Esmeralda Oz, the last warden and supreme ruler of Haven, watched through cameras as the technicians performed an autopsy on the dead body of Kerner Braverhund. He lay on his back, eyes closed, charcoal black fur close cropped and perfect. Even in death the old hund seemed not to be sleeping, but waiting.

Words flashed across her mind, unbidden and unwanted. His promise, carved into stone, displayed prominently above his grave for all the world to see. A warning that he was not truly gone. She wasn't sure if the unease she felt was because she was desecrating the body of a friend, or because she wasn't sure he was really dead.

The technicians doing the actual autopsy were dressed in white full length containment suits that were supplied a steady stream of oxygen from hoses attached to the ceiling. The positive pressure inside the suits meant that even if something managed to make a hole in the tough ceramic composite outer shell the user would not be exposed to whatever contaminants were in the air.

Great big compound eye lenses piped high resolution computer enhanced feeds into their helmets and allowed them to see everything from infrared to x-ray. No details escaped their god-like vision as they went about their work.

They had started by photographing the exterior then proceeded to peel back the outer layer of skin, aided significantly by the fact that there were helpful seams and arrows to guide them through the disassembly. There was no need to cut, they could do the work easily with just their hands.

He came apart like a child's doll. Bits and pieces of him scattered across the various tables for later examination and cataloging. One of the techs waved excitedly to another.

Esmeralda hadn't bothered to learn their names, instead referring to them by the numbers on the backs of their suits. "What do we have, number three?" She asked through the intercom.

"I'm not sure." He said, aiming the high resolution camera in close to give her a better look at Kerner's severed head. "What do you make of this?"

Now that the old hund's skull had been peeled bare she could see the unmistakable glint of pure gold. "Interesting." Esmeralda said as she zoomed in close. There were black marks across the surface of the skull, regular repeating patterns. "What are those… strange… I could swear I saw some kind of writing..." Almost as if they heard her speak, the symbols had dissolved into abstract smears.

"No, just fluid caught in the cracks and imperfections of the surface. I thought the same thing too for a moment." The tech explained as he hit the skull with a burst of compressed air to dry it. "The computers would have automatically flagged any writing or symbols. It's not blood either, it seems to be some kind of synthetic grease or lubricant."

She regarded the golden skull through her screen. As was tradition, it smiled back at her. The teeth were white and sharp. She could almost hear the old hund's dry laughter in her mind as she stared at it.

"Burn it." She said, following her gut instinct. Whatever this was she should not have brought it aboard Haven. It was dark, it was evil, and it was not dead. "Stop the autopsy, destroy everything. Delete all the files."

The techs all stopped. Number three scratched the top of his helmet dramatically. "Excuse me, but we've just gotten started. This is the first chance we've had to get our hands on a current generation warhund. The insights we can glean into how far hund technology has advanced will be-"

"-not worth the risk." Esmeralda cut him off. "Burn it. Burn all of it. I will not let your curiosity and hubris endanger this station and everyone living here. That is a direct order."

"Yes… warden." Number three looked at the other techs and shrugged. "It is against procedure but we will do as you ask.."

"Thank you." Esmeralda said, not taking her eyes off the golden grinning skull. Something about it made her skin crawl. The old hund had seemed harmless enough but whatever this was that had been hiding underneath his skin radiated an intense aura of menace, even through a computer screen.

How could she have been so foolish as to fall for the bait and bring it aboard? She had taken countermeasures, tried to keep it isolated, but what hope did she have to contain a spirit this malevolent? She had to act now. She had to get rid of it.

Then like a whisper in her mind she had a vision of an old gothic house surrounded by black roses, a bone white door opening to reveal a room that was bare except for an old grandfather clock. The clock had no hands, no weights to drive it. Above it were written the words "Too Late".

She knew this place. She knew whose home she was being shown. It was from an old human story, a story about Death.

