The Radiant Knights prepared to depart for Kryoon City. Everybody gathered at the psi-gate in the middle of Ilsorin's gardens. The large golden arch cast a pale glow in the morning gloom, its transdimensional portal shimmering around the edges, showing the grand decks of Ouroboros beyond.

Airo checked for one last time his combat gear, making sure the virtualizer, the veronite blaster, and his crystal-bladed katana were all in place. The starblade was securely withdrawn somewhere into the depths of his higher self, after Magus had shown him how to attune himself to it. It had been surprisingly easy, and Airo couldn't help but speculate the starblade somehow took ownership of him instead of the other way around.

Veralla insisted on taking a very long goodbye with him. She wished him to return safe multiple times, nearly suffocating him with her growing draconic strength expressed in constant hugs, to the point where he had to ask her to stop so he could perform the starblade's attunement process with Magus. She finally let go of him reluctantly, one last time bidding him to keep his promise, and stood anxiously nearby, while he gave a final briefing to the Knights, making sure everyone knew their squad composition and chain of command.

With the Radiant Knights fitted for ultimate battle, Airo prepared to give the signal for everyone to move out, when he saw Magus coming toward him.

"I have to admit, old man, your dramatics and high-handedness might be well warranted after all," he tried to humor, keeping his tone light. "If it was not for the amount of god machines you pulled on several occasions, this saga would have been cut short aeons ago."

Magus fixed him with a stare. "Are you still after revenge?" the old Knight asked with a soft voice, his purple eyes mournful and intent. "After everything that has transpired?"

Airo paused, stunned by the abrupt gravity of the situation. He averted his gaze and glanced reflexively at Veralla. She laughed along with the others, while Zuckeroff was telling a corny military joke. His life was different now. He had new horizons to look up to, and new responsibilities to bear.

Yet his past was still the same. And it demanded resolution.

He wondered why Magus asked him this question. He felt he knew the answer. Ferrtau had been Magus' protege, and perhaps the old man still held hopes that his former student would redeem himself. Perhaps Magus, whether intentionally or not, had tried to establish himself as a mentor to Airo too, and sought to prevent whatever mistakes he had made with Airo's archenemy. Perhaps Magus genuinely cared for him or Veralla, and wished to protect either or both of them. Airo, while no longer resentful of the old Knight, didn't care for his motivations regardless.

In truth, the question was a symbol to an internal conflict which had stormed inside Airo for some time now. He was torn between revenge and forgiveness.

Given life anew by Veralla, he had regained his capacity for compassion and kindness. Fighting alongside the Radiant Knights, he had been given a wealth of new perspectives and new paradigms to strive for and live by. Having seen firsthand – through the living chronicle – the tragedies Ferrtau had endured in his life and the sort of person he had become nevertheless, had made Airo understand the lengths his former friend had gone to honor the memory of Zenassa and to aspire to be a better person because of that. Combined, these events and knowledges had coalesced into the core from which Airo's new life springed, shaping his future outlook, vision, and ideals.

Yet the old part of him was still alive, and still his. The part he had lived with for years, the hollow demon who knew nothing but rage and fury, bitter sorrow and endless anguish. And while he no longer needed that aspect of his persona, to ignore or to refuse it would weigh on his soul as much as shunning the chance for a new life.

Airo wanted to embrace the future, yet first he needed to lay the past to rest.

"I still seek revenge," he said to Magus. "Even if it is not for personal reasons anymore, I want to make Ferrtau pay. To face justice."

"Do you think there was true justice for you, seven centuries ago?" Magus asked quietly.

Airo was momentarily silenced. "That was different," he snapped, his tone defensive. "And I did endure a harsh enough sentence – one which many would consider a fate worse than death."

"Yet it did not turn out that way, did it? You are here today. Do you consider your life right now a fate worse than death?"

Airo again glanced at Veralla, feeling the familiar tingle in his mind as he regarded her dark, unique form. "Ask me again when Ferrtau is a threat to all of us no more."

