The robot then twirled the gun and placed it in his holster smoke billowing from the barrel, John’s eyes had returned to normal and he gazed across the landscape to see the thousands dead, the carnage, the destruction, and he saw Ellis, not a few meters away, a rifle in hand. He had saved him, he had saved John.

Rushing towards him, John embraced his friend with a long hug.

“You saved me”

“That's what friends are for”

“Thank you”

“What happened here?”

“It's a long story I will explain later”

“I will be glad to hear it”

Kalos now stood upright and waited, unsure of what to say.

“ I will not let you leave so easily, come with me, come with me John, I need to keep an eye on you, and together we can take you somewhere safe, to Kestle perhaps, to scour the seven worlds, to find my homeland.”

“What about the collective?” John asked.

Ellis cut in.

“Three hours ago they declared the immortalis project has been disbanded, the orbiter is being repurposed, every single surviving member on the station is being returned to their homes, the rest of us are left to the planet”

“What... how?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“It’s a long story I will explain later”

John smirked.

He then saw Shaw and a repaired Sparky, both he embraced with hugs.

“Would you like to come with me to Kestle?” Kalos asked.

“Mind if I bring a few friends along?” John replied.

“Not at all”

With that the five ascended into the ship of Kalos, the EMP had worn off and the vessel rose to the heavens, passing through the mirky atmosphere. Tears of joy and happiness trickled down their cheeks and a sad smile danced on John’s lips.

They had done it, they had escaped, and soon they would be free able to taste the fruits of victory and bask in liberty. The tiny vessel of immense vanity swept into the stars and speeded towards the general’s home. Inside its crew beamed with joy, below Xen and his soldiers waved their hands as they saw them depart and in a solar system far, away, in a time incomparable a tiny child with curly black hair from eath looked up into the sky and saw the heavens above, frost nipping slowly at its toes scared by its vast darkness and the emptiness it felt, but it kept comfort in one thing.

Somewhere out there, cast along the stars, was someone looking back, and in the billions that make up the wonderous lattice of creation, there is always a possibility that this took place, always a chance that the words scribbled on these very yellowed pages are true, and that to me is the potent beauty of our existence, we may be doomed to die, sealed into a fate where our every action is meaningless, where we are but a blip on an endless stream but when we look into the sky, we recognize our individuality, we feel truly alive, and we know among the stars somewhere, someplace, someone is out there, and they feel the same way, and perhaps their name is John Taylor and perhaps they are travelling past the speed of light to a better life in the Kestle Space Core, anything is possible, that is the beauty of life, the possibility, the people you can encounter, the mysteries to be solved and the places to see. We live in a world of such great atrocities, where darkness is far, far stronger, than light, where no one knows the reason, for our very existence, where everyday evil blankets the land, but one thing that is certain, one undeniable factor which will stay with us even after death is the possibility and pure wonder of the galaxy, of the universe. We may never see a god, or find a reason for creation, never stand up into the nefarious face of evil or beam with morality and vigour but in the end, anything is possible.

The story has finished, thank you for reading, see author note for details.