When the ST-Cannon's beam fired, the two incoming ships were eradicated in an instant. The beam even managed to pierce through the main enemy fleet, taking out a second Flagship in the process.

The beam itself didn't seem like normal beam weaponry. It made my Luminous Magnum look like a beam rifle in comparison. If I had to describe it looked like a roaring comet being flung through space. It burned through the ships it hit completely and any of them that didn't explode began to strangely freeze.

As the battlefield blossomed with explosions in front of our eyes all of us couldn't help but be in awe. Alice had seemingly reproduced and probably surpassed the firepower Lucian used at Albion. Granted it was by utilizing the Asterism's Ether core, but I didn't think the ship's main gun had that kind of firepower.

By this point the enemy fleet's formation was in tatters and by the time the reinforcements would arrive, they'd be something but a mop-up crew. The victory was within reach and all we had to do now was take out the final Dreadnaught. Or so I thought...

A warning signal blared throughout the ship's intercom and the main display showed the final dreadnaught and the remaining fleets still heading toward us.

"Commander, the enemy doesn't seem to be stopping!" Xain shouted. "It appears that they've increased their speed."

"You're joking!? After we've cut down their forces so much?.. "Alice! get ready to fire another shot-"

As I turned to her, she'd been slumped over in the captain's seat with blue blood running from her nose. She'd been convulsing a bit as she stared blankly at the ceiling. Her eyes darted about in every direction and she

"Miss Alice!" Minerva shrieked as she knelt at her side and tried to wake her up.

"No! Don't shake her," I yelled. "She must've put too much of a strain on herself using the animus. Just lift her and keep her still."

Minerva held Alice up and tried to keep her from convulsing too much as best as she could. With my prosthetic, I held onto the Animus connection and looked over to one of the operators. "Cut the link now!" I ordered.

The operator nodded then frantically typed on her screen until four windows popped up for a forced disconnection. Tapping all four she looked over to me and gave me the thumbs up. Pulling the connection out of her she finally stopped convulsing and her body began to go limp.

"Oh heavens, is she going to be alright dear cousin?"

"Yeah Minny, she's gonna be fine. Just need to get her to the infirmary is all."

I sent a message to the paramedics to come to collect Alice while I glued my eyes to the main monitor.

"Xain, we'll have to make some adjustments to your strategy. The enemy will not stop their advance no matter what losses they suffer."

"What would you have us do then Commander?" Xain asked, standing now as he faced me.

"I don't even need this special sight to know that Arjun will be coming this way. Send Claire a resupply ship then have her link up with me. It's time we all got our revenge."

Putting my helmet back on I began to head for the door but was momentarily stopped by Minerva. "Take care of yourself out there dear Cousin," she said. "I do not wish to hear of your demise."

"Don't worry Minny. I'm fighting with more than just heroism on my mind." We'd hugged each other before I headed out. As I traversed the corridors I began to feel my body tremble with excitement. I couldn't tell whether it was the adrenaline from the previous fights or the memories of Necron Arcadia. But I wasn't going to waste the chance I'd been given by so many people.

When I reached the Hangar, the first person I'd notice from the crowd was Andrew sitting atop the Albion in its fighter mode as if he'd been waiting for me. Deciding to stop by him first I let him know of the situation up on the bridge.

"Damn..." he gasped, "Our witch did that?"

"Yeah, I'd never seen her get angry before. You should've seen it."

"Nah, it's probably better that I didn't. I would've fallen in love."

"Yeah, that might be for the best... Anyways, I'll need you with me."

Andrew raised a brow seeming curious as to what I'd say next. But something in him seemed to figure it out when he examined me a little more. He lost his smile and started cracking his knuckles. "I guess it'll be like old times then."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Except this guy won't get Clarke's mercy."

Without another word, Andrew climbed into Albion and the machine's core began to whir and roar to life. I headed for Ragnarok myself, using the lift from before. After the activating, our machines Andrew and I launched from the Asterism making our way toward Claire's position. Shortly after a resupply ship would follow us. On the way, I'd gotten a notification from Minerva that Alice had been picked up by the paramedics which were good. She'd done more than what she needed to do plus it was better that she'd been out of danger.

After linking up with Claire, I filled her in on what was going on. She'd been ecstatic about Arjun heading away, probably more so than either of us. Although it would probably take more than us to fight the Arcadian, the others were needed to defend the rest of the planet from enemy attack. If we could separate Arjun from the rest of the fleet then victory would be a lot easier to achieve. Then there was accounting for Laufey, whom I was sure wouldn't be as reckless as Arjun but was still a viable threat.

Looking toward the direction where the enemy fleet was coming from, I could now see the massive aura approaching us. Unlike Lucian, who seemingly suppressed his aura. Arjun didn't seem too modest at all. Even though the fleet's distance was great enough to note, it was as if I'd been looking at an approaching meteor heading toward the planet.