"All I want is you to consider the words you just spoke," Magus said. "Once, you too were a threat to all. And now you are on the other side. Please – be kind."

Airo nodded curtly. He raised his fist, gathering the attention of the Radiant Knights. "Everyone, move out!" he shouted, and pointed toward the awaiting psi-gate.

They crossed the gate in groups, teleporting to Ouroboros. Gravity aboard the great starship was still absent, so the Radiant Knights quickly crossed the enormous decks, using the zero-g environment to their advantage. They reached one of the access hangars and exited into the void beyond.

In the near distance, a H'raal sphereship drifted on the same orbit as Ouroboros, a bright, silvery globe visible among the giant anomalous clouds soaring around the neutron star. The Radiant Knights activated the powerful jetpacks they had strapped to their armors or backs and flew toward the sphereship like a constellation of trailing comets. There was no chatter on the internal commlinks. Everyone was grim about the upcoming battle and tried to prepare themselves for the difficult odds they'd face.

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After several minutes, the Knights arrived at the sphereship and boarded the exotic spacecraft. Airo had instructed the H'raal to keep one of their vessels nearby, because each of them had their own psi-gates which enabled instant transportation between their fleet. The technology was different, yet it operated on the same principles, so keeping Ouroboros and a sphereship together gave the Radiant Knights the ability to quickly cover vast distances, moving in and out of their hidden stronghold, eliminating their reliance on Vorzii.

Airo led the Radiant Knights through the H'raal psi-gate and they emerged on the other side, entering the main deck of the H'raal mothership, which was located several score kilometers above Kryoon City. Airo had a short conversation with Te'ylna Shy, checking if there were any unexpected problems with the evacuation. Once that was done, the Knights left the mothership and paradropped toward the domed city far below, making the last leg of their swift passage.

Transport shuttles were already taking civilians off-world, making constant circuits between the sky-parked H'raal fleet and the busy cosmodrome north of Kryoon. The weather was wracked by a severe blizzard accompanied by constant thunderbolts, with a raging warpstorm on top. Emergency E-beacons were set everywhere, their crystal cores glowing from the accumulated energies. Even then, the landscape wasn't quite right-looking, manifesting strange refractions and aberrant mirages. It was amidst these perilous and surreal conditions the united forces of Terra Para had to pull off both the largest evac operation in the history of the colony and withstand their toughest battle in this war.

As Airo rapidly descended, guiding his freefall with the power armor's antigrav module, it reminded him about the starship crash he had survived when he first arrived on the planet. Almost a year had passed since that fateful event, yet to him it seemed like an eternity ago. Suddenly his commlink chimed, taking him out of his reverie.

"Commander Airo," Captain Riley greeted with a terse salute on the AR display. "It's good to have you among the ranks. Ought to bolster morale a bit, but mostly we're damn glad you're taking personal command of this fubar. I know I'd be shitting polyconcrete right now if I was leading the show." The connection was spotty, garbled by heavy interference from the warpstorm. "Combat HQ's assembled on the central battle platform. We're ready to receive you."

"Understood," Airo replied. "I will be there shortly." He opened a commlink channel to the Radiant Knights. "To all units, take positions as you see fit and connect your Viirt meshes to the Consortium network. If the warpstorm becomes too worse to bear, seek shelter near one of the E-beacons. Zuckeroff, Dei, you are with me. The rest, keep close to your squad leaders and do not take any unnecessary risks. Remember, we are here primarily to evacuate the civilians. That is all."

The commlink buzzed with acknowledgments, and the Knights scattered in different directions, humans and dragons disappearing into the blizzard to remain only as colored silhouettes on the AR overlay. There were three antigrav platforms occupying Kryoon's airspace, one hovering above the cosmodrome and two smaller ones positioned above the city itself, each bristling with weapon arrays. Airo flew toward the larger platform and landed at one of the docking bays.

