through the pain.
For the two of us that had been artificially created, though, these were uncharted waters. Ones we knew not how to sail.
...Maybe there was a way I could help-
An alarm suddenly started to blare, yanking me out of my thoughts.
Instantly, my eyes fell on Synais. My expression alone told him exactly what I was wondering.
"An unknown entity has been released by the portal annex. For some reason, though, the annex deposited in one of the barren areas that Vivian never seeded with life and Flame never colonized so he could build stuff there later and...oh."
That sudden halt to the conversation probably had to do with the fact that we finally had a visual of the new arrival...and they did not look friendly.
"Is that one of the things that had teamed up with the Shadow Carja to kill my dad?"
"Yes...and I have no idea what to expect with this thing."
"I see...who's in charge of defending the Hub?"
Syanis quirked an eyebrow at me. "Your dad, but he's not here. I guess it would fall to Fide to do that, but but there's nothing official..."
How are we supposed to not die when we don't know who will lead the defense?!
I...I...I don't want to die. I want to see my dad again. I already almost lost him once. I don't want to lose him again...wait.
"...What, kid?"
"Can I make a request?"
"Sure."
"Put me in charge of the defense."
"...What?! Why?!"
"This is my home. And I am not letting anyone take it from me."
"...Sure, but what about the rest of your siblings?"
"We can help coordinate this," answered Bianka. "We did it once in the Origin System, we can do it again."
Synais just stared for a moment, then sighed. "This is just ridiculous, but okay. I assume Cassidy is going to call her mom's forces in hten?"
"I'm not letting you guys take and the pain and claim all the glory. I'm in."
"So am I," added her adoptive sister.
"I see. Patching you in to the genetic heroes and the Tenno. Let's give this unwelcomed guest a walloping."
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AN: SOUNDTRACK START - HORIZON: ZERO DAWN OST: Drums in the Sun Ring
How had she ended up in this barren waste? Shouldn't the portal have lead to another gateway? Or perhaps there was a defense mechanism that deposited unknown entities in a 'safe' location for classification. Either way, she really didn't see much in the way of complaining - she had already suppressed the control network for the Commander's forces. Even he made his way back in the next five minutes and regained control of his army, he would not be able to defeat her.
...Wait, what was that whistling noise-
Void barely managed to roll out of the way as a mortar exploded near her. More soon followed, and were joined by warriors - Tenno, by the looks of it. Missiles also rained down, trying to get a bead on her.
Presumably, those were part of the guardians of this world. But did they really think they could defeat her-
A lance of flame surged passed Void. Turning toward its source, Void blanched - how was there a valkyrur here?
...No matter, they would all fall. But maybe she could call some aid.
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"That thing is on the defensive, but I'm not sure how long we can keep it that way."
"Eh, we'll keep hitting it until we win, Adeline." I'd trained with Adeline, I knew she could keep this thing on edge, and easily beat it with assistance.
"Your confidence is appreciate...oh shit, it's opening up a portal."
"Tell me who comes through."
"Well, it looks like...looks like...looks like a mix of Vikings, Knights, and Samurai."
I turned to Rourke. "Can you get Hideki to talk some sense into them?"
"Maybe. Hopefully they don't try to kill us as well."
XXXXX
Just as the creatures prepared to attack us, a portal suddenly opened up behind us. My commander had a sheepish look on his face when that happened.
"Huh, guess the universe is helping us."
I glared at him. "Can we just hurry and leave?"
"Yeah, sure. But we are taking this goblin things with us."
"No argument there."
Hastily using some magic and organic tendrils, I grabbed all of the furry goblins and bolted through the portal, which closed just after Flame jumped through. Hopefully these goblin people wouldn't maul us after this...
XXXXXXXX
As I exited the portal, I saw Vivian trying to calm the creatures we had escaped with, unsure as to where they had arrived. I was about to join her when I heard someone shouting something in...Russian. Definitely Russian.
Turning my attention toward the voices, I found a group of people, some kids, others adults, yelling at a pair of boys. What they were saying was...rather harsh.
"Filth."
"Monsters."
"You don't deserve to live."
Someone threw a rock at them. The others soon joined.
...Oh, you did NOT do that to kids!
A woman grabbed another stone to hit them with. She only stopped when I grabbed her arm.
"Wha-Why are you stopping me."
"People are people. These kids have just as much right to live as you do."
