CHAPTER 24 – THE WAY CRUMBLES

"It is believed the legacy of the fabled Magisters of Arceria was lost forever during the Great Equalizing, when the Transhuman Order arrived in the Zvezda System. According to the world's local history, the Magisters knew all secrets of the Great Cosmos and could practice any kind of magic, without regard for limits such as energy expenditure, quantum flux resonance, and ontological paradoxicality. Knowledge from this caliber is regrettably beyond the grasp of modern Conduits. Seven centuries later, even the most advanced biomorphologic augmentations or the greatest of mystical schools struggle to break the hard limits seemingly wrought into reality itself.

Some believe transhumanity will never surpass those barriers. Others believe that we, as a species of shared consciousness, have simply not attuned ourselves properly to the Æther."

– Sir Dr. Reibwyr Draus, "Forlorn Laments Of The Æther Age", Datalinks

Three days later, Ilsorin, the Radiant Knights' last bastion

"Are you sure about this?" Airo asked.

"I am," Kiana replied. "I want to show what's left of Dragon Retreat to the whippersnapper. It's the only place where I've been at peace since I awoke to this whole fubar."

"What about the constant warpstorms? How are you going to brave them?"

"Heh, I've got it planned." Kiana thumped the fuselage of the stormjet behind her. "Turned out these bad boys can operate even in space if necessary. I'll just climb into low orbit and then descend upon the location of our destination."

"If it still exists geographically," Airo muttered.

"Oh, I bet it does, Fearless Leader. That settlement had some top-notch E-beacons – ya, I didn't know about them before, but I used my time there to educate myself – same as you."

They were in one of the hangars at the top of the mountain stronghold. Kiana, with help from Bernard and Zeromon, had modified one of the Radiant Order's remaining stormjets, so she could fit alongside Nightsong in the cockpit, since her soulkin now was slightly larger than an adult human, but her wings and tail gave her an additional bulk.

"I do not know how much more we will all live, but I do hope you will return," Veralla said. She was about the same size as Nightsong, as the two rapidly grew in almost parallel fashion.

"Oh, we're definitely gonna return," Nightsong replied. "I just wanted to see the outside world at least once, and Kiana's suggestion sounds very nice indeed if... well..."

The two fledglings hugged, saying nothing more. Airo turned his gaze back to Kiana and clapped her shoulder.

"Take care," he said. "Both of you."

"We will," Kiana nodded. She then smirked. "Aww, has Fearless Leader suddenly become all soppy and emotional?"

"Hey, I am a different person now," Airo protested, frowning.

"Yah, and I'm a Radiant Knight," Kiana said. "Oh wait, I am. Hot damn, the world's gone crazy!"

"In more ways than one," Airo added, and they both laughed.

"Guess we gotta go," Kiana sighed, and made to put on the helmet of the heavy-duty vacsuit she wore, when suddenly someone shouted from the other end of the hangar.

"Kiiiii!" Zuckeroff shrieked breathlessly, approaching at full sprint. "Ki, wait for meeee!"

"Gamebrain, you dork!" Kiana snapped as the astrior stopped before her and Airo, panting heavily. "I told you I was leaving an hour ago! What smacked you to arrive late again?"

"Sorry, sorry," Zuckeroff waved his arms, having regained some stamina. "I was a referee in a combat card game and, uh, the match went on for too long, and, uh..."

"Didn't Cloud warn you or something?"

"He did! Ah, three times, I think!"

"Unbelievable," Kiana shook her head. "Well, we're leaving."

"But what about the neutron ginger beer sipping contest??" Zuckeroff exclaimed.

"It'll have to wait. C'mon, Nightsong." Kiana put on the helmet and turned to climb into the stormjet's cockpit.

"Ki," Zuckeroff said.

"What?"

"High-five?"

"Sure," she nodded, raising a hand, and they high-fived. Nightsong and Veralla said a hearty goodbye to each other, and then the snowy fledgling climbed into the stormjet after Kiana.

Airo, Veralla, and Zuckeroff cleared the docking pad. The stormjet's main drive roared to life, a showoff on Kiana's part, since the interceptor was perfectly capable of lifting off on its electromagnetic repulsors alone. She maneuvered the stormjet into position, and then the aircraft shot out from one of the slanted launch bays into the sky outside. Thirty seconds later, Yeoman Cloud confirmed the stormjet had cleared the fractal sub-region and was now truly away.

The sending party stood watching after the departed stormjet. After a few moments, Airo turned to Zuckeroff. "So, playing games, huh? Are you not worried the end of the world is coming soon?"

