“Liu Long… Mars!” This was all Athena needed to say for Liu to understand her intentions. Indeed, Mars was their only chance at survival. They had no control over Starship Atlas, or any other EFSF ship for that matter. That meant they would not be able to warp out of the area.

With the breached James MacLeod’s unit in tow, they activated their thrusters in a bid to escape down towards Mars!

The issue? They were against an A-class starship and five T3ST nexarms, not to mention, Nexarm Chimera which had been displaying odd abilities that Athena didn’t think possible!

Athena and Liu were the only NSF members still active, the status of the rest of the members unknown, perhaps dead. Athena discovered herself to have successfully distanced her heart from this reality, having entered a survival trance of calmness and clarity.

Yet, that did not mean she could escape from the overwhelming power of their enemies. Already, Starship Oneiroi was firing hundreds of their artillery weapons that Athena knew would rapidly deplete her x-alloy plates if she failed to dodge said rounds.

She was incredulous that the artillery fire from the T3ST starship never interfered with the T3ST nexarms’ movements-- it was as if they were perfectly in sync, barely avoiding friendly fire in complex moves. She knew that this wasn’t humanly possible.

The T3ST nexarms detached their weapon devices and swarms, sending them forth with the intention of finishing off Athena and Liu!

Mega-particle beam cannon charging process detected.

Athena’s eyes widened. The T3ST unit was truly hellbent on not giving them even a chance at survival! Little did she know that Enine had long lost control over Starship Oneiroi.

“Athena…” Liu’s voice was low yet filled with determination. “James MacLeod was in close range of that unique nexarm, and should have important data. You are the youngest of our formed unit. Do what needs to be done to survive!”

A blinding white flash filled Athena’s sensors. The width of the mega-particle beam along with its substantial velocity made it impossible to dodge from such a close range. Was this the end?

Yet, as her sensors cleared, Athena only found her nexarm’s plates down to thirty percent integrity. She was still very much alive, for upon sensing her surroundings, she discovered that Liu Long’s unit had blocked the direct path of the beam between her and the T3ST starship.

The whole frontal half of Liu Long’s unit was destroyed, with not even his corpse remaining. Liu’s unit had also successfully deflected some of the direct thermal energy, creating a small pocket for Athena that prevented her from being fully melted into a puddle in a similar manner.

Athena knew that she was the only one remaining. She had to survive and deliver the scenes of this disaster to the EFSF! She had to!

It was then that a heinous idea entered Athena’s mind. She felt herself inhumane for considering such a path. At the same time, she believed it to be her only chance to escape this encirclement. If not for the gel-filled cockpit, tears would have rolled down her cheeks. Instead, it simply mixed with the force absorption fluid.

She disconnected a few of her neuro devices.

Requesting remote control over Will Kyle’s nexarm. Pending.

Athena closed her eyes, her heart in turmoil as she, carrying James’ unit, swerved to dodge another wave of rounds from the enemy starship, before blocking a number of rounds from the enemy’s exo-armor neuro weapons with her depleting automaton swarms.

Pilot Will Kyle’s brain was protected. Your request has been accepted.

Kyle’s unit, which had been limp in space for some time, activated its thrusters and sped towards Athena’s!

Athena couldn’t help but wonder if Lieutenant Kyle had any remaining awareness of his surroundings. She remembered that Clio’s brain, having lost her body, was locked in darkness bereft of all sense, and she had nearly gone mad from the experience. Granted, her nexarm was also severely damaged.

Then, she heard Kyle’s voice. Not his actual voice, but rather a form of digital messaging.

Athena. The nexarm’s protection system suppresses our brains once our bodies are severely damaged, such that our brains do not have to suffer from the excruciating pain that is the loss of a body.

This is my end. But I will last the final stretch. Have no fear. Do not concern yourself with my life. We are of one mind.

Athena could only close her eyes once again, her heart filled with sorrow.

Requesting remote control over Olivia Gonzalez’s nexarm. Pending.

Pilot Olivia Gonzalez’s brain was protected. Your request has been accepted.

Another nexarm flew towards Athena.

Athena. My dear friend. Do what needs to be done, girl! If there’s a piece of me remaining at the very end, bring my brain back to my parents! We stand together for this stretch!

Athena could only lambast herself for being too weak to change their current situation without resorting to such a… barbaric act.

