XCOM: The Advent Directive

by Xabiar

Australia has been annexed, the United Nations is in chaos, the world is under siege and the Ethereals have taken the field. Facing the full might of the Ethereal Collective, the Commander must rally XCOM, the newly formed ADVENT, and several other allies and rivals to unite the divided nations by any means necessary, for failure now will mean the fall of humanity once and for all.

39. Slurry

Slurry

---

Level 1, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

Watching Mortis put on his war attire was almost nostalgic in a way. The arrival of the Twin had been an event, whether there was a war or not. His armor was sleek and form-fitting, covering even his joints, the black metal polished until it shone brightly. The edges of the armor were trimmed in gold, with the symbol of the Ethereal Empire emblazoned on the chest.

The helmet was similarly designed; form-fitting, black, and without eye sockets or lights of any kind. The equally black robes he wore were more akin to those of Quisilia and Macula; integrated into the armor and hanging down his sides, nearly touching the floor, but didn't impede his movement. He pulled the hood over his helmet, and gave his sister a nod, before repeating the gesture with the Battlemaster.

Axis was similarly preparing, and it was somewhat fascinating for the Battlemaster to watch, as the armor was far different than anything in the Collective. Each piece interlocked and connected to each other to create one single suit of armor. There was a fine black mesh that gave the illusion of flexibility, but there was hard metal underneath.

The locks around the knees, wrists, and elbows clicked as each piece was added, with the small lights turning from red to orange to signify a successful lock. The armor around the neck was much thicker, and the back seemed significantly more armored than the front. The helmet itself was globe-shaped, with the face and upper head visible through a transparent element. The helmet reminded the Battlemaster of the Human space suit helmets, although this one was likely far more fortified.

The Zudjari pressed a few buttons on his wrist, and the transparent element darkened to black, then reverted back again. The alien rolled his shoulders, and held out a hand and orange crystal sprouted from his fingers to create a short shield, while another crystal blade appeared on the opposite wrist. At a nod of confirmation, both retracted into his suit. So their armor could generate that crystal. Good to know, and combined with his psionic abilities, that made him a more dangerous opponent.

At least for now he was on their side, although the Battlemaster would have preferred to know exactly what he was dealing with. He knew how the Sectoids used and understood psionics. They were able to easily observe and determine the same of the Humans. He could not say the same about the Zudjari, and if Mu'ut Jeen had been a representative of their power, it meant that, psionically, Axis was on the skill of a Hive Commander.

"I am prepared…Battlemaster," Axis appraised him. "Melee weaponry. An archaic weapon. You are different from your brethren. Why?"

The Battlemaster brandished his sword, lifting it vertical to the ground, flat facing Axis. "I was…am…a Battlemaster. The final ritual to become one was to go to the Dead World and forge my weapon. I was successful, but the price was that my telepathic abilities were reduced to nothing. But in return, I can no longer be affected by attacks on the mind. As for my weapon…" He let it lower to the ground. "I was trained as such. We had no need of the rifles of other aliens. Fighting your enemy close is more respectable and honorable. It shows the skill and bravery of the individual in question. More importantly, most are unprepared for such an attack."

"Curious," Axis turned around his own wrist, displaying the device the crystal had emerged from. "Yet I can understand the…satisfaction…of killing an enemy up close. Though few were a challenge for me. Weapons are…" he shooed his hand. "Archaic. Wasteful. For myself, at least."

"You say that, but I'm sure you'll change your mind when a bunch of 'archaic' and 'wasteful' missiles rain down upon you on Earth," Yang interjected from the side sarcastically. "Did either of your species actually fight anyone competent?"

"One," they both said at the same time, looked at each other, and then back at Yang.

The woman snorted.

A loud clang attracted all of their attention, and the Battlemaster immediately spun towards the source of the noise. The Sovereign Orb that had been above the two stasis chambers had suddenly fallen onto the ground, and the dull blue light that had surrounded it was gone, and revealed it to be a solid black orb.

"I don't suppose that is supposed to happen?" Mortis asked, taking a step forward. "Also, what is that?"

"That…was…a Sovereign Orb," Sana said cautiously, eyeing it suspiciously. "Or at least I thought so."

"What is a Sovereign Orb?"

Mortis was going to be in for something of a shock later. "We'll explain later," the Battlemaster said, as the orb suddenly hissed and cracked open, half of it raising several inches higher. A black mist-like substance began spilling outward. The Battlemaster hissed. "Nanites!"

Everyone backed up from rapidly expanding mass, although the mass didn't expand beyond a foot from the orb, which rose into the air and further segmented into fourths, and then eights, all tenuously connected as it hovered at roughly Yang's height. The nanites swirled around the orb, likely kept in place by some magnetic field or perhaps the nanites were designed in such a way that aviation was easy.

"Is this an ally?" Axis asked hesitantly. "Or should I contain it."

The Battlemaster hesitated. "I am-"

"Stasis pods unlocked – Zudjari Axis and Mortis'Ligna." The voice that emerged from the machine was emotionless and mechanical. "Unauthorized breach suspected. Analyzing units in the vicinity."

Several clumps of the nanites sped towards them, far faster than any of them could move away. None of them felt anything, but the Battlemaster felt dread as the nanites slipped into the nearly invisible gaps between his armor, and the rest of them looked to be in various states of concern. The Battlemaster didn't think the Imperator would put some kind of contingency that would kill them.

But then again, he hadn't expected the Creator to try and kill him either.

"Analysis complete – All units marked as allies and cleared of Bringer corruption. Ethereals identified as the Battlemaster, Sana'Ligna, Mortis'Ligna. Zudjari identified as Axis of the Zudjari Mosaic – Further details unknown. Human identified as Yang Shuren, allied for unknown reasons."

The mass swirled around the orb. "Structural damage identified on allied unit Yang Shuren. Weapons insufficient to defeat Bringer-corrupted units. Providing support." A large amount of nanites sped towards Yang, and began fixing her severely damaged armor. Another (smaller) mass jumped towards the Battlemaster.

Or more specifically, his weapon.

The blade was suddenly coated in a black layer of nanites, from hilt to tip. Axis's gauntlets were also covered with the nanites, and when he created a small blade the nanites quickly formed to cover it. Well, this was certainly going to make his job easier if they would do what he thought they would. Yang's armor was soon fixed, and those nanites returned to the orb.

"Ally support complete," it rumbled. "Beginning purge of all Bringer-corrupted influence. Level one purge commencing." The orb then began moving towards the exit, slowly but surely, the mass of nanites continuing to swirl around it, like a black plague of insects.

"Since when were we this good at nanotech?" Mortis asked in confusion. "The Empire was good at a lot of things, but our nanotech was nowhere near this level."

The Battlemaster considered his answer. "We didn't."

"Answers can be discussed along the way," Axis interrupted, pointing out. "We should begin moving. That…thing…will be a sufficient distraction for this Creator. But I would prefer we kill this…individual sooner than later. I dislike this place. It is…wrong. I cannot telepathically make sense of what is deeper in this place."

"It is certainly…off," Mortis mused, flexing the fingers on his upper hands. "But interesting. The veil between the Psionosphere and reality is certainly weaker here, something I didn't think was possible. But I agree, we should move now. A warning – do not under any circumstances drop your telepathic guard."

Yang frowned as she put her repaired helmet on again. "Yes, I was told this, but why?"

Mortis gave her a long look, made more foreboding by his eyeless helmet. "Because you will die. That unfortunately cannot be helped. But I can assure you that if our enemies are mortal…they will die."

"Then forward," the Battlemaster recalled the map. "I know the way to the second level."

After that though…they would be in uncharted territory.

Normally the prospect of a challenge would be exciting. Such was rare these days. But the Battlemaster felt that they had stepping into something that was truly dangerous. Something that they should not have stumbled across.

But it was too late to turn back now. They had no choice but to go deeper.

---

Level 1, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

The Battlemaster knelt down to the group and cupped the orb-thing in his hand. Much like the strange beasts which had attacked them earlier, this also had some strange camouflage skin, from most angles being nearly invisible, and in others having some kind of black covering. A light squeeze of his hand made the black skin crumble, leaving him uneasy with what he held.

It appeared to be a brain.

A Human one, to be specific, although it could have perhaps been a Vitakara. It was too small to be a Sectoid or Muton, and not even the Creator would not use any Ethereal genetics. Nonetheless this was…unnerving, for lack of a better word. It was not quite the same shape as a standard brain, however, it was more rounded and no indication to the split human brains had down the middle.

Complex machinery was weaved through it, although not much. A small anti-gravity device was on the bottom of it, and a small 'eye' was also attached. Was this some kind of security system?

He let the thing drop to the ground as he turned back to the group. The group which had the corpses of more of those creatures around it. Along with more orbs that had fallen in their trail. Mortis looked down at the brain. "The Imperator is certainly more lax than the Empire when it comes to…experimentation," he said tactfully. "While I am currently questioning his mental faculties, I can admire allowing this degree of freedom."

"I highly doubt he sanctioned this," the Battlemaster said slowly, though he wasn't sure if he believed it. The Imperator was no fool. He would not have let this place stand if he in any way opposed what was going on.

"In any case," Mortis turned back to the corridor. "They will not pose problems for us."

In that he was right. They had heard the leaps of those creatures, but as expected the moment they had entered into the presence of Mortis, they simply keeled over and died.

The Battlemaster had never asked how Mortis had developed that particular skill, but he supposed it didn't matter. Perhaps as a means of self-defense, perhaps as a side effect of his Biopathy. All that mattered was that the only thing beings thought when they stood before the Dead Ethereal was that they should cease to exist.

And the brain shut down.

The body followed.

All it took was seconds.

The group had split into two, all of them keeping their guards up as they walked the corridors – which had shifted since his arrival, though the Battlemaster remembered the patterns. Yang and Axis took the front, while Sana, Mortis, and the Battlemaster were in the back. It didn't take long before Sana began informing Mortis quietly of what had transpired.

They walked for…it felt longer than it probably was. Nothing more ambushed them. Yet. With obvious guilt Sana was finishing explaining his situation, with the Battlemaster largely remaining quiet as he watched and tensed for any surprise attacks.

"Interesting…" was the first thing Mortis said, his voice contemplative as he likely looked aimlessly forward, probably wishing he was somewhere else to ponder this. "I wonder if a similar result could be achieved without the necessary psionic bond."

"I don't believe so," Sana said softly. "The Empire tried to replicate what happened. It was a failure."

"I see," Mortis glanced down at one of his hands, perhaps thinking of how many more he had killed while being an unknowing puppet. "I do not resent you for this, sister. I would have allowed more as our species was on the line. I do not remember anything of this…and perhaps it is for the best."

"But I do," she said. "And I regret it. In the end it didn't matter."

"Blame the idiots running the show for that," Mortis's tone turned bitter. "I'm not surprised that the first thing the Imperators did when they awakened was get rid of whoever had slowly bled the Empire dry. I know we could have won this, if only they had listened to us and made the necessary-"

"It would have led to the same result," the Battlemaster finally spoke, making them turn to him. "The Synthesized had held back the entire time. Yes, the Imperators killed one of the Primes. But it was the only one."

"Imperators," Mortis sniffed, shaking his black-helmeted head. "Last ditch efforts by the Empire. A step forward, but I agree that they would have failed no matter their arrival, though not for the reasons you think."

"Then why?" The Battlemaster was curious. Mortis had only seen the beginnings of the Imperators before his accident, but he was well aware that Mortis had disliked many of the military actions and strategies used by the Empire, though didn't believe he was fully qualified to speak up against it. He was, after all, something of a hybrid. Respected, but with no authority. Powerful, but alone in his specialization, only his sister could understand. He was on a different level than other Ethereals; alone in a sense.

"Because Imperators," Mortis said, throwing a glance forward as they all paused, hearing a low rumble. Another wall moving most likely. Cautiously, they resumed walking. The Battlemaster could hear Yang and Axis speaking ahead, but focused on Mortis instead. "Imperators," Mortis began again. "They are…how do I put this?"

He thought briefly. "Superior. They were the most powerful, the smartest, on another level even to the most powerful. Deities in a way…" he trailed off thoughtfully. "And naturally, they did not believe they could make mistakes. I spoke with three. Each one was unnaturally confident. Each one had a plan they knew would bring victory."

Mortis straightened his cloak. "It was infectious, even for me. The Imperators did not strike me as…arrogant…their skills were justified. But they lacked fear. They can't conceive of someone genuinely outwitting or beating them. It is always an excuse, always something to blame that didn't go according to plan. They have no check on their ambitions. They believe they are infallible because that was how they were treated by everyone."

The voice of the Dead Ethereal lowered an octave as they walked into one of the testing facilities and he saw captives, these ones all female Vitakarians who seemed to be succumbing to some kind of infection which was covering their bodies. All of them watched silently as every alien in the room died as Mortis walked through it; quite possibly a mercy in death

Mortis clearly did not want to speak of it. "If what I am seeing right now is any indication, the Imperator that is still alive is no exception. A superior without equal. I imagine he has a master plan to defeat the Synthesized? Something that now he can pursue, unshackled by the constraints of the Empire?"

Hearing the sarcasm and bitterness from Mortis was jarring. Not because it was out of character, Mortis, and Sana to an extent, had both been proven right in the worst possible way. Their opinions on the Empire silenced and redirected until the need for change was apparent – but it was too late.

No, it was jarring because it was coming from an Ethereal. The Twins lacked the emotional…coldness that most Ethereals possessed. The words coming from Mortis were what he would expect from a Human, perhaps a Vitakara. Sana never expressed this tendency like her brother had, but Mortis had been the closest thing to a deviant in the Empire.

Or a radical.

Not that it mattered once the War began. Everyone fell in line; but Mortis had never forgotten that his insistence that the Empire required change could have…if not led to victory, perhaps given them more of a chance. But he had never said so to the many enemies he'd made in Civil and Military Command. It wouldn't have changed anything.

Mortis was waiting for an answer. The Battlemaster should have been more confident, but he had an uneasy feeling that Mortis was perhaps more accurate than he wanted to admit. "A tenuous plan, yes. One which involves aliens."

"Obviously," Mortis said dryly. "Little option now, though it's good to know that barrier is broken. I suspect it has gone well?"

The Battlemaster and Sana exchanged a look. "Largely," the Battlemaster said slowly. "Though at the moment…there is a species which is fighting back."

"Really," Mortis sounded torn between amazement and sarcasm. "I…don't suppose you could elaborate on that? And…ah, how that is actually possible?"

"Well," the Battlemaster motioned to Yang. "The species is psionic. There is also an Ethereal assisting them. An Aegis."

"But Aegises were always the most loyal?" Mortis now just sounded confused as they kept walking. "Why would one do this? This would not happen without a good reason."

"He disagreed with how the species was being handled," the Battlemaster said tactfully.

"Because we invaded their planet without spoken reason or warning," Sana oh-so helpfully added, taking the opportunity to voice her own opinions about the Earth situation. "Despite assimilating previous species peacefully."

Mortis actually stopped and stared at the Battlemaster. "I would have thought better of you. That seems out of character for you."

The Battlemaster grimaced under his helmet, keeping his voice level. "I have orders. I am not privy to every decision or reason of the Imperator. I trusted him and did not question if he had a plan or reason."

None of them commented on the past tense of the word.

Mortis let out a sigh. "And this is the Imperator who is going to beat the Synthesized. Excellent. Quite clearly of sound strategic mind and rational decisions." He shot a pointed look around the hallway, even as more of the beasts died. He was becoming more emotional, more unstable and his aura was fluctuating in range.

At least here it was useful.

"Mortis…" Sana extended a hand and touched his shoulder. "Be careful when speaking to the Imperator. He will not be so…"

Mortis simply stepped in front of his sister without a glance behind, his voice cold. "You are too kind, sister. Too meek. It is your nature, but take a stand for what you believe for once in your life. We made that mistake before, when the Empire quietly distracted us. You have not learned. But I am not going to do so again."

He turned around, facing the Battlemaster. "I've woken up to learn that the Empire is dead, and the best hope for our species is in the hand of an Imperator which invades primitive species for no reason, allows far too much leniency with others he's brought along, and doesn't bother to apparently share everything with the few of us who are left." He spun back around sharply. "Forgive me if I am not filled with immediate respect for our supposed leader. I do not hold you accountable, Battlemaster, but you are loyal to a fault."

He motioned forward. "But now is not the time for this. That will come after we kill this thing which calls itself a Creator."

"Battlemaster!" Yang suddenly called, as she pointed to the end of the corridor. Glad to have the diversion, the Battlemaster stepped forward as he saw what she was pointing at. "I think this is the Gateway."

---

Level 1, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

Yang didn't know when she had moved ahead of the Ethereals, with Axis joining at her side. It felt disproportionate to be far smaller than literally every other alien in the area. Axis alone was close to three meters. She wished she knew a little more about the Zudjari in general, let alone the one who called himself Axis.

