Chapter 40 : Breaking Fate's Own Rules (2) (1st book epilogue) I began to move and carefully stood up once I could feel every muscle in my body. "Gladia, are you here ?" [Jun…I'm sorry…I was worried, so I just asked your squad if they..] "Enough. Report the situation." I didn't want to listen to the reasons of why she disobeyed me and called back my ship and my squad. Inside a very tiny part of my heart, I was happy to meet my squad again. But it was only a ridiculously small part of my feelings, as I was mostly angry and irritated against Gladia for bringing my squad inside the rift instead of protecting them like she should have done. Especially when she knew that they were the last humans in our whole universe, bringing them inside the rift was nothing else than just condemning our species I tried so hard to preserve from extinction. […We used the fight between the Scyllas' mother-ship and the Void dreadnought to sneakily bypass their surveillance, however, the Scyllas still had a lot of troops standing in the back so we ended up getting discovered and the flagship sustained heavy fire from them. When the Revered Mother controlled your body, I lost the ability to contact the ship.] While I was heading out of the temple, Gladia resumed her report. [They were confronting the Scylla rearguard protecting the rift entry when I blacked out. They appear to have passed through, since they are currently within the rift, rushing to our location. ] "I see. Are they being followed ?" [They aren't. I do not have a clear visual of what is happening outside the rift, but it seems like no Scylla ship penetrated the rift yet. I don't know the reason.] "I can't contact the squad, it seems like the waves inside the rift aren't behaving the same way as in the outside world. Gladia, can you contact them ?" [It might take a few minutes for me to get used to this place, but yes, I can do it.] I thought for a few seconds about what should be done. I was upset at Gladia for condemning my squad by sending them into the rift, but getting angry now in such a critical situation wouldn't help. It was already too late for them to escape the Singularity as the rift was about to collapse, and even if they went back on their track they would end up right in the center of the whole Scylla fleet that came back from their last battle against the War Chief and Aubouros. 'It's no different than suicide to go back on our track and leave the rift from the same entry. Isn't there any other way out ?...' I walked in a circle thinking about what to do. I already accepted my fate when I willingly gave myself to the Scyllas and got possessed by the Revered Mother. However, I was ready to die only because I knew my squad would escape the Singularity through the gates and they would be able to survive. My end goal, besides defeating the Scyllas, was to make sure to perpetuate the human race so they could live somewhere safe after the Scyllas' demise. Now that they were coming to me, I had to find a way out. If not for myself, it should at least be for them to live. I don't know why I am so obsessed with protecting my species, but I feel deep inside me that I must do so. Out of all the billions of humans who populated Earth, we are the sole survivors. And out of all the survivors, I am the only one that has not been completely brainwashed by the Scyllas. I'm the only one who has retained some semblance of humanity. Fighting for a future where the almost-extinct human species survives is my responsibility. "Alpha zero, emerge." 'Master.' "You and the other reapers can bypass dimensional laws easily, do you think we could leave this dimensional rift ?" 'It. Is. Not. Very. Likely. But...' "But ?" 'I. Do. Not. Think. It. Is. Impossible.' "What do you mean ?" I clearly didn't expect this response. I asked out of curiosity, as the reapers are not subject to dimensional laws and they can hide their presence by transporting their existence out of the dimension. I didn't expect Alpha Zero to be so optimistic. Especially since even the Revered Mother herself, an immortal cosmic deity, considered this rift, its collapse and our death as inevitable. The only reason why she returned my body was probably out of respect. She knows better than anyone else how hard and seemingly impossible it is to go against this River of Fate, and yet she made it her goal in life to break these so-called absolute laws. While she was convinced of our inevitable downfall, she was also the only entity in the cosmos who could bet on our survival. Our survival requires us to achieve the same feat she did, and as much as I despise the thought...we are now walking on the same path as her. 'There. Could. Be. Multiple. Access. To. This. Rift.' "From what I've felt and understood when I was in the etheric form, it seemed like this rift act as a giant pocket dimension. The only link to the outside world I could feel was the entrance from which the flagship entered. When the Revered Mother's essence will be completely exhausted, the rift no longer able to be sustained will collapse on itself and everything inside this pocket dimension will be reduced to nothingness and disappear. We need to find a way out." 'Yes. But. If. Master. Create. A. Hole. Through. This. Pocket. Dimension. We. Could. Probably. Escape. Before. The. Collapse.' "A hole ? How the hell am I supposed to create a hole inside a pocket dimension formed from a cosmic deity's life essence ?" While the idea itself didn't sound that bad, it was clearly impossible for me, a mere human, to pierce holes through dimensions as if it was butter. Knowing that my squad would die and my species would definitely go extinct if I don't find a way out of this angered me to no point. I thought about asking the Revered Mother, but I felt her presence diminishing until not being able to feel her consciousness at all. She also stopped talking, so her essence is probably close to being completely exhausted. I don't even know how much time we have left, but it won't be more than an hour for sure. [Jun, the flagship arrived...] I was so focused on trying to find a solution to an impossible problem to solve that I didn't even notice the 1,600 meters Lance of Kar'goth floating above the temple. The ship was so badly damaged that it was a miracle it could still function. Both main batteries have been destroyed, and half of its left-wing has been cut, probably from getting hit by multiple Obliterator beam hits. The front armor lost more than nine-tenths of its plating and the upper deck was still smoking from their last encounter with the Scylla rear guard when they passed through the rift entrance. The moment I stepped out of the building, I could feel the link to my squad again. I was blaming myself for feeling so happy that my squad was ready to follow me even to hell. 