Eudora advanced with unsettling calm. Then, in an instant, her shoulder ports flared and launched a pair of micro-missiles. Kirana and Zephyr dove apart as the explosion tore through the crates behind them.
Zephyr attacked first. He whipped his chain spear forward, sending the blade spinning toward her. Eudora caught it with one armored hand and jerked him toward her like he weighed nothing.
"You'll have to do better than that," she said, slamming him against a cargo wall hard enough to dent the metal.
Kirana sprang upward, firing a plasma arrow straight at Eudora's visor. The impact sparked, but the armor barely registered the hit.
"Damn it… she's reinforced," Kirana muttered, pain blooming in her shoulder.
Eudora stepped through the smoke, a plasma blade humming to life along her forearm. Kirana rolled aside, but the blade still grazed her, burning a line across her armor.
"Kirana! We can't fight her head-on!" Zephyr shouted, stumbling to his feet.
"We don't have a choice. We hold as long as we can," she snapped, raising her bow again.
The chaos escalated fast. Plasma slashes cut the air. Energy bolts burned through the fog of dust and smoke. Kirana and Zephyr danced between death and desperation, barely staying ahead of each strike.
Edena elite soldiers poured into the yard, tightening a ring around them.
Zephyr spun his chain spear, catching a soldier by the chest and flinging him into another. "Kirana! Talk to me. You good?!"
She fired twin plasma arrows at Eudora. "Still breathing. But we're running out of time."
Eudora walked through the barrage unharmed, swatting the arrows aside like sparks. "You are insignificant. You cannot comprehend the power I carry."
A laser bolt shot toward Kirana. Zephyr threw himself in front of her, his shield taking the hit. Sparks burst across his armor as he grit his teeth.
"No one touches Kirana while I'm still standing!" he roared.
Kirana glanced at him, her breath catching. "Zephyr… you know we might not make it out of here."
He gave her a tired, crooked smile, sweat and blood dripping down his jaw. "Maybe not. But if this is how it ends? Fighting beside you? I'll die with no regrets."
The world seemed to slow around them for a heartbeat.
"Zephyr…" she whispered. "Aelina is safe. That's all that matters."
***
Inside the ship, Aelina jolted awake as the comm relay crackled with their voices. She heard the strain, the desperation, the resignation.
"No…" Her fists hammered against the med-pod glass. "Dad! Mom! Don't leave me!"
Draven crouched beside her. "Aelina. Breathe. They're holding the line for you. They're not giving up."
Her tears fell fast. "I don't care what I am. I don't care if I'm not really theirs. They're my parents. I love them. I just want them back. I love them!"
Lyra's hands shook over the controls. Her voice broke. "Kirana… Zephyr… please. Don't let this be your last stand."
***
The cargo field burned with chaos. Eudora closed in, her assault relentless. The elite Edena troops tightened their circle, draining the last of Kirana and Zephyr's strength.
Zephyr dropped to his knees, his spear slipping from numb fingers.
"I… I can't move anymore, Kirana…"
Bloodied and staggering, Kirana still held her bow. She drew one final arrow, her gaze locking onto Zephyr's.
"Then I'll stand with you. Whatever comes."
She fired. The arrow struck Eudora's chest, glowing for a split-second before fading like a spark swallowed by darkness.
Eudora didn't flinch. "You're finished."
A thunderous roar erupted across the field. Engines. Heavy wheels. The ground shook.
From behind the stacked crates, rebel vehicles burst into view—former Edena soldiers who had turned against Caius Dalthar.
"Positions!" a burly man bellowed, raising a massive rifle.
The rebels charged, clashing with the elite troops and forcing back the oncoming wave. It wasn't victory, but it was enough to breathe.
Zephyr let out a strained laugh. "They… they actually came. Never thought I'd see the day."
Even with reinforcements, Eudora did not slow. She moved like a walking apocalypse—silent, calculating, unstoppable.
Kirana and Zephyr braced themselves. Zephyr hurled an electric kunai. Kirana fired arrow after arrow. All of it useless.
Eudora halted in front of them. She raised her plasma blade, its edge humming with lethal heat.
"This is the end. You will be eliminated."
Zephyr, barely conscious, reached for Kirana's hand.
"I love you, Kirana. And I love Aelina. Make sure she knows."
Kirana squeezed his hand, tears streaking down her dust-covered face.
"I love you too. And I'll fight… until my last breath."
Eudora lifted her weapon for the killing blow.
A violent explosion erupted beside her, shaking the ground. Dust and fire tore through the yard.
"What was that?!" an Edena soldier shouted.
Smoke swallowed everything. Kirana and Zephyr ducked behind a toppled crate, hearts hammering.
"Kirana… we're at our limit," Zephyr rasped, forcing himself upright.
"I know," she whispered, trembling. "But Aelina needs us. We can't die yet."
The air thundered with engines. A ship streaked overhead, firing plasma into the Edena ranks.
"Get ready! We're coming in hot!" Kaelar's voice cut through the comms.
The ship's ramp lowered.
A silhouette stepped into the light.
A woman in silver armor, etched with glowing streams of blue energy. A massive flaming axe in her right hand. A radiant blue shield in the left. Power rippled off her like a storm barely contained.
She launched herself from the ramp in a single leap. The impact of her landing cracked the ground, dust spiraling outward.
She lifted her head. Her eyes glowed—fierce, electric, unbreakable.
"No one touches my father and mother."