The Zudjari also seemed to not be comfortable around the Ethereals, and even if he didn't know anything about her, he was at least taller. Likely it gave him some more confidence. The armored alien with the spacesuit-like helmet had been largely silent as they walked, perhaps thinking about how unlucky he was to wake up in this place.

And she could sympathize.

This place…it was wrong on more levels than one. There was a profound wrongness that permeated the entire area. She felt more powerful here…unnaturally so. Yet at the same time she felt chills up her spine as if she was constantly being watched. Multiple times she'd felt like she heard something, a whisper, just on the edge of her consciousness.

"Why are you with them?"

Yang glanced up at the deep voice of the Zudjari, who stared ahead resolutely as they walked. She knew what he was talking about, and didn't give a rhetorical reply. "Their leader gave me a choice. I accepted it."

"Yet you are not a slave?"

Yang snorted. "No."

"Yet the same can't be said for others of your kind."

"Also no," Yang said. "The Ethereals are not slavers."

They stepped into one of the sickening experimentation rooms, which had reminded Yang about the stories of Unit 731, horrific experiments done by the Japanese on captives during the Second World War. A dark part of her had been fascinated by what had happened there, and what they had learned from such experiments.

She had never wanted to see what it would look like, done with modern technology. Humans were clearly not the only species to possess cruelty. She had thought the Ethereals were largely better. Sure, they experimented on captives and prisoners, but there was a definite purpose to it. Not cruelty, but a clean, sterile goal. ADVENT and XCOM were the same, and she'd be a hypocrite if she thought otherwise.

Then again, if the Imperator had kept the existence of this place from all of them, who knew how accurate her perception really was?

Axis was speaking as they walked through. "Do you really believe that? Have all these aliens been captured or convicted of crimes?"

Yang just shook her head, but remained silent. "And yet you fight with them willingly." It was a statement.

"Yes," she shrugged, idly balancing one of her swords enhanced by that Sovereign machine in a hand. "Trust me when I say that the…leaders of my own species aren't better. This…isn't representative of the Ethereals."

Axis looked down on her for the first time. "You have no goal. No purpose."

She smiled dryly under her helmet. "Oh, I do. But it's personal. I don't care about my species anymore. Not really. I don't need to have a greater goal or purpose than revenge."

Axis surprisingly nodded. "I have encountered aliens like you before. When their focus is complete, then they are nothing. They are empty. And we saved them, fixed and molded them into something with a goal that mattered."

Yang just looked up into the black helmet of the alien. "And what if I don't care about that?"

"You will." Was the simple reply.

She didn't respond to that. They walked in silence for a while, until Yang needed to speak to ignore the increasing pressure on her head, even as the Ethereals began talking heatedly in the background. "Your turn. What are you?"

"I am…" he paused. "…was…an Axis of the Zudjari Mosaic. One who regularly communicated with Origin."

"I have no idea what any of that is."

The alien paused, considering. "This galaxy…Yang…" he stumbled over her name hesitantly, not specifically sure if she wanted to be called that. At a nod he continued. "This galaxy is vast, expansive, and unique. But it is not an accident. Those that inhabit it are not products of chance. It is…" he paused. "A puzzle. A mosaic. The galaxy are these with the pieces scattered; the mosaic broken. That is what my species learned, and it is upon us to rebuild this broken Mosaic into what it was originally."

He looked back down on her. "Every species, every planet, no matter how great or insignificant, is a part of this Mosaic. It was the mission of the Axis', my mission, to determine what the purpose of these species and planets was."

Yang raised an eyebrow under her helmet. It was, she had to admit, an interesting reason to give to conquer the galaxy. "And how did you know what the purpose was?"

"Origin."

"Which means nothing to me."

"Origin existed before this galaxy was broken," he explained slowly. "The cataclysm which shattered it killed the original creators. Yet Origin survived, rebuilt, and determined that our species were the ones who would put it back together. And…we failed."

Even through the deep voice, Yang heard the bitterness and self-loathing, as well as sensing it with her heightened telepathy. She didn't think it would be ideal to ask questions, such as how they knew Origin was something real, or pointing out that the concept of a galactic 'mosaic' was somewhat questionable, given how species had likely risen, expanded, and died, without the Zudjari ever knowing about them.

Unless the 'mosaic' was not supposed to be something static. Perhaps she could ask him about it later, assuming they got out of here alive.

"I wouldn't go that far," she said with a shrug. "You're still alive."

"I suspect these Ethereals have more selfish reasons for the subjugation of the galaxy. My survival means little in light of this."

He did have a point. "Stick to the Battlemaster," she finally said. "He's reasonable. I doubt he'll agree with you on everything, but as far as best utilizing things…he knows what he is doing. He's one of the good ones. Not," she motioned one of her swords around. "Like this."

"I feel I don't have a choice," Axis muttered. "They are more powerful than I am, regardless. The black armored one, he is unsettling. The other robed one is as well, even as she is a complete opposite. I am already in a trap, and unlike you, I have no desire to stay in it."

"Maybe you can ask them to put you back in the pod," Yang said as they rounded a corner. "But right now, I would assume life is preferable to death. I'm sure they can come to some kind of agreement with you. The Imperator did for me."

"The one who allowed this place to exist?"

"Yeah," Yang scowled. "Trust me, he's going to be getting enough questions from the three Ethereals here now. I'm sure he has some explanation…he should hope it is a good one."

"Would it matter?"

Yang thought about that, and then came to an unfortunate realization that the Zudjari had another good point. "Probably not," she admitted. "Furious as the Battlemaster is…he is loyal to the Imperator. All of them are."

Even if the Battlemaster lost his trust in the Imperator, he wouldn't do anything else. He might hate it, but he would keep working towards his mission. All of them would. The Imperator couldn't be challenged or beaten. At least not successfully, and all of them knew it. For better or worse, the Imperator was the unquestioned power in the galaxy.

She'd only see him use it responsibly, but even he, she supposed, could make mistakes or misuse it. But he had to know that abusing it as such would decrease loyalty.

This was a mess.

She needed answers. They all did.

Yang perked up as she looked to the end of the hallway. There it was, a working Gateway, though it was definitely designed differently. It was an inverted V which would be barely tall enough for the Battlemaster to fully fit through. But it could be done, and the swirling and rippling psionic energy filled the V, flashing between obscuring and transparent where Yang could see the faint image of something on the other side.

"Battlemaster!" She called. "I think this is the Gateway."

They all were around it soon enough. "We should be careful," Sana advised. "It could be a trap. Or one could be waiting on the other side."

"This is not a Gateway design," the Battlemaster noted, placing an armored hand on the black metal which made the structure. "She changed it…not even Fectorian has yet."

"Who is she working with?" Axis asked. "She could not have done this on her own."

"She was gifted the resources of the Collective," the Battlemaster said slowly. "Personnel, information, equipment. But she was in charge. And she could not have learned how to construct or manipulate Sovereign technology. Not without us knowing."

"Unless the Imperator hid it," Mortis added bitterly. "This Imperator certainly keeps secrets. There is far more going on here than any of us think."

"We still need to move forward," the Battlemaster said. "I will go through, then come back if it is safe. I can survive ambushes if necessary."

"No," Yang stepped forward. "Can't risk any of you. Not if we want as many people out alive as possible. Let me go through, I'm more expendable."

"Technically, that would be our other alien friend," Mortis said, gesturing to Axis. "But you are a brave alien."

The Battlemaster looked down at her, thinking. "We will be trapped regardless of if I survive or not. It makes little difference who is more or less valuable. If you wish, come with me as I investigate. I will not deny you that."

Well, it was certainly better than just waiting here anxiously. And she did feel some pride at the Battlemaster allowing her along. It at least showed she was worth something. "Then let's go," she said.

"If it is safe, one of us will return," the Battlemaster said as both of them walked to the Gateway.

Taking a breath, Yang stepped into the psionic portal.

---

Level 2, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

Welcome home.

Yang gasped as they stepped through the Gateway, a couple seconds which felt like an eternity as she felt the very reality around her change. The feeling of being watched magnified tenfold; she no longer wondered if something was watching her, she knew it was. The air itself seemed charged, and she felt significantly stronger and more aware.

The psionic connection she possessed had expanded, as if this was a nexus of psionic energy. And just beyond the veil between the Psionosphere and reality was a presence, something that had an all-seeing eye on her. It didn't feel malicious, but it was terrifying just how close it was. How profoundly wrong it all felt.

"Yang." She jolted as the Battlemaster placed a hand on her shoulder, taking her out of the trance. She shook her head and looked around where they were.

It was a circular room, one with the steeples angling to a simple center point. But the room was no longer just a sterile metal room. Harsh red and white lights lit the room, though not from electronics, but what appeared to be strange organic objects which lined the walls. And the walls themselves were an unsettling fusion of metal and flesh, and towards the exits – two of them – there were noticeably beating organic…things.

"I…" Yang swallowed. "Something is watching us. All of us. It's not the Creator."

The Battlemaster took a few tentative steps forward, weapon at the ready. "Will it attack?"

Of course, he couldn't sense it. "I…don't know," she whispered, and the presence seemed to be…almost amused. "It's…it's in the Psionosphere, I think…can't you feel how weak the barrier is here?"

"Yes, but not in the same way you do," he said slowly. "This must be artificial. The degradation of the Psionosphere should be impossible."

It is the future. One where all will feel the euphoria experienced now.

"[Fuck!]" She hissed, reverting to Chinese briefly as that clear sentence simply appeared in her mind. It was gentle; warm; inviting; certain.

The Battlemaster spun to her. "What is it?"

"It's talking," she said immediately, her weapons immediately in her hands. "To me."

"It attacked?"

"No! It just…appeared in my mind. I didn't even sense it happening."

The Battlemaster looked around for a moment, then walked over to the wall, near a concentration of the flesh-like substance, and made a slight incision on it. Yang understood what he was doing, especially once a few of the nanites slid off it and began eating the flesh around it. It would take time, but it would soon start consuming the room.

Life will endure. Metal will not.

Shut up. She thought in return.

"We should bring the rest," the Battlemaster said. "Return and I will stay here."

Yang nodded, eager to get back even if it was temporary. A few seconds later she was back in front of the Twins and Axis. "Clear, for now. But…be careful. There is something else here."

"How?" Axis demanded, even as they moved to the Gateway.

"Have you felt like someone has been watching you?" She asked over her shoulder. "Down there…it's much worse."

They all stepped through…

And into a fight.

The Battlemaster was in a duel with…something…it almost looked to her like a knight. It was a piece of armor that made the Battlemaster's look like something crudely forged, a deep silver metal with deep blue shapes and symbols engraved over it. It was an organic, sleek, and beautiful design which concluded in an eyeless helmet that emulated the design of the Winged Hussars, with appendages extending off the sides of the helmet up.

The weapon it held was a simple katana, or at least appeared to be.

A katana encased in psionic flame, a ghostly purple which somehow didn't seem to damage the metal.

The duel between it and the Battlemaster was moving at a speed which Yang could barely keep track of even now. So quick were the strikes of the mysterious opponent, and she was seeing just how fast the Battlemaster could retaliate…in addition to also fending off the six other Caretakers in the room, including a massive…animal of some kind.

The hairless, six-legged creature leapt at the Battlemaster, the mouth opened wide, exposing the unnatural rows of teeth within. The Battlemaster sent a telekinetic blast towards the armored enemy, who somehow stood resolutely, even if it was distracted as the Battlemaster stabbed upward towards the beast.

It struck true, right through the mouth to the brain, and the Battlemaster immediately slashed up through the skull to meet another blow from the figure. Yang's weapons were already out and telepathically being directed towards the nearest Caretaker who sneered as she turned – a decaying Human – and raised an arm before she reached out and crushed the head of the Caretaker, which emitted a brief blue flash.

Sana was immediately encased in psionic energy, as the empowering aura began filling the room. The figure dueling the Battlemaster shouted, and two Caretakers immediately teleported towards Sana. They appeared behind her, and then stood frozen as she gestured at them, right as Axis stabbed an Outsider shard into the brain of one, and then grabbed the head of another, psionic energy now encasing the Zudjari.

The duelist the Battlemaster was facing was somehow withstanding an overhead slash downwards. Yang directed one of her swords towards him, and somehow holding the Battlemaster off with one hand, he looked directly at her and the air around her crackled as the Psionosphere was torn into a rift.

She dashed out of the way, even as the rift left deep scorches in her armor, and right into the waiting hand of a robed Caretaker, one pale hand resting on her chest armor. This one was a Sectoid. Another went to her head as she felt a beginnings of a psionic attack. "Do not resist," the Sectoid said, as it didn't begin attacking her mind…not directly.

The barrier she felt between the real word and the…thing which watched her…that was coming apart. A ghostly hand reaching out to her mind, a presence which longed to be a part of her. Yang felt the terror rise in her, and through the paralyzing spell the Caretaker had placed her under, punched it in the face.

The feeling dissipated, and that was all she needed to recall with one hand one of her blades, and with the other, catch the robed alien in a telekinetic grip. Blue energy flowed off it, but when the blade reached her hand, she stabbed upwards to its brain, impaling it and splattering blood over her helmet.

Blinking rapidly at what had nearly happened, she looked around. Two Caretakers had tried going after Mortis, and they lay dead on the floor. Apparently Mortis didn't consider them worth expending any more energy than a simple telepathic command, and was walking to where the Battlemaster and the armored alien were engaged in one of the fastest-moving fights she could see.

Normally the Battlemaster would have ended it by now, but in addition to being a duelist of some kind, it also had some skill with defensive psionics, as the armor was now shielded with blue 'plates'. Yang moved to assist how she could, and realized that she couldn't. Looking down she saw that she was stepping on a section of the floor which was made out of the same flesh substance on the walls.

Except she was up to her ankles in it.

The armored figure suddenly flashed blue, and the Battlemaster was encased in a cage, and immediately retaliated by locking the figure in a telekinetic vise. A major mistake, Yang saw. The Battlemaster was just as dangerous a psion as he was a duelist.

A fact the figure seemed to have forgotten.

And then it suddenly keeled over, limp. Yang looked to Mortis, with an outstretched hand. The psionic barriers dissipated, and the Battlemaster immediately walked over to the body as silence fell over the room.

Only it was not silence. Yang could then hear beating. A heartbeat.

Slow. Ponderous. Deafening in the silence.

Mortis looked to her, and Yang looked down to see that the flesh which had encased her ankles was now a disgusting pale slurry, one she shook off her boots and stepped onto the metal. The Battlemaster and Mortis were talking ahead. "What was that?"

"I don't know," the Battlemaster said, kneeling down and attempting to take the helmet off it. "But it was exceptionally skilled. Its technique was as good as mine…and a better psion."

"Where could it possibly learn that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps a Bladedancer."

"A what?"

"Irrelevant. They did not train this." The helmet was taken off, to reveal a slim Human of all things. One slightly pale, but unlike the Caretakers, in relatively healthy condition. But it had definitely undergone extensive modification. The sightless eyes were an unnatural blue, and the skin was reminiscent of the Iron Skin modification ADVENT and XCOM employed. Only far more intricate. Triangles inside circles inside squares, overlayed thousands of times. Barely perceptible in the dim light, but obvious when looked at from the right angle.

"Don't let those things touch you," Yang warned as she strode up. "They don't do standard telepathic attacks. They-"

"What has your Imperator done!?" Axis stormed over furiously, tossing the corpse of a Caretaker onto the ground before all of them. "Do you have any idea what this is?!"

"Do you?" The Battlemaster demanded.

"I thought it impossible," Axis spat. "But I made the mistake of touching the mind of this thing – and found a memetic telepathic command."

Yang furrowed her eyebrows. "What is that?"

"A psionic theory in the Empire," Sana said. "Never truly experimented with. It-"

"A virus," Axis supplied. "A virus which is spread telepathically. This exact same thing almost killed half of the psions in the Mosaic. If you hadn't been prepared – if I hadn't realized what it was…it infects your mind. It would turn you into one of them."

"Did that happen?" Yang began, then shook her head. "Wait, are you saying this is the same memetic command?"

"Oh, yes," he growled. "Because I was one of the first who learned to protect myself from this command – and then ripped the knowledge from the minds of these things. Don't ask me how it started, but we found a psionic alien – decaying similarly to what these appear to be doing…and brought him to help." Yang heard the hiss of disgust. "Our psions read his mind…and then became corrupted. Entire planets were lost as these things converted the populations. Turned them into more of these creatures."

"Where did it come from?" The Battlemaster demanded.

"They believed they were working for some goal," Axis stated. "Enacting the will of something called the Bringer of Paradise. A delusion most likely, but memetic commands have that effect. We purged all of them, but it seems this Creator wasn't under the same intelligence."

Yang shuddered, as the presence tingled on the edge of her consciousness. "I don't know…I think this Bringer might be real."