Requesting remote control over David Levy’s nexarm. Pending…

Requesting remote control over Arianna Bellucci’s nexarm. Pending…

Another two nexarms flew over beside Athena. Both sent messages of comfort to Athena’s unit.

Despite the excruciating pain of having lost their bodies to the vibrating blades of the T3ST unit, all four forcefully bypassed their exoarmor’s security protocols, and they controlled their automaton swarms to wrap around Athena’s unit!

Athena’s lips trembled as she observed the swarms whose movements were somewhat erratic due to the interference of intense pain on the controllers’ mind.

She opted not to take control of Benteke’s and Patel’s units? Their units had been in an offline state ever since the declaration from Vezna de Lerna. Even if captured, they would still remain alive in their current states.

She hugged James’ unit tight, and controlled the four other nexarms to lock arms in a circle around their two. The remaining four brains bore the feedback from the loss and death of their bodies and a trail of automaton swarms defended their formation.

“Please forgive me,” she muttered.

There is nothing to forgive.

The formation sped down towards Mars, and Athena no longer cared to swerve or dodge any rounds fired at her. Previously, She was like a sheep being herded in a circle by the T3ST unit’s use of artillery. No longer.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Soon, the defending automaton swarms were completely depleted by the continuous barrage from the T3ST unit.

Another wave of rounds struck, blocked by Kyle’s nexarm. Though the brain of the american attempted to use the laser defenses, the barrage from the A-class starship was too much, and the continuous torture of his mind could not execute the level of precision needed for the laser defense systems.

This continued on and on, until the x-alloy plates of all the four units surrounding Athena’s became damaged beyond repair, countless holes lining their surfaces

If only she could look away and not observe the results of what she viewed as her own actions.

It was not all for naught. They finally broke out of their encirclement and down towards Mars. The T3ST unit no longer followed, not wishing to be drawn into Mars’ gravity.

“Please forgive me…” Athena muttered once again, as she controlled the four nexarms to a position under her unit. She could control her own unit to ensure that she would survive atmospheric entry. Unlike her, James could no longer control his unit, and as such, Athena heavy-heartedly opted to provide James’ unit with this protection.

Ther is noting to forgve.

Athena could only weep with an agonizing burn in her heart. The messages she was receiving from the other four units were filled with errors.

She knew their brains must be failing… and she was going to hell for her actions.

____________________________________________________________________________

Back on Starship Oneiroi.

Grand Elder and the crew had collected themselves within the bridge to observe the battle, not having any control over the starship’s systems.

They were filled with bewilderment when after the EFNSF was sent tumbling down towards Mars, a beeping sound that descended down in tone filled their ears, before finally leading to a man with a deep voice announcing theatrically, “Game Over! Bonus Round, Failed!”

The crew met eyes with one another, all feeling that this was outright inappropriate. None pointed this out though-- right now, they had more important concerns. They traveled to their hangar in a row and welcomed the returning five T3ST nexarms.

When the five T3ST nexarms arrived, the sound of firecrackers played throughout the whole starship, followed by an upbeat tune of fanfare.

Enine blinked his eyes repeatedly and chose to ignore whatever had taken control over the T3ST unit’s starship. His concern was the state of Xeight. The parameters indicated that his son was in a semi-conscious state.

Upon the opening of Nexarm Chimera’s cockpit, Enine’s eyes came upon Xeight, who seemed half-asleep. His eyelids were only opened to a tiny slit, yet his eyes seemed to be moving under and looking at his surroundings.

“Xeight!” Enine patted the side of his son’s head. “Wake up! You’re fine!”

Xeight eyes roamed, his pupils constricting then dilating, before finally the man scrunched his eyes and blinked rapidly.

He felt like he had awoken from a hazy dream as his mind cleared and his vision refocused.

“What happened?” he asked.

The members of the T3ST unit all looked at one another, not sure of how to explain the recent events.

It was then that the comms made an announcement., “time to go!” It was in an Italian plumber’s voice.

“That’s… Mario’s voice.” Asix’s mouth was agape as he lowered himself from his nexarm’s cockpit. He himself occasionally played a game with this exact voice when he had free time on the T3ST colony.

The hangar door automatically closed.

The normal voice of the starship returned.

Jumping in ten, nine…

____________________________________________________________________________

Within Haisnaf Hydra.

Having united as more or less a singular entity, Vezna de Lerna and Syned both simultaneously noticed the further-off conflict between the T3ST unit and the EFNSF.

“How interesting!” laughed Vezna alongside the more robotic chuckle of Syned.

