Descent: Incursion Finale

[Nima Tann]

Nima found herself in a foreign place after she was shown a few images, following her attack. It looked like a prison, with the cells and all. Almost looked abandoned, as it was old and crumbling. This place... seemed different. Nima was used to seeing people's thoughts, but this... almost felt real. Taking a breath, she continued examining, walking through the creepy corridor to find some answers. She saw some shadowy figures, patiently waiting inside their cells. What was that about? Was the prison connected to the Machine somehow? She continued walking, getting slightly creeped out from the atmosphere. And then something very unexpected happened. The shadows inside the cells suddenly turned their attention to her. It was then an immense pain hit her like... before, it made her panic and almost made her lose her balance.

The prison was starting the collapse, but Nima couldn't find the strength to return to the real world. What was this place, why was it collapsing? She had many questions, but for now she just wanted to get out. With all her strength, she sent mental blasts over and over, like catapults bombarding a castle relentlessly, strong enough to cause a mental shutdown if it was an organic. [member="Enyo Typhos"]'s original could probably remember a similar scene when she tried Force Drain on Nima before. It was one of her fears, since her father, who was a Sith, used to lock her and her sisters in an empty room with an artifact that sucked Force energy as a punishment for being too nice.

If her attacks connected, it would hopefully be painful enough for the golem to interrupt what it was currently doing, and bring Nima back to the real world.

[member="Tempest"] [member="HK-36"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Omega]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Aster Rose Baelor"] [member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="Vindica"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Kainan Wolfe"] [member="Captain Ironbeard"]

Onyx howled in fury. Lightning, disruptors, explosives, fire, all of it penetrated inside his rent armour. And then, Vaylin’s blow to the head finally severed the last few important linkages.
A last, final, onslaught was building, but the mental attacks disrupted it from Nima, and the Shard fully focussed on the scene at last.

Too late.

Explosions rocked the inside of the golem as it stumbled back, crashed into the wall and then toppled forward. Vaylin would have to jump clear before it hit the ground, and HK would also have to be careful he was not landed on.

Something strange was happening though. As the golem hit the ground and shattered a dark mist was forming over it, the fires inside being drawn like tendrils into a spot near to the body. A void which was drawing not just physical but psychic energy from the fallen Shard into it.

Alert sounded all over. Outside, through the windows, the shell around the star was starting to crack. Nima would know as she returned from the void what was happening. The machine had to be destroyed now or the gateway would open.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

A flash from the damaged plasma conduit, and no longer were they in the place with the Foreman any longer. No, they were back where they had come from. What was this mesh that seemed to cover everything around them the temperature readings showed that it had not lessened, though it didn't seem to have drastically increased either. While he was still trying t o piece all of this together, there was a second flash and they were back to the room where the Foreman had been, and yet he was not there. Something was wrong, It would give them a moment to rest and collect themselves before finding out exactly how to shut this whole thing down or destroy it for good.

Getting to his feet took some work after the return trip, though he didn't quite understand why it was so taxing on him, he hadn't been the reason four people just teleported twice in the span of a few seconds...or minutes...or however long that had been. Sure he had thrown some rubble at a hulking mechanical beast, but that wasn't too tiring. Maybe it had been more straining than he had noticed, or he could have been feeding off the energy surrounding him and using that to augment his own abilities. However there was an odd feeling in the background, it was as though much of the Force energy was being drawn into a single point as though it were being fed upon. A skill he had used a couple times before, but had only done so when no other options to heal himself had been available other than at the expense of the life of another. The Force would leave a wound here due to the ferociousness of the attack.

Even if they succeeded there would be a wound left, the sheer amount of death and destruction guaranteed that much. Kurayami sighed and tried to think of some means through which they could finally end this. He still saw flashes of scattered memories that were his own and others that he was unsure of which made it difficult for him to concentrate on formulating a solid plan of attack. Once he had managed to quell the noise in his mind enough he made his way over to [member="Jessica Matthews"], [member="Andorreth Vikar"], and [member="Audren Sykes"].

"Just to be sure I'm not entirely insane, that hulking beast we were all fighting, he vanished when we were 'moved' elsewhere for a short time before being brought back, right? And if that is the case do any of you three have any Idea how to find him again?"