"I am inclined to agree with this assessment,"Mortis added, glancing back at the dead corrupted Human. "When I touched his mind, even for a moment, I was immediately retaliated against. It was…unlike anything I had ever felt. It didn't feel like a command per-se, but like an attack with a presence behind it." He looked up. "There is something else here, most of us can feel it. Be careful when telepathically fighting…it would be unfortunate if our guards were let down and we succumbed to this."

"Regardless, if this Bringer exists we simply kill it as well," the Battlemaster said. "They know we are here now. Be careful where you step and fight. It appears these walls and floors are dangerous." He glanced to the wall where he'd sliced it earlier, where the nanites had expanded to take over a significant portion of the flesh square. "Begin nanite infection where you can. If we perish here, they will consume everything else."

He waved his black sword forward. "Move forward. Kill whatever you find."

They stepped forward, even as the heartbeat echoed in their ears.

---

Level 2, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

Perhaps, the Battlemaster realized, he had spoken too soon.

Both Mortis and Sana were speaking with Axis, specifically about protecting themselves against the command implanted in these Caretakers, and the entity that was supposedly watching all of them. The clues were there, and the Battlemaster was no longer certain he actually could easily kill whatever this Bringer was.

As difficult as it was to believe, the theory that stuck in his mind and persisted was that they were dealing with a rogue Sovereign One.

Even his mind questioned using the word rogue. This implied that rogue Sovereign Ones existed, and he assumed that the ones assisting them now might have mentioned this particular one. More importantly, if this was a Sovereign One, the Imperator had to know what it was…and he could only assume it had been given free reign.

Distasteful as it was, if this Bringer was a Sovereign, he could see why the Imperator would grant it extra freedoms.

It didn't excuse what was happening here, but the pieces of why it seemed no one knew what was going on could be attributed to this. Too many pieces made sense for it not to be anything else. The strange abilities, the absurd level of genetic modification he had already seen, the resources, personnel, it was something that made little sense if one assumed it was the Creator, a talented geneticist but certainly no genius, who was behind this.

If she was being assisted by a Sovereign One, everything suddenly made far more sense.

Which then begged the question of why the Imperator was so insistent they ignore researching and implementing Sovereign technology. The Creator was clearly doing it, and if what he had seen was anything to go by, these soldiers would prove to be a challenge for any conventional army. There weren't enough to make a difference, but if it was anyone other than three of the most dangerous Ethereals, a talented Human, and a powerful Zudjari, it would have resulted in death.

So he was assuming that he was dealing with a Sovereign One, which would also explain the strange presence all of them believed was watching them. Sovereigns were certainly capable of such from what he had seen. No Sovereign orbs had been observed though, which made him curious how it exerted it's influence, because it certainly was not in the station itself.

Or was it?

They knew very little about Sovereigns. The common assumption was that they were large, the Voice had shared she had seen a massive creature that dwarfed her own size when they had communicated – one the size of a skyscraper. But it was a telepathic illusion. Perhaps he would see a Sovereign in the flesh for the first time.

If so…he was unsure how he could kill it, even with the support of Mortis and Sana.

"It's getting darker," Yang noted as they walked, moving past another room which seemed somewhat equivalent to an experimentation lab – if the primary decorator used beating heart-organs, and lined the walls and floors with flesh. It was empty, but the dull black tables were stained with yellow, red, and especially disturbing – blue.

"There may be another ambush," the Battlemaster warned, lifting his weapon. "Prepare."

There had been several more attempts since the fight in the entrance. Before they could do anything Mortis simply raised a hand and they died on the spot. He was in no mood to deal with annoyances, and neither was the Battlemaster. He was still concerned over the very real possibility of them being separated via a quick teleportation, but they would have to strike faster than Mortis could kill them.

An unlikely feat, although Mortis reported that they were at least trying to defend themselves. Failing, but trying.

And also that the virus described by Axis didn't quite feel like such, but like an active telepath was protecting them. A powerful one.

The Bringer?

The Battlemaster stabbed his blade into one of the beating organs. They had figured out that the slow beating that permeated the area was definitely caused by those – and alarmingly, Axis had reported that they were emitting some kind of limited telepathic field. As a result they destroyed them every single time they found one.

Unnatural. There were too many things here that shouldn't be possible.

Is this what working directly with a Sovereign brought?

He wondered how much further they would have advanced if they had embraced working with the Sovereigns. However, such discussions could take place after they were out of here, which unfortunately was looking more and more difficult and dangerous.

"It's getting taller," Sana also noted, and the Battlemaster immediately saw what she was talking about. The ceiling which had remained high to start with, seemed to expand upwards into the void. Indication of a room ahead? A large one? This screamed of some kind of trap, and the additional comments didn't dissuade that.

"Are those drapes?" Yang sounded confused, but indeed there were now ceremonial silver and blue drapes which hung from the walls, and up ahead was a literal curtain blocking the way forward. Perhaps a dining hall? A theatre? He would not have been surprised by either at this point.

"Do you sense anything?" He asked.

"No," Sana said slowly. "But that means little. I haven't sensed anything until it was right in front of me. This place clouds our ability to sense anything. But there is a large concentration of…something inside."

Most likely enemies then. A trap of some kind. "Be ready," he said, raising his sword in a defensive stance. "This may be a difficult fight."

Yang spread her hands apart and telekinetically moved the curtain to the side. Pitch darkness was all they saw, but there was no other way but forward. Defenses raised, they half-moved, half-charged forward into blackness.

And stepped in front of an audience which immediately applauded their entrance.

The oddness of the immediate sight made him briefly hesitate, and he then saw that all of them were bathed in moonlight, a small circle which illuminated only them. He didn't look to find the source, not yet. It turned out not to be an illusion, they were actually on a stage, in front of an audience of…robed Caretakers, and other armored and robed figures.

A quick count, from what he could tell, as the entire audience was only sparsely lit, also with moonlight, there were fifty. A small audience, but they made up for it in sheer enthusiasm. But they quickly took second priority when he paid attention to what was actually on the stage itself. There was an extremely ornamented table with, disturbingly enough, plenty of seats for everyone, including full dishes of food.

Then the other figure on the stage spoke.

"Representatives of the Ethereal Collective, welcome!" The voice was male, oddly…delicate… and even more strangely, was clearly accented in French, a Human language. The words were also English, and overall the voice made for something unexpected indeed. Which paled in comparison to the source of the voice itself.

It was perhaps the oddest thing he had seen yet, which certainly spoke to the surrealness of this place.

The source of the voice was a Sectoid, but most certainly not an ordinary one. First it more closely resembled a Human in stature, if slightly taller than an average one. It was slightly less defined than a Vanguard, but that was a minor detail. It's attire grabbed his eye; which was a full suit – complete with a tie – white conductor gloves, and dress shoes.

It's face was smaller than even that of the Vanguards, and seemed to have a completely naturally designed mouth, which almost looked maniacal in contrast with the smooth noseless face, and the solid-blue eyes which glowed with power. Clearly a psion, and probably a dangerous one at that.

It carried few weapons, save for some kind of melee weapon on its waist the Battlemaster couldn't quite see, and what appeared to be an old Human pistol strapped diagonally across its chest, both within easy grasp if necessary.

"Ah ah," the Sectoid raised a finger as Mortis raised his hand. "None of that now, honored Ethereal. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to our other guests, now would you?" He elaborately motioned upwards and more shafts of moonlight illuminated the terrified forms of children, four Human, two Vitakarian, one Borelian, and one Dath'Haram.

Each of them were held in a strange grip of a creature, one with six appendages, all of which were holding fast to the wall they had pinned the children against. A head-like…thing rested at the respective place of this creature, and was just under the heads of the children. The Battlemaster couldn't make out more details of these spider-like beings, but the message was clear enough.

"Now, now," the Sectoid said with an air of confidence that normally would be delusional in front of an Ethereal. "I'm aware of all of you. The great Battlemaster, the gentle Sana, and radical Mortis. All three here tonight, in addition your disciple Yang, and the awakened Axis. Truly tonight is a spectacle to never be forgotten!"

He raised a hand and the crowd cheered further. "Now then," he said, taking a short bow. "I am Preximius, your host for tonight. Understand that if you…disrupt this fine evening, then there are certain consequences."

Almost on cue, the creature with the leftmost child, a Human, moved the head upwards until two spiked appendages extended, and with a lightning motion, stabbed the child through the skull. Preximius closed his eyes, and rolled his head back as the creature kept the body suspended.

"Oh, fuck," Yang breathed. "I might be sick."

The Battlemaster had the feeling that she wasn't simply referring to the act of murder. "Ah," Preximius said contentedly. "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is. An innocence and joy which is so often lost to the cold reality of the galaxy. Delicious and extraordinary, I certainly hope each of you enjoyed this fine appetizer?"

This seemed addressed to the crowd, which sickeningly applauded and laughed at this. "What kind of monster are you?!" Sana yelled. "Those are children!"

"They most certainly are, I have eyes if you couldn't tell." The crowd chuckled as the Sectoid moved to the head of the table. "And tonight we celebrated the life of one. A bright flame who lived a life of happiness, friendship, and love. All have their place, all touch us in some way, and now she is in Paradise, and as such, at His side."

He shook his head. "Ah, such games we play. All of you are too attached to life. Indeed, resisting tonight would only send these young minds to the Paradise we can only touch in this mortal realm. Yet I must command your attention somehow, and this is certainly effective." He motioned to the table. "Now, sit! Tonight will be a most entertaining evening indeed. We so rarely get such distinguished visitors."

A hand touched his shoulder. "Give me time," Mortis rumbled under his breath. "Keep this freak talking."

The Battlemaster simply nodded. At the moment he didn't want to sacrifice the children. He didn't feel he was in mortal danger here…yet. Playing along might be beneficial. "Why?" He demanded.

Preximius heaved dramatically. "Because it is polite? You have been a rude guest to our home thus far-"

"We were attacked!"

"You dared to strike His chosen Artist," Preximius sounded genuinely offended. "Even for a simple brute such as you, that is too grave an insult to take lightly. Now, sit."

Sana and Axis moved to take a seat, with Mortis moving in that direction. The Battlemaster stayed put, he wouldn't follow the instructions of this thing. Yang hesitated, then stayed at his side. "Stubborn," Preximius said with a dismissive wave. "Expected of a sightless. Yet tonight can continue as planned! Now, let us begin!"

Applause broke out, and amazingly, the Battlemaster saw a small orchestra begin playing. There was a mixture of primarily Human and Vitakara instruments, and in distaste he saw they had seemingly been modeled as though they were in corpses. This Sectoid couldn't even make simple music without it being over-the-top….there was a Human word for this.

Edginess. Or shocking. Either way he did not appreciate whatever 'artistic' value it held.

The Sectoid suddenly frowned, then glanced up at the children who were still continuing to sob, struggle, and express to someone the terror they felt. "No, this simply will not do," he said. "I apologize for such disruption to our evening. Children sadly cannot quite understand the privilege they find themselves in here."

The Battlemaster realized that he was referring to the fact that the sounds of the terrified children were disrupting the music the orchestra was playing below. Preximius closed his eyes, and there was a slight distortion in the air. The Battlemaster coldly determined his assumption was right as the children suddenly became quiet.

Until they began to sing instead.

No words, but their young voices instead joined in the music of the orchestra. Haunting and impeccable as if they had been trained for years. A choral addition which only brought juxtaposition to the rising music taking place in the madness and nightmare around them.

The faces of the children did not seem frightened any longer, but content as they sang for the crowd and guests of Paradise.

"There…" Preximius's smile widened once more as he laced his fingers together and rested them on the table. "Perfect; such beautiful young voices to complement our evening."

"You are a monster!" Sana spat furiously. "How could you-"

The Sectoid almost looked hurt. "Dear Sana, I would have thought you of all would understand. Terror and fear are self-destructive. It is cruel to let them suffer so needlessly." He waved upwards. "And now they feel no such emotion. They only understand the contentment and joy that comes with Paradise. Can you really not understand this?"

"You are forcing them to do this against their will!"

"For their own benefit!" The Sectoid was undaunted. "And is that not what you say when you ease the pains of those who come to you. The experiments of the mind you perform." Preximius said the words with a malevolent glee. "Did you ever ask what they wished? No! Because you simply knew it was for their own good! To ease their pain and suffering."

Mortis glanced over at Sana, who glared furiously at the Sectoid. "Do not even begin to compare yourself to me."

Mortis had also seemingly had enough of this.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't melt you and your audience," Mortis growled. "Aside from holding children of all things hostage."

"Because you want to live," Preximius said with a smile. "Death, kill, destroy, you are a simple creature with simple wants, are you not? Open your mind to some more pleasures in life. Food, music, art! Please, Mortis, I don't intend to kill you, but I wish so much to learn about our guests tonight. At least until the Imperator graces us with his presence."

"And signs your death warrant," Yang added.

"A comforting dream for you, child," he looked to her with a ghoulish smile. "But no. I suspect that had the Imperator had…concerns, I might very well not exist. And certainly that would be a shame!" The crowd laughed.

Preximius turned his head back to Mortis as the music played in the background, a melody the Battlemaster didn't recognize. "You think you're so very special, wave your hand and things fall apart," he raised his own hand daintily, fingers wiggling. "Only using it to tear down and destroy. At least your sister understands a broader application. One to shape, nurture, and grow!" He moved a hand over the meat on his plate, and it slowly began dissolving into a brown sludge. "But you are not the only one with such tricks, and I assure you I am but a mere novice compared to our wondrous Patron."

He clapped his hands together. "Now! Our first show of the evening! Mortis, you will take center stage. Give us a show!" There was a laborious pounding, the sound of something large walking forward. "Remember! The children rest in your hands."

From the opposite end of the stage, a massive beast walked out. A huge black-skinned creature, one towering over even the Battlemaster, the visage alone was intimidating enough. Sharp claws, dual wings on it's back, oddly hanging and moving tentacles lined the body, and the head held six eyes, all of which glared hungrily down upon Mortis.

The hands began swirling in uncontrolled psionic energy…

And then it collapsed to the ground and didn't rise.

Mortis hadn't even spared the creature a look. "I am not in the mood, Sectoid."

Preximius had the gall – and somehow emotional capacity – to look offended. "No! No! Such a waste of life! You are indeed a pitiful, insipid creature! No respect for the simple art of delivering a distinguished death!" He shook his head, voice rising. "Death is a celebration! A joyous event delivered with rapture. It is not the sterile cold thing you deliver. The nerve!"

The Sectoid jumped up, pointing at Yang. "You! Let us demonstrate a proper show! On guard!"

The melee weapon he had, which the Battlemaster now saw was a rapier of all things, appeared in his hand and with a wave he teleported in front of Yang and jabbed forward, just before she managed to get one of her swords out and deflect it.

"Yes! Excellent!" He shouted jubilantly to the applause of the crowd.

Yang shouted in surprise as she began fighting the elegant dance both now found themselves in. "He's getting in my head!" She shouted, panicked. "I'm not doing-"

"Such chatter, Yang!" Preximius said with a smile as he expertly dueled the clearly less experienced woman. It was quickly apparent that this seemingly frail Sectoid was extremely robust, and more disturbingly, intended to be toying with her. Light strikes which caused no damage, but unbalanced her. Near misses. Even she got a few swings in.

It was as if the Sectoid was doing his best to make it exciting.

Enough was enough.

A psionic charge forward slammed directly into the far smaller Sectoid, and even as he went flying a slash opened up that fancy suit he wore. The Battlemaster pulled Yang back as the sputtering Sectoid rose. "You dare to interrupt? And here I thought you had honor!"

"We are done," the Battlemaster said flatly. If Mortis wasn't ready, it was too bad. The Sectoid waved a hand over himself and the weeping flesh healed over. "Move or die."

"You seal their deaths!" Preximius hissed, raising a hand, bathed in silver moonlight. "Let the children go to Paradise!"

The Battlemaster charged forward, but the Sectoid simply teleported to the end of the room, then frowned as he glanced up. The creatures holding the children were…still. "Impossible," he growled. "Unless…ah ha!"

"Have you ever been under a biopathic attack?" Mortis asked quietly, psionic energy encircling him. "A real one? I've been told it isn't pleasant."

That was when the Battlemaster noticed that the music had gone silent, and the children had ceased singing. And it had been like that for some time. A quick glance to the crowd showed that while Preximius had been trying to work his show…Mortis had begun a biopathic assault on the crowd. And now they were beginning to feel the effects.

Moans, grunts of pain, and even a brief scream or two began filling the theatre. "I have a strategy," Mortis continued, taking a step forward, voice dangerously low. "The weak parts of the body first. Organs. Squishy, weak, things. The eyes are the first. Your vision blurs, fluid leaks out of your ears as your brain begins melting, you feel sweat drip off you, until you realize that it is not sweat, but your skin forming a puddle on the ground."

The Sectoid inexplicably smiled as Mortis continued speaking. "The loss of your skin leaves muscle underneath. Muscle unprotected by skin. It does not matter what you are, you feel the pain. You scream. And scream. And you feel as your body dissolves cell by cell until nothing is left but mush and liquid. It is a painful way to die," a hand extended towards the Sectoid. "As you will experience now."