“Just a newborn lashing about in the waters for fun.”

Both were of one mind. They decided not to interfere-- In Syned Vezna’s mind, the T3ST colony of the belt would be a valuable member of the Kasvallian Republic sooner or later.

Upon witnessing the T3ST starship leave with its five nexarm units, Syned Vezna reentered his flagship, the SS-class Starship Hypermnestra, further augmented with a supercomputer’s capabilities for Syned’s control.

Admiral Sullivan of the martian fleet was already waiting for him within a secured room.

Vezna was dressed in a crimson gold-tinged royal military uniform that had a midnight blue scaled strap across his chest. He flicked his billowing midnight blue cape behind as he sat down before Admiral Sullivan.

“Admiral Sullivan. You know what must be done. Will Mars stand on the Kasvallian Republic’s side?”

Admiral Sullivan knew that the game had changed. Mars would have to bow at either the Kasvallian Republic’s or the Earth Feds’ feet. The problem? Mars had very recently accepted the assistance of the Kasvallian Group. Did they even have a choice at this point?

“I stand on your side. I will pressure the martian high command. I am certain they, too, will stand by your side,” was his reply with a bowed head.

“Good! I will send you back to the City of Remus. I await your favorable news.”

___________________________________________________________________________

The martian forces that still occupied the three asteroid resource centers, Pallas, Vesta, and Interamnia were pleasantly surprised as the EFSF forces simultaneously withdrew.

Most relieved of them all was Commander Khan defending Interamnia, who had far less starships to rely on as part of her defense.

Most frustrated of all was her opponent, Vice-admiral Gagnon. He had been slowly grinding his way through the defenses on Interamnia.

There were far more mines than intel had indicated to him, and he had even lost two B-class starships that had been herded into a dense minefield by the pattern of artillery fire from Interamnia.

Worst of all, his mega-particle cannons could not be used. The enemy had covered themselves under a thick cloud of particles that absorbed the energy of the beam cannons, and the defending forces seemed to have an endless supply of it.

All this was the result of Kasvallian Republic resupplying the martian forces stationed at Intermania. Khan knew she would not have been able to hold her position this long otherwise.

After sacrificing many resources, Vice-admiral Gagnon was about to bypass that particle cloud, only to receive the orders to retreat!

Would he lose his position due to having initiated a proper offense after allowing an A-class starship and two B-class ships to escape? He had thought a successful offense would wipe the slate clean.

He could only hope that high command would understand his choice given the lack of starships defending this asteroid resource node.

___________________________________________________________________________

Back on Starship Oneiroi

…two, one. Executing jump.

“Wait… wait! Wait!!” Qeleven began pulling at his hair in panic as sprinted towards a handle that would pull him back towards the bridge. “We need to check the safety of the jump path!”

The rest of the crew that had come to the hangar was much wiser than Qeleven, having long accepted their loss of control over the starship. They instead found various steady objects and handles to hold and attach themselves onto for the impending jump.

Xeight remained secured to his pilot’s seat, while Enine secured himself on a guest seat within the cockpit.

Performing the first jump.

When the ship shuddered as it entered warp, a dreamy song began playing that filled the crew with a sense of serenity within their hearts.

“...I believe I can fly…”

Executing the second jump in ten, nine, eight…

Qeleven’s maddening yells could be faintly heard echoing down into the hangar, but very much obscured by the song being broadcasted through the starship’s systems.

“Spread my wings and fly away…”

Then the ship jumped again, and the crew soon discovered themselves back at the T3ST colony in the belt, their hearts filled with warmth at the sight of their home.

“What are your intentions?” Xeight asked the air, having been informed that some entity had taken control over the starship.

A recording played before Xeight’s eyes, displaying many images of asteroids being mined.

The scene then transitioned. It was now a holographic image of Nexarm Chimera attempting to stomp on the long-deceased Lieutenant Jacobs of Mars!

Then, the scene of an EFNSF unit’s cockpit being stabbed clean through with a vibrating dagger played.

Neither Xeight nor Enine could make heads or tails of this compilation of holographic recordings.

“Your name?” Xeight wondered.

A holographic recording of Jen MacLeod played before the two’s eyes.

“I call your unit the Chimera,” the sound of Jen with a joyous giggle sounded in Xeight’s ears. “I think it’s a great name!”

“Chimera is it?” Xeight had a small smile. “You had best learn to talk properly then.”