[member="Onyx"], [member="The Foreman"]

 

[Omega]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Nima Tann"] [member="Vindica"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Kainan Wolfe"] [member="Captain Ironbeard"]
[member="Andorreth Vikar"] [member="Jessica Matthews"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Audren Sykes"]

A glance out the window would show the shell around the star was cracking up. Beneath it, the star was turning black, seeming to fold in upon itself.

Just for a moment there was the sight of something emerging from the shadows. A form of horrible shape and malicious intent. Tendrils and alien carapace glittered in the light of the star as it started to come through.

Over all the organics present would come a whisper in their mind, no words, just a low, unsettling hum.

Just when it seemed the creature, whatever it was, would emerge fully into space, the team acted against the machine. Explosions rocked the ring, and the device shattered into pieces.

Abruptly the creature, whatever it was, got pulled back into where it had come. The darkness faded and the light of the star resumed. And got brighter.

Garnet glanced at Enyo and the others, helping up Vaylin from the ground.

“The star was being compressed down by the previous owners of this ring. Now the machine and the shell is gone, it will start to expand. We need to get out of here immediately.”

She broadcast a similar message on all frequencies to all those nearby and in space. This would become apparent to all those, whether in space, ground, machine or throne room even without her though. It was time to leave before the star’s expansion swallowed up the ring.

“Come on, I know a quick way back to the hanger!”

Fortunately they would not need to go through the trapped rooms again.

XXX

It would take an hour for the star to reach its proper size, as the compressed energies were unleashed at last. Anything which didn’t escape would be melted and torn to pieces.

The Contingency fleet, for the most part, fled into the wilderness of the Rishi Maze, possibly to be seen again. Several of the Shards had escaped the battle and might appear again.

SX-192 – or Tartarus – was now left once more abandoned, as it had been for so long before the Contingency came.

Whoever the previous owners of the ring world were they had achieved a great stellar feat in compressing the star, but in doing so they had opened themselves to the whispers beyond the void. They had built the machine to control this, but strife had destroyed them. Now, at last, their tale was ended. The galaxy was safe for now, but those beings who has tasted real space would not stop seeking a path back.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

Massive Coalition transports rose through the smoke of the citadel and arced away. On the bridge of the Wretched Hive, Jorus winced at the swelling sunlight. The star overhead expanded visibly, back to a normal size. In fairly short order, this ancient ringworld would melt and shred.

“Barth, gimme a channel to the Silvers.”

“Done.”

Jorus sat up a little taller in his command chair to give the holocam a decent view. “Med-Beq, this is Jorus Merrill on the Wretched Hive. We're just about full of our survivors and salvage from the citadel. You getting away clear, or do you need us to pick anyone up, stragglers or whatever?”

Her forces had moved on to more critical areas once the citadel fell; his had stayed, but the distance between them was nothing the Hive couldn't handle. Even with a stellar event in progress.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

To see the a star turn black and begin to crack as a shape formed from the darkness was unsettling to say the least. So many things had happened that the Grey Jedi considered just taking some time off from the insanity of having to try and keep balance both internally and wherever he could help. It was a terrifying thing to view that which should not be, something so inexplicable, when the time came, would he even remember any of this after the fact? Or would it fade in time? There was no simple answer he presumed. In the background of all of this there was a hum, one that reverberated within his skull, that would not cease as the now dark star continued to crack and release what seemed to have been trapped inside.

In what seemed to be the normal speed of time, the creature abruptly froze and was dragged back to wherever it had come from. The ring was wracked by explosions that shook the entirety of the complex as it shattered. It seemed that others had made their ways to this section, many of whom he could not place at the moment. Then there was a female voice that he heard speaking. A Shard? Perhaps, perhaps not, but she claimed to know a way to the hangar. He approached her, his body still screaming in pain from the encounters of before. Every bit of him felt as though it were made of molten slag. As he reached her he nodded.

"The last thing we have right now is time. So if you know how to reach the hangars then please do show us the way. I can fly."

He took another look around the group that was gathered here. He knew that the number had been far greater at the start, and whatever happened to those who weren't here now, he could only hope they found a way off.

"Well done everyone, we did what we came to do, now lets leave before the star makes us regret staying."