"Schäm dich, my dear warden. I expected so much better of you." Said a familiar voice through the intercom, breaking her reverie. It was the unmistakable rasp of Kerner Braverhund and he was very very disappointed. "I had hoped you would have the decency to leave me be. Or the intelligence to contain me. But perhaps I overestimated you."

In the room the technicians seemed to be having trouble functioning but showed no signs of distress. They dropped their tools and wandered aimlessly until they collapsed, going limp after just a few twitches. Their deaths registered in her wetware as ugly red splotches. It seemed to be some kind of fast acting poison. But how had it gotten through their suits? Those things were supposed to be armored and pressurized.

Haven's damage mitigation protocols kicked in as it detected the unscheduled deaths, sealing the lab behind heavy blast doors. Nobody could get in or out. But Kerner didn't want to get out. He was exactly where he wanted to be, his bare skull strapped down to the table.

"I had hoped you would leave me be, but of course you wanted to know what was inside. You had to dig. Your kind can't help but grasp around in the dark looking for treasures." The old hund said bitterly.

"At least their deaths were quick and painless, nitrogen asphyxiation is generally considered to be a 'humane' form of euthanasia. I unfortunately can't extend the same courtesy to the rest of Haven's inhabitants. Though I will do my best to spare you, if I can."

There was a feeling of incredible pressure as he spoke, like his very words were dragging her down. Like a fist was grinding her into the floor. Like someone had taken control of Haven's artificial gravity.

"Mierda." Esmeralda swore as she realized what was going on. Gravity on the station was controlled by a series of powerful thrusters mounted to the central core that spun Haven on its axis. And someone had turned them all on full blast.

"Why are you doing this?" She demanded angrily as she reached out with her mind and tried to override the thrusters, but they weren't responding. A quick diagnostic revealed the reason, the relays that delivered power to the thrusters had all been fused open by a massive surge of electricity. As long as thrusters received power they would continue to fire, and Haven would spin faster and faster until it tore itself apart.

Her stomach lurched as she realized what must have been happening on the outer rings. The further away from the core the more pronounced the effect of the increased rotational velocity would be.

There was a mechanism that allowed the central core to maintain standard gravity without over spinning the outer rings, but it wasn't built for this kind of speed. It couldn't save them.

Casualty reports flashed red across her mind as the inhabitants of the outer rings were liquefied by the intense g-forces, the flesh being ripped off of their bones as they screamed. Their bodies being forced through holes in grates and floor drains like wet bloody ground beef though a grinder as gravity relentlessly pressed down on them.

She vomited and watched it instantly splash onto the ground. This was only the beginning. Soon the rings themselves would fall apart, starting a chain reaction that would send ripples of destruction through the whole station as the unbalanced sections vibrated the central core apart.

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"You should not have given me Eden to protect." Kerner continued, his voice echoing out over the station as the death toll steadily rose. "As long as Haven hangs above Homeworld she will not be safe, so it must be destroyed."

Esmeralda tried to think, tried to find a way to stop this destruction. But the thrusters were tied directly into the central power distribution network, and all the switches between them and the main reactor were fused open. As long as the reactor operated, so would the thrusters.

A low vibration started emanating through the soles of her feet as Haven came apart. It would only get worse as the damaged and unbalanced sections continued to stress the central core. She had a few minutes at most before the station tore itself apart.

Esmeralda fell to the ground, unable to stand, unable to resist the crushing force of gravity. Her mind raced, trying to find an answer. She couldn't shut down the reactor, it was self-sustaining. So what if she could redirect the flow to something even more power hungry than the thrusters?

She threw her mind into Haven's central cannon, a weapon capable of destroying continents. It would fire directly down into the planet and bleed off enough energy to bring the thrusters below their operational threshold, shutting them down.

Millions would die, but it was the only way. She felt the old pattern of call and response as it accepted her authority and began preparing to fire.