The blue lines across her armor shifted to red, heat surging in a wave that blasted across the battlefield.
Aelina had awakened. And she wasn't holding back anymore.
In the cockpit, Velaria stared at the readings in disbelief. "Her energy output is spiking. She's fully synchronized with her new body."
Behind her, Vega folded his arms, voice low. "She's the weapon Edena always wanted but could never build."
Across the cargo field, Eudora turned her head toward Aelina. Her voice clicked, emotionless. "Subject AIKO detected. Threat level: maximum. Elimination protocol active."
Aelina didn't respond. She simply stepped forward.
Then she launched.
Her leap cracked the air, and her shield smashed into Eudora with explosive force. The impact sent Eudora flying into a tower of crates that collapsed over her.
Eudora rose instantly. A crimson blade snapped from her arm, dragging a burning arc through the air as it cut toward Aelina.
Aelina met the strike with her blazing axe. Sparks burst like miniature suns as both weapons clashed.
A twist. A pivot. And Aelina kicked Eudora in the chest, launching her across the yard and slamming her into a concrete barrier that cracked under the impact.
Without hesitation, Aelina sprinted toward Kirana and Zephyr.
Kirana's voice wavered. "Aelina… you came back…"
Aelina dropped to her knees beside them. "I will never leave you again."
Zephyr tried to stand, but pain forced him down. "You have to run. Forget about us."
Aelina shook her head, gripping both their hands. "No. We leave together."
A soft blue glow spread from her palms into their armor. Their shields flickered back to life as the pain drained from their bodies.
She stood again, turning toward the battlefield where Eudora pushed herself free from the rubble.
Aelina's eyes ignited a deep crimson.
"Mother. Father. Get to safety. I'll face her."
Kirana grabbed her arm. "No. We're not leaving you."
Aelina cupped her mother's hand gently. "You protected me. Now let me protect you. Trust me."
Zephyr squeezed her shoulder. "Hold out, kid. We'll come back for you."
Aelina nodded. "I'll be waiting."
She stepped forward, alone in the scorched field. Then the ground trembled as she released her power.
Crimson fire spiraled upward, forming a vortex of heat and raw force. Metal containers ripped from the ground, walls fractured, smoke billowed into the sky.
Lyra's voice cut through the comms. "She's in WAR MODE. No one can stop her like this. Kirana, Zephyr—evacuate. Now."
Kirana's heart clenched as she watched her daughter stand in the eye of the storm. Zephyr touched her shoulder softly.
"She knows what she's doing. We have to trust her."
Kirana took a breath, then nodded. "We'll come back for her."
Together, they sprinted toward the rebel line as Kaelar swung the ship around to extract them.
Across the wreckage, Eudora pushed herself upright. Her helmet was split down the side, red light bleeding through the cracks like a burning wound.
Her body twitched as Edena's regeneration systems kicked in, sewing damaged components back together strand by strand.
"Target locked," she intoned, her voice crackling. "Subject AIKO: Maximum threat level. Commencing annihilation."
Missiles erupted from her shoulders in a synchronized swarm. They spiraled through the smoke, locking onto Aelina with lethal accuracy.
Aelina didn't flinch.
Then, like a streak of wildfire, she launched into the air. She twisted between the missiles, slipping through the barrage in graceful, impossible arcs. Explosions thundered behind her, shaking the ground, but her shield absorbed the shockwaves when she landed.
With a single swing of her axe, Aelina unleashed a crescent of crimson energy.
Eudora leapt to meet it, blade raised. With one brutal slash, she split the arc apart. The shockwave tore through nearby cargo stacks, shattering metal like glass.
Their battle roared on—precise, violent, almost rhythmic.
Aelina closed the distance, her axe clashing against Eudora's plasma blade. Every collision sparked with volatile energy, reverberating across the field.
"Why do you resist?" Eudora demanded, pressing forward. "You were made to obey. You belong to us."
Aelina shoved her back, boots digging into the ground. "I am not a weapon. I am not yours. I am Aelina, and I will protect my family!"
Eudora responded with a blazing minigun burst. Plasma rounds screamed through the air.
Aelina spun her shield in a tight arc. Sparks erupted as each round deflected harmlessly away.
"Too slow," she said coldly, and charged again.
Fire spiraled off her armor as she rammed straight into Eudora. The impact hurled the hybrid deeper into the rubble.
And there it was—one opening. Small, but real.
Eudora staggered, systems recalibrating. She raised her arm for another strike, but Aelina had already begun gathering power. The core on her chest lit with brilliant cerulean, wrapped in swirling red flames.
"This ends now," Aelina declared.
Eudora lunged.
Too late.
Aelina released everything.
A torrent of plasma and fire blasted forward, swallowing Eudora in a single cataclysmic strike. The ground split. Metal warped. Heat rippled across the field like a shockwave.
When the fire faded, Eudora's body was in ruins. Her limbs were gone. Only a scorched torso and flickering head remained.
Aelina approached slowly, gaze steady.
"Never come near my family again," she said, her voice quiet and final. "And never harm Earth."
The red glow in Eudora's eyes dimmed… then died.
Silence settled.
From above, Kaelar's ship lowered its ramp.
Aelina engaged her boot thrusters and lifted off the ground, gliding into the ship with controlled precision. The ramp closed behind her.
Kaelar, already at the helm, activated the cloak. "We're getting out of here."
Vega checked the monitors. "Warpdrive is charged."
Kaelar gripped the lever and set the course.
"We're going home."