'Leader.' When all their voice sounded at the same time inside my mind, I was delighted to hear them and feel their presence again. I prepared myself so much for this ultimate sacrifice that I considered myself dead for a long time already ; I had to bear the fact that I would never see any of them again. When I heard their voice in my head after such a long time, it was as if something inside me that had been painfully missing had finally been restored. 'Leader, asking for deployment.' Seeing me looking at the flagship without answering them, they probably got anxious about my current state and asked to join me on the black sphere. 'No need to deploy, I'm the one coming back.' I didn't need to say it twice for Gladia to teleport me inside the ship. When I arrived, the first thing I saw was my whole squad lined up in front of me. I recognized Jerome at the first glance, a bulky and tall Rifter towering a head above all of us. On his right was Douglas armed with his powerful rifle still ready to be deployed, and on his left was Alice covered in straps and bandages. It seems like she has been awakened up by Gladia before her injuries have been completely healed inside the pod. At the front of them was Katarina, her slender figure somehow clouded my mind when my gaze fell on her. It seems like her ability has been restrained for so long that she was unconsciously releasing a disturbing psychic field around her that could even affect me. All around us were the last reapers and drones remaining after all the battles we went through, all kneeling and waiting for orders. None of the reapers dared to ask anything about my absence. Their endless loyalty always surprised me, I could not understand how this amazing species was only considered as inferior soldiers and mere cannon fodder by the Ancient Scyllas who created them. It seems like no matter the era, the Scyllas have always been arrogant to the point of belittling every other species. "I am glad to see you all alive. However…by coming here out of your own volition, you all disobeyed the orders I gave to Gladia before leaving the ship." [Jun, it was my fault if...] 'Silence.' Thinking that I might punish my squad for coming here, Gladia tried to take the blame on her and protect them. Even if I acted mad at them, in reality, I couldn't be happier to see them alive and well. Of course, they disobeyed me and I shouldn't let this pass... But I was so glad they took this choice themselves that I didn't plan to pursue the matter further. The fact that they decided by themselves to follow me here was the best proof that the little control the Scyllas still had over their minds was definitely gone. "L-Leader, we couldn't let you do this alone ! If Gladia didn't wake us up, you would have fought and died alone without us even knowing it !" Alice was the first one to answer. As usual, she took everything to heart and was much more expressive than the others. "I also think the same, Leader. Even if we were injured, it would have been a better choice to take us in consideration when preparing this plan. We would have had a better chance of succeeding." Douglas followed up with a clinically logical remark. "Did you not ask yourself why I didn't tell you anything before coming here ?" I asked both of them, so they could understand my reasons for not waking them up before the last battle. "Is it because we are too weak ?" "No, it is not. In fact, both of you are everything but weak. The events on the mega-structures we attacked proved it, you two were able to kill a dozen of Scyllas commanders by yourselves in just a few weeks while I had trouble killing Legatus and almost caused our fall after a single mission. You guys are everything but weak." "Then why ?" Before I could answer, Jerome broke the silence and answered. "The Leader wanted to protect us, to protect our race. He planned to give his life so we could escape." After Jerome's words, they all looked at me dumbfounded. I felt offended that only Jerome, who stood inside a pod since the events on Kar'goth years ago, would understand my reasons for sacrificing myself. "Do you now understand why coming here by yourselves was a mistake ? Not only did you not obey my orders, but you also reduced everything I planned for the future of our species to nothing. Unless we find a way out of here, we are all doomed." It seemed that they didn't know how to react. In their mind, they did the right thing, but they also compromised the plan I carefully prepared for so long. As much as they changed since the Scylla mind control has withered and they all started to act more like humans rather than the brainwashed slaves that I first met, they still didn't know how to manage their emotions yet. After telling them these last words so they could think about it on their own, I teleported out of the hangar to reach the control room. I hoped they would redeem themselves by finding a way out of this dimensional rift because, for the first time in a long time, I had no idea about what to do. Not long after, one of them also teleported, followed me into the control room and stood still behind my seat. I didn't have to turn myself to recognize her ; the second she walked in, the atmosphere changed and the whole room got