Rain crashed down upon the remnants of Ultraviolet Tower. It bounced off the floating chunks of rubble. It danced in the fields of temporal chaos. It washed away the rivers of blood.

And… it ran down the dying face of the Shepherdess.

She floated above the destruction, crucified against a frozen rock, a crimson cloak oozing from her wounds and pouring towards the ground. Her pink eyes had lost their gleam, replaced by a hopeless exhaustion as she took in the scene before her.

The burning city.

The Sheshanaga's final end.

The inevitable collapse of all she had worked towards for a thousand years.

At that moment, the Shepherdess truly cursed the fact that she was still alive… and she understood that was exactly why Niain had made it so. She stood no chance of recovering from this. Both of them were aware of that. This final humiliation was for the sake of cruelty and nothing else.

The Shepherdess' gaze drifted downwards… and a tiny spark of life returned to her dull vision.

"You…?" she whispered.

Ruth Blaine looked back up at her.

"Hello again," the last hope said.

AETHERAL SPACE

ARC 16

ACT IV

"Dark Stars"

What the hell is going on up there?

Gregori Hazzard stared up at the ceiling of his cell.

For the last couple of weeks, Gregori's life had consisted of being moved from one isolation cell to another -- punctuated by the occasional interrogation. He hadn't said anything, obviously. From what he'd gathered via eavesdropping, his presence in the UAP wasn't exactly a secret. They couldn't torture him for information and risk that fact getting back to the Supremacy. It could very well cause an interstellar incident.

Still… the shaking from above, that had seemed to be growing closer and closer as the day went on, gave Gregori pause. Maybe the interstellar incident had already happened. If that was the case, he'd be best served escaping as soon as possible.

That was fine. He might have been bound with Neverwire, sealing his Aether, but anyone competent didn't rely on only one crutch. With the evacuation, this place was relying on automatic security. He was confident he could outthink some idiotic machines and --

"Hi!"

Gregori nearly jumped out of his skin as he snapped his head to the side.

There was someone standing on the other side of the observation glass. A young man with jet-black hair and snow-white skin, wearing a dark cloak. A hefty data-drive was held like a briefcase in one of his pale hands. The man stared intently at Gregori as a gentle smile curved across his lips.

He looked familiar. Gregori wasn't sure, but he could have sworn the Ascendant-General had a picture of this guy he kept around.

"Who are you?" Gregori asked cautiously.

The smile widened, just a tad.

"A friend," the young man said. "And you, Mr. Hazzard… certainly look like you could use a friend right now."

Slowly, Ruth lowered the Shepherdess down to the ground.

It was a strange feeling… if it could even be called that. This was the woman that Ruth hated more than anything. The woman who'd killed those closest to her. The woman who'd maintained the brutal world Skipper had given his life to shatter. She'd bolstered her strength for this moment, prepared herself with tooth and claw, and now that it had come?

There was… nothing. An absence inside her where rage should have been. As she looked down at the Shepherdess' broken form, the most she could muster -- and barely that -- was the vaguest sense of pity.

Ruth looked over her shoulder, to the girl who had led her here -- Nebula Nine, Luna. She stood a distance away, watching in silence. If she had any explanations, she wasn't going to offer them, it seemed.

"Ruth Blaine…" the Shepherdess whispered, her voice nearly inaudible next to the crashing of the rain.

"Rae Ruditia," Ruth replied, looking down at her.

Chuckling weakly, the Shepherdess shook her head, blood-matted hair flopping this way and that. "That's not my name. My name's Ruri. Someone gave me that name… a long time ago."

Ruth blinked. "What happened?"

The Shepherdess stared into the black sky above. "I lost," she mumbled. "I wasn't strong enough… but that's fine. It just means that I was wrong. That's what Supremacy is, Ruth. Do you understand?"

Ruth wrinkled her nose. "What?"

"I need to make sure you understand… before you do it," the Shepherdess wheezed, a faint desperation in her eyes.

"Before I do what?"