The Sectoid hissed, his own arm flaring with psionic power, then froze as Mortis unleashed a full biopathic attack on him. It was fascinating to watch for the Battlemaster as the Sectoid suddenly had to devote his own skill to healing himself, as the skin off his face began dripping off, and then healed.

But the Sectoid performer would not outlast Mortis. Especially not as he was enraged.

Yet the Sectoid just laughed in a high mad pitch. "A masterful showing, Ethereal."

A low bow accompanied the words, even as the Biopathy continued ravaging his body. "And here I was afraid you were a mere killer, no," Preximius gave a toothless, unsettling smile. "You do understand. Well done." The Battlemaster heard no scorn or malice in the words, but even more disturbing, sincerity.

Preximius straightened up and waved to a non-existent crowd. "We shall meet again!" With a flourish he teleported himself away and there was silence in the theatre. Silence except for the faint cries of children and the heartbeat of Paradise. The Battlemaster looked to where the audience was, and saw that the occupants had been reduced to a slurry of dissolved liquid and bone in colors of yellow, red, and flesh.

Yang spoke first. "Just what the fuck was that?"

"Something I will finish killing later," Mortis said, though the Battlemaster could tell from his tone that he was unsettled by the reaction the Sectoid had to his skin melting off his body. He stood there as Sana and the Battlemaster went to the children who, while they were no longer singing, were almost black-faced in the grip of the things which held them. It was a simple matter to remove the creatures, as Axis had dominated their minds which had prevented them from following the Sectoid's command in the first place. The Battlemaster took a significant amount of pleasure in killing several, while Yang killed the rest.

As it turned out, the child which had been killed was…not dead, but not especially alive. She appeared to be affected by the telepathic equivalent of a chryssalid egg. One which began corrupting the body immediately. Her eyes were streaked with blue, and she thrashed as whatever had been implanted in her took hold.

Mortis killed her with a thought. Forever this time.

Sana put the rest of the surviving children into a deep slumber, as they stood around to discuss what to do. "We can't take them with us," Mortis said grimly. "But if we leave, they might just die anyway."

"There is no choice," Axis interjected. "They are far from the only victims here."

"Yes…" Mortis shot a look at the Battlemaster. "Test subjects are one thing, Battlemaster, children are quite another. I suppose you had no idea this was happening."

The Battlemaster shook his head. A response he knew he had no excuse for.

This was, in some way, his fault.

"There were not supposed to be children," he said hollowly. "I made that explicit."

Mortis looked at the sleeping children…and one dead one. "Excellent job. Tremendous."

"Enough!" He finally spat. "You have no idea what is going on!"

"Neither do you, it seems!" He shot back.

"You do not get to wake up and judge everything you see!" The Battlemaster spat. "Do you think I want all of this? That any of us want this? We're not in the Empire, Mortis! Things have changed!"

"And it does not appear to be for the better," Mortis nodded. "But I agree. You aren't the problem here. You appear to be a willful and ignorant pawn of this Imperator, who just believes everything said."

"Oh, shut up," Yang interjected, scathing irritation in her voice. "Prior to this, I know the Battlemaster had damn good reason to believe him. The Imperator clearly doesn't know what he's doing sometimes, I agree on that point, and especially right now. But the Battlemaster," she pointed. "Is the only one who appears to actually care about the Collective that was built. You want to yell at someone? Yell at all the other Ethereals who haven't been doing anything outside their pet projects. Which happens to include your sister."

The Battlemaster had not expected a defense…from her of all people. He gave the woman a nod of appreciation, as Mortis turned to Sana. "How accurate is what the human says?"

"I have a name."

"Yang," he said flatly. "How accurate is this."

Sana released a sigh. "More than I want to admit. The Battlemaster has…held the Collective together. Not perfectly, but he…is not responsible for this. Nor do I say he is a simple tool. Such would imply the Imperator cared enough to use him."

"I see," Mortis sighed. "This place has me on edge. I…apologize, Battlemaster. We…should focus on completing our mission."

"Apology accepted," the Battlemaster looked around, feeling mentally exhausted. "I agree we should continue moving. Arguing serves no one. Not now."

"Where to?" Axis finally asked. "And what about the children?"

"We can't take them with us," the Battlemaster said grimly. "But leaving them leaves them vulnerable."

"We could kill them," Axis suggested. "It would be better than remaining here."

"We do not intentionally kill children," the Battlemaster ground out. "No."

"And leaving them alive to experience this is better?" Axis crossed his arms. "This is mercy, Battlemaster, not malice."

"No."

"Here," Sana knelt down by the head of one of the silent Vitakarian children. "I'll place them in a psionically induced sleep, where only I can awaken them. I will also know if it is broken or harm comes to them. They will live…and not suffer one way or another."

"And how do you know they won't bypass it regardless?" Axis pressed. "If one thing should be clear, it is that these particular being do not follow convention. What would work for…well, what you expect, may not work against them."

"It is better than killing them," she responded, steadfast.

"Do that," the Battlemaster ordered. "We will be sure to recover them before we leave."

As Sana performed that, the Battlemaster looked around for an exit and saw several paths; through the theatre seats, or another route. "We follow where that beast came from," he pointed his sword at the right stage end, opposite where they'd come out of, once Sana had finished putting the children into the psionic sleep. "Unless anyone objects?"

"As good a route as any," Yang said. "And if it's a dead end, we can try again."

They all seemed to agree to that, and then exited stage right. Deeper into the nightmare they knew wasn't even close to over.

---

Level 2, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

That incident with the Sectoid – Preximius – had been terrifying. Even her enhanced mental defenses seemed to mean nothing as the alien had easily slid through the gaps, and started a barrage of small telepathic commands.

Dodge! Back! Forward! Stab!

Her body had complied immediately, and the duel choreographed by the Sectoid proceeded as the performer decreed, while she just inwardly shouted and tried fighting back. She had been reduced to a puppet for the malicious delight of an adoring crowd.

A deep satisfaction filled her at the thought of the audience being reduced to sludge.

If she somehow survived this – a feat looking less and less likely – she was going to have to improve her own skills significantly. Perhaps it wasn't her fault she hadn't been prepared to enter this particular hell, but she had to be prepared for anything it seemed.

Insane, well-dressed, and French Sectoids for example.

"I wonder if they realized they can't kill us," the Battlemaster commented as they walked.

The halls seemed to be growing more winding, and the sounds became more visceral. Yang was fairly certain the squishing sounds were from the station itself moving around them. Indeed, Mortis had briefly gone backwards and reported that the passageway they had been in had closed behind them seamlessly.

As a result he was liquefying any kind of biological material he was coming across.

It was like they were trapped in some knockoff American horror movie, only real and much worse than any movie director would ever portray. She found it somewhat ironic that after this, it was going to take a lot to ever actually scare her again. Isomnum notwithstanding, but she never intended to end up in his presence again. Or see him, for that matter.

"Their forces are becoming more sophisticated," Axis said, responding to the Battlemaster's comment. "They do not seem to send these Caretakers against us any longer."

"Not that," the Battlemaster clarified, as he telekinetically crushed one of the beating organs on the walls, which Mortis began liquefying. "They can't kill us. Not if they wish to avoid retribution. The Imperator does seem to have authority here, and they know if that we die…it will go badly for them."

"They could still trap us," Mortis pointed out.

"Yes," the Battlemaster agreed. "They could. That concerns me. They believe that if all of us remain alive…then the Imperator will not punish them."

"And what are we going to do if he makes that his command?" Yang wondered, twirling her swords in her hand, trying to keep her guard up. The presence watching her was muted…or at least lesser thanks to Axis sharing a far more effective means of protection, but she still felt it and it made the hairs on her neck stand up.

"There will be no such command," the Battlemaster said. "If the Imperator commands such, then I will ignore it."

"How?" Yang wondered. Not that she was against the idea, but she didn't know how feasible it actually was.

"I will order Deusian to destroy this place," he said. "She can do so easily."

"Who?" Mortis asked.

"A Reaper," Sana clarified. "The last one, in fact."

"And what if the Imperator countermands that?" Yang pressed. "Will she listen to you or him?"

The Battlemaster was silent for a moment. "I do not know. But I will not willingly allow this place to exist."

"For what it is worth," Mortis added, as he finished liquefying the nearest wall. "You will have my support in this."

"Mine as well," Sana added. "This is too far to allow, even for the Imperator."

"We've got some company," Axis interjected, pointing forward and Yang grimaced as they saw a familiar figure.

"I do not believe you understand how important that show was to Preximius," the Umbra said dryly, hands clasped in front of her. "He puts a certain effort into his shows, and his audience being reduced to sludge in the middle of a performance will certainly damage his reputation."

"Stand aside, or you will join their number," the Battlemaster rumbled, not halting his movement. "You will not kill us."

The Umbra was wearing slightly different attire now. While the basic robe was maintained, at her hip was a holster for a sleek black pistol, and a gleaming Dath'Haram blade coated in a bright red substance was hung telekinetically suspended at her side. She was prepared for a fight, even if Yang wondered if she could take a hit.

Something told her that this alien was good at dodging.

"Kill you?" The Umbra gave a beautiful smile. "That is a decision for the Saints. I am merely a servant for them and the Bringer himself. I have my instructions."

Saints? Yang wondered why this Bringer seemed very attached to Human religious names and concepts. Perhaps it was simple translation. English was a Human language, and she suspected those same concepts existed in alien culture. Regardless, it confirmed there was definitely some kind of chain of command here.

"You have caused us a great many problems," the Umbra continued. "For one concerned with the lives of those here, your decision to release the Exterminator is perplexing."

"The Sovereign Orb began on its own," the Battlemaster said, stopping a short distance from her. "I did not intentionally activate it."

She tapped a gloved finger to her chin in thought. "I suppose it does not matter. The machines consume all, even those you wished to save. In the end you achieved little here but death. Does that satisfy you?"

"No," the Battlemaster said, lifting the sword and pointing the bloodied tip at her. "But the blood is on your hands. Not ours."

"A matter of debate, yet I have spent enough time talking," she gently reached out and took a Dath'Haram blade in her hand and flourished it before him. "I have my orders. You are protected for now. But the other aliens do not have this luxury."

Yang realized what was happening and leapt away….

And right into a portal that materialized in that direction, and flung her onto a cold metal floor. She immediately stood in a darkened room, and was struck by how constrained and confounding it was. Two people could fit through the corridors at most, and she was in a large circular room, with corridors leading every which way.

Axis had also been thrown into the same room, and he stood as well. The light just barely illuminated the room, as a blue flash saw the Umbra walk out, with a smile on her face. "Now," she said. "We have all the time we need."

Axis's suit activated, shielding him in crystal as psionic energy formed around him as he likely began a telepathic attack. Yang began her own attack, telekinetically tossing a sword to the Dath'Haram while leaping towards her with the other in hand. The Umbra closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, the blue glow of power filled them.

With a flick of her wrist the thrown sword didn't even get close and was automatically recalled to Yang's hand while she began attacking with the other. With a few exchanges, Yang realized that she was just as outmatched as she had been against Preximius. The woman handled her blade like a delicate instrument, and moved like a dancer.

Yang's own strikes seemed obvious and clumsy by comparison, and the grim smirk that permanently rested on the face of the alien simply showed that this was as real a duel as the one Yang had previously taken part in. Axis gestured and the Umbra was encased in a psionic box, but within a mere second she vanished and appeared behind the Zudjari, hand flashing to the sidearm on her waist and fired a blast of contained purple energy at him which cracked the crystal and sent him sprawling forward.

"Admirable," the Umbra said as she flourished her weapon. "But not nearly enough. You will both serve him well, once you understand and accept the gift that will be offered." Yang lashed out with a telekinetic grip, which the Umbra responded with by teleporting again, and suddenly Yang was thrown to the ground by a returned telekinetic throw.

She lay pinned on the ground by the same force, the Umbra's arm extended down to her as she slowly walked forward. "Rest easy, Yang. No need to fight it now."

Yang struggled, but the Dath'Haram was too strong. She had beaten her easily.

But she would still fight to the bitter end. She would force the alien to kill her, but she would not become one of these things.

There was a sudden green-blue flash and the silver blur of a new weapon and the Umbra hissed in pain before instantly teleporting several meters away, her arm on the ground. In her place stood a completely new figure.

Clad in stony black armor, left fist clenched and the other holding a forged sword, and a black helmet obscuring the face of whoever it was, the figure didn't look like one of the normal inhabitants. The voice that came out of it though, was not exactly what Yang had expected. "You would do well to step away," a female British accent said, flourishing her own blade in warning. "At the moment, I'm perfectly fine with dicing everyone here into little pieces."

The Umbra for the first time looked curiously at the figure, even as the stump of her arm bled. "What are you?" She asked, seemingly not dissuaded from continuing the battle as she lifted the blade in her good hand. "You should not be here."

"On that I agree," the other woman pointed her sword at the Umbra. "I'd heard the stories of what happens here, but unfortunately it's somehow worse."

The Umbra pursed her lips and as she took a step forward, teleported to right in front of the armored woman who immediately matched her blow, and both began a series of exchanges that were almost too fast for her eyes to follow. The armored woman seemed to treat the fight the same way the Dath'Haram was – as a dance.

Spins, deflections, quick foot movements, it was a mixture of delicacy and precision. The Umbra realized she was dealing with someone who wasn't a novice, and flashed behind the armored woman, who flashed in a blue-green light and stabbed the sword through the Umbra's stomach, who immediately teleported away.

The armored woman let out a low chuckle. "Do you think you're the first person to try that trick?" She lowered her sword to the side in a ready stance, other arm up for balance. "You're a novice at it."

She took her sword in both hands, holding it by her head as the point was directed at the Umbra and charged forward in a blur that seemed to be faster than the Battlemaster's psionic charge. The already-stunned Umbra barely moved out of the way, and retaliated with a stab as the armored woman blinked out of existence and appeared right behind the Umbra and stabbed.

This time the alien was prepared for it, and similarly teleported just as the armored woman reversed her grip and stabbed backward, nearly impaling the alien in the eye as both teleported away again, several meters from each other. "For the record," the armored woman said, returning to her ready stance. "The other one who tried that against me was better than you."

"I doubt it," the Umbra's voice betrayed no pain, and Yang wondered how best she could intervene, especially as Axis was also getting up. "You should not have been able to penetrate this deep."

"I've been told that," the woman responded. "You know when you are beaten. Unless you want to meet your Bringer, then leave." The woman began having the bluish-green energy mirror her body in a near hologram-like effect. "This is your one warning."

The Umbra saw it, and seemed to consider her options, then with a blue flash she vanished, leaving them alone in the metal arena. Yang eyed the woman warily. Despite helping them…she wasn't sure this if was an ally or not. Especially with that particular armor. "I didn't think I would be saving your lives," the woman said, turning to them. "But for now, it seems there is a common enemy."

"Who are you?" Axis asked with similar wariness.

"Ah, yes," the woman reached up and took off her helmet, revealing a surprisingly young woman with pale skin, white-silver hair and eyes that looked hazel or green, Yang couldn't tell which in the dim light. "Fiona Dorren. And until recently, in opposition to the Ethereal Collective. In short, your enemy," she nodded to Yang. "Although I don't know about you."

She cocked her head at the Zudjari. "I haven't seen you before. Or your species for that matter."

"You are from Earth?" Axis didn't seem to hear her question. "One of the Humans fighting these Ethereals?"

"Yes, I am," Fiona looked at the alien with some curiosity. "And I suppose you aren't here willingly?"

"He was in a stasis pod," Yang supplied. "Along with an Ethereal. Mortis'Ligna. We needed help here, and woke both up."

"Mortis is awake?" Fiona blinked, then frowned. "Actually, wait. We can talk as we move. Despite being on opposite…or mostly opposite sides," she shot a glance to the Zudjari. "We both want to get out of here. I help you get out, or get you back to whatever Ethereals that are here, and you answer my questions."

At Yang's hesitation Fiona grimaced, putting her helmet on. "You will die without my help. You know that, right?"

"I will travel with her," Axis stepped forward. "I have no loyalty to the Ethereals, and I do intend to leave this place alive. You would do well to join us."

Yang sighed. Axis already knew a lot, and Fiona was going to get information one way or another. And really, perhaps she could at least assure XCOM that the Seoul Massacre wasn't actually their fault. "Fine," she said. "I'll go with."

"Good," Fiona turned around as she appraised the number of doors around them. "Now we need to figure out where to go next."

---

Level 2, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

"She will live," Sana said as they walked. "They would not kill her."

"Unknown," the Battlemaster muttered flatly. "The Imperator will value our lives. A Human and Zudjari are expendable."

"Do you consider them such?"

"No."

"Then the Imperator will have to make some concession," Sana said with more confidence than he felt now. "He will understand."