filled with an oppressive and disturbing aura. The more her field ability was getting powerful, the more she looked like the Scyllas in their original form. Maybe this was the origin of her power. She stood behind my seat without saying anything for a moment, until she caught me off guard with words I would never have expected coming out of her mouth. "You are selfish." I was dumbfounded by what she just said. I was already a little bit surprised that Kat didn't say anything in the hangar when the others tried to explain their reason for coming here and argued with me. She has always been a natural leader when I wasn't here to give orders, so I expected her to rent and argue as the others did… Apparently, she just didn't want the squad to listen to what she had to say. "Giving my life to protect and perpetuate my species is selfish ?" "Yes. No matter the reason, you wanted to sacrifice yourself for your own belief before all." I was taken aback by what she said. I never saw Kat acting this way, it was as if she was a completely different person from before. Now that I think about it, I felt the same weird feeling with Jerome earlier. While he always has been the big guy protecting us on Kar'goth, it has never been to the point of understanding and empathizing with my inner thoughts. 'Gladia, did something happen with Kat and Jerome ?' [Remember when you lost consciousness after fighting Legatus ? The ship suffered a great amount of damage while in orbit before escaping. During the attack, the infirmary has been devastated by enemy fire and their healing pods have been disconnected from the energy core for a significant amount of time. I already told you they might keep some psychological after-effects from this and their behavior might change, it seems to be the case...] 'I see.' I turned myself to look at Kat, but before I could say anything she added. "Leader, I know what I've done on Kar'goth. While being controlled by the Scyllas, I felt as if capturing you was the most logical and obvious thing to do. However, since I woke up and I got free from the mind control, I started to think on my own and reflect on my past actions. I also started to feel things I never felt before. So, before blaming you for acting selflessly, I first have to be sorry for what I've done myself." "It wasn't your fault Kat, neither yours nor Jerome's." "And yet, we still betrayed you and the squad." "Do you want to excuse yourself that badly ?" "Yes, please. Tell me if I could do anything to amend myself." I smiled under my helmet. "If you really want to amend yourself, find a way for us to get out of this dimensional rift. We do not have much time left. If we die here, you guys would have come back for nothing." After giving her orders, I expected her to move out of the room and think of it but instead, she just kept staring at me. I couldn't guess what she was thinking, but the atmosphere around here slightly changed. "I might have a solution, Leader…But there is little to no chance of succeeding..." "Really ?" "It is only possible in the theoretical field, but with Gladia's help we might be able to do it practically." "We do not have much choice anyway. I do not feel the Revered Mother essence anymore, so we probably have not more than half a hour before the collapse. Do you think you could do what you have in mind fast enough ?" Kat thought for a moment, before answering with another question. "Yes but, do you not want me to explain it to you before ?" "I'll be honest with you, no matter how hard I think about it I did not find any way out of this. So if I'm going to follow a plan, it might as well be yours no matter what it is. I trust you, and I trust Gladia's calculation capabilities." "…Thanks, Leader." I stood up from my seat, walked to her, and tapped on her shoulder. "Do not thank me until we are out of here. Even if your plan fail...I won't regret any moment we all spent together. We do not have any other way out anyway. Just tell me what you need us to do." "I…I need access to the flagship core, and all the reapers." "Reassure me, you do not plan to sacrifice all the remaining reapers, right ?" "No…but some of them might die in the process. To be honest, we might also all die from it. Like I said, I don't think there is a high probability of succeeding but…I have a guts feeling that this is the only thing that could work." It was weird to see the usually stoic Katarina being so expressive, but...it wasn't that bad. "Alright. You heard her Gladia ?" [Yes.] "Assists Kat, and assign every available drones to her. No matter what she need, bring it to her even if we have to dismantle the whole ship." [Are you sure about it ? Especially the ship core…When I took control of it on Kar'goth, I was able to evaluate its properties. This is not something meant to be played with, Jun. If we manipulate it wrongly, it may explode and reduce everything inside the rift to ashes before we could even blink.] "I know. I saw how destructive were the third Legion battleship and the dreadnought explosions when they blew up their reactor core, I don't even imagine the power an energy core from the ancient era might produce. That's the reason of your presence here, your job will be to assist Kat as much as possible so we can avoid the worst from happening. As far as I know, you are the one who knows the ship core the best here." [Yes...] "Good, let's go then. Do what needs to be done, I will order the reapers to follow you." And so, we all left the control room and went to the Grand Hall for what would be the most important ordeal of our lives. This was the moment that marked the end of our long-lasting fight against the Scyllas. I didn't know yet if we could break our destined fate and survive against all odds, but we have now reunited and we were together again. No matter the outcome, we would face it together. No longer as Void Rifters, but as Humans. Never could I have known that on this day, Katarina would do a miracle that wouldn't pale in comparison to what the Revered Mother did.