But to her horror, someone else was aiming the weapon. She felt a mind like iron ripping control away from her, taking over the Haven's most secret systems. Kerner was asserting complete control. After all, she had just given him the codes. Maybe it had been what he was after from the beginning.

But what was he doing? She felt something shift inside the cannon as if it was being reconfigured somehow, because after all there wasn't much difference between an energy cannon and a directional antenna besides frequency and output.

Whatever he was doing it was taking up massive amounts of energy, enough to choke out the station's thrusters as the power levels dropped below their operational threshold. Haven would continue to spin, but the worst of the vibrations were beginning to subside.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized just how much energy he had poured into the warp cannon, or rather, warp antenna. He had filled all of its power banks and now he was using the entire station like a capacitor, charging and charging, then charging some more until Haven itself had begun to glow.

What could he possibly need that much energy for? "What are you doing?" Esmeralda asked, terrified of what she had allowed to happen. There had been no warning, no chance to stop it.

"Speaking my mind." Kerner replied as he fired the weapon out into space, pumping out a small sun's yearly output worth of energy in less than a second. The air filled with blue and purple plasma as the super capacitors discharged creating a massive electromagnetic field.

She could taste the enamel of her teeth mixed with hot ozone as current passed through her body. Then, darkness claimed her. But she was not alone in the inky blackness.

She could see Eden, her not-child, standing there in the void, reaching out to her. Snow was falling, turning the black world gray, she was wearing a bright purple parka and her hands were covered in home knit mittens. Around her hunds were playing, laughing, dancing in the snow. And a figure stood behind her, the old hund watching, guarding. Content to see his grandchild living a happy life, to know she was being taken care of.

There was an intense feeling of love, incredible love burning bright like fire, the love of a parent or grandparent. With it came an intense need, a need so primal that it could not be denied, the need to protect this child from all harm. And along with it came the knowledge that something bad was coming, an apocalyptic tide, an unstoppable wave of warpfire and hellfire.

Then there was another feeling, dread. He did not know how to save her, only how to delay the inevitable. But he had given his word, and none would harm this child, this pup of his. So even as his body failed him, even as death claimed him, he had clawed his way back to stand by her side, ever vigilant, ever watchful. And there was nothing he would not do to keep her safe. No line he would not cross.

Now Esmeralda understood why Kerner had destroyed Haven. He needed to stop the gate from being opened and the failsafe from triggering. He needed to protect this child, to buy her just a bit more time, time to live her life and grow. The end might come, but she would not face it today.

There was a rumbling as Haven began to break apart, its structure stressed beyond all reasonable limits. If Kerner had just vented the atmosphere Haven might have survived. Instead whole sections underwent explosive decompression as the smallest of pinholes blossomed into gaping wounds, enhancing the destruction, sucking what remained of its inhabitants out into space.

Haven would fall and crash down to the planet below in chunks of burning debris. The larger pieces would be annihilated by automatic ballistic countermeasures and air defense systems. The smaller ones would streak through the night sky like shooting stars, flaring and exploding into nothingness.

Only the central core would remain in orbit, damaged and shattered like a bone gnawed and cracked for marrow. The barely functioning main reactor was enough to keep the lights on and maintain basic life support, but that was all.

Esmeralda flickered back and forth between consciousness and the cool dark embrace of near death. She floated in the thin air, barely alive, tears of rage streaming down her cheeks.

"You have a choice to make." Said Kerner through the computer screen, his golden skull still grinning. "You have lost everything. Your great stronghold is in ruins. Soon my people will mount an assault to kill whoever remains and scavenge what they can from the wreckage. All is lost."

Esmeralda coughed and sputtered, feeling the hatred burning within her, the betrayal. "Fuck you. You'll never escape now. You're trapped here with us and you just destroyed the only way out. The gate is gone and you may have bought yourself some time, but either way this world is still going to burn. Your whole flea ridden species is going to burn!"

