Elinsys was crawling in the ventilation system with three fellow Marines, making their way deeper into the station to find the Core. Once they found the Core which housed the station’s reactor they would secure the control room, hack into the network and open the way for Fera to set up the bomb. Then they all would make a mad dash for their lives. She felt nervous, the mission depended on her, if she failed Fera would have to fight room by room, Elinsys knew Fera could do it, but she didn’t want to provide the Rakiri with the chance to die.

A tremor moved through the station. “What was that?” The Marine behind Elinsys asked.

“Must be the ship’s guns. The attack must have started.” Another replied.

“Fera isn’t calling me.” Elinsys said, trying to hail Fera.

“Must be the ventilation, somehow blocking the signal. Should clear up when we get out of it.” The Marine behind Elinsys said.

“I suppose so. We must keep on going.” Elinsys responded

“Major, the blueprints show a fork in the path in front of us.” A Marine whispered. “But I don’t see one, ma’am. Are the blueprints wrong?”

“They can’t be, are you saying these people remodeled the ventilation system? I doubt they have the resources for that.” Another chimed in.

“They have more guns on their station than we have in this sector, I don’t think resources are a problem. Where did they even get all of these?” The third asked.

“Raiding and kidnapping, mix it with some brainwashing and you have your answer.” Elinsys responded, reaching a hatch. “Where does this lead?”

The Marine behind her checked on the blueprints. “It isn’t on the blueprint, ma’am. Should we go down?”

Elinsys looked forward and shone her light down the vent, a metallic surface was the only thing she could see. “Seems our path is blocked. I don’t think we have a choice. Follow me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The Marines answered and prepared their weapons.

Elinsys opened the hatch, pitch blackness was the only thing which greeted her. Using her light she enlightened the floor below. The room appeared to be empty. Shelves and boxes were thrown around. “A storage room? Are there any on the blueprints?”

“No ma’am, nothing.”

Elinsys sighed. “Fine, I am going down, be ready to drop down if I need help.” Elinsys lowered herself into the room and hit the floor. The sound of her boots echoed when she hit the ground. She looked around, searching for threats. Before she gave the others the all clear she swept the room clear, no cultists here. “Seems to be clear, but be careful.”

The Marines dropped down one by one, each one raising their weapon and scanning the room for hidden threats. “There is the door ma’am.”

Elinsys looked at the door and ordered her soldiers to approach it. She took cover next to it. Then her comms chimed. “Elinsys, this is Fera, we are code Downfall, begin plan Godkiller. The next phase will begin within five minutes, I expect an update by then.”

“Will do Fera, making our way to the target. Elinsys out.”

“Good, Fera out.” The comms turned off.

“Alright ladies listen up, we have five minutes before our favorite furball lands with the payload. We must reach the target. Do not stop, not for anything, keep on fighting. Are we clear?” Elinsys asked, the Marines simply saluted and prepared for the charge towards the Core.

“Kill them like you would a Grimshaw coming after your boy. With no hesitation and no remorse.” Elinsys said and opened the door. Immediately they were greeted by a group of three cultists, they looked at each other for a second, then they reached for their weapons. Gunshots rang out and three bodies fell to the floor.

“Good work, push forward!” Elinsys moved past the deceased cultists and ran down the hallway with the others. Alarms were blaring, shouting and screaming could be heard from all around. Elinsys stopped.

“What is that?” A Marine asked before being pulled forward down the hall and crashing into the wall at the end. Being killed on impact.

Elinsys and the other two started to fire down the hall, their shots kept on hitting something, moving towards them at a slow pace. “Run! Just run!” Elinsys shouted and grabbed one of the Marines, pulling her along. The other started to run after them, away from whatever was chasing them.

Roaring, moaning, grunting and screaming followed them as they ran down the halls. Crew quarters stretched to each side of the hallway, endless doors. The light went out and the hallway was only lit up by the emergency lights. Elinsys could hear scratching as it chased after her. She turned her head around and she saw it. A clawed arm with four talons slowly made its way against the wall, scraping the paint of the walls. It produced a sound which hurt her ears. She tried to cover them, but nothing worked. The Marines did the same, but she shouted in pain.

The beast spoke in many voices at the same time.

“Why?” said a male voice.

“Where are you?” Said a female one.

“Get off me.” Said another.

“Hello, are you there?” Said the female one again.

“Can you hear the songs?” Asked the male one again.

“The laughter?” It said.

Behind her was pitch darkness, the emergency lights were not showing now. Elinsys and the other two were still running. “Are we going in circles?” One of them shouted, the other then replied. “We can’t be, we took a left then a right then a left and then...” She couldn’t remember, neither could Elinsys. Nobody could remember.

