The valley had become hell given life before Octavia’s very eyes as dirt exploded in every direction, pieces of superheated shrapnel mixed in with the spray of dirt and rock. Miniature suns ignited all around her, throwing the illumination into disarray as multiple sources of blindingly bright lights grew and faded around her. The armor piercing spikes rained down from the treeline above them, impacting the dirt as they scrambled away from the incoming fire as fast as their feet could carry them.

There was no time for a heartfelt reunion as Octavia ran after her friends - they were stuck in the open with no recourse but to run away as fast as they could. Fate had brought them back together just in time to be ambushed by hell itself, leaving little recourse but to leap to the next obvious step in their journey. The nearest cover that Octavia could see was a cluster of boulders that were nestled at the bottom of a cliff face. An outcrop of the cliff seeped into a ditch with a gravel hill leading up the side of the mountain, providing treacherous terrain as the soil shifted from grass to uneven stone.

The barrage of needles paused briefly in their run, causing Octavia to look back over her shoulder in time for twelve pristine white machines to rocket off of the top of the hill with their enormous magnetically suspended wings spread behind them. They flew in perfect formation as they arched from the top of the hill to the bottom of the valley, landing simultaneously at exactly the same distance from one another. The Seraphim had placed themselves squarely between the Federation soldiers and the retreating amaranthian hunters, their wings spread to form a metal wall as they pointed their rifles up the valley towards the fleeing Federation soldiers.

“Fuck, there’s twelve of them!” Jace screamed, his voice ragged as he rushed towards the relative safety of the scattered boulders.

“We can’t take them all on!” B’roka insisted, “Agent Remiel, Analyst Desjoux, find us that control room!” he ordered sharply as he skidded to a halt and tumbled to the side, ducking behind the nearest boulder just in time for the second barrage of needles to be launched through the air.

“Incoming!” Octavia screamed, scrambling onto all fours as she all-but threw herself into cover, letting out a pained huff of air as the landing expelled her breath from her lungs.

The second barrage began impacting the rocks around them with a roaring cacophony of metallic pings and the sickening hiss of thermite igniting. The acid payload in their tips found purchase in the boulders, lodging the metal shafts into the mineral deposits for a moment before they ignited within the rocks. Molten stone began to drip out of the many holes that peppered the outsides of the boulders being used for cover, only for more needles to impact in the damaged rock to repeat the process.

From her position on the ground she could see Alex, Remiel and Cody ducking into a well-protected nook in front of the cliff face. Opposite to herself she saw Jace diving into the shade of a large boulder that was half sunken into the ground, immediately tucking himself into its silhouette while keeping the rock itself distant from his body with wide eyes of terror. Zuur darted like a bolt of lightning into the shadow of the cliff, tucked out of view with an entire mountain ridge between it and the assaulting Omni with Merith closely in tow.

Octavia gasped as a piece of the boulder behind her melted, bubbling away into a thick steam to reveal the activated needle behind the acid damage. She immediately ducked just in time for the needle to erupt in a blinding ball of light and sparks, the inside of the boulder heating up fast enough that the entire structure cracked in half behind her. The thermite core burned hot and fast, turning the inside of the damaged boulder into a blast furnace that rapidly melted both sections of broken rock. Molten mineral dripped down onto the soil next to Octavia’s prone form, forcing her to shuffle away from the melting stone as quickly as she could.

“Octavia!” Merith screamed from the safety of a solid outcropping of the cliff looming over them. Octavia whipped her head around to face the alari from her position on the ground, wide eyes hidden behind her mirrored visor.

“Help!” Octavia cried back desperately as the entire top half of her boulder slogged off to the side, molten rock easing its journey as her cover fell to pieces. She turned her attention back to the rock, watching in horror as a storm of explosive needles washed over her shattered boulder towards the rest of the squad, their cover meeting similar fates as the Omni barrage assaulted them with the ferocity of a hurricane.

The air next to Octavia warped, the light bending through an event horizon in the shape of a person. The sense of relief was palpable as Merith skipped into view, kneeling behind what was left of Octavia’s boulder. The alari immediately reached down and grabbed Octavia by one of the center plates of her armor, and without any fanfare the world around them both warped out of existence into a dizzying darkness.