"Unless his plan is more important," the Battlemaster said as he stabbed another beating organ. "He would sacrifice one of us if it accomplished his ultimate goal."

"On a certain level, I can respect that," Mortis said, his voice bitter. "Hard decisions need to be made. But not in service to whatever this thing is. There can be no good which comes from this."

The Battlemaster felt somewhat annoyed with himself for actually caring about what happened to Yang, but it was a combination of actually talking with her and seeing just what this place was that made him concerned for what would happen to her. This was no place to die for anyone, especially not one like her.

The Zudjari he was less concerned about on a personal level, but would have preferred he live as he at least provided another ally against these corrupted aliens. Not to mention he ironically seemed to have more of an idea of what they were facing than any of them. His loss might prove to be a hindrance.

Regardless, the further they continued into this place, the angrier he felt. Anger was dangerous, the beginning of a loss of control, a breakdown of the meticulous and steady mindset he had developed for himself.

Yet he cared about preserving that less and less.

His highest wish now was to plunge his sword into the Creator's heart, and then execute every being who was involved in this atrocity.

Rarely did he wish death on so high a scale, but there was no redeeming those who took part here. Only justice. Justice which translated to execution. It wouldn't bring anyone back, or make his mistake of complacency better, but it would at least send a message and for once, he would know he was doing the right thing.

A rarer commodity these days. Even rarer in war.

What was considered 'right' was of course subjective. The word varied on organization and individual, but at least during the Empire he had known he was on a side he could rely on and believe in protecting. While he couldn't say the Collective hadn't given him a goal, the actions with which had been taken of late, culminating in this revelation, were further eroding this belief.

Unfortunate that there was only one side, and he was stuck on it. He was not a traitor to the Collective. It could be fixed, he knew that and wouldn't run from the responsibility like Aegis did. But he could see much easier what would drive Aegis to such a radical path. Had Aegis learned of this?

Questions he needed some answers to. Questions which demanded his survival in the here and now.

"More up ahead," Mortis muttered, as the Battlemaster noticed that ahead was a medium-sized box-like room with a fixed exit. One which was guarded by two of the same type of duelist he had fought upon coming to the second level. These soldiers were similar, but had obvious changes signifying their individuality. Different runes on their armor, different helmets, different weapons.

The slimmer of the two carried a sword and shield, and had the helm of a traditional medieval knight, while the one opposite appeared to be an Oyariah from the size, and it held a large hammer in it's hands. The helmet was an eyeless orb, but the Battlemaster suspected that it wouldn't hinder it much.

Standing between the two ornate soldiers was a Human woman, who wore full robes of silver and black; intricately and artistically designed with a precision the Battlemaster couldn't help but admire. Whoever was behind the craftsmanship of their equipment would have been highly respected in the Empire.

The woman's raven black hair hung barely above her shoulders, and was meticulously done, not a hair out of place. It matched the stone-like expression on her ebony face; and from her absolute stillness one might be forgiven for wondering if this was a living person, or an exceptionally realistic statue. No blinking. No obvious breathing.

The two soldiers saw them and began moving forward when the woman lifted a hand, and they immediately froze, and returned to their original position. The hand moved back down to where it had been. The Ethereals walked forward in silence, and upon fully entering, the Battlemaster saw that there was another occupant, sitting on a small bench off to the side.

"The Battlemaster himself. I knew the day would come, though did not expect it to be now."

The source of the rich voice stood, and faced the group. A Human, older than most, with chalky white skin, though not degraded like caretakers. Scars lined his face, but none stood out more than the large scar over his left eye. The eye itself was clearly not Human, but a black orb with a shining blue pupil, heavily contrasting the opposite brown one.

Ash grey hair covered his head, cut short, and the Battlemaster knew that this was a dangerous Human. Or at minimum, an experienced one. The armor he wore was pitch black, with writing in an unknown language engraved on his armor in blue lettering. A standard longsword which had rested on his legs was held in his right hand, while the opposite held a helmet which resembled a stern male face, though the eyes were a deep red.

"Who are you?" This man seemed to know him, but for once here, the Battlemaster wanted to know more details about what was happening in this place.

"I am Grand Marshal Immortalis," the man stated. "Not my original name, but who I am now. I command the warriors of the Order of the Absolving Tempest, the Carmine Baptists of Paradise, under the Zeal of the Bringer of Paradise. You have trespassed on our homes and spilled our blood. There will be retribution for that, but I will ask, what is your goal?"

"The death of the Creator." He stated plainly. The Battlemaster suspected he would appreciate bluntness.

"You should turn back," Immortalis said. "You will not reach the heart of Paradise. Stepping through the door will necessitate…action." The face of the Human grew into something cold. "To succeed and reach what you have I can respect, Battlemaster, but His tolerance is coming to an end. You will not wish to feel His rage should you persist."

"Draw your weapon," the Battlemaster pointed his sword at the warrior. "We waste time."

A single nod, and Immortalis placed the helmet on his head. "Let us begin."

The Battlemaster instantly shot a hand out towards the trio of beings in the door, sending a telekinetic blast their way. The Baptists stumbled, but the woman didn't even flinch from the blast. His other hand began stabbing towards Immortalis who deflected the strike, and set his sword ablaze with psionic energy. The purple-blue fire seemed to make the writing on his armor glow, and the red of the eyes of his helmet do the same.

The duel began.

Immortalis immediately struck with his blade, getting close to limit the Battlemaster's effective range, although it didn't stop the Battlemaster from throwing a fist at close range, which Immortalis easily dodged, though was forced slightly back, and shot psionic energy from his hand which the Battlemaster dodged by charging out of the way, and then directly towards the Human who sidestepped and somehow absorbed the brunt of the strike.

The Battlemaster briefly glanced to see how fast Mortis and Sana were working, and then noticed that the woman was actually moving her hands. The air around her shimmered with psionic energy, even if the face stayed as stony as before. Looking to the Twins, the Battlemaster saw psionic barriers materializing and dissipating with unnatural precision.

They were designed in order to not protect or destroy, but unbalance. The edges slammed into both Mortis and Sana; the legs, arms, heads, preventing any immediate offensive they could deliver, and the two Baptists were marching towards Mortis, psionic energy setting their weapons alight. Clever, very clever.

Immortalis twisted a hand, and the air around both of them split as the Psionosphere broke and unleashed gouts of psionic energy, commanding his attention. The Battlemaster exchanged a few blows, then after catching Immortalis in a blade lock, sent out a telepathic grab which yanked the two Baptists towards him.

The smaller one twisted in the air and landed down in a strike which he caught with his gauntlet and grabbed with a lower arm, then flung them at the robed woman. Without looking, a blue shield appeared before her, stopping the thrown soldier immediately and she continued her intrinsic psionic destabilization of the Twins.

The Battlemaster sent a telekinetic push towards Immortalis, who barely moved, but it was enough and the Battlemaster charged towards the woman, and as expected ran directly into a shield. But he was prepared, and caught the woman in a telekinetic grip and began squeezing. The woman was suddenly enshrined in a blue shield, but she was now focused on him, even if her face still somehow betrayed nothing.

Now all of the remaining soldiers were converging on him, but the Battlemaster knew all he needed to do was endure. With one hand he caught the head of the hammer of the Oyariah, grimacing as it began charring his hand through the gauntlet. The smaller Baptist stabbed towards gaps in his armor, which scored some hits, even if he was able to stop most with several kicks and punches and even the ones which hit did not quite puncture his skin.

Immortalis simply bathed him in scorching psionic energy, a miniature rift appearing around his body as it corroded and scarred even his armor. He threw his sword towards Immortalis who easily dodged it, but relented on the storm momentarily.

But he had done enough. The aura of Sana bathed the room, and a glance towards the woman showed her skin beginning to melt off her face, and the smaller Baptist began coughing as the Oyariah froze, the Hammer cluttering to the ground. Even Immortalis took a cautious step back up. "Retreat!" He commanded, realizing the tide was against him now that the Twins were no longer contained.

A flash of blue and Immortalis teleported away, as did the Oyariah warrior. But the smaller one was now on the ground, ripping off her helmet revealing another Human woman who was hacking up blood, as she began dissolving as well. A quick glance over to the robed woman showed a convulsing body even as the face was mostly sludge, and leaking into a small puddle.

The air around Mortis was distorted and tinged purple, even as he simply stared at the dying female Baptist. The Battlemaster snapped the neck of the armored woman with a telekinetic twist, and the body slumped to the ground, an expression of fear and pain on the half-melted woman's face. There was silence once more.

Mortis returned to normal, and once he walked over, shook his head as he glanced at the woman. "You should have let me finish. The ones here deserve none of your mercy."

"No," the Battlemaster said slowly. "They don't. But I do not prolong the deaths of my enemies regardless. Work faster if you wish them to suffer."

"Considerate," he snorted. "That was a clever woman. I will have to be careful of that being used again."

"Indeed," Sana had also regained her orientation and composure after the thrashing she had received. "They are learning."

"Unfortunate they are competent," the Battlemaster muttered, as he looked to the door. "And I suspect this Immortalis was telling the truth. This is simply a vanguard. The true challenges are ahead. They will only become more dangerous."

"Normally I would say 'charge'," Mortis said slowly. "But we've already lost two. And we're going to get worn down, while they will likely have fresh people to throw at us. Perhaps we should hold our ground here, because I am certain the Imperator will come. As idiotic as he has shown himself to be thus far, he shouldn't take long to make some connections."

"Normally I would also agree," the Battlemaster shook his head. "But I need to know the extent of this. I need to know the worst and most dangerous of it. They clearly do not want us to keep going down there, even if they know killing us is not in their best interests. There is something they want to hide. I can't trust the Imperator will share it with me. I need to see for myself."

Mortis let out a sigh. "You have a point."

"Then we move forward," the Battlemaster said. "At least we know we are going the right way."

"For now," Sana said slowly.

"For now."

---

Unknown Level, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

Yang felt like the more they walked, the more lost they became.

It turned out that the mass of doors led to small, enclosed corridors which intersected and weaved within each other, and conformed to a giant maze-like area which the three of them were now trapped within, with no obvious path or direction to go. Yang was more convinced that the maze itself was changing as they walked, as distant (though quiet) creaks and groans reached her ears.

What was more disconcerting was the lack of a ceiling. The walls extended close to four meters high, but there was quite clearly no ceiling, and only showed empty blackness, and silver light barely illuminated the way forward from small glowing organs placed along the tops of the walls.

She felt like they were being toyed with and watched by something; something that could at any point leap from the blackness and murder them.

Fiona kept them distracted, or at least not focused on the weight of the darkness above. "So the Battlemaster had no idea what this place was?"

"No," Yang shook her head. "I mean…he knew the Creator controlled this place. Not what was going on."

"And what was he planning to do?"

"Talk to the Creator and likely remove her from this place," Yang shrugged. "Possibly execution. Now that…this happened…he's going to just kill her."

"Well, good for him," Fiona decided to go left as they reached an intersection. "Nice to have the Battlemaster targeting something other than Earth. Doubt the Imperator will allow that to happen though, if he's let it go this far, letting the Battlemaster mess it up isn't going to happen."

"And what is going on here?" Axis asked. "You appear to know more than most."

"I probably know only a little more than you," Fiona said, sword up in case of attack. "The first thing is that this Bringer of Paradise doesn't actually exist in reality." She pointed upward with an armored finger. "It exists in the Psionosphere."

Yang stiffened. "Impossible. Nothing can survive there. The Ethereals researched trying to navigate it physically, and either they got horribly injured before they even stepped foot into it, or annihilated instantly. Research into it was banned after too many killed themselves. They executed people by throwing them into it!"

"While I cannot attest to the intelligence of this research, she is correct," Axis added. "What you call the Psionosphere was specifically ordered not to be tampered with by Origin. Tearing the Psionosphere was not usually approved of because the merging of it and reality was so destructive."

"I've heard that," Fiona said. "But it was once a Sovereign One. Trust me when I say the standard rules and logic do not apply to them. If any one could survive in the Psionosphere where everything else would die, it is one of them."

Yang thought about that briefly, disliking how all the walls were maddeningly the same color and with nearly imperceptible symbols and patterns – had she missed those initially? She shook her head, trying to focus. That would actually make some degree of sense, if this Bringer was in the Psionosphere, then it would explain just how it could sense and exert its presence so easily."

"So what does it want?" Yang asked. "Why..." she paused, gesturing around. "All of this?"

"The only thing I know for sure," Fiona answered grimly. "Is that it wants to fully cross back over. To my knowledge, it has never once gotten this far."

There was some silence at that.

"What happens if it crosses over?" Axis finally asked.

Fiona snorted. "The best case scenario is that we have an extremely powerful psion loose, and that what is here mirrors a lot of the galaxy. The worst case heavily depends on what theory you subscribe to regarding the Bringer himself. Particularly how much…control he possesses over the Psionosphere."

"Just give the worst case," Yang said.

"The worst case is that the Bringer retains control over the entire Psionosphere," Fiona said slowly, deliberately. "This assumes that the Bringer's consciousness is throughout the Psionosphere at this point, and not within a section. We don't know that, but if that is the case…well, in theory psionics could be shut off, changed, or enhanced at will. The Psionosphere touches every part of reality, aside from the Dead Worlds. Worlds could be protected or destroyed in moments. Entire populations could be dominated or murdered through telepathy in seconds. It would be a threat that cannot be defeated conventionally."

Yang thought for a moment. "How likely is that…theory?"

"I would like to say 'unlikely'," Fiona said as they turned right. "But the truth is we don't know. This is actually uncharted territory, thanks to this ultimate idiot of an Imperator who thinks helping this thing was a good idea."

"We don't know his reasons," Yang felt the need to point out. "I can't imagine the Imperator would make a mistake this large. You can call him…ambitious, but he isn't an idiot."

"You can ask him," Fiona focused ahead. "But the only reason I'm here now is to gather as much information about this thing as possible and return. I don't know nearly enough yet."

"Who do you actually work for?" Yang pressed. "XCOM? You don't look like one of them."

"No, not XCOM. Another interested party." The helmet of Fiona turned back to her. "And no, I'm not going to say who."

"How did you even get here?" Axis asked.

"Took a few tries," Fiona said nonchalantly. "But teleportation is something I'm good at. Once I had the location, it was fairly simple. Observed some of the fight going on in the first level – seemed to be a fairly even fight last I saw between the Bringer and that nanite weapon. Wanted to catch up to your group. Managed it, saw you and Axis get dragged through a portal, and after locating you, fought the Umbra. And here we are."

"Could you teleport us somewhere else?" Axis asked.

Fiona notably hesitated. "Assuming you mean out of this maze? I can, yes. But you could die. As in, I could teleport into a solid object and bisect you. I can keep myself immaterial long enough to prevent that, but it doesn't extend to others."

Yang cocked her head. "How can you do that? Psionics, and teleportation itself, doesn't make you immaterial."

Fiona just sighed. "Like I said, Sovereign technology provides quite a few advantages that would normally be considered…unnatural."

"So nothing can hurt you," Axis stated curiously.

"In theory, no," Fiona said. "But I can still be surprised. And if my concentration slips, well, at best I lose a limb or two. I'm not a telepath like you, so I can't rely on that."

"Even here?" Yang gestured around, even in the confined space. "Even I can use telepathy reliably, even if my skill is telekinesis."

Fiona tapped the armor by the neck. "This protects my mind from tampering. It's the reason I can't be watched or dominated. It also prevents me from utilizing the…additional properties of this place to my advantage."

"Wait." Axis suddenly stopped, then turned around. "We're going the wrong way."

"What? Are – hey, wait!" Fiona teleported in front of the fast-moving Zudjari who came to a stop. "What are you doing?"

"Voices, this way," he pointed the direction he was heading, although his voice was obviously strained. "We need to go to them."

"Yang!"

The Battlemaster's voice. So they were here too. She felt relief wash over her. "I hear it too," she said. "But the other way," she pointed behind them. "Let's go before we lose them."

"No!" Axis pointed the opposite way. "We need to go this way!"

Yang scowled at how unreasonable he was being. "Are you deaf?"

"Both of you enough!" Fiona interjected. "Axis! Make sure you aren't being influenced. You too, Yang! I don't hear a damn thing."

"Trust me, Human," Axis took a step forward to Fiona. "I would know if I was under a telepathic attack."

"In this place, so would I," Yang added. She strained, but there wasn't a voice any longer. But she felt the intense need to follow where the voice had come from. She knew this was the right way, and nothing was going to stop her, so she started walking, not paying any more mind to either Fiona or Axis. She just needed to get to the Battlemaster, and then get out of this place together.

Joining forces once again was all that they needed to do right now. If she lost him again she didn't know what she would do.

Wait, no. She shouldn't be doing this. This could very well be a telepathic attack. She should stay with Fiona and Axis. Stick together.

But at the same time, she would know if she was being attacked. She knew quite well what that felt like now, and this wasn't it. But she knew she was allowing her emotions to take over and push her to do irrational things. Like running away from her current companions.