Elinsys stopped, the two Marines ran away, but slowed down to see why Elinsys stopped. “Major! Come on!” They shouted, but Elinsys turned to face the monster chasing them.

“I can hear the voices, the Choir, but I know this isn’t real. I was here before, long ago, back when we just discovered the Dust. I know how this ends, there is no escape.” Elinsys said, watching as the monster sped up and charged at her. The two Marines ran away.

The monster moved with lighting speed towards her.

Elinsys closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

A claw rushed down towards her neck…

and cut it open.

***

Blue. It was all blue. Everything was blue to the touch, blue to the eye, blue to the smell and blue in his soul. Kar sniffed into the mask which was forced around his head. It covered his mouth and his eyes, so he could barely see and breathe. Even speak, if they allowed him to.

He had no weight, floating in this blue liquid, his tube next to Henera’s, Rixva’s and Gelln’s. They weren’t conscious, they haven’t been for days, but he was, for every moment since he was taken. Somehow he didn’t feel tired, not that he could move anyhow.

Kar tried to move any part of his body, even a slightest twitch, but nothing happened.

He couldn’t feel anything, which he supposed was a good thing, he didn’t want to feel the cuts they made to his skin, now fur no longer covered where they cut. He didn’t want to feel the metal penetrating his skin. He didn’t want to feel the pain they caused him.

Kar tried to ignore what happened, to repress it in his mind, so he looked around, it was the only bit of solace he could find in his current predicament.

He stared at that wall and that monitor in front of him for weeks, the only thing the monitor showed was an eye here and there, usually when Keresa was around, or one of them, sometimes there were two, sometimes three, but never four. He might not be able to feel anything, the tension in the air was unbearable when three of them appeared, glancing at one another, plotting, scheming. He knew of these plots, the eye told him of them. Only it spoke to him, it shared so much with him, too much if you asked him. How much it despised Keresa, any and all of them, how it recoiled at their honeyed words, how it wished it had a proper army. How it soon shall have one.

Kar blinked, it was the only thing he could do, and there it was again. The eye. Staring at him, but now there was no Keresa or anyone else. It was just it, looking into Kar’s soul.

The eye was blue, but it had a thin line going from the top to the bottom. Kar didn’t enjoy it looking at him, it meant trouble, a new needle, a new cut. Then he heard the chime.

“Greetings Kar, are you well?” He asked. “I would hate for my future body to be in bad shape. Or be depressed before I move in there, truly terrible you know. That thing is contagious, sticks around in the brain, even when you leave and I enter my future brain.”

Kar wanted to ask, “Why me? Why out of any person out there, it had to be me?”, but he couldn’t.

The eye looked around. “Oh come on, a bit of joy in those eyes won’t hurt you! I don’t want dull eyes, I want eyes filled to the brim with the fire of life.”

Kar wanted to punch the eye, or stab it. Perhaps squish it, that would be fun.

The eye went away, Kar could see the room shake, but couldn’t feel it. He felt nothing, but his mind, slowly fading away.

“It will be alright, just embrace the warmth and it will all be over soon.”

Kar really, really wanted to see Melora, to feel her warm hands on his face. To kiss her, but… she wasn’t here. That was a good thing, he supposed, but he missed her terribly.

“Kar, just go gently into the night.” The eye said.

Kar refused to go into the dark, so the dark came to him. The eye was gone, the lights were out and the door was gone too. Replaced by a rather large hole, which then was filled in by a figure.

Before Kar stood not a humanoid, not some half monster, but a true abomination from the Void. Leferia has cast away any spell, any lie about herself and embraced what she was. "Look upon my flesh and tremble! For I am a Goddess!" Her face was gone, replaced by a maw filled to the brim with teeth, a few were larger than Kar’s hand. She unhinged her jaw as a viper would and laughed, dozens of voices could be heard at the same time. Her top two eyes were now on the sides of her skull, looking out for any side attacks. Meanwhile her main eyes were pushed back. They stared at Kar, hungry. "Come, darling. Let us feast!" She raised her arms above her head. There were talons now where her fingers once were. Her feet were the same, except they bent the wrong way. Many parts of her were wrong, it was as if she enjoyed watching Kar think about her misshapen body. She brought her talons down onto the vat,Kar could feel it. He could feel everything, the sounds, the noises, the pressure, the coldness all hit him in an instant.

“Wh th ll a u!?” He said, muffled by the mask.