[member="HK-36"], [member="Andorreth Vikar"], [member="Audren Sykes"], [member="Jessica Matthews"], [member="Captain Ironbeard"], [member="Vaylin"], [member="Vindica"], [member="Caelag Vass"], [member="Kainan Wolfe"], [member="Enyo Typhos"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Incursion"]

 

[Jsc]

Nodding to the others with a sigh, Jessica made a mental call back to her freedmen for help.


As the Contingency fleet retreated from the rising stellar event another group of transports arrived to save those on The Conduit. Offering the weary heroes a chance to escape the blast before this strange dungeon became their grave.

From the viewports of their escape vessel, Jessica looked back at the collapsing ring, and sighed. Forever unsure of what had just happened. So many questions still left unanswered. Who were these machines? What was their purpose? Why the visions, the spirits, the torture rooms? What did all of this really mean?

"So strange."

She pressed a dark glove up against the glass as a new star was born. Then real space folded into Hyperspace and her ship escaped to Lightspeed.

The end. For now.

 

[Andorreth Vikar]

I'd been teleported back away from the The Foreman....then followed a group back to hangars. Feeling the back along the left ribs of my armor I made sure the diamond plated metal was still there...Today had been....Strange would be putting it mildly. As I sat aboard a transport ship headed back to Voss all I could hope was that I'd done my part. That's all I could've done at the very least now I'd have some things that couldn't really be explained only treasured... Or sold. I could do that too I guess, for now I was content to sleep and await landing on Voss...

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Objective: Grounding Evacuate
Location: Outskirts of the Machine
Allies: [member="Jorus Merrill"]
Enemies: Contingency

In the end, the remaining Contingency forces around the Machine fell to a coordinated airstrike: explosions of 500-kg proton bombs tore through what was left of the Machine's garrison, committing to an all-out, last-ditch sortie, some distance away from the Machine knowing that its end was near. But as isolated pockets of enemy resistance were being engaged by the Silver Jedi army, they were able to make their big push towards the Machine, which by this point was mostly deserted. With the field artillery (that is, tanks) on the front line, and riflemen on their turret roofs, the main thoroughfares along the outer districts of the Machine were mostly secured, facing very little resistance as they advanced and the infantry conducted house-to-house combat. That was possible only because the vast majority of the city's garrison was engaging in a last-ditch assault devoid of any anti-aircraft and while air superiority wasn't theirs, essentially fighting like the main Primeval army did at the later stages of the Rift campaign. Victory was at hand, the Silver Jedi was about to capture the Machine, when the star started expanding. Time for exfil, she thought; while the siege of the Machine was, by far, a very easy victory in comparison to the Rift campaign, or even the defense of Kaas City on Dromund Kaas, the stellar event made it a bittersweet victory at best and a very hollow victory at worst.

"Priority one message from the Outer Rim Coalition"

"Patch it through"

“Med-Beq, this is Jorus Merrill on the Wretched Hive. We're just about full of our survivors and salvage from the citadel. You getting away clear, or do you need us to pick anyone up, stragglers or whatever?”

"The Silver Jedi is getting away clear"

The very ships with which she made the insertion on Tartarus, alongside the other Silver Jedi forces committed to the operation, began to pull out of the battlefield, out of the doomed city. They began to load up the troops onboard the ships, alongside their vehicles, as the evacuation of any SJ forces around the Machine was made urgent by the stellar event taking place. Hundreds of troops, and five squadrons of vehicles: they made it back to their transports and not one moment too soon. Once that is made, they are going into orbit with all speed, and hence they are going away from Tartarus. While in flight, Jessica made it to the CIC of the transport ship she was assigned to, and she feels happier about having fought the Contingency on Tartarus, in an attempt to fight off the Contingency. The SJ channels were somehow full of reports about... Mirial? Mirial was where the other significant campaign was being waged, which meant that they may be needing reinforcements.

"So where to now?"

"They often hear about how we were going to attack Mirial" the intelligence officer told her.

"We're not in range to reach Mirial; I don't think we'll reach Mirial in time for us to be of any aid against the Sith Empire. Set course for Jaminere"

As is usual in every instance where she can be in a cockpit, Jessica calculates the trajectory in her head prior to actually engaging the hyperdrive; while, of course, it's a dangerous thing to attempt for Jedi, she is one of those few that could attempt it safely, knowing that whatever rest they will get on Jaminere will be well-earned after the events of Ossus and Tartarus. The blue streaks of hyperspace flight were soon being shown so that they would be able to return home or whatever approximation to home there was, while remaining close enough to the front lines against the Sith Empire.