She stopped, and leaned against a wall, trying to get a handle on herself. She needed to stop. She needed to keep going. Staying put wouldn't do anything.

Think!

The barely perceptible engravings seemed more noticeable now, and perhaps there was some kind of clue in them, and she stared at them, all the while feeling a growing an intense need to keep going forward, going backward, doing something except standing put looking at the glyphs which merged, split and swam before her eyes.

What was she trying to get from this? A way out? A puzzle piece right before her?

She rested her helmet on a hand, trying to figure out what to do. At this point she knew what she was feeling now couldn't be normal. But she didn't know what it could be. She knew it couldn't be a telepathic attack, but something which was eating away at her and making her feel this way. Dehydration? Starvation? How long had it been since she'd eaten or drank?

Yang finally forced herself up after what felt like hours, and everything seemed to be swimming in front of her. The walls extended upwards indefinitely and had a silver sheen to them she was surprised she hadn't noticed before, and as she turned to one of the paths in front of her, she saw it.

It was a creature, but one that definitely wasn't like the others. A thin body which was covered in some kind of shawl or robe which hid the legs which appeared almost membranous, although from here it looked like it was almost lying on the ground. Upon her noticing it, it lifted its arms, two sets, one of which it pushed itself up with, and the other pair extending towards her in a beckoning embrace.

The skin was a beautiful deep blue, that of the ocean. Upon pushing itself up, Yang also then noticed that there were two gelatin wings which sprouted from the back, spreading to their full length and dwarfing the body itself. Like bat wings, she thought, only put on a…she hesitated using the word 'humanoid' but it was the first thing that came to mind.

The face itself was flawless, much like the Umbra's. A smile was on it as it beckoned forward. The only thing that gave Yang pause were the four eyes on the face. They were positioned in a square, pure black, and yet she could feel what the creature was trying to convey from them. It wanted to help. She needed to go to it.

She took a step forward.

No! Don't!

This wasn't supposed to happen! Why was she going towards the creature that was probably going to kill her? Why was she forgetting what this place was?

The creature beckoned once more, and she unwittingly took a step forward. Then another.

There was then a sudden blue-green flash and the hiss of a blade moving through the air and the creature let out a horrible and final shriek as Fiona's blade decapitated it. Leaking reddish blood, the creature slumped to the ground, and the compulsion that had driven her for what felt like hours vanished instantly.

Either from exhaustion or relief she dropped to her knees as Fiona approached her. "What…" she croaked, her voice dry. "What was that?"

"Some kind of creature which uses telepathy to hunt," Fiona helped her to her feet. "An exceptionally intelligent and talented creature at that. It was even beginning to affect Axis. By the time he figured it out, you were gone."

"How," Yang shook her head, trying to clear it. "How did it happen? I didn't sense anything?"

"Axis thinks it was watching us ever since we got in here," Fiona gestured around. "I didn't think about it at the time, but this is a…you know that myth about the labyrinth? With the minotaur? That's this, probably a way to execute prisoners. Anyway, he suspects it infiltrated your minds slowly and carefully so we didn't notice, then forced you to ignore the standard warnings you would have otherwise had. It was subtle, and frankly, much too sophisticated for something that was probably made in a lab."

"How did you find me again?"

"Oh, that was easy," Fiona said. "It didn't take too long to find you, especially since I can teleport. But I left you alone until the creature came so I could kill it. I don't want this bothering us again."

Normally Yang might have been mad, but now she just wanted to get out of this area. "What now?"

Fiona looked around them. "I found the exit too. I'm going to risk teleporting you. Axis is already at the end, and last I checked he was alive. Let's hope he still is. Here," she extended a hand which Yang took. "Here goes nothing."

---

Level 2, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

They did not get far before they noticed that the path was going down. It was gradual, subtle, but the walls were becoming more constrained, the lighting darker, and the metal gradually being replaced with flesh. It melted under the power of Mortis, and ran in foul-smelling rivers down onto the metal, or was absorbed in the remaining flesh-like floors before those were melted as well.

No one was taking chances any longer. Sana's aura was pulsing and active, drawing on the energies of this place which offered near-limitless endurance compared to the normal reality they inhabited, and it was becoming stronger the more they descended. Mortis was prepared as well, his mind sharp and own death aura enhanced by concentration, and would immediately kill anything that was poorly protected, mentally or otherwise.

The Battlemaster himself was deeper in his battle trance than he had been in months. The limitations he normally felt were gone, and without having to fear telepathy he immersed himself within the Gift that had played a role in turning this place into a nightmare. It had initially taken some time to fully maintain it without actual combat, but he had adapted.

In this place, he had to or he would die.

Conversation had little place any longer.

There was no need to talk to these creatures. Each one was marked for death.

A room was coming up. The Battlemaster caught a flicker of movement within. A fight was coming. Another one. But now they would face the actual might of the Ethereals. As they had been warned they had only experienced the beginning of Paradise, so too had these abominations experienced but a taste of the power they brought to bear themselves.

And so the Battlemaster raised a hand and clenched a fist, as did Mortis. The small entrance began widening and snapping under the telekinetic grip, ripping the surprisingly delicate material apart, as the flesh which helped bind it together fell apart as the cells were divided. Within the Battlemaster saw the force that awaited them.

A dozen soldiers in the room, in addition to the Muton he had fought at the beginning, seemingly no worse for wear. These must have been her soldiers, as their armor reflected her own. Helmets that resembled faces molded in a singular emotion, armor black and red, growths and tumors seemed to be on some of the less-armored ones, but that seemed to only indicate the extensive genetic modification they had received.

Two carried longswords as they immediately started moving towards them, bodies and weapons enshrined in violet-blue fire as they intended to burn away the armor he wore. Time further slowed for the Battlemaster as he picked out additional details in the crowd. He needed to prioritize, as their last encounter had begun poorly.

The weaker-looking of the soldiers he would kill first, and already he saw two of the ones who had the faces of stone-faced individuals, with red-tinged robes. The hands were already beginning to rise and bodies begin to be encased in psionic energy.

And so he lifted a hand, palm facing the ceiling, and pulled it into a fist, creating a telekinetic vortex in the center of the room which was powerful enough to crack the Psionosphere. Most of the soldiers were pulled towards it, though the robed soldiers and the Muton resisted. The air rippled around Mortis as he began his work, and the Battlemaster charged into the fray.

The Muton swung at him with her hammer, but it was slow enough he saw it coming almost in slow motion, and instead telekinetically gripped and tore it from her grasp, slamming it into the far wall, as he threw her backwards with a furious throw. The Muton seemed unprepared for his sheer ferocity and only managed to teleport in mid-air, reappearing where her hammer had been thrown as the Battlemaster marched forward.

A soldier with a scowling Human woman's face as her helmet yelled a battle cry as she shot corrosive energy at him, and he reached out and telekinetically crushed the skull into paste. He then psionically dashed forward towards one of the robed soldiers and before they realized what was happening stabbed one in the heart while telekinetically pulling the other to him and immediately crushing the head of the Muton right after he ripped the helmet off.

Hearing the rush of a swung blade, he spun around and met the hammer of the Muton, and with the greatest threats to Mortis and Sana eliminated – indeed the rest of the soldiers were noticeably slowed, and all moving towards Mortis. Several made the mistake of teleporting behind the Ethereals, and had their minds promptly penetrated and stunned by both Sana and Mortis, the latter of whom wasted no time in turning their brains into mush, while the rest he simply focused on causing slow and agonizing death.

The Muton herself was also encased in the psionic fire of her brethren. She was more skilled than the Battlemaster had initially given credit for. She landed blow after blow against him; psionic fire ravaged his armor leaving dents, scorches, and corrosion. He believed there was now an opening or two now.

It did not matter. For every blow she landed he responded similarly.

She was a talented abomination, but she was no Battlemaster.

Her control over psionics was sublime, and would have put even some lesser Ethereals to shame. When given time she would use her own telekinesis to hold him in place, or even attempt to throw him around. Every opportunity she would try and burn and damage his armor with the acidic psionic fire. She used teleportation to surprise him from different angles. Shields would occasionally protect her blind spots from his swings.

But her telepathy was beyond useless.

He suspected she worked like many telepathic melee fighters. Reading the minds of her opponents so she knew their weaknesses, knew their strengths, knew how to predict what they would do.

But he did not have that vulnerability.

And so he surprised her.

Strikes were feints. Overcompensation would lead to him crushing another organ with his pinpoint telekinetic control. Every shield placed would simply respond to a psionic charge where he slammed into her with the force of a train and into the following wall. Every attempt to scorch his armor just led to another opportunity for him to slowly crush her piece by piece.

And regardless of how well she was trained, she lacked the pinpoint precision or concentration needed for what he was doing. Too many attacks distracted her. She likely believed she was special. She was perhaps another Preximius or Immortalis, a leader in this place of horror, taught to believe she was above the concerns of lesser aliens.

Someone who had never once faced a true threat.

How long they dueled for the Battlemaster did not know. He felt none of the punishment she supposedly dished out, just vague changes in pressure on his armor. An insulation provided by Sana or his armor, he was not sure. But he knew it was coming to a close. The rest of her soldiers had been killed by Mortis, and combined with the weakening aura of Sana, the Muton knew she would die.

"Run," The Battlemaster spat, deep in his battle trance, to the Muton as he grabbed one of its arms with two of his own, and telekinetically applied as much pressure to the arm as possible, hearing it snap in some places, the metal crumple, and the fingers twist. He blew her back with another telekinetic push, even as she once more teleported to safety a short distance away.

He raised his bloodied sword at her. "Run back to your master in shame. You will die by my hand, or you will run. Make your decision."

He psionically charged forward in the blink of an eye and nailed the Muton in the helmet, sending her stumbling backwards. Every step she took now left liquid seeping out of her joints, the Biopathy beginning to ravage her body as well. The Muton took a look around the three Ethereals, and then immediately teleported away.

The Battlemaster paid little attention to the fallen suits of armor around him, or the puddles that splashed his boots and legs. He suspected that Muton would not appear again, but if it did, he would beat it as he had before. If that was the best they had, it would not be enough. With Sana and Mortis behind him, he looked to their goal.

Another portal, likely leading deeper into the station.

Without hesitation, he walked towards and through it.

No more games. No more chances.

---

Unknown Level, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

There was a distinct difference here. Yang knew they had to have gone to another level. They had soon found another Gateway, which had taken them to a square room which had immediately had four strange plant-like constructs of flesh, with four planted talons into specific flesh patches on the floor, turn head-like orbs to them as if to fire.

Fiona had sprang into action and decapitated two within the blink of an eye while Yang crushed the other two telekinetically, causing them to explode in a spray of red and yellow. Continuing forward they had run into a small group of Caretakers, these ones seeming more prepared and equipped than others, and from what they could tell, the room they had stepped into was an armory of sorts.

They had also been dispatched with relative quickness, but if this was the actual layer of defense…

Yang didn't know how long she could last.

She was exhausted, her mind felt in tatters with how much it had been infiltrated and abused by hostile figures, and the presence that constantly watched her – the Bringer – had only grown stronger to the point where she couldn't even muster the strength to block it out.

You have proven your worth today child. Are you not entitled to rest now?

Oh, she most definitely was. But she knew that her version of rest and the Bringer's version were definitely two different things.

I don't want your approval or advice, she spat to the presence.

She could swear she felt a flicker of sadness. I will always be here, child, you will come when the time is right.

Yang shivered.

"It's talking to you too."

Yang looked to Axis who was still in the battle-mode of his suit. "Yes."

"I don't know what to think of it," Axis shook his head. "I have looked more into the minds of these Caretakers. This level of indoctrination is nothing like anything I have seen. I had thought this to be a malevolent presence, but I don't know. It might actually believe what it says to these followers."

"Obviously what it wants you to think," Fiona scoffed, flicking blood off her sword. "This thing only wants to cross over to our reality. Everything it says or does is a means to this goal. Obviously it's going to make itself seem less evil than it clearly is."

The Bringer seemed almost amused. And the woman speaks so surely. She has lived through the trillions of years of cycles. She has experienced the slaughter of countless. She knows so much more about the nature of the galaxy. So naïve. Such a useful tool of T'Leth.

The Psionosphere seemed to shift.

An expression of amusement or laughter.

Ah…yes…the plan becomes clear. A useful tool she is. All in the name of protection, all in an effort to end the ceaseless hunt.

Yang shook her head, though latched onto something she felt would be important. "Who is T'Leth?"

Fiona didn't look back. "Someone I know."

Yang shrugged. "He seems to think you are a tool of this T'Leth."

"We have an agreement," she said. "I help him, he does the same to me. If that's being a tool, then I suppose the Bringer is correct."

But how far are you willing to go to stop me, Fiona, the words rumbled in Yang's mind. How far? Would you risk what you have sought to avoid?

"He's wondering how far you would go to stop him," Yang repeated to her, since she felt the woman would want to hear what the Bringer was saying behind her back. "Do you know something I should know about?"

Fiona was silent for a few moments. "Yes, but I don't want to tell you. Suffice to say, I know what he's talking about, and if he's so curious, just let him know that I'll only do what I need to finish this mission. And also tell him to be careful what he wishes for."

"I don't think I need to tell him anything," Yang said slowly. "He probably hears everything we say anyway."

"Back!" Axis suddenly shouted and Yang leapt backwards just as a black blade stabbed the space she had been, and in her place stood yet another strange creature. Like the beasts on the first level, this one seemed to have some kind of invisibility, where it disappeared at certain angles, and flickered in and out of focus.

However it was made easier since the creature itself had pitch black skin. It had no face or eyes she could see, was extremely thin and had four arms which ended in long blades which also seemed to be able to move more flexibly than one would first assume. A black shawl covered it, which made it very easy to track thankfully, which was ordained with more of the glyphs and symbols others in this places possessed.

Fiona was immediately on it, and performed a teleporting slice which the creature blocked with one of its bladed arms, while Yang reached out and attempted to lock it in a telekinetic vice. The creature then teleported away before she could establish a firm grip and Yang leapt away, fearing that the thing was behind her.

A good assumption, and she avoided another stab. She risked a glance towards Axis, who was fighting another one of the things, only this one was slightly different in that it seemed to be taller and more muscular, and was engaging the Zudjari in a duel which was going…badly, given how many hits he was taking, and chipping away at his armor.

Yang tossed one of her swords in its direction, and it actually managed to impale it in the arm. It immediately swung its attention to her as she pushed the blade deeper. Fiona was engaged in a duel with the other one, as it was forced to fully concentrate on her when Fiona began employing her own teleportation.

To Yang's untrained eye, Fiona was still far better at it, as she dismembered one of the arms, then almost seemed to be in two places at once, striking both times as two more arms fell off. Yang once more reached out, and locked the head in a firm grasp, crushing it in her hand. Axis was still dealing with the larger creature, but with the other one down, Fiona turned her sights on it.

This time it only took one swipe and the creature was decapitated. In the ensuing silence, Yang went over and pulled her sword out of the creature, wondering what it was supposed to be.

Disappointing.

Yang got the impression the Bringer was not referring to her. Forgive me for not feeling sad.

Nor should you. They are in Paradise now, and they served diligently during their lives. You granted them a gift, child, one that should be celebrated.

Despite that, Yang did note that the first word had been disappointing. Regardless of their service, the Bringer had clearly expected something more from these creatures.

"I have a feeling our actual test is going to be ahead," Fiona said, motioning to the end of the hallway. "If we're going to be attacked, it's going to be there. And I don't think whatever it is will be a pushover."

At the end, Yang saw it open into a darkened arena, similar to the one they had fought the Umbra in, but much larger. Large enough where she couldn't see far into it, as the blackness permeated the area. Perfect for an ambush.

Do not fear, child. Death does not await you in there. Your story is just beginning.

Ignoring the haunting words, Yang steeled herself and followed Fiona into the darkness.

---

Level 3, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

The welcoming force they had encountered was almost immediately killed.

The Battlemaster suspected that the reason they had not faced more resistance was due to the fact that they would just be throwing more soldiers away. Fighting the trio of Ethereals was close to suicide, and whoever was commanding the defenses likely realized such resistance was futile.

So they had walked through the more segmented hallways of this level. It seemed more organized than the previous level, more akin to the first. There was more visible metal, but interspersed with clearly obvious organic defenses of some kind which Mortis melted before either he or Sana could intervene. The rooms seemed close to barracks or armories; each containing detailed armor and weapons from multiple species and differing historical periods.

The Battlemaster made a mental note to reclaim these pieces of equipment when he finished. He would find some use for them. Interestingly he saw very little modern weaponry, few rifles or pistols, and the ones he did find seemed to either be altered primitive guns, or ones which seemed inert with wires and tubes that looked like they connected to another power source.

Fectorian would need to examine them in detail later.

He idly wondered how the Sovereign nanite weapon was performing on the first level. Hopefully it was succeeding against the forces that were no doubt converging upon it. He would need to requisition more of those later, preferably for this place.