As quickly as the world had gone dark, suddenly Octavia found herself back in the world, her view of the sky warped into a different angle. She was hit by a latent sensation of acceleration, a wave of G-force slamming into her gut harder than anything she had ever felt before. Her stomach felt like it had been wrung out to dry and every fiber of her being screamed at her to vomit. Her mouth opened and she gagged, but nothing came out save for a choked gurgle that carried a bitter taste with it.

“That’s what skipping feels like?” Mack exclaimed in complaint, her own voice carrying a nauseating groan as she did.

“Sorry, Octavia!” Merith exclaimed with worry as she pressed her back against the edge of her much larger boulder, daring to take a brief peek around the corner. She instantly withdrew her head as a metal spike impacted the side of the rock and ricocheted past where her head had been, her eyes shooting wide at the near-death experience.

As Octavia writhed on the ground in her overwhelming sensation of motion-sickness, she saw B’roka sprint around the corner, diving for cover behind a rock parallel to the outcrop that she was prone behind. A hail of needles rushed past after him, impacting the ground in a line. Octavia had just enough time to turn her head away before the needles embedded in the ground ignited, a wall of blinding light and searing heat erupting in a line between them. Even through her armor and the haze of psionic nausea, Octavia could feel the intense heat radiating off of the blinding points of light, causing her to recoil sharply.

“Minuteman Kelly, Minuteman Jones!” B’roka called out from his position as the miniature suns burnt out, leaving a line of glassed soil where the explosions had occurred.

“Could use some help, L-T!” Alex screamed back, still tucked into a nook in front of Octavia’s outcrop with Remiel and Cody. Even from her prone position Octavia could see that there was several feet of open ground between them and the ditch, leaving them fully exposed if they were to try to make a break for it.

“Not doing well either, boss!” Jace announced as he shimmied away from a crumbling edge of his boulder, tucking his body as narrowly as he could within what little cover remained.

As fear began to overwhelm the sense of nausea welling up within her, Octavia rolled over and pushed herself up to her paws, pressing her back against the rock wall next to Merith. She peeked across the ditch towards B’roka, who was currently unscrewing the short barrel of his bullpup Federation rifle as quickly as his stony appendages would allow. Dropping the barrel to the ground carelessly, he reached into one of his hip pouches and produced a much longer barrel which he then screwed in hastily.

“Guardian Tiberius, Flight Officer Kelro, lay down covering fire! We’ve got to get the others out of there!” he exclaimed over the din of explosions and gunfire echoing deafeningly through the mountain valley.

“Right!” Octavia agreed with a nod, gripping her plasma pistol as she steeled herself.

“On it,” Merith declared sharply.

The three shared a look for a moment before they each whirled into position to fire at the Omni gunline. Merith and B’roka began firing streams of lead towards the attackers, their conventional rifles rattling as the gunfire echoed deafeningly within the mountain valley. Time began to slow for Octavia as her combat suite kicked in - with her armor out of commission and the Seraphim so far away, she had little recourse but to keep her safeties on and rely on the advanced targeting and perception of her implants alone.

As Octavia leaned out into the opening over the gravely ditch, her retinal display zoomed in until she could see the distant Omni as if they were mere feet in front of her. Lining her sidearm up with the attackers, she let loose her first lance of plasma, rapidly followed by a second and a third. She fired as fast she could, keeping her sights firmly on the Omni gunline as she did.

The first lance struck true, but with Octavia’s increased perception of time, she saw in painful detail as the deadly burst of plasma dissipated harmlessly against an invisible barrier a foot in front of the Omni. The air shimmered for the briefest of moments where the plasma hit, only to fade into obscurity once again. The following lances of plasma had similar effects, impacting the shield without making so much as a fluctuation in its power. Even as she watched, Merith and B’roka’s bullets met similar fates as they crumpled harmlessly or ricocheted off of the Omni shield, their combined fire yielding no results against the stalwart defense.