Spoiler

• Infantry:
  920 Silver Jedi regulars
• 175 Silver Jedi heavy weapons infantry

[*]Artillery:

• 32 Irnfall main battle tanks
• 32 Hwacha MLRS

[*]Aircraft:

• 22 RZ-3 A-Wing Interceptors
• 22 Chiloon-class bombers

 

[HK-36]

[member="Incursion"],

The Onyx finally fell, slumping down and coming crashing towards the ground in his giant form, HK took a step back at first, watching the colossus crumbling towards him, before moving back faster and faster, running backwards until finally his jet systems activated once more and the droid took off from the floor, lifting up in the air to fly away from the zone of collision before it was too late. Presumably [member="Vaylin"] would have been able to jump away, using the Force to get away, however if she had any difficulties or she would not be fast enough, she may have just found herself suddenly swept up and held by a pair of strong droid arms, carrying her away safely to rejoin with others.


[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Enyo Typhos"], [member="Vindica"], [member="Caelag Vass"], [member="Kainan Wolfe"], [member="Captain Ironbeard"],

Once HK and Vaylin would be back with the group, whichever way the Zabrak would get there, whether by hitching a ride on the droid or not, HK would nod to Garnet, deciding to follow the Shard out to the hangar, thankfully bypassing the puzzle room that held them up for majority of the adventure,

"If someone is pressed for a ride, my boys can pick us up in my private combat transport."

The droid offered before following Garnet out to leave the Machine while there was still time

 

[Audren Sykes]

Location: Lightroom
Team: Lightside
[member=Incursion] | [member="Jessica Matthews"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] | [member="Andorreth Vikar"]

In spite of the effort that Audren sank into restricting the machine's movements, still it edged forward. Servomotors struggled against the invisible, Force-powered will made tangible and were prevailing. Even if it was barely, even if it was an extreme effort, it was prevailing. The glowing heart of the droid grew brighter as it strained, whether in mute warning of internal issues or anger or some other indicator entirely; it was simple to imagine that it showed the fury of the machine, which was backed by the Force.

There was a burst of light in the room, countered by the optics in the mask the Sephi still wore. Then a brighter flash - temporarily overloading the optics' dampening capabilities - as the damaged section of conduit gave out, and black. All of the sudden they were back where they'd been. The place was hot, oppressive, and there was something that covered everything around them. A sauna without the humidity, and where the fog was tangible. Breathing was a chore, even with the mask, which indicated the pressure itself might be higher. Most disturbing however was the impression that the four of them were being watched. The mist twisted, shifting shadows there giving the impression of things turning to look at them. Words were more felt than heard: Not Yet. Well, that wasn't ominous at all.

Then they were back. All of them but the Foreman, which was interesting in and of itself. The difference in air pressure - the ease of breathing - was a relief. As he regained awareness of his location, streams of plasma started rupturing, resulting in streams of plasma jetting out haphazardly. At the same time, Jessica was waking up from her travels, understandably complaining in a very vocal manner. Kurayami also made his way over to the group and clarified that they'd seen the same thing: a completely reasonable reaction in the Master's opinion.

"If he's actually gone, be content. He was the one blocking us from achieving our goal, not the goal itself. We need to shut this place down."

In theory, the ever-increasing number of rupturing conduits would do the trick. But they had to be sure.

A sudden change of the light from outside caught his attention. He'd not noticed before, but the dimming of the light outside was now reversed and the malicious hum in his mind disappeared. He had the faintest glimpse of a form being sucked back into darkness as the light grew. It was not just a return, it was actively growing brighter, aided by the explosions. Sudden dimming and brightening of stars was not good, even he knew that. Then a message came through the comm channels, something about the star expanding and needing to leave. Brilliant idea. No pun intended, of course. He followed Kurayami and Jessica to the others, stopping for the barest moment to snag a handful of the droids and cram them into a container. He was curious and wanted to do some digging; they'd be completely inert in a stasis field.