"You came here for revenge… revenge, didn't you?" the Shepherdess locked eyes with Ruth. "That's fine. That's good. My life is still valid currency. I'm good for that… still. You've gotten stronger… for this moment, haven't you? You've earned it. Kill me. Finish me. You can do whatever you want to me. I'm all yours. Just… quickly. Quickly…!"

Ruth stood there for a moment. Her soaked orange hair hung low over her face. The metal finish of her prosthetic legs gleamed in the downpour.

And then, with a flash of red Aether, the claw of the Skeletal Set appeared on her hand.

The Shepherdess smiled a trembling smile. "I saw the records… of what happened at the Sed. The power you cultivated… that's worthy of a Supreme. I wish you'd use… no, no, this is fine… however you want to do it. It's all up to you. Tear me apart… however you like."

The smile widened, just a little, teeth glinting with zealous passion.

"You're strong, and I'm weak," the Shepherdess finished. "It's your right, Ruth."

Slowly, Ruth raised her hand. Red Aether crackled around her claws, and the past raced through her mind like a runaway train. The carnage on Elysian Fields. The despair on Azum-Ha. Everything, everything, that had led her to this point.

And then… she lowered her claws.

The Shepherdess' smile faded. "What are you doing?" she asked.

The claws dissipated.

"That's… that's fine," the Shepherdess said, a note of desperation entering her voice. "If you want to do it with your bare hands, that's fine. It's up to you. Just -- just hurry and --"

Ruth turned away.

"What are you doing?!" the Shepherdess cried, blood flying from her lips as spittle. "I'm right here! You hate me! You hate me more than anything! I made sure of that!"

"Yeah," Ruth agreed quietly. "I hate you more than anything… and I want you dead." She looked over her shoulder, and her eyes were cold gold. "But you're dying anyway."

"With your own hands, though…" the Shepherdess pleaded, feebly trying to drag herself across the ground, and feebly failing. "Isn't that better?! Don't you want to punish me?! Make a mess out of me?! Prove it! Prove your strength, Ruth! Please!"

"If I messed you up…" Ruth sighed. "I won't lie. It'd make me feel good… for a little while. I'd feel like shit afterwards, though. So I'm not gonna do it."

"No!" the Shepherdess sobbed.

"Something like that…" Ruth swallowed back her anger. "Acting just for the moment, without caring about the future at all… only animals can do that… only beasts."

She turned her head away once more.

"And I'm a person," Ruth Blaine concluded.

She began to walk away, towards Nebula Nine, who was watching with that expressionless mask of hers. Somehow, though… it seemed like the little girl was smiling at the results of the encounter. The Shepherdess' screams of rage and despair went unanswered, blending in with the constant applause of the rain.

The two of them -- the Supernova and the prophet -- faded into the fog seconds later, leaving the Shepherdess all alone. She stared up into the pitiless black sky, teeth chattering, mind racing. The insects within her were starting to die off, their bodies falling out of her wounds like tiny black pebbles.

The closing time had come, but still she thought, still she fought, still she grasped with all she had for schemes just out of reach.

This was still fine. This was still good.

Ruth would come back and finish her off. The girl would acquire the mental strength needed for a Supreme -- and then she'd kill Hadrien too, she had no choice now that she'd seen what he'd done, her good heart would work against her there. She'd kill Hadrien and become Supreme herself and win this war that Hadrien had started. It would go back to a cold war or maybe the UAP would be destroyed and splinter apart and the Supremacy could expand it's territory.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Not too much, though,

not too much,

Rapid expansion like that ran the risk of a schism developing. A situation with multiple Supreme candidates would be the worst case scenario.

Atoy Muzazi --

Atoy Muzazi, once Ruth was on the throne, she'd need to get rid of him right away, he was too popular, too similar to Gael the Golden, the ideal Supreme in many people's eyes. She should have killed Hadrien right after the Dawn Contest. What had she been thinking? He'd won by cowardice, sheer cowardice, and she'd let it slide.

Why?!

Had she been desperate to get a Supreme in place after that gap? If she'd killed him and Muzazi on the same night, they could have gotten Ruth on the throne right then and there… but no, she wouldn't have been ready. A softhearted Supreme was worse than an empty throne. She should have set things up so that Ruth had to kill Hadrien and Muzazi to get to her on the night, the vengeance was only good warm, she'd given the girl too much time to think about it.