A return barrage of needles raced towards their open position, forcing all three of them to retreat from the opening once again as the ditch between them lit up with another series of miniature thermite suns. Octavia’s perception raced back into real time as the barrage landed, giving her a start as she rapidly backpedaled away from the incoming needles. White-hot sparks bounced off of the front of Octavia’s armor, forcing her to hastily scrape at her chest to brush off any lingering burning particles. As she looked down at her armor, she could see the tiny pockmarks where the sparks had instantly melted through the topmost layer of carapace.

“Can’t land a shot, sir!” Merith exclaimed once the sparks faded, dropping her empty magazine to the ground as she fished through her flight suit for the next, “They’ve got their gunline barrier up!”

“We don’t have the ordinance to punch through that shield!” Octavia called out as she rejoined Merith, holding her pistol aloft to check the charge on the rear display screen. The charge filled back up to full even as she watched, giving her a small degree of comfort as she lowered the pistol to look towards B’roka with concern.

“Damnit!” B’roka rumbled loudly, scrambling to reload his own rifle. As he did, he peered around behind their position and suddenly called out, “Where’s Zuur?”

Octavia paused to look behind herself. The enormous apex predator had been there mere moments ago, looming behind her like a specter. But now the shadow of the mountain was devoid of the beast, leaving the three of them to their own devices without any indication that it had ever been there in the first place.

“No idea!” Merith shouted back, her voice cracking slightly at the volume she had to reach to be heard over the deafening storm of explosions and metallic cracks.

“Sir!” Alex screamed in terror, the exclamation escaping her in an uneven squeal as she recoiled from her cover. The wall of the nook in front of her had taken so much damage from the thermite-filled needles that the entire front section was little more than molten rock. A small pool of magma was beginning to seep around the corner towards Alex, Cody and Remiel’s hiding place. If they didn’t run the magma would kill them just as surely as the Omni would.

Further in front of them, Octavia noticed that Jace had stopped moving, laying prone behind his rapidly-dwindling cover. Her eyes went wide as she noticed the thick pool of blood gathering on his stomach, staining through his tank top as he laid on the rocky soil. She could see that he was still breathing, but he wasn’t moving and his gun was on the ground, causing her heart to drop like a rock as she realized just how bad the situation had gotten.

“Damnit, damnit, damnit!” B’roka screamed in frustration, slapping the fresh magazine into his rifle. There was a brief pause before he nodded in certainty, “Okay - Guardian Tiberius, Flight Officer Kelro, give me as much cover fire as you can and don’t stop until I’m either dead or back!” he exclaimed loudly, bringing his rifle to bear as he ducked into a position, ready to run.

“Sir, that’s suicide!” Merith objected, her eyes shooting wide in horror.

“Just do it!” B’roka snapped, “Now, now! Go!” he exclaimed, and as he did he leapt over the ditch and sprinted into the open, rushing first for the nook which contained the noncombatants.

“Fuck!” Merith exclaimed, her hand forced. She slipped around the corner and dropped to a knee, firing an uncontrolled burst towards the Omni in the vain hopes of distracting them. Octavia rushed behind her and leaned out over Merith’s head, firing her own sidearm as rapidly as she could.

The Omni didn’t even flinch as their barrage impacted the shield in front of them, the perfect white machines standing perfectly still as the shield took the brunt of the damage. Despite the lack of damage however, Octavia noticed that as her plasma beams dissipated against the shield, each burst created a small puff of evaporated energy wherever it landed. She abandoned the notion of conserving the plasma coil, instead firing in a steady stream of rapid lances of purple plasma until she had created an impromptu smoke screen of dissipated plasma directly in front of the Omni.

To her surprise, the blinding effect seemed to work. The barrage of needles fell silent as the Omni were blinded, waiting until they could see their targets again. It was enough time for B’roka to reach the nook, sidestepping the magma as he reached into the small area to grab his wounded charge.

The power in Octavia’s pistol was rapidly diminishing, each shot bringing it closer and closer to running out of power. She watched with trepidation as it dropped below half, below a third, below a quarter, and yet she kept firing. The exhaust ports on the sidearm were beginning to glow a dark red, the metal not intended to be fired with such consistency for so long. The power dropped below five and Octavia’s heart sank as the number changed to red and the next pull of the trigger yielded nothing.