How long they walked for the Battlemaster didn't know, but they faced little resistance. But the hallway soon became narrower as it converged into one final direction. The ceiling began angling up, and up ahead the Battlemaster saw a faint blue light filling the arena ahead, for he could immediately tell that was what it was.

"There is something ahead," Mortis muttered. "This is probably what they fell back for."

The Battlemaster said nothing, but simply advanced forward and they soon stepped into the arena itself. It was made completely of metal, extended upwards to then converge once more at a centerpoint in the ceiling. The pillars along the walls were similarly angled and interwoven with each other, in triangles, like the first level.

His boots clacked on the floor, and he realized his impression was not completely correct. Tile of some kind lined the floors, and was clearly arranged in a mosaic of some kind that he couldn't see on the ground level. A closer look at the pillars also saw they were engraved with the symbols he had seen throughout the station.

In the center of the arena was another triangular gateway, this one massive, extending close to twenty feet into the air. It was shut off, allowing the Battlemaster to see through to the opposite end of the arena he was standing in. But that was not what immediately drew the attention of every Ethereal in the vicinity.

There was a figure standing before the inert Gateway, one which was amazingly somehow taller than the Battlemaster – though only slightly. Like the Caretakers, it wore robes, though they were a deep purple with highly symmetrical lines of blue-embroidered symbols woven throughout. The figure looked…thin, proportionally to its size.

The Battlemaster saw the two arms it had were clasped behind its back, and a hood covered the face… but all of them could easily see the face in question. The marble-like skin, if it could be called that, appeared more to be scales or stone, as it overlapped in places and was fully symmetrical along the face. No obvious mouth was seen, but there were plates that could be their equivalent.

The figure had six eyes, each seeming to glow a harsh blue as it appraised them, though the Battlemaster could not determine anything close to what it was thinking or feeling.

"Ethereals of the Collective, you have come far," the voice was deep, vibrant, and came from everywhere in the room. The figure showed no indication it had spoken, but the Battlemaster suspected that was the case. "Hundreds have died in your path of destruction through our home. Your cause is righteous in your mind, but you will go no further."

"We have killed every threat here," the Battlemaster was slightly calmer than he had been during the duel with the Muton. "This will not end until the Creator is dead."

"You will go no further," the figure repeated. "The actions of the Artist are unfortunate, and were not sanctioned. A mistake, one you may feel anger for, but one that does not require the ultimate punishment. Such actions will not happen again."

The Battlemaster let out a harsh laugh, lifting his weapon and waving the blood-soaked sword around. "Do you really think this is about that anymore? No, creature, it is about everything that is happening here."

"We have done nothing wrong here," the figure said calmly. "All of this was permitted and sanctioned by the Imperator. Your superior. Let the bloodshed come to an end. The Imperator will arrive eventually and he will explain to you."

"What are you?" Sana finally asked.

"I am merely an Aspect of the Bringer," the figure said. "His Temperance. His mind and cunning, His restraint and patience. I am nothing more or less. Each of you is a worthy opponent, each of you has strengths, weaknesses, and patterns. Each of these I know. Each of these I will use. I need not kill you today, only ensure you do not cross this point."

The voice of the…Temperance…didn't change, but the Battlemaster suspected it had been annoyed by what they had done. "The destruction is no longer tolerable and it will come to an end now. Yet I will offer you one final chance to stand down. Await the Imperator for answers."

The Battlemaster pretended to consider. "No."

He swung his blade down, and immediately transitioned into a psionic charge. Almost immediately he slammed into a barrier erected in front of him, and even after recovering quickly, he lashed out with several strikes and slashes towards the massive figure, though each one was deflected by a blue barrier which appeared just before he struck the fabric.

The Temperance slowly moved a hand forward, and the black-gloved hand faced him, palm out and the Battlemaster was thrown backwards by the edge of a psionic barrier which slammed against him. He recovered quickly, and quickly glanced to Mortis and Sana, the latter of whom was encased in a psionic stasis field, even if her power was not diminished.

Mortis was under constant assault by multiple appearing and disappearing micro-barriers, which did little lasting harm but did do enough to prevent him from utilizing his Biopathy. The same tactic the one woman had used, only this being seemed to be far more skilled at it, and the Battlemaster was not sure what he could do to stop it.

He reached out and telekinetically grabbed the Temperance and began applying pressure. Past the robes, directly onto the skin and bone of the creature. Almost lazily the creature looked to him with the unblinking glowing eyes and then froze – as it looked back to Sana and the barrier attacks on Mortis briefly dissipated.

The Battlemaster continued the psionic grip, though was running into resistance as blue light from barriers likely shone from inside the body, as the Temperance likely wished to protect against the telekinetic assault. He quite possibly had underestimated that both Sana and Mortis were also expert telepaths, and was now engaged in a telepathic duel against them.

Of course, this would prevent Mortis from utilizing his Biopathy, but it would give the Battlemaster something to do in the meantime, and with his telekinetic grip still maintained, charged forward once more, and stabbed towards the likely heart of this alien would be. The other hand of the Temperance lashed forward from behind its back, palm flat before the tip of his sword as it held it back psionically.

"You should fight against one with your talents, Battlemaster," the Temperance said, voice as calm and emotionless as before. "It is rare to find an opponent who can match him."

The Gateway flashed behind him, and the Battlemaster was thrown back by a powerful telekinetic attack. Anchoring himself telekinetically as well, he cautiously appraised the creature that stepped out before the Gateways shut off once again. This one was just as tall as the Temperance, but far bulkier and strong.

Blue psionic shields covered it, arranged like armor, showing an almost knightly figure that stood beside the robed alien. The head was especially shielded, and while the Battlemaster could vaguely make out the skin underneath the other barriers, the face was little more than an obscured void.

The greatsword made out of nothing but psionic energy was held in its hand, a dark mirror of the Battlemaster; a rival he had never known existed until this point. The air around the creature began splitting and breaking, the Psionosphere itself destabilizing in its presence. The creature let out a furious roar that shook the ground, and charged him.

The Battlemaster prepared to defend himself.

This was the endgame.

---

Unknown Level, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

Yang wondered if her mind was slowly being compromised yet again as they walked into the darkened arena. A soft blue light fell from the sky, but when she looked upwards she only saw a black void. The arena itself was constructed with what seemed to be black metal and weaving architecture, with the walls themselves shrouded in shadows.

Multiple times she thought she saw figures in those shadows, genderless humanoids that were watching. Most places she would question if she was seeing things, but here she didn't know. It was becoming more and more difficult to determine what reality actually was. Spend too long here and she might actually lose her mind.

A thought that would normally terrify her, but right now she felt too exhausted to care.

Constant fights and battles; her mind besieged, assaulted, and cracked; voices real and imagined. It made the swords feel heavier than anything had before, and her armor a weight that made her sluggish and slow. Did she truly have the strength for more fighting. Fiona could go on. Axis likely could as well.

She didn't know if she could or not.

So she stuck close to the Zudjari, because if she was attacked, he would likely see it before her.

Fiona's sword was drawn as they reached the center. "No exit. Likely a trap."

"Then should we leave?" Axis asked, forming his crystal defenses into shields. "I do not want to stay in this place."

Yang turned back to the entrance and her heart likely skipped a beat. "Behind!"

Axis and Fiona turned around as they saw the same thing she did. Standing at the entrance was a tall humanoid cloaked in living shadow, seeming to suck the nearby light around him. Yang couldn't see the arms, but the smoldering red eyes where the head was were enough. Fiona suddenly appeared behind it and slashed down, and her sword seemed to go right through it as the shadow dematerialized and appeared directly behind her, a dark arm grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up.

Yang tapped again into the psionic wellspring this place was and immediately felt more invigorated, though didn't know how long that would last. She brought her swords to her hands, then telekinetically tossed one towards the shadow. Fiona disappeared in a blue-green flash and appeared right before the shadow, sword raised and ready.

The shadow performed a micro-teleportation and stabbed a shadowy arm forward towards Fiona which went directly through her body as Fiona sidestepped and sliced down onto the arm which also disappeared as the shadow appeared opposite her once more.

Fiona swung her own blade up. "Clever. But I can do that too."

With a flourish she teleported towards the shadow once more and began a prolonged exchange of slashes and micro-teleportations, as each of them both tried to get hits on the other in a battle that was almost impossible for either Yang or Axis to actually follow. One moment the two figures were on one side of the arena, and then in a flash they were on the other.

She felt useless in the fight, as everything she did was either deflected or missed thanks to teleportation, the shadow seemed nearly impossible to properly lock on to through telekinesis, and it barely seemed to regard her as a threat at all. Axis was in a similar predicament, as simply moving towards the fight was pointless since both duelists were moving around so quickly.

"I cannot sense his mind," Axis growled, even as the air distorted around him. "It is…slippery. It is too small for someone of this level of teleportation control."

Calling it a duel seemed the wrong word as she watched it. The Shadow didn't actually have any kind of weapon he could see, but it was clearly trying to grab and retain control over Fiona. The problem was of course that she was simply too fast, and as a teleporter she could escape any grasp within moments. Her immunity to mind control made her impossible to control this way.

On the other side, Fiona seemed to be as ineffective against the shadow as it was against her. Every strike was either dodged or missed entirely. It was clearly as skilled as she was, and as Yang watched, she noticed just how flowing it was. Fiona performed a series of stabs and cuts, and the Shadow simply weaved out of the way with a masterful precision that seemed oddly slow, but fluid.

It suddenly looked over to them, and appeared before them. The air around her became blacked as it towered over her and extended a black hand to grab her chest and looked directly into her eyes for an entire long second. An eternity.

Her brain felt as though it was suddenly submerged in sludge, barely able to process what was happening. Instinctively she knew this thing was in her mind, but she could barely muster any strength to strike the arm of the shadow itself. The blades raised and then fell as she suddenly lost all feeling in them.

Her heart stopped.

Her sight vanished.

The world became silent as her hearing ended.

She felt herself dropped onto the ground with a thud. Or it would have been a thud, if she could hear.

Then she realized she couldn't move, and felt herself convulsing as the effect of her heart stopping began to reap the consequences. The pain was unlike anything she could describe, and she could not even scream into the dark void that was now her reality.

She had failed. She was going to die here.

---

Throne Room of the Imperator, Temple Ship of the Imperator of the Ethereal Collective

1/11/2017 – 12:11 P.M.

Patricia couldn't determine how or what the Imperator was thinking or feeling, but if there was one thing she could determine, it was that he was somewhat irritated and angry. Fortunately it was not directed at her, but in small part towards the Battlemaster, and the majority reserved for the Creator and the Bringer of Paradise, who she had learned a lot more about over the past few hours.

The Imperator was realizing that he had made several mistakes in the handling of a being that existed within the Psionosphere. Mistakes he was correcting now.

The Overmind, Quisilia, and Fectorian were standing before the Imperator now, as he stood and waited for the Overmind to finish whatever he was doing. She believed he was locating the exact coordinates to directly teleport to Paradise, but she figured it was more than that – they wanted the exact location of the Battlemaster, Sana, and Yang to teleport to them directly.

There were immediate plans to severely neuter the influence the Bringer had already created, and Paradise was about to become a lot more observed in the future. The Imperator was, quite simply, furious that the Creator had performed one of the most controversial actions of the war to date, and otherwise damaged their standing both in and outside the Collective.

Patricia was mildly surprised the Imperator was going to spare her, but the fact was that she would be instrumental in his plan to control this crossed over Bringer, and so she was unfortunately going to have to live. Although she wouldn't have nearly as much freedom, and the Bringer was going to be taught a severe lesson in abusing trust.

"The stasis fields are fully prepared?"

The Imperator knew the answer, but wanted to hear Fectorian say it regardless. "Yes, they will hold your captives," Fectorian kept his tone respectful, but Patricia remembered that he had been…somewhat irritated when he learned even part of the situation. He had likely held his tongue out of respect for the Imperator, but anyone could see that he was not happy, especially when he was given short-notice construction orders. "Like for Origin, they are designed to hold a Reaper-level Ethereal. There will be no escapes or failures."

"Holding the Bringer's toys is not something we should be concerned with," Quisilia's tone was light, but he had been oddly silent through the whole thing. "Both of us know what is likely happening on that station, and now the Battlemaster and Sana – two Ethereals who could not have possibly been more ill-suited to it – are on it and have seen everything. You do know they're going to know you've been allowing this?"

"The Collective experiments on captives, this has been done before," the Imperator said slowly. "Distasteful as it is, this is something they will accept."

"Yes, assuming they stayed on the same level," Quisilia's tone was sarcastic enough it verged on disrespectful. "Both of us know there is a lot more than 'experimentation' going on. So are you going to tell the Battlemaster the reason or not?"

The Imperator was silent for a moment. Patricia knew he was not particularly happy the Battlemaster had created this situation, even if it wasn't completely his fault. He was irritated that the Battlemaster, along with Sana, had first questioned Isomnum (which had supposedly gone badly), and then gone directly to interrogate the Creator with Sana'Ligna, without even once informing the Imperator.

Something the Imperator had seemed legitimately surprised at when they determined what had happened. And then surmised that at best the Battlemaster was engaged with the defenses of Paradise, and at worst was dead. Honestly Patricia wondered which scenario would be easier to solve. In the grand scheme…the chained essence of a Sovereign One was more important, but on the other side it was a massive risk.

Of course, without prior warning the Battlemaster had almost certainly gotten the wrong idea about what was going on, and was likely furious at the Imperator. It was the reason the Imperator had kept the details so secretive. There were certain people who would simply not accept the justification for these measures, and the Battlemaster was one of them. Not to mention Sana'Ligna.

"I suspect I will have little choice," the Imperator finally said. "But I do not think he will be convinced of the necessity of it. He is too focused on the immediate picture. The Collective. Even if he understands the bigger picture, he may ultimately reject it."

"Is there something I should know about?" Fectorian interjected. "I believe I deserve to know exactly what is going on here. What are these stasis pods being used for?"

"An experiment which has temporarily gone awry," the Imperator said. "It involves Sovereign technology. An example of why we should never become reliant on it. This is all you need to know, if your experience is required I will ensure you know."

Fectorian straightened, and looked directly at the Imperator. "Very well. If you do not require my services further, I will leave," he turned abruptly and began exiting the room. At the edge he looked back around. "I suspect the Battlemaster will be more forthcoming than you are, Imperator. There are too few of us left to keep secrets."

The door shut behind them, and Quisilia shook his head. "I would not have advised that."

"The fewer who know, the better," the Imperator said. "This will eventually fade and the situation will stabilize. The Battlemaster will eventually calm down, especially if he focuses on Earth."

"Then I hope you plan on doing something to actually appease him," Quisilia continued, sounding unimpressed. "Because I'm going to tell you that if you think simply explaining this is going to make everything go away, you clearly don't know him. He's going to want Paradise destroyed, and the Creator and the Bringer's Aspects brutally murdered. At the moment you are planning how best to preserve the situation and ultimate goal, not how to deal with the Battlemaster."

"What do you suggest?" Patricia asked. "There are few good options here."

"You," Quisilia pointed a black dagger at her. "Don't have a say in this, Trask. I'm not even sure why you're involved in this situation, but you are. That doesn't mean you get to make suggestions."

"Answer her question," the Imperator stated.

"Kill all of the Aspects," Quisilia said heavily, clearly unhappy. "It would be a severe setback, I know, but it would ensure the Battlemaster is appeased, even if the Creator is spared. Essentially kill everything on Paradise, and start over. Not ideal, but I think keeping the Battlemaster is more important than completing the Crossing in a timely manner."

"No." The Imperator stated flatly. "We may…need it in the future, if the Sovereign on Earth becomes more involved. It has taken decades to reach this point, and we do not have that time before this kind of measure will be needed. The Battlemaster will simply have to be convinced."

Quisilia simply sighed. "I see the reasoning, but he is not going to like it."

"No," the Imperator agreed. "He will not. But this is ultimately essential."

"Which reminds me," Quisilia recalled slowly. "Do you think he awakened Mortis?"

"With Sana, yes," the Imperator said, standing. "I suspect that made their jobs easier. Once this situation is contained, we will relocate him to here. I do not want an Ethereal, especially him, near the Bringer, regardless of assurances."

"They have been located," the Overmind suddenly spoke. "Two groups. Separated. The Battlemaster, Sana, and Mortis, and Yang Shuren with a foreign mind. They must have awakened the Zudjari as well."

"I'll recover Yang and the Zudjari," Quisilia said, twirling the blade in his hand.

"Patricia and I will go to the Battlemaster," the Imperator finished. "Give us the exact locations. How deep did they manage to get?"

"The third level."

The Imperator lifted a hand and the air in front of Patricia split into a purple-tinted portal. She put on her XCOM helmet in preparation. "I do not know what we will find," the Imperator said slowly. "Prepare to immediately defend yourself. I will be immediately behind you."

With a nod, Patricia stepped into the portal.