No

No

NO

NO!

First Muzazi, then Hadrien. That was how she should have done it. Ruth wouldn't kill Hadrien first because she thought they were friends, but Muzazi would have been a suitable first rung on the ladder. Yes, yes, she should have done that. Why hadn't she? What had she been thinking? Those eyes, it was that girl's eyes, the same as Azez's. She'd been far too soft on her. She should have gone out of her way to kill everyone she knew, everyone she ever met, plunge her into such absolute despair that she'd have nowhere to turn but the Shepherdess and Supremacy.

She'd promised

She'd promised

She'd promised Azez.

She'd promised him she'd make this Supremacy last and she'd fucked it up. No, there was still hope -- no, there wasn't. She'd let Niain escape. She'd let Niain win. There wasn't any stopping him anymore. Whatever he was planning, it would certainly happen now, because she'd let him, because she hadn't stopped him. It was like she was the one doing it. She was an accomplice. It was like Niain had said -- a single moment of carelessness had destroyed everything. She'd destroyed Azez's dream with her own two hands. Oh, Y.

I'm sorry,

she thought.

I'm sorry,

I'm sorry.

Failed, failure, complete and utter,

traitor.

Azez, do something, fix it -- Granba would help her. Even that thing called Edgar. She had to do something, but she couldn't move, she'd failed, she'd lost, she was a failure, everything was ruined because of her. The Gene Tyrants would come back. The Supremacy would fall and the Gene Tyrants would come back.

Alexandra would find out.

Alexandra would punish her like the others.

Alexandra would take her face away.

no

no

no!

this was scary

she didn't like this

make it stop!

make it --

In the end, there was no death rattle. No final words trailed off. No eyelids slowly slid shut. The Shepherdess suddenly just stopped, between one frantic thought and the next, like a machine that had finally run out of fuel.

And the revolution's thousand-year aftershock… came to an end.

Rain battered against the windows of the Seat of Man's grand atrium.

The room was barely recognisable. The battle against Forgiveness Irons had destroyed nearly everything the chamber had contained -- now it was a bed for rubble and nothing else. That wasn't the biggest change, though. The biggest change was how empty the place was. As the core of the UAP, this place was usually teeming with visitors and employees, packed so tightly that it was difficult to breathe.

Now, though? Now the civilians had finally been evacuated from this corpse of a complex… and the room was nearly empty.

Bruno, Serena, and Rico. The three of them sat on seats of broken concrete, listening to the furious rain outside. They didn't know what had happened with Muzazi -- he'd been pulled away at some point during the battle. The evacuation force had tried to force them out of here, too, but they weren't budging.

Ruth would be coming back, after all. They had to wait for her.

Rico stepped away from Serena, having finished treating the injuries she'd sustained during the battle. "Try not to move that arm too much," he said.

His voice was drained, his face pale. He was not the sort of person who liked violence, and this had been a violent day.

"Sure thing!" Serena waved her bound arm cheerfully.

Bruno brooded out the window -- at the darkness that had poured over the suffering city, punctuated only by the lights of buildings and the burning of flames. There was still combat going on in the streets -- against the remaining combat automatics that the Sheshanaga had deployed. They wouldn't be dealt with quickly.

"Dragan…" he murmured. "Why…?"

Serena turned her head to look at him. "What's that?"

Slowly, Bruno shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "No, Dragan didn't do this. I'm sure of it."

Serena scratched her cheek. "Um, you were sure he wouldn't shoot us, either… and he kinda did…"

Bruno shook his head again, with much more certainty. "That was part of a plan -- and he was careful not to kill us. This is just… this is just madness. I'll allow that he brought the Sheshanaga here, and that he broke into the Seat of Man to get something. But that last attack? No. No way."

"Does it matter who did it?" Rico wiped the sweat from his brow. "It happened. Besides… if your friend brought that ship here, then whatever someone else did with it… it's not like his hands are clean, right?"