"Yes." Kerner rasped. "This world will burn. It was always fated to do so. There is no escaping it for either of us. We may leave echoes of ourselves… but there is no escaping death."

There was a metallic clanking coming down the hall towards her. It sounded like a rescue bot or some other kind of heavy duty unit.

"Over here!" Esmeralda shouted, but her excitement and hope quickly turned to terror. It wasn't a rescue bot, it was one of the hund creations lumbering towards her. An ancient war machine known as a grim. But what was a grim doing on Haven?

It was massive, bipedal, covered with black ceramic armor and active countermeasure systems, a walking tank that barely fit through the station's hallways. It turned its sad canine face towards her, black eyes watching her expectantly. It made no move to approach. It was waiting for something.

Esmeralda looked at the computer monitor. Kerner's grinning skull was gone. The feed only showed static.

She felt a message from the grim flash across her mind. It was offering to take her to safety. There was a shuttle. She could leave this place behind. But even if she could trust the grim, did she want to go?

As if reading her thoughts the computer screen came back to life to reveal Kerner. He was reassembling himself, pulling his skin back on like a sweater with his skeletal hands. His golden skull grinning and shining. "You can go with Emet, or you can stay here with me and the other ghosts. I say go, live your life, start a garden or something."

"I will destroy you." Esmeralda promised. "I don't care how long it takes. I'll kill you for what you did here."

"What I did? Dear warden, wasn't it you who wished to open the gate and destroy this world in a foolish attempt to return home? To kill Eden along with all the rest? No, I killed thousands to save billions."

Esmeralda wanted to scream, the truth of his words ringing in her ears. She would have sacrificed everyone on this station and the world below as well if it meant she could go home. He was right. He was fucking right and she hated him for it.

The old hund sighed. "Besides, there is nothing of me left to destroy. This is just a husk, a weapon, an automaton. Hating this body is like hating a landmine. I will do what I have to do then enter a rest cycle until I am needed. But you, having lost everything, are finally free. Go, be happy with whatever time this world has left. Run and don't look back. There is nothing for you here."

"I'm still going to kill you, somehow." Esmeralda snarled.

He let out a low chuckle. "You can't kill what is already dead, dear warden. So go, live your life. I hear that a life well lived is the best revenge anyway. I will guard what remains of the gate and wait until I am called."

Then the screen went black and switched off. Esmeralda looked at the grim with suspicion. "Are you another one of his tricks?" She asked.

The grim shrugged its massive shoulders and she got a sense though the link that it didn't know or care. It simply existed, and that was enough. It had been told that saving her was important, so it had done as it was told. It did not have any reason to question how this fit into any larger framework.

"Fine." Esmeralda said, looking around the ruined station. She would salvage what she could then head down to Homeworld. There was no knowing how long she had before the failsafe triggered on its own. It could be years, it could be centuries. There was no way of knowing until it happened.

A strange sense of relief settled over Esmeralda as she planned her departure. With the gate destroyed nobody would come looking for Eden. She would grow up oblivious to the reasons for her creation. Perhaps her life would even be a happy one.

Esmeralda was still hurt and angry. Kerner's betrayal and the destruction of Haven had rocked her to her core in ways she had yet to fully process. In the span of only a few minutes humans had gone from being a dominant power in this universe to a loosely bound group of exiles. They would be lucky if the hunds and katzen didn't decide to kill them all. Hell, she would be lucky if the remaining humans didn't kill each other.

With the threat of Haven gone some would try to carve out their own little kingdoms on Homeworld. She looked at the grim. A war machine like Emet could come in handy, and she could always reprogram it later.

"How long will you assist me?" She asked.

Emet responded through the link, giving her a sense that it did not truly grasp the importance of time. It enjoyed working, building, and protecting. What did time have to do with anything? Was time important?

She looked around her ruined kingdom. No, she supposed it wasn't. She had all the time in the world now, however much that was.