---

Unknown Level, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

Yang was unsure what happened, until she suddenly gulped a mouthful of air.

"Apologies," the voice of Axis said, as she realized that she still couldn't see and was still paralyzed. "Lower brain telepathy is something I have limited training in, and your minds are not like ours. I've done what I can, but I don't know-"

"I can hear," she breathed. "I'm not dead. Can't see or move."

"Fiona has its attention for now," Axis said, even though Yang couldn't actually hear much aside from some slashes in the distance. A silent duel of immaterial warriors. "I'm going to try-"

His voice turned to something like surprise. "What-?"

"That is enough," Yang tried to move her head as she laid on the ground, although her paralysis hindered it. Don't panic, they'll fix this. They'll fix this. "This little party is over."

Quisilia?

"You know this Ethereal?" Axis sounded similarly surprised.

"Yes," Yang muttered. "Which means the Imperator is not far behind."

"While I'm sure you've had great fun with this, I am going to have to demand you stand down," Quisilia said, presumably addressing the shadow-thing. "The Imperator is very…displeased with what has happened here."

We have come under attack. The voice appeared in their minds, a raspy and slick male one which could not have sounded more sinister if it tried. Defense-

"Ah, no," Quisilia sounded amused. "You can call it whatever you want, but let's just say no one who isn't brainwashed is going to believe you. Also, who is this?"

"Fiona," Axis muttered.

"And that is my cue to leave," Fiona said, likely teleporting beside them. "Stay or go?"

"Get me out of here," Axis said.

Yang didn't hear anything, but she presumed that Fiona was gone, and had likely taken Axis with her. She was almost sad, since the Zudjari had not seemed that bad. That he had saved her life was also a point in his favor, though she couldn't really blame him for wanting to leave this place as soon as possible, and especially not trusting the judgement of the Ethereals.

What had the Imperator been thinking?

"You, stay there," Quisilia ordered, likely to the shadow. "Hold onto this. You move, I will kill you, regardless of what the Imperator ordered." Yang heard something being tossed through the air, but didn't have any idea what it could be. Footsteps approached her a few seconds later.

"I can't move or see," she said, hoping he would hear her. "That thing-"

"Yes, you're fortunate you lived at all," he said. "I'll get you to Sana immediately. You can be healed. The Battlemaster will be pleased to know that you lived, and I'm sure you can say quite a bit about the ones who were with you."

"Yes," she agreed. "To the Battlemaster. Please say there is a good reason for this."

"There is a reason," Quisilia said as she was picked up by him. "I suspect you would not agree, though I cannot tell you regardless. That is the Battlemaster's prerogative."

Yang would have closed her eyes if she hadn't already been blind. "What the fuck was the Imperator thinking?"

There was a noticeable pause. "In the long term, Miss Shuren."

"Please tell me he will stop it."

Another pause. "There will be consequences for what happened here, I can assure you of that."

She didn't ignore he had avoided the question. "Will the Creator be executed?"

"No. She has a part to play."

She had feared that would be the answer. But deep down she had known that the Imperator wouldn't allow this if he truly didn't think it had some worth. All of them were presumably alive, and the cost was minimal. In terms of cold statistics at least. The Collective had ultimately lost nothing in this incident, and no permanent harm had been done.

Except of course the damage to the reputation and trustworthiness of everyone who had been involved in hiding this. She knew on her own she was ultimately not important, and her wants and opinions wouldn't change anything. A mere weapon given to the Battlemaster to utilize as he saw fit.

But she felt some hope that the Battlemaster would not take this lightly. "Then I hope you're prepared for what the Battlemaster and Mortis will do once they are told this," she said quietly to Quisilia. "I can't do anything. But they will."

She felt some measure of surprise from him. "Did you say Mortis?"

Oh right, they didn't know he had recovered from…whatever he had been afflicted with. She smiled. "Yes, he apparently has recovered. And he is not happy."

"Oh dear," Quisilia mused. "That is going to make things more complicated."

---

Level 3, Paradise – Orbit of the Dead World

Unknown Time

The warrior fighting him was one of the most challenging the Battlemaster had ever experienced in his life. Rarely, outside of other Battlemasters, had he dueled someone who was just as strong, fast, and skilled as he was. There had been few who surpassed him, and he had known that one day he might hold the title of Grandmaster.

But this warrior before him was without a doubt his equal. Possibly better.

Blow for blow, they matched each other. A psionic charge was met with a telekinetic throw. Swings were blocked head on, not dodged. It was certainly a different experience to fight something his own size, and the Battlemaster began falling back into a comfortable rhythm he had not used in a long time.

Larger meant slower. It meant easier to predict and exploit.

This warrior was likely as dangerous as him, but there were weaknesses he could exploit. A larger size meant more areas to hit. More mass slowed him down, and made his moves more predictable. The Battlemaster did not feel he was in immediate danger – yet.

But the corrosive aura he had around him was an actual problem, as were the beams of psionic energy he shot from his hands. His armor was slowly deteriorating, subjected to rift after corrosive shot. Even this forged armor could not last forever against psionic bombardment, and to make this issue worse, the longer the duel progressed the more extreme the psionic hurricane around the warrior became.

The burning psionic sword slashed down, and was blocked by the Battlemaster as he responded by sending a telekinetic shockwave towards the warrior, shaking the ground. With another hand, he maintained a telekinetic grip on the arms, briefly forced them open, and stabbed forward. The psionic armor blocked it, but the warrior let out another roar, and threw a fist towards him which missed, and the Battlemaster stabbed under the armpit, which was also deflected.

But it was enough to unbalance the warrior, and the Battlemaster shoved him to the ground as the warrior responded to it by immediately turning around and with a gesture created a psionic maelstrom where he was standing.

The Battlemaster winced as he felt the psionic acid land on his skin, a testament to how degraded his armor was by this point, and performed another psionic charge to the warrior who moved out of the way and swung in a wide arc, which the Battlemaster easily ducked and stabbed forward to the chest.

It was growing angrier. Good.

He allowed it to miss several more times before punching it once in the shielded head. No damage, but it was enough to unbalance it even further. A furious but sloppy strike followed, which he deflected quite easily as he threw it back with a telekinetic push. The psionic storm was growing fiercer, and that blow seemed to make something fundamentally change.

The blue psionic armor flickered and suddenly dissipated as the psionic disruptions around him flashed, then turned into a full storm, revealing the true form of the creature. A mix of armor and hard brown skin covered the body, almost as though the armor was physically attached to the creature. Lining the torso were extra little limbs, underdeveloped and waving as they were free from the confines of the psionic armor, rippling with psionic power.

The head was not covered by any helmet, but a hood of some kind, and no face could be seen. It could not have been an illusion, but the Battlemaster only saw blackness within the hood. Perhaps it did not actually have a head at all?

The psionic sword remained in hand, and with another furious and ground-shaking roar, charged as the Battlemaster felt the full power of the storm around the warrior. Psionic acidic energy ravaged his armor even more, and began destroying the hardened skin underneath, and the Battlemaster was thankful for Sana's own power as any light wounds he sustained were healed almost instantly.

But for the first time in a long time, it was painful.

The warrior rained down blow after blow in an insane frenzy, with no regard for strategy or skill. It was the swings of a berserker, one which exchanged discipline for unrestrained fury. After swinging once it reached back and ripped the hood back and a massive beam of psionic energy shot from the head towards him.

It slammed directly into his chest and he psionically charged out of there before his armor's integrity could be weakened further. Once away, he saw what the head of the creature truly looked like. It wasn't even a head, but almost a vertical ring of flesh that formed the outline of one, which he could see through. All it was good for was propping up the hood, and possibly worked as a focus point for a psionic attack.

The Battlemaster had given up trying to work out how the biology of what he had seen worked. This was not the time or place for it.

A psionic charge back into the whirling maelstrom resumed the fight once more, and while he could easily deflect, block, or dodge the wild swings, the psionic storm around him was beginning to take its toll. He could not stay in it forever, even as he landed blow after blow on it, dismembered some of the small arms on the torso, and otherwise thought he was causing it damage.

But it also could heal, and he didn't know what the best way was to beat it.

He charged backwards out of the storm to briefly appraise it before it began walking towards him again.

Possibly a problem.

He spared a glance over to where Sana and Mortis were, and they seemed to be in the exact same situation. It spoke to the skill of the Temperance that they had somehow managed to not break through yet, but at least he was being occupied.

A purple flash appeared behind the Gateway, and Patricia Trask stepped out, followed immediately by the Imperator, who was already radiating power.

"Stand down."

The warrior he had faced was suddenly encased in a psionic stasis field, lifted into the air and compressed into a more compact form with the limbs folded backwards. The head of it suddenly split into pieces, although that seemed to affect it very little as the psionic storm began dissipating. It was likely struggling, but the barriers would not allow it.

The Temperance was also encased in a barrier and suspended in the air, although it wasn't constricted as much.

About time.

"Sana," the Imperator said. "End your assault. Your orders are to stand down."

What?

"Kill it," the Battlemaster roared. "What are you doing?"

"Imperator," the Temperance said, in the same toneless voice. "I am pleased you have finally arrived to mediate this unfortunate dispute."

"Stand down, Battlemaster," the Imperator commanded, raising an arm in his direction. "I want to know the actual situation-"

"Situation!" The Battlemaster yelled, flinging his sword in a wide arc to emphasize his shout. "This entire station is the situation. One that needs to be completely destroyed." His anger began growing as he stormed to the Imperator. "Answer me this, Imperator, did you know about what was happening here?"

"Not specific details," the Imperator answered with irritating calmness. "But the overall situation I was aware of, and approved of."

The Battlemaster didn't know how he felt about the Imperator simply admitting this. "What were you thinking?"

"Quite clearly your mental capabilities were as atrophied as I had feared," Mortis said, speaking for the first time towards the Imperator. "Which is odd, as I specifically remembered the Imperators being among our most intelligent. The only possible way to correct this mistake is to do as the Battlemaster suggests and purge everything on this station."

The Imperator looked to the Ethereal in almost surprise. "Mortis'Ligna, I see you have…recovered."

"Yes, I certainly have," Mortis also stormed forward, his own voice rising. "And I am informed that not only is the Empire destroyed, not only are we invading a primitive alien species for no reason, but you are sanctioning and running this place which grows every kind of abomination and experiments on children. And you don't even deny it!"

"This situation is far more complex than it appears-"

"Really," the Battlemaster was unsure if his tone was sarcasm or outright contempt. "No, Imperator, it is not. You may have everyone conditioned to accept your every word, but that does not apply to me. The Ethereals I knew forbade the exploitation of aliens, the Ethereals I knew did not run horror camps like this one for no good reason, or talked with things living in the actual Psionosphere! The Ethereals I knew had standards and rules, and didn't let every idiot with a scalpel start cutting up innocent aliens! You," he pointed at the Imperator. "Have no authority as far as I see it. The Empire would have despised you. No. The Empire would have executed you."

There was silence at that, and the Battlemaster felt no urge to defend the Imperator here. While he didn't consider the Imperator on that level of contempt, he deserved no pity or respect in this instance.

"He is right," Sana stepped forward, her voice softer but firm. "We have retained and expanded the worst aspects of the Empire without making the reforms necessary. This goes beyond experimentation, Imperator. This is unjustifiable and cannot be salvaged. Perhaps you had good reasons for this, but those do not matter now. What does is what you do next."

"Each of you has a right to be upset," the Imperator finally said. "This situation is my fault and I accept this. It escaped my control, and the freedom I allowed was abused. There will be consequences for this, for that you have my assurance. An explanation as to why this was allowed in the first place will be provided on the Temple Ship."

"What consequences?" The Battlemaster demanded.

"There are six Aspects to the Bringer," the Imperator looked to the Temperance. "Constructed over years and each holding some of his power and mindset. If one dies, that aspect itself is destroyed and may take centuries to reform. As a result, there is a certain… motivation, to keep these Aspects alive and well."

He looked back to the Battlemaster. "You have encountered two of them. Quisilia has encountered another. As powerful and skilled as the strongest of the Ethereals. But they have…been allowed too much free reign. As the result of this disappointing incident, three of these Aspects will be imprisoned and a far closer eye kept on this station."

"What?" Mortis yelled. "Are you insane? Why would you want to help this thing? Did the fact that it exists in the Psionosphere not give you an indication that maybe working with it is a bad idea!?"

"It is under control." The Imperator stated with steel in his voice. "I would not take this action unless it was necessary, and I know how it will be kept under control. I know what it needs, and it needs us far more than we need it."

Mortis threw a glance around. "It is clearly under control."

"The mistakes will not be repeated," the Imperator promised. "You can rest assured of that."

"No," the Battlemaster shook his head. "Not good enough. The Aspects must die, as will the Creator."

"While I can sympathize, that will not happen," the Imperator said. "This is unfortunately necessary."

The Battlemaster steeled himself. "Then I will inform the Voice."

"The Voice is aware," the Imperator said. "This is similarly sanctioned. The Sovereign Ones support this action, and I am taking their advice into consideration. Something I believe you have suggested I do more of."

That was a blow. If the Sovereign Ones were also sanctioning this then…why? But he couldn't help but think the Imperator was using that as an excuse for the inexcusable. Sanctioned or not, this was not something that he was going to allow. "That does not change this situation. You may try and keep this running, but I will stand in your way every step of the way."

The Imperator regarded him idly. "And what will you do, Battlemaster? Stay here? Fight me? You have more important duties, both to our species and the Collective. You have spent a long time on Earth without much to show for it. Perhaps your effectiveness has waned."

"Insults and insinuations will fail," the Battlemaster said flatly. "Both of us know the situation on Earth needed time to be reformed. You also have no one to replace me. Your threats are empty, and as far as I am concerned, this is part of my duties to the Collective. Destroying places like this," he motioned around. "If you will not do what must be done, then the entire Collective will know of this place. As will Earth. I stated that I would bring those who were responsible for this attack to justice, and that is what will happen."

There was another flash, as Quisilia suddenly appeared, holding the beaten form of Yang in his arms. "Hello! What did I miss?"

The Battlemaster's concern turned to her. "She's alsive, but her body has been telepathically disrupted," Quisilia assured him as he walked over to Sana. "You should be able to fix her."

"I'm…fine, Battlemaster," Yang called weakly.

"Good," he said, before turning to Quisilia. "Where is the Zudjari?"

"Gone," Quisilia said. "There was someone helping them. I believe she was affiliated with the same individual who attacked me in Australia."

He would have to ask Yang about that, though he did feel he owed whoever this was. Regardless of the side of this individual, she had apparently helped them survive. The loss of Axis was unfortunate, but he felt some treasonous satisfaction that at least someone on Earth would know about this place. "Unfortunate, but we will deal with it later. The important part is that she survived."

"I would ask how serious you are, Battlemaster," the Imperator finally said. "You would throw the Collective into pointless chaos to fulfill your sense of justice? It is far more destructive to the Collective than anything which has taken place here, all in an effort to blackmail me? I would suggest you hear what I have to say before you consider such actions." The Imperator took a step forward. "We are both aware this is a bluff. You would not do that because it would throw the Collective into chaos, the same Collective you have spent decades refining."

"Because you would not," the Battlemaster answered. "But if there is such a good reason for it, then I suppose you have no problem sharing it with the Collective?"

"Do not make this situation simpler than it is in actuality," the Imperator said, his voice dropping. "This is a direct order to stand down, Battlemaster. At least until we can discuss this more rationally. Will you break an order because you are, right now, emotionally compromised?"

Would he?

Should he wait to see what the Imperator had to say before making a decision?

Then he remembered the rows of experimentation chambers where the victims had literally cannibalized themselves due to starvation, where they had been experimented on while they were alive, the children the mad Sectoid had forced to sing for them, and he knew that he had found a line. One that not even a superior could overrule.

A hand suddenly grabbed his upper arm. "Don't push him farther," Mortis said quietly. "I do not know if he will kill you, but he is gathering power. Don't forget what happened, but getting yourself demoted or killed now won't solve anything."

Rationally, the Battlemaster knew he was right. This station would still be here. The evidence wouldn't vanish, and there was nothing stopping him from carrying out his threats. But he would not give the Imperator the satisfaction of agreeing with him. Instead he looked to Quisilia. "There are a group of children on the second floor, in a theatre-like area. Recover them, and sweep the station for any others, child or adult. Remove them and send them to Sanctuary."

Quisilia gave a mock salute. "With pleasure."

The Battlemaster looked back to the Imperator. "Let's leave this place," he didn't bother disguising the contempt in his voice. "Before I change my mind."

---

A/N: And we will be returning to the regularly scheduled conflict on Earth after this. For those who didn't hear about it the first time, one of my Editors Edumesh has started an XCOM Files-like piece of supplementary material on the Bringer and the lovely station of Paradise. If you want to know more about it, check out Chronicles of Salvation, which will likely be updated periodically as Edumesh writes the chapter out.

Now, back to seeing how things are going on Earth.

- Xabiar