The astrior gazed at him and Airo saw his face lacked the usual goofy expression. "There's no shame in doing your favorite stuff during your last days," Zuckeroff said, his voice wistful. He shrugged, smiling ruefully. "We're all going to die, and there's nothing to be done about it. Might as well have fun, say your goodbyes, and hope your life's been good enough to've been worth living. Ah, at least that's my take on it. Oh, and there's always time for one last pint."

Airo nodded, surprised by the astrior's unexpected insight. Knowing about one's death always changed people, and often revealed hidden depths nobody ever suspected about.

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"Do you have something planned to do now?" Veralla asked Zuckeroff. She tried to be the same kind, cheerful dragon she always was despite the approaching doom. Yet Airo could sense the distress in her tone and every movement, and admired her for being so brave at so young an age in the face of such a terrible burden.

"Uhhh, yep!" Zuckeroff said. "I think it's just about time for the daily skycast! The others are probably outside already. Wanna play with us?"

"Oh, yes, let us do that!" Veralla exclaimed. She cast one last sad glance at the open launch bay. "Shall we go and play, Airo?"

"All right," he said. He petted her on the head soothingly, the gesture possible because Veralla was on all fours. "You will have to teach me the rules, though."

"Aww, yeah!" Zuckeroff burst out and pumped his fist. "Leave that to me, Boss! Imma master of ol' kinds o' rules!"

Veralla let out a hrrr–ing giggle, and her eyes brightened.

Airo sighed. "Under other circumstances, I would have regretted this decision deeply. Lead the way."

"Tooo battle!" Zuckeroff cheered, raising high an imaginary blade.

The three of them went off. Ilsorin's corridors and transit sections were empty. Most of the refugees had finished migrating to Ouroboros yesterday, and the Radiant Knights' hidden stronghold once again was quiet and deserted in the same way like when Airo first set foot in its luminous halls. But walking through this huge bastion was not the same as it had been months ago. Signs of habitation had multiplied as more and more people had been granted shelter here: colorful holograms hung in the air, nanofabricated draperies and interior waterfalls graced the walls, furniture of all shapes and sizes had sprung up everywhere, giving rooms, chambers, and souks a lived-in atmosphere.

Airo walked beside Veralla, both following Zuckeroff, and watched the abandoned scenery around them. It was a harsh reminder of the fate which awaited everyone. Airo didn't feel like playing games at that moment; the stubborn, resolute warrior inside him wanted to strategize, to plan, to seek solutions, and then act on them to get out of the mortal predicament that threatened him. He resisted the urge, for there was no use. He had already spent the previous night pondering what could be done, no matter how absurd or fantastic, wrangling Yeoman Cloud, consulting Lylana, Glawlrhain, and Magus, yet to no avail.

Indeed, he had given up, and these hopeless efforts were merely a denial on his part. The rest had already accepted their fate, and tried to make as much use of their remaining time as they could. The Radiant Knights, understandably, were the most serene and philosophical in behavior. Theirs was an example of dignified celebration, expressed through a combination of meditation and mellow joy, consciously freed from the worried world of subjective perception. The surviving Consortium and Union soldiers for the most part had turned toward hard indulgence of vices, closeted away in VR or in private company with unending supply of intoxicants. The last remaining refugees, vaguely aware of some veiled turmoil yet ignorant of the truth, were busy packing their meager belongings and taking the psi-gate to what they hoped was salvation aboard Ouroboros.

"Wait, this is not the way to the hangar," Veralla remarked as they went toward Ilsorin's grand entrance.

"Yeah, I know!" Zuckeroff said. "We'll be outside from now on. I reckon we could use some clear sky to have a bit more space, so, uh, I ordered some bots to make us a skycast field at the main courtyard outside. It's very nice!"

"Oh, so we dragons can use our wings fully to help ourselves fly! Thank you, St'aep'hon!"

"You could have told us upfront we are going to be outside," Airo grumbled. "If I was not in my power armor, I would have... expressed a strong opinion."

Veralla abruptly rawr–ed. "Airo!" she turned to him, full of eagerness. "Since I can now fly, and I am already bigger than you, this means you could ride on my back!" She spread her wings, accidentally bopping Zuckeroff on the head. "We can be just like the other Knights!"

"Hmm, are you sure you are ready for that?" Airo asked, thoughtful. He glanced appraisingly at Veralla. Standing upright, she was two heads higher than him and weighed nearly half a ton when not manipulating her gravitic field. Impressive from his perspective, yet still a runt by dragon standards.