Firing the Luminous Magnum right now would've been the best call if it weren't for the behemoth of a man that was seemingly standing atop the last Dreadnaught. I knew in just a few minutes we'd be locked in combat with one of the deadliest foes we'd faced thus far and the strangest sense of excitement was building up within me.

Crossing my arms, I'd close my eyes trying to recall the events of that life-changing day. I remember being frozen in fear and confused due to the information I was given. Then in the next instant, I was protected by someone very dear to me at the cost of his life. That sickening feeling I'd get at times like this was slowly welling up within me again. The sound of the Doss's metal warping, the raspy air Clarke breathed as he was dying, and the pestilent sound of Arjun's voice was all I needed.

The black flames appeared once again, oozing out of my prosthetic like some vile substance. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Andrew and Claire's faces on the main display.

"O-Oh... Sorry guys... You probably felt that."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Claire shook her head, "Don't worry about that crap Soran. For once it's good you're riled up."

"Yeah, even I gotta admit this bastard is pretty powerful," said Andrew.

"Ya think so?" I asked.

"If he wasn't such a murderous wanker. He'd be a worthy foe to face."

A fact that even I wouldn't be so bold to admit. Being trained by the literal incarnation of war herself was probably the biggest influence on that. As the enemy came closer to our defensive line more ships and Ghosts would launch from its bays. Out of them, a single Eidolon climbed out of the ship. Circling upward to the bow of the ship. As it moved the intense aura moved with it. It crossed its arms though it couldn't hide the massive claws it bared. The same claws that snatched the life from Clarke's body.

Shortly after, the rest of the Lance and Shield unit joined up with us along with the Asterism. Gripping the control yoke I pushed down on the pedals and began the charge. Drawing the beam sword I pointed it straight at the enemy.

"Charge Nova Astra! This is the last wave!"

The entire line charged with me as a volley of the beam and ballistic fire began to shower us. Deploying the cloth bits, I used them to protect the other members of the Lance and Shield units.

The Rudra's wings which covered the machine like some large cloak unfolded revealing its slender figure underneath. Its clawed hand glowed purple as boosted toward an enemy Phantom. Driving the glowing claw into the machine's chest it exploded.

"The three of you seem like you have something to settle with Arjun...," Edwin said. "Allow the adults to clean up around here. Go on have fun."

The Kriemhild came charging from behind Rudra firing assault rifles into the incoming wave creating a plethora of explosions as the rounds found their marks.

The Tomoe was next, drawing a large katana from its hips it blasted forth and became a streak of white light that zig-zagged across the battlefield cutting down as many enemies as it could.

The gap the three were making for us was enough to breach through without expending too much energy. Though something about that never sat right with me. This all still seemed too easy. We managed to wipe out two of the flagships and the worst our site received was some damaged ships. The more and more we pushed the less confidence I was in our fight.

Our path to the final flagship began to show its difficulties. Two Ghosts launched from its bays and they were quite the behemoths. Great, juggernauts, the last thing we needed to face. They began to fire beams from their robotic digits forcing us to evade as best as we could.

It didn't help that the Juggernauts were armed with all-ranged weaponry too in its backpack. The small drones launched to attack us. Instead of counterattacking with the cloth bits, I recalled them and activated the beam blade from my left arm.

"Haumea... Claire... Follow my lead!"

Hitting the boost again I charged the first Juggernaught while keeping my shields at full power. The most dangerous things about those drones were that they could swarm you pretty quickly. So destroying whatever commanded them took precedence over everything else. I only needed to remain shielded right until I was upon the enemy. As we got closer many warning signals flashed on the display. There were drones now in firing range to blast us into space. Gritting my teeth I pulled back as hard as I could on the control yoke, the force of the sudden stop nearly crushing my body.

"Go to hell! You damned bloat flies!"

Spinning around I swung both beam blades straight at the drones cutting them to pieces. While their number was impressive dodging through their beams was even more so.

"I'll hold them all off, you three take out the Juggernauts!"

Deploying the cloth bits I send them to destroy any drone I couldn't cut down. Putting the beam sword away, I drew the Lumis rifle and aimed right at the drone housings on the Juggernaught's back. Firing a round the beam pierced through the Juggernaught's backpack blowing it up in the process. While the Juggernaught would still be operational it made it somewhat easier to take them down. As I aimed at the second Juggernaught I got another warning signal. This one wasn't of incoming fire, but rather an incoming enemy. My senses caught up with my reflexes and the rather large presence I detected before was now approaching us at a high speed.

"You've gotten better Xenthos!" A raspy-sounding voice said over the com. "I hope you enjoyed that little moment of fun... Because now's the part where you die."