He made his way to the platform's CIC center, the soldiers on duty giving him hurried salutes when they saw his ID tags. Airo entered the CIC center. Inside an army of screens took up almost every available surface and more displays occupied AR space, monitoring traffic, tactical networks, weather patterns, power grids, and status reports down to smallest detail, like tracking the amount of ammo left in the weapons of individual combatants. A sizable team of technicians and administrative staff watched carefully this ocean of data, assisted by an equally large number of SAIs.

Airo waded through this impressive setup, spotting Captain Riley at the other side of the war room. There was another person who was with him, someone Airo didn't expect to see ever again.

"Major, how did you survive?" he asked, coming closer.

Major Trahaearn turned. He was wearing a power armor without the helmet, and Airo saw the Union veteran was a Stonelander with rich dark-brown eyes and pleasant features. But Trahaearn's expression was grim and unsmiling.

"I was out in the field when Arcolant fell," Trahaearn replied in the same direct manner. "Supervised a mission personally to instruct fellow legionaries how to fight the Revenant." The major glanced skyward in a flash of regret. "Only around a company of us escaped by happenstance. When the dust settled, we called for help through the QE communicator you'd given me, Commander Airo, and a H'raal starship came by to save us."

"Where are the rest of the Union soldiers now?"

"Most of them volunteered to crew the evacuation shuttles. It's better this way, since we won't have trouble with Consortium personnel, and anyway we've always had better pilots."

Captain Riley snorted. "I'd like to dispute that statement."

Airo nodded, meeting Trahaearn's gaze. He was glad the Union veteran survived – that anyone survived – Ferrtau's massacre. Yet this wasn't the time for sentiment. "Anything unusual to report?" he asked, turning to Riley.

"Other than the completely anomalous climate of this deusforsaken planet?" The Consortium captain snorted again. "Besides trying to kill us or drive us insane, the warpstorm makes the evacuation problematic. We're moving slower than I'd like, although progress is steady. Maybe those Union fanatics are really better than our own flydudes." Riley traded glances with Trahaearn. "The rest is a game of nerves. We sit and wait for the impeding doom, and pray to somehow come out on top of it. That's why I appreciate you being here, Commander."

"Do not thank me yet, Captain," Airo said. "You and Major Trahaearn – if you allow him to help you – will remain in direct command of our forces. My highest priority is to confront Ferrtau. I cannot allow any distractions when I meet him on the field."

"You... you're going against the Lightbringer?" Trahaearn asked, mouth agape. "By yourself?"

"I am," Airo confirmed. "That is why I count on you, gents, to hold the fort on the wider front."

"Void damn," Riley cursed. "Well, if that's how things have to play out, then we'll do our best."

Airo talked a few more minutes with the two commanding officers, familiarizing himself with the composition of the defensive forces. He then went outside on the weapon platform's battlements, where he was joined by Zuckeroff and Magus Dei.

"How will you take part in all this?" he asked the old Knight.

"I will not hold back any of my power," Magus said with an ominously neutral expression. Again he carried no obvious protective gear, his crimson robe waving in the furious blizzard, his voice clear and distinct as if he spoke on a calm day. "I can start by giving us a clearer view." Magus raised one of his arms high, palm facing the sky.

Abruptly, the clouds began to clear off. The warpstorm remained, a dark pall spewing thunder and lightning amid the rapidly emptying heavens, yet visibility swiftly improved, until it became clear enough to observe everything with a naked eye. The commlink exploded with bewildered chatter, as people sought the source of the sudden change.

"Show-off," Airo drawled, nodding. "All right then. Cloud, inform our command staff this was our doing." He turned to Zuckeroff. "Do not let any Revenant come near the old man."

"You've got it, Boss!" the astrior said, straightening and saluting. He slapped the heavy sniper rifle he preferred to carry. "I'm your guy! You know it!"

"Hmm," Magus seemed like he wanted to argue, yet kept his silence.

Airo's commlink chimed again. "Sir, everyone's in position," Stamat reported. "What... what do we do now?"

"Now, we wait," Airo replied, and stared grimly at the warping horizon.