As the chosen escape vessel fled the star's vicinity, Audren realized that he'd not had much in the way of explanation. He'd arrived, been assaulted and assaulted opponents in turn, been transported to some strange reality for a brief moment and returned, then fled the growing star. No concrete answer to why. And from what he felt from those on the transport, answers were not going to be readily found here. Maybe time would tell, maybe looking into these droids would. Or maybe he was just sith out of luck on that count. For now he'd continue under the impression that he'd contributed to the continued safety of the galaxy at large and deal with the rest later.

 

[Vaylin]

Location: Terminal Route [ [member="Incursion"] ]
Objective: Evacuate
With: [member="HK-36"] | [member="Enyo Typhos"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Vindica"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Kainan Wolfe"] [member="Captain Ironbeard"] | [member="Andorreth Vikar"] | [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

Vaylin had indeed managed to get herself away from Onyx before the shard began to topple forwards. The internal explosions made it clear that she needed to get away, and quickly. Calling upon the Force one more time, the Zabrak propelled herself away from the giant and went soaring through the air - just as Onyx crashed backwards then forwards.

She had managed to deactivate and clip her lightsabers back to her belt, but there was no grace to Vaylin's movements now. She was exhausted at this point, and just fell into a unceremonious heap when she finally hit the ground.

For a moment it didn't seem like she was moving, but the Zabrak simply remained still as she tried to catch her breath - body aching.

As she laid there, Vaylin heard the whisper; a low hum that seemed like it was coming from everywhere. And somewhere in her mind she could see it, a glimpse; a shadow of what tried to crawl out only to be pulled back to where it had come from.

Vaylin groaned, feeling someone trying to help her up. At this point she didn't particularly care, and gradually managed to get to her feet with the help of Garnet. The group as a whole were soon making their way back to the hangar they had originally arrived in.

"Are the shuttles still there?" Otherwise they'd need to find other means to get off the station.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Vaylin"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Incursion"]


There was a door in her way. Would there be annoying puzzles? Enyo was not in the mood for more riddles and simply gave the door a devastating kick that knocked it down. That did the job just fine. So she entered and found that some ships were still there.


"Come on," she spoke to Vaylin. She gave Garnet a curt nod. The Shard was coming with her because this writer says so. She could be useful. Besides, the Contingency had made some toys that could be put to productive use...under a more competent boss.


So she boarded her shuttle. Shortly thereafter, she would take off and leave the Contingency's base behind her while the Tartarus system became the site of a stellar event with cool special effects. And so the incursion came to an end. It had been a strange event, to say the least.

 

[Nima Tann]

And she was back to the real world. Her pain vanished slowly, the golem was no more, and from the place he fell off to, shadowy creatures started to emerge. Not for long though, since they seemed to disappear pretty quickly afterwards. Curious of what was that all about, Nima pushed herself and cleaned her bloody nose. It took a few seconds to calm down after her breakdown, but it was... over. At least, the battle was, for now they had to escape.

Nima followed Garnet towards the hangar with the others, luckily there were shuttles waiting for them. She watched some of the others leave, and then her attention turned to their mysterious aid who was also leaving. Before they left though, there was something bugging Nima's mind.

"Wait." She called out. "First of all, thank you for your help. Much appreciated. But... I must say, I've felt something familiar from your aura. And you know so much about us. You knew both our names, and what we can do. Pardon my rudeness if we've met before but just... who are you?" It probably sounded a little awkward, as Nima didn't like confrontations too much. From the dialogue between the Zabrak girl and her, Nima could say they knew each other to a degree, but she was almost certain that she hasn't seen her before.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Tempest"] [member="HK-36"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Nima Tann"]


Enyo was about to step aboard the shuttle and close the hatch, when she suddenly halted, hearing a voice. Turning, she faced Tann. She felt inclined to just brush her off and go, but something compelled her to do otherwise. Even though it was no logical. She was not sure.


"Enyo Typhos," she spoke. Then she removed her helmet. Nima would look upon a face that was a perfect replica of Siobhan Kerrigan. Except that Enyo was brunette. Moreover, her skin had been torn and ripped here and there, exposing the metal that lay beneath it. There could be no doubt that she was not human...but she had used the Force, so she could not be a mere droid.


Nor was she a Shard.