Her hair, it was no longer hair. Around her neck it looked like fur, but from the back of her skull came tentacles which moved ever so slightly. Her wings, they were even larger. While before one could say they were soft to the touch, now they were sharp and rough. And her chest, it was armor, with beautiful plates which seemed to be stitched into her skin; was that her skin? Kar backed away in fear, but two large clawed hands grabbed him. "Where are you going? The fun just started.” She laughed then looked him in the eyes through the mask. “You will have to take that off, let me help.” Leferia brought one of her talons next to his ears. It was bigger than his ear. She pressed it against the mask and punctured it, pulling away the mask with a loud pop. Leferia smiled, opened her mouth, though maw might be the better description and her tongue flickered out. It was long and agile. And she used it to flick at Kar’s cheeks. "Tasty. There, try saying it again.”

“What the hell are you!?” He shouted trying to move back, away from the monstrosity standing before him.

“Leferia, a pleasure to meet you. Well, I met you before. Melora is always thinking about you and I was there when Elinsys met you, but I suppose you are the first to have the privilege of meeting me flesh to flesh. I didn’t have that before.” Leferia opened her maw and showed off her teeth to him, Kar supposed it could have been a smile. Except that her smile was full of sharp, jagged teeth, and seemed ready to tear people in half.

Kar looked around. “Am I still in the vat? Did I go insane? Is the brainwashing complete?”

“No, I stopped that. I suppose Melora helped too, but...”

“Melora is here?” Kar asked, smiling for the first time in a while.

“Yes, she, Elinsys, Fera and Nilni are here to save you.” Leferia answered.

“Just them? Are they insane?” Kar realized he was still naked, he looked around for something to cover himself up in.

“No the Veneration and the Javelin are here too, and some Interior ship, but who cares about them?” Leferia turned her head, looking for something to cover Kar up in.

“Bea’ti is here?” Kar asked, finding nothing.

“Indeed, she is. I wish she wasn’t, but we need her ship.” Leferia realized she should release the others too. “Stand back.” With another swipe of her claws she broke open the other three vats.

Henera, Gelln and Rixva all fell out, but they didn’t move. “I hoped they would be conscious like you, a right proper shame. Anyway I have to go.” She pointed at the trio on the floor. “There is a barracks nearby with some guns and clothes, two doors down on the left. Go there and armor up, Melora is heading your way, but she is going to need help.”

A scream punctured the air. “That’s my cue. Good luck Kar.” Leferia gave a thumbs up. Before Kar could ask Leferia to explain, something big with wings crashed into her and smashed her into the wall. The wall gave way and Leferia was gone as fast as she appeared.

Kar looked into the new hole which had formed. He couldn't see into the darkness, but he could hear what sounded like flesh being torn away.“What the hell is going on?” Kar looked back at Henera, Gelln and Rixva. First he had to get them to wake up… somehow.

***

Elinsys felt sick, she was upside down and hanging from the ceiling. Her head hurt, her neck hurt too. Was she bleeding from it? Shouldn’t she be dead then? She touched her neck and looked at the blood. It was cold to the touch. She must have stopped bleeding by now, if she was the one… she realized she was not alone. The three Marines who were escorting her were hanging with her, upside down, their necks slashed and blood moving down their bodies. Dripping into a puddle on the floor beneath. “Why am I alive?”

“We can’t let you die... yet.” Keresa said behind her. Elinsys tried to turn, but couldn’t. So Keresa turned her around. Her face was perfect, it made Elinsys feel uneasy. Every Keresa she saw before was flawed or mangled, but this one? Perfect.

“Ugh.” Elinsys grunted, showing her disgust. “Which one are you? A series, B series, some other damned series? The royal concubine series perhaps*” Elinsys asked, she felt so tired from all of this, but she took a small pleasure in Keresa’s annoyed expression.

“No, I am Keresa.” Keresa said, her face didn’t have even a scar anywhere on it. “The original, if you will.”

Elinsys looked at her again, she was perfect, too perfect. Her skin was not one of an older woman, but someone in their best years. “How much did the plastic surgery cost? An arm and a leg?”

Keresa chuckled at the grotesque joke. “Oh nothing so primitive, simple biology and biotics and some supernatural aid. The queen of the universe has to look her best.”

“I don’t think a space monstrosity will really appreciate your looks. You are missing a few eyes, a couple dozen at least. A few spare limbs. Lots of teeth, few other things.” Elinsys said, looking Keresa up and down, it would seem she wasn’t perfect. Her eyes gave away her true nature, they were glassy and foggy, the only bit of colour was the pitch black where the golden circle once was.

Keresa didn’t pretend to chuckle this time or enjoy the jokes. She chose to be prideful. “Well, when I transfer myself into my new body, one of a Goddess, it will be alright.” Keresa moved to a terminal, making sure her every move was perfect, to keep up the charade. “Bulletproof skin, claws which can rip metal apart, teeth which can chew an EXO! Imagine it and fear it.” She pressed a button and the doors started to open, slowly, with lights blaring all around, an alarm could be heard in the distance.