"No they don't. They're oripathy infected freaks!"
I stared blankly at her. Then I tightened my grip. The bones my fingers were coiled around promptly shattered.
Instantly, one of the men moved to assault me. I dislocated his shoulder before he had the chance to do so.
After that, everyone went running.
When the last of the crowd had gone, I turned my attention to the kids.
"...What are your names?"
"...Eno..."
"...Sasha..."
Poor things. They looked terrified.
...More terrified than I expected - the minute I took a step toward them, they bolted.
A moment later, another portal opened where they had been. Reluctantly, I ambled through, as did Vivian and our new comrades.
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As soon as I exited the portal, I knew that we were in a different, more mundane universe.
Also, it seems that the portal had sent us to a government meeting...and now we were holding weapons in the middle of a government function.
Before anyone could react, I moved to lower my weapons, as did my commander. Hopefully this could make things easier for us...wait, why were those portals starting to open?
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Impossible. How could the duo be hoping between universes?
...The stolen ones must have helped them. That was the only way they could do so.
It seemed the stolen ones had allowed them to be stolen. No matter - Void knew they would be easy to...reintegrate once she was done with them. Of course, she would need to find a way to repair her communication system, but that was hardly going to be possible right now.
Keeping the human preoccupied was hardly a problem for Void - still having access to some Faro machines allowed her to send out her own minions to hunt them - machines Faro had christened as "Amut", the Egyptian eater of souls.
It was entirely possible they'd only serve to delay the commander and his entourage from returning...but she could afford that risk.
Now to deal with these little-ARGH!
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"Nice shot, Ms. Aloy."
"Thanks. So, the man who ended up at the Proving is your dad?"
"Yes. And I don't know where he went. And thank you for helping fight this thing."
"You're welcome. Let's end this."
Smiling, I closed off the transmission before giving a new set of orders to the Tenno onsite. Time to go for the death blow.
Sensing gunfire, the one known as Void leapt backwards, barely avoiding a barrage of fire from Titan...only to get blasted in the shoulder by an XCOM sniper. Crying out in anger, she summoned a gun and took aim, only to be rammed by Adeline using her shield. As she moved to retaliate, a ninja of all things cut her across the back with a katana, at which point Theseus swung a hammer at her. Void rolled for a moment, but landed on her feet. Sensing a presence behind her, she turned around...only to find a Vasto-wielding Mesa aiming at her head.
*BOOM*
The machine collapsed, a noticeable hole in its head. Not even a second later, the Mesa pulled out a Redeemer and stabbed the fallen robot many times, before hoisting her upward with the gunblade.
I couldn't help but smile. "We win."
The Mesa pulled the trigger...only for the machine to vanish. What?
"Not yet."
Suddenly, a portal opened up above the group. Hastily, I opened up many smaller portals of my own, pulling all of our forces and allies out of the area just as a massive machine arrived...whoa.
I think it had more weapons on it than a Metal Devil, even if it was somewhat smaller.
...That's bad.
"Your friend may have bested the Face of Extinction, your father defeated the Shadow of Extinction and is now fighting off its shades, and his briefest acquaintances are dueling its hand. But if you think you can slay my Sekhmet, the Echo of Extinction, then you are sorely mistaken."
...Really bad...
"Greeting, Rory."
The soothing female voice caught me off guard. "Augh! Who are you?...Wait, you're that nice voice that advises all Commanders."
"Correct."
"..Why are you contacting me?"
"The Commander Control Net is no longer offline."
"...My dad isn't here to use his commander."
"Correct, and I cannot transfer command authority for that machine to another unless he approves of it. However, all colonel sub commanders are now online."
...Did that mean it wanted me to use it?
Instantly, I felt a reassuring hand on my back. I turned to see it was Synais's...and that Fide and Kathikon had joined him.
"I don't want to throw you into the fire...but you've already proven yourself a leader," noted Synais.
"Experience is said to be the best teacher," commented Kathi.
"Your dad would approve, I am sure," add Fide.
I took one moment to think...then turned toward the AI's display. "How many colonels are online again?"
"All of them."
Synais was confused. "Why are you asking that kid."
"Because I'm not doing this...not on my own."
"...Huh?"
"I want you to help me. Cassidy too, and anyone else she can wrangle..."
"...Because this is our home, and all of us will defend it."
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15, signing off!