"Oh, yes, I feel quite ready," Veralla nodded, her purple eyes bright with anticipation. "It is completely right for soulkin to fly together."

"Also, it's in the game rules, too," Zuckeroff added, rubbing his head with a derpy grin.

They just arrived at the huge antechamber of the grand entrance via a grav-shaft, when suddenly the whole stronghold tremored. Something thundered outside beyond the vast vaulted doors. Alarms rang out, and immediately died.

"What is happening?" Veralla asked anxiously, mantling her wings.

"Cloud, status report!" Airo barked, immediately sweeping his gaze in every direction.

There was no response. A second later, the ambient illumination dimmed, as if some sinister presence had overtaken Ilsorin itself.

"Boss, we've got company!" Zuckeroff yelled, pointing at one of the side passages. A group of security drones with oblong, slab-shaped frames were swiftly approaching, their reinforced shells gleaming menacingly.

"Get behind me!" Airo shouted. "Cloud, come in, bloody stars!" The SAI stayed silent. Airo cursed again, weaponless as he was, and raised a hand toward the drones. He tried to command them, yet now he realized how much he'd relied on Yeoman Cloud to automate things for him, as he stood powerless, unable to even summon up his HUD.

"Halt!" he shouted to the drones, hoping they'd recognize his voice and obey. Each of the slab-like robots cracked its frame into four identical struts and rushed forward with rapid spinning motion.

Airo immediately dove to the side, avoiding the charge. Zuckeroff tried to duck, yet one of the security drones slammed into him full-force, and the unarmored astrior hit a wall, collapsing. Behind Airo, Veralla cried out in fear. He turned, shouting in fury. One of the drones extended a fractal manipulator and swept it at him. He jumped high to evade the strike and kicked mid-air another drone coming at him, his power-armor enhanced strength sending it flying. He smashed his fist into another drone as he landed, the force of the blow breaking the robot's split frame in half.

He quickly dispatched the third drone and looked for Veralla. She was fighting a half-dozen robots, with just as many rushing his way, while more drones were coming to join the fray from several grav-shafts and corridors. Airo focused and called the starblade into his hands. Yet before he could summon the artifact, the environment wavered, and a terrible nausea hit him. He fell to his knees, and heard the characteristic whine of hypercharged capacitors. He lifted his gaze and saw one of the security drones pointing a laser pulser at him.

Airo raised his arms instinctively, and the robot fired. Searing pain pierced his chest, drowning the world in a red haze. He gasped, astounded why the power armor didn't protect him, and slumped to the floor, fighting to remain conscious.

***

Veralla was very afraid. She did not know why the robots were hostile, and she worried for the others inside the base. She dodged and parried the blows of the security drones, her growing draconic strength more than a match for their heavy metallic limbs, and she struggled to remember Glawlrhain's combat lessons as she resisted her battlefury from overtaking her mind.

Then she saw Airo fall down, clutching his head.

"Airo!!!" she shouted and lunged, bowling through the security drones who surrounded her. She rushed to help him, yet she could not get in time before one of the robots lifted some sort of weapon, and shot him point blank. Airo gasped in pain and fell down.

Veralla screamed in horror. Her scream turned into a roar, and battlefury overwhelmed her, plunging everything into a blue mist. She pounced at the mass of robots, her claws and teeth flashing, tearing off limbs and ripping frames to pieces. Her tail lashed, knocking down those who tried to flank her and her wingtips impaled any drones within reach, scattering them away with savage shakes. Veralla roared again with rage and opened her jaws wide, unleashing a brilliant, silvery firestorm. Her firebreath vaporized a score of security drones, yet more arrived to take their place with relentless mindlessness. She gathered breath to incinerate those new enemies, when abruptly she sensed some ephemeral presence above her. She aborted her attack and looked up to see several waves of resonance, humming with an etheric echo, life vibrating between their quantum folds.

Serefi.

They flashed straight at her, fast as thought. Before she could do anything, the resonance fields went inside her, enveloping her in their immaterial waves. Without warning, her every fibre flared with intense pain, and she shrieked. She tried to resist the pain, but it was as if she was thrown into a neutron star, her whole body crushed and burned at the same time. Her shriek turned to whine and then went silent altogether as she exhausted the air within her lungs. Yet the serefi never let go even for an instant and the pain did not stop, drowning out everything, until there was nothing but agony.

Veralla finally succumbed to the merciless assault, and blacked out.