Before I could turn all the way, the Ragnarok was hit by something so hard I ended up slamming into the other side of my seat. The airbags deployed cushioning my head as it hit nearly hit the console. The main display had been covered by a giant clawed hand and we'd been spinning rapidly until we came to a sudden stop. From what I could see in the gaps of the claw, Arjun's Eidolon aimed its other arm toward the second Juggernaught. Its other hand was now armed with a large cannon on its forearm. Firing the cannon, the round struck the second juggernaut and sent us flying toward Neo Arcadia.

Arjun just killed his comrade. Granted it was a grunt, but he still killed his guy. I was a little too shocked at what transpired to notice what he was doing. Recalling the cloth bits I held the left arm right at the waist of Arjun's machine. Activating the beam blade I thought I could at least damage him to make him back away. But at the same time, an emitter at the machine's hip deployed a barrier diffusing the beam as it tried to extend.

"Come on now Xenthos," Arjun said. "You should be praying I kill you quickly when we get there."

"Damn you!" I bellowed, then I looked around trying to see what in the world was he trying to do. I couldn't figure it out until we blazed past something concerning. I managed to catch a glimpse of the Asterism then looked behind me as I saw we'd been approaching Neo Arcadia's atmosphere. Whatever gun Arjun used it was a little too ridiculous to even call a gun. In a few minutes, we'd enter the atmosphere.

The unpredictable portion of the operation was in motion, meaning whatever happened next couldn't be predicted. Letting go of the control yoke, I decided it was better to be patient. Despite not knowing what Arjun had planned, I was somewhat confident he wouldn't pull anything until we completely entered Neo Arcadia's skies.

"Just you wait you bastard... I'll blow you out of the skies you're trying to invade."

A live feed, from inside Arjun's cockpit popped up on the display. His eyes were filled with a sick sense of anticipation. "An unworthy pup yapping at a wolf like me? I may find some entertainment after all."

Looking passed the display I saw the Nightingale riding atop the Avalon as they descended with us into the planet's atmosphere.

Once we were clear from reentry I hooked the Lumis rifle back onto the rear skirt armor and deployed the cloth bits. They circled and aimed right at Arjun's machine. He noticed too early and let go before the bits fired beams from all around him. Using his thrusters he grabbed the Ragnarok by its head and waist while we were upside down and increased the power of his thrusters. I almost couldn't believe it, but this guy was going to use the brainbuster on me.

"I hoped you prayed Xenthos! Cause now I'm gonna kill ya slowly with style!"

At this rate, I was going to get pile-driven straight into the ground from over six hundred kilometers in the sky. I didn't know what splattering on the ground felt like but I wasn't about to experience it. Pushing on the pedals as hard as I could, Ragnarok's thrusters engaged throwing us off our original course toward one of Neo Arcadia's open seaports.

We crashed straight into the water and I managed to shake Arjun off long enough to jump back out. Landing on the dock I drew the beam sword once again waiting on my enemy to emerge. Seeing how empty the port was made it clear, I wondered if Uncle Donnel knew where we'd be.

The Nightengale landed on the other side of the port aiming all of its weapons at the middle of the water. The Avalon would follow, transforming into its humanoid form. The Avalon sported a large shield in the shape of the starship form's nose and from it, the machine drew a beam blade.

Arjun's Machine climbed out of the water on the other side of the port. As he faced us he raised his claw to protect himself in case one of us started opening fire. Though the moment would turn into a short stalemate.

Another communication notification appeared on the main display, and it was an enemy signature.

"You whelps have done well so far. I gotta admit I got the chills when my ships were blown into space. But it'll all be futile once I finish you here."

"Haven't you been paying attention!?" Claire shouted. "You're the one losing here."

"That my dear is why your weakness disgusts me. You don't even realize the disadvantage you've been creating. Fix Release... Agni... receive the life I have accumulated."

The eyes on Arjun's machine began to glow a bright purple and its body emitted a strange light of the same color. The aura he exuded now began to fuse with the frame of the humanoid weapon. That feeling of doubt I had before now made a lot more sense. While it was three-on-one the odds seemed vastly out of our favor. He began to cackle as the power welled up within his machine.

Even though I'd been warned against it, I'd now been left without a choice. "Ragnarok... Activate the Anti-Eidolon System."

The feedback between the Animus system and Ragnarok strengthened and the system's logo appeared on the console. A diagram of Ragnarok's frame appeared on the main monitor as well. Sections of the shoulder, leg and chest armor opened. I began to feed the machine my power allowing flames to emit from the opened partitions.

"Anti-Eidolon System engaged," stated my A.I., "Time limit till failsafe protocol: 10 minutes."

Taking in a deep breath I leaned forward preparing myself for the worst to come. Then I pressed down on the pedals as hard as I could, charging Arjun with my beam sword at the ready.