As Octavia’s pistol fell silent, the last of the impromptu cloud of plasma began to fade, revealing the unharmed white machines standing stoically behind their impenetrable shield. Their white visors glowed through the dissipated plasma, illuminating them through the haze as the shield faded back into obscurity. As one, they all raised their rifles towards the Federation position just as B’roka was extracting Alex from her hiding place.

Octavia was about to call out in warning when an otherworldly howl set every nerve in her body alight in the worst way imaginable. The sound crawled through her pores and doused her blood in ice, an uncomfortable prickling sensation racing from head to toe as every single one of her hairs stood on end in fear. Her stomach sank, her heart stopped, and her lungs felt like they were full of lead.

Zuur leapt off of the hill above the Omni gunline, its enormous claws extended as it sailed through the air with its maw open in a song of death. It came crashing down on top of one of the Seraphim, driving the bladelike bony protrusion on its head directly through the first Seraph’s chest. The rest of the Seraphim turned towards it and began to open fire in a hail of deadly needles, and Octavia’s breath caught as the first of the needles began tearing straight through Zuur’s chest.

The needles didn’t stop it.

The xaxar lunged forward with an enormous paw and effortlessly smashed the next Seraph off of its feet, sending it flying several meters before it crashed into the ground in a useless heap. More needles penetrated its natural armor, and still its horrific war cry escaped it as it leapt onto the next, its jaw closing down around the Seraph’s head as it rode the machine’s body to the ground. Needles peppered its back, penetrating all the way through until they impacted the dirt beneath it, and still it raged.

Zuur leapt forward, the head of the Seraph still held firmly in its mouth as it charged bodily into the remaining Seraphim, sending them sprawling or flying as it threw its weight into their position. Even as thick rivers of sickeningly blue blood poured from a multitude of holes on its body, Zuur was a blur of tooth and claw as it ripped and tore through the Omni line. Mechanical limbs were sent flying, bodies were crushed and tossed like ragdolls, and for once in her life Octavia was grateful to have a xaxar on her side.

B’roka came rushing around the corner with Alex, Remiel and Cody in tow, urging them behind the outcropping with Octavia and Merith. He glanced around before turning, noticing Jace still prone behind his shattered boulder. There was the briefest of pauses, his bioluminescence pulsing weakly as he gazed upon Jace and the raging Zuur on the hill. Then he charged off towards Jace, coming to a skidding halt next to him.

Octavia watched as the Lieutenant picked Jace up effortlessly, hefting him bridal-style in his rocky arms. Even from a short distance, Octavia could see that Jace’s shirt had been stained a dark red and was seeping with blood around his stomach, a small puddle of blood left in the rocky soil where he had been laying. Jace was still conscious, but his head was limp over B’roka’s arm as the Lieutenant carried him away from where he had been laying, Jace’s rifle left behind in the puddle of blood during the retreat.

“Jace?” Alex asked in horror, her eyes wide and face pale as she watched B’roka rush behind the outcrop with Jace in his arms.

“He needs a medic,” B’roka replied sharply before turning his head, “Agent Remiel, Analyst Desjoux - get me that doorway now, damnit!” he exclaimed, the anger in his voice startling even Octavia.

“What about Zuur?” Merith asked with wide eyes, looking back over the ditch where Zuur was still struggling with the Omni.

“Zuur is already dead, Flight Officer Kelro,” B’roka replied shortly, his ever-stoic voice crackling slightly at the declaration, “We need to move, lest we join it.”

The xaxar war cry suddenly cut off into a wet gurgle that Octavia could hear even from where she was. The sound made her sick and brought a sudden pang to her stomach that she couldn’t ignore. If she survived the ordeal, she was certain that she would hear the transition of the ferocious howl into the unnaturally wet wail in nightmares for the rest of her natural life.

“Up here, Lieutenant,” Remiel exclaimed as she effortlessly rushed up the gravel incline, disappearing around a flat rock above their position.

