Now no longer in immediate threat from Lara, I finally ended the Synchro mode between myself and BB, allowing my Artificial Intelligence to come out of its combat trance at last. 

<That was decidedly not fun,> BB stated the moment he was able to. <Still, we're still alive though, and I have to admit that was something I wasn't expecting when you consider the gulf of both skill and power between us and her.>

Part of me couldn't believe that BB was still insulting me after everything we had been through, but to be honest I kind of had to accept his point. Lara seemed to shrug almost everything I did off, and even the attacks that physically moved her didn't do any damage. 

I had the distinct feeling that she had been toying with me the entire time, and hadn't actually gotten serious until the moment it looked like I might actually escape. 

That had been a mistake on her part. 

<You're exactly right, that probably was what she was doing. She could have blasted through your little rubble trap in the arena in a moment, and yet she allowed you to get away, classic cat and mouse.>

And I had been the mouse in that scenario, darting from place to place, constantly reacting to whatever new thing Lara put in my way. It made me so mad, but it's not like there was anything that I could do about it. 

<All things considered, though, you did pretty well,> BB said, rare praise from the sarcastic AI. 

It didn't feel like I'd done pretty well. It felt like I'd let an entire planet down and let billions of people die under my watch. How could anyone possibly call that 'doing well' in any situation? 

I felt a surge of irate anger from BB. 

<Listen here, you whiny crybaby. Lara is one of the most powerful beings in the entire galaxy, anyone else in your situation would have had their butts handed to them in a matter of moments. But you? You didn't just hold your own, you got away. Now stop being all mopey in your head, the fight isn't over yet. Not by a long shot.>

I was so shocked that I almost stopped following the drone. BB had never spoken to me like that before. Not just the anger, but the unmitigated praise as well. Maybe he was right, maybe I was putting myself down a little too much. I had managed to survive the situation, after all, and that meant I still had another chance to prove myself. Another chance to take Lara down. 

<That's more like it! Though you're still totally gonna die if you fight her again,> BB said chirpily. 

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. 

After what felt like an eternity of walking through winding corridors and ascending escalators and lifts, the Drone stopped at a simple metal doorway at the end of a long, straight corridor. On the door, the words "Observation Deck" were clearly written. 

"The occupants of the meeting have been informed of your arrival, please enter at your own leisure," the drone said, before buzzing back off down the rest of the corridor. 

I took another deep breath and pressed my hand on the door, it slid into the wall silently, and stepped through into the room. 

[Quest Success!

Getting The Band Back Together has been completed!

Rewards:

+5000XP

+100CRED]

[Level Up! You are now Level 23!

You gained 2 Stat Points!]

While the quest had already suggested the survival of all of my friends, seeing Yr'Arl, Akash and Rin sitting next to one another at the round table that took up the center of the observation deck made relief flood into me so hard I almost staggered to my knees. They were all alive, and seemingly unharmed. 

Not only were my three friends here, but I also recognised some of the other contenders from the tournament. The heavily armoured form of Vadton stood off to the side, their arms crossed over their chest and their spear leant up against a metal wall beside them. The gaseous form of the Urstnir of Nadpid floated next to Akash. Boledo, the rock hopping cyclops, was also present, with their own seat at the table. 

These three, other than Akash, Yr'Arl and myself, were who I would have considered to be the strongest three contenders in the tournament. It was almost unsurprising that they had made it here. I hoped that didn't mean the rest of the tournament fighters had fallen to the wrath of Lara and her Null-Space invaders. 

As well as the fighters from the tournament, a man from Lara's species stood at the far end of the table, with the same glowing green eyes as the rampant girl on the planet below. 

<Your thoughts are leading you to the correct conclusion, that is in fact Lara's father, the leader of the Guard himself,> BB said, his voice quiet like a whisper. 

"Ah, the Human of the Guard himself, Jacob Lyre has finally been able to join us," The leader of the Guard said. "Please, take a seat with your fellow peers, and we can begin discussing the plans for abandoning this area of the Asani sector."

"Uh… of course, sir," I said, moving to sit next to Yr'Arl, who gave me a small nod in acknowledgement. 

I hadn't been expecting to meet the leader of the Guard, not when I had been planning to leave the entire organization anyway. With all that had happened over the past day, that plan of leaving might need to be put on the back burner, anyway.

At this point the Guard was going to need all the help it could get, and I was much better positioned to help the Guard fight against Lara as someone positioned in it, rather than someone positioned outside of it. 

At the very least, I would listen to what the leader of the Guard had to say, and make my decisions from there.