Bruno's shimmering purple form slouched a bit, a touch of resolve leaving his shoulders. "I… I guess not."

Bruno sighed.

Serena sighed.

Rico sighed.

Dragan sighed.

It took them all a moment to realize that someone had just appeared in their midst. The flash of blue Aether that accompanied Gemini World had been so weak, so faint, that they hadn't even noticed it go off. One second, there were three of them in the room -- and the next, there were four.

Dragan had seen better days. He was completely naked, covered from head to toe in dried blood. His Aether tic was in overdrive, his eyes glowing so brightly that they were like the blazing headlights of a car. He floated just slightly over the ground, like a stringless puppet.

It didn't feel like a person had appeared before them. Dragan seemed far too absent for that. This was a beast.

A beast with a single instinct.

Serena was the first to open her mouth. "Oh fu --"

"Gemini Coilgun."

If Bruno hadn't reacted the instant he'd registered Dragan's presence, everyone there surely would have been taken out of commission instantly. Purple barriers appeared around Rico and Serena, shielding them from the scorching light. It was a close thing -- this Gemini Coilgun attack was potent, and cracks spread across the surfaces of the barriers, but they just about held true.

Serena and Rico moved the second the onslaught ended. While Serena charged towards Dragan, already forging swords of concrete from the ground, Rico moved to escape. It only made sense. If he wanted to use Tiny Garden on a target, he had to touch it.

This was not an enemy he could see himself touching.

However… Dragan Hadrien had other plans. There was another flash of blue light, and he disappeared right before Serena's blades could slash through his body. She swung around, skidding on her heel, already predicting where he was heading -- but she just wasn't fast enough.

Dragan's open palm reappeared inches from Rico's face.

Huh?

Cold terror crawled down Rico's spine. Time stretched out to the utmost. I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead. He could feel his body already preparing to become a corpse. He could already see the blue light gathering before Dragan's hand. It wouldn't even take him a second to fire. This was it. He was done.

Only…

"No…" Dragan Hadrien mumbled to himself. "Not this one…"

Another flash of blue light -- and Hadrien returned to his fight with Serena, delivering a swift knee to the stomach that sent her flying up towards the ceiling. He kicked off the floor a second later, following her upwards, keen to continue his assault --

-- only for a cube formed from purple barriers to slam him down into the ground again.

Bruno reappeared across from Dragan, crystalline hand extended to control his barrier-constructs. "Dragan!" he cried. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The only answer Dragan offered was a low rattle as he rose back up onto his shaking legs. With clumsy ease, like he had all the time in the world, he raised his hand in Bruno's direction.

"DRAGAN!" Bruno roared.

"Gemini… Railgun…" Dragan whispered.

A hail of Railgun shots poured forth from Dragan's palm -- but the layers of barriers Bruno erected on his end were enough to match them. Blue streaks of light ran through the air, the afterimages of attacks too fast to see, the sound of their impacts shattering the surrounding windows. Bruno put everything he had into his defense, but it wasn't going to last forever -- this was like going up against a gatling gun.

When Serena landed on the other side of their opponent, Bruno created barriers to protect her too. She picked herself up quickly, plucking a new sword from the broken glass around, readying herself.

The plan was the work of a few seconds, discussed through the link in their intertwining Aethers.

I'm going to bait him.

You really think he'll fall for that, Bruno?

Right now? I do. Look at him. He doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't know where he is, or who he's fighting. If I give him an opportunity, he'll definitely take it. Instinct.

Hm… well, if you're sure…

Bruno banished the barrier protecting him and lunged forward, heading straight towards Dragan even as the Railgun shots shattered parts of his form. He made sure that, even as the shots hit him, they didn't affect his line of attack. That was the most important part, after all.

Bruno del Sed was running in a straight line towards Dragan Hadrien for more than two meters.

Just as he'd expected, Bruno saw the blue Aether spark… and just as he'd expected, he heard the terminal words. Dragan really hadn't been able to resist such a chance.

"Gemini Dominion."

Bruno watched as the world fizzled away around him…

…and he stepped into the tired mind of Dragan Hadrien.