“Alright, everyone, get up there now!” B’roka barked sharply, nodding towards the rest of the crew insistently, “Move, move!”

Octavia didn’t need to be told twice. Taking one last look towards Zuur’s position, her heart ached at the sight. Zuur was lying unmoving on its stomach, a crushed Seraph in its mouth. The rest of the Seraphim were recovering, picking themselves up and helping one another off of the ground, performing immediate field repairs as the Federation soldiers retreated. She didn’t stick around for long enough to get a headcount of how many Seraphim the xaxar had killed in its final moments, but she had a newfound respect for the galactic apex predators.

Turning on her paws, Octavia rushed past B’roka and began scrambling up the incline, finding it much more difficult to climb than Remiel had made it appear. The gravel was loose and tumbled with every step, forcing Octavia to fall to her hands and knees as she powered up the side of the mountain. It was a treacherous journey and she fell several times, sliding a few feet down the incline before she managed to catch herself and regain the lost ground. Somehow out of all of the physical exertion she had to endure that morning, she found the climb to be the most difficult, and by the time she reached the top she was panting hard enough within her helmet that it had become humid with her breath alone.

Eventually, she reached the flat rock where Remiel had disappeared, huffing in exhaustion as her battle fatigue caught up with her. She flopped onto the flat rock, rolling onto her back for the moment as she struggled to catch her breath. Her lungs burned, her muscles ached, and all she wanted to do was pass out for the rest of the year.

“Octy, look at that!” Vita exclaimed, her voice alight in awe.

Octavia focused her eyes on what lay directly in front of her. An enormous stone doorway in the side of the mountain, glyphs carved masterfully into the stonework which gave the sight a foreboding sensation. There was no door, and beyond was a dark passage that immediately descended beyond sight into the heart of the mountain.

Remiel was standing off to the side of the doorway, her arms crossed in front of her as she gazed up at the sky. Octavia followed her gaze and was surprised to find that she was staring at the ominous red gas giant looming overhead. She had to quickly turn her head away as she felt herself being drawn into Oculus’s gaze once again, the sensation of static racing through the uncomfortable confines of her armor.

Octavia pushed herself off of the ground and scrambled to her paws, stepping hastily away from the edge that she had crawled over. The motion deposited her close to Remiel’s side, prompting the intelligence officer to glance away from Oculus long enough to shoot a disapproving glare in Octavia’s direction. Without a word, Remiel turned her gaze back up to the crimson orb above, her face fixed in an unreadable expression.

“What is Oculus?” Octavia asked, the question escaping her lips unbidden before she had the opportunity to even think about it.

“Everything,” Remiel replied shortly, “And nothing.”

“It’s not just a gas giant, is it?”

“No.”

Octavia paused long enough to glance up at the swirling storm of crimson looming over their heads, her heart pausing in her chest as her breath caught. Even the smallest of glances was enough to make her head reel, a distinct sensation of wrongness settling into her body in a way she simply couldn’t put words to. Every fiber of her being was urging her to run, to scream, to hide and cry, but she found she couldn’t move.

“You feel it, don’t you?” Remiel asked, a genuinely curious tone edging into her voice as she turned her attention towards Octavia with a sidelong look.

“I feel something,” Octavia admitted, averting her eyes from the sky with conscious effort.

“Then you must understand how important this mission is,” Remiel declared, unfolding her hands as she turned to face the doorway.

“I don’t understand it at all,” Octavia remarked bitterly, “What are we even doing here?”

The corners of Remiel’s lips turned up in a small smirk as she reached out and put her hand to Octavia’s back. The touch made Octavia’s skin crawl beneath her damaged armor, her nerves set alight in the worst way imaginable. It took every ounce of her concentration to not recoil from the officer’s hand.

“You’ll need to trust me, Octavia,” Remiel urged, “Death comes for us, and now is not the time to have second thoughts. We are here to save the world.”

Octavia hesitated before giving the smallest of nods. She wanted to turn around, to say no and call it quits. It wasn’t too late to evade the pursuing Omni and return to Enya’s village.

But she couldn’t.

With a deep breath, she steeled herself and made her way through the doorway.