Her eyes flashed. "Clone of Siobhan Kerrigan," she added. "Goodbye." Then she turned around and left for real. Her shuttle took off, leaving Tartarus behind. Eventually, it jumped to hyperspace and exited the system.

 

[Nima Tann]

Suffice to say, Nima was dumbfounded when [member="Enyo Typhos"] removed her helmet, and she saw the face of Siobhan Kerrigan. There were obvious differences, she was a brunette, her skin was ripped here and there, and where skin ended, there was metal, and eyes, flashing red eyes, but still.

"Clone of Siobhan Kerrigan," She said before leaving. All Nima wanted was answers, but instead there were more questions, many she didn't have the opportunity to ask. Nonetheless, Enyo left with a 'goodbye'. After her departure, Nima turned to [member="Tempest"], who probably reacted the same.

"Did you... know about her?" She asked simply, hoping that she had an answer to the questions in her mind.

It had been an interesting journey indeed, one they had to discuss once back home.

 

[Caelag Vass]

• PVE Anti-Onyx Group (Terminal)

Caelag's coughs racked her body, which shivered violently as she pushed herself off the ground, looking not unlike a shambling corpse as she used what force she could to gather her dropped items. Her lightsaber, which clipped to her belt and hung loosely, and HK's pistol, held in one hand as she used her emptied X-52 like a walking stick to keep herself up. Slowly she followed the group, her coughs forcing her to lean against walls for support as she lagged behind the group more and more. How pitiful for the High Colonel, reduced to a shambling mess because of her inexperience with the Force, her inexperience with groups like this, with Droids and Shards...

Who... could she... She looked across the bay of shuttles as they arrived, she was hardly in any shape to do a damn thing. Her ride here had left already, no doubt, when things went to hell, and she was stuck here if everyone left without her. And if she tried to fly, well she was already a terrible pilot, let alone after suffering effects of Force Drain. She turned to look for what to do... she noticed the dead spot with energy, and stumbled up to it.

Taking HK's pistol, she pushed it against his chest, and panted as she struggled to speak. "Coming.. with." Wherever he went for now, she'd follow. At the least until she could make her way back to Iron Empire territory, at least.


[member="Aster Rose Baelor"] | [member="Vindica"] | [member="Nima Tann"] | [member="Onyx"] | [member="Incursion"] | [member="Enyo Typhos"] | [member="Tempest"] | [member="Kor Vexen"] | [member="HK-36"] | [member="Vaylin"] | [member="Captain Ironbeard"] | [member="Kainan Wolfe"]

 

[Captain Ironbeard]

The captain runs to his ship, and jumps into it. He flies it to where his crew is.
The incursion was over. No more machine. Back to normality. Or as normal as
ever.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Nima Tann"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]

Tempest looked as dumbfounded as Nima when the metal clone hybrid thing of Siobhan Kerrigan was revealed.

For a moment she considered contesting the clone’s departure, then relaxed. No time for that, and the clone had worked with them.

“No idea, though I knew some clones had been created, I didn’t know there was one of Siobhan,” she said.

Alarms were blaring, shaking her out of her daze. “Come one, let’s get out of here,” she said, boarding the ship…soon leaving Tartarus far behind.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Nima Tann"], [member="Enyo Typhos"],


"I actually knew."

The droid interjected in the mystery moment the three of them were having, raising his hand slightly as he spoke,

"At least I think I did, I am fairly certain me and Six-O met her on Mechis, but I was not exactly paying that much attention, and nobody asked me about it either."

HK shrugged just as [member="Caelag Vass"] approached him and thrust out his pistol onto the metal chestplate with a clang from the two objects clashing before the droid reached up and closed one of his hands around the offered pistol,

"Alright, alright, do not cough up your lung juices on me, now come on, the shuttles are not much further away."

And as the droid walked off to lead Caelag and anyone else who would take him up on his offer of transportation, he would raise his hands triumphantly above his head, calling out,

"Party at my place!"




Sometime later Caelag and HK would find themselves aboard the Knight of the Eclipse, the droid's personal sleek stealth transport, piloted by the Greycloaks, his own copies the machine brought along as honor guards and insurance that although one of his bodies may be destroyed, his existence would live on. Caelag would be allowed to sit pretty