“Bit much, don’t you think?” Elinsys asked, smiling to herself. “Trying to imitate Leferia with your theatrics I see.”

“Why do you have to ruin all the fun? Silence.” Keresa hissed.

Elinsys watched as the smoke disappeared to reveal nothing at all. “Where is your new body?”

Keresa looked back at the terminal. ”Why is it not here? Why?” She typed with such fury at it. “Where are you, my pretty?”

“Did you lose a… I am guessing right now, a huge winged abomination?” Elinsys asked, smirking. “How do you do that?”

Keresa looked around, back to Elinsys. Her eyes showed Elinsys guessed right. So Keresa tried to copy Leferia. “I will be back, in my new body. See you soon. Stay there.” Keresa started to walk away, before stopping. “Not like you can go anywhere.” Keresa walked outside of the room while laughing maniacally. “Alarms, boarding actions and now this. Things keep on getting more and more interesting.”

Elinsys was left to hang alone. She looked around for anything to help her escape. She looked at the terminal, perhaps it would suffice. That is if she could reach it, but that seemed impossible.

An eye appeared on the screen. “Keresa, listen to me, Leferia is free, you need to stop her and get your-'' The eye on the screen looked at Elinsys. Stopping the tirade of shouts. “Major, where is Keresa?” It spoke in a soft tone towards Elinsys, very different from the previous one.

“Dead.” Elinsys answered. “Can I get down now? Or are you going to leave me hanging here?”

“No, no you may not. And I know she isn’t dead, yet.” The eye spoke looking around the room, to make sure Keresa wasn’t dead. “Actually, sure thing. Not like you can hurt me, come on down.”

Elinsys was slowly lowered from the ceiling to the floor, being released right above it. Falling on her back, she let out a grunt. “Couldn’t let me down gently, could you?” Elinsys stood up, she had no weapons. Nothing to defend herself with. “May I know why you let me go?”

“You are harmless.” The eye spoke. “Less than that. I could have the air forced out of your lungs if I wished so.”

“How do you plan to do that? Magic?” Elinsys asked, making silly gestures with her hands.

“No, that would be wasteful. I would just cycle the air out of this room and open a nearby airlock. No more Elinsys. I could do the same for your other friends. I do control the mainframe.”

Elinsys stared at the eye, she felt uneasy, powerless.

“Yes, that is what you want, isn’t it? To hack into the mainframe and take control of the doors. Lead furball here to plant a bomb and destroy the station. I know your plans. Leferia told me about them. All of them. Even her secret ones, do you wish to know them?”

“No.” Elinsys replied, coming closer to the terminal. Pressing the silent mode button.

“It won’t work, it isn’t that easy to get rid of a god, but you know all about that, don’t you?” The eye asked.

“So what? Leferia is annoying sure, but-”

“She is a menace! An evil which must be stopped! She is using you, she is using everyone, she uses her own kind so why not yours too? Do you have any clue what she wants? I do, I always knew and I can’t tell you all about it.”

“Then tell me about it.” Elinsys said to the eye, she was getting tired of this roundabout of lies.

“A test first, to prove your worth.” The eye said, Elinsys frowned. “Now, now. It should be easy for you. It is very simple. Two words.” The eye paused, it seemed theatrics ran in the family. “Kill Keresa.”

Elinsys’ eyes went wide. “Why? I thought you loved her?”

“I do, but she needs some tough love and she is coming to kill you, you made her rather angry. I told her you know where her new body is. Which you do know, don’t you?” The eye asked.

“No, unless it was chasing me down the hallway, but I lost track of it since then.” Elinsys responded.

“Leferia has it, I gave her one of the things she wanted and I received something I wanted. She wished for a body and I wished for… unimportant. We shall discuss it later, or we won’t. Depends who slays who. You or Keresa.”

“I won’t play this game of yours.” Elinsys said. “Not if I don’t know what I get as the prize.”

The eye produced a laugh. “You are wiser than most of my followers, I like that. Kill Keresa and I will invite you into my private chambers. The Core if you will, from there we can sit down and discuss how and why Leferia betrayed you and how we will get our revenge.”

A door opened, a light revealing it in the darkness. “Follow the lights, once they turn dim, Keresa is near. She shall do the same, may the best woman win.”

“You are taking so much sick pleasure in this, aren’t you?” Elinsys asked.

“I shall not lie, yes. Very much so, but if you tell me you don’t want to cut Keresa’s neck, you will be a hypocrite. Now go, the first door on the right has your equipment, you will need it. Keresa has decided to take her toys out to your date. Have fun darling.”

The screen went dark. Elinsys stood there and looked around, she spotted the camera following her every single move. It was Keresa or her. Her friends and crewmates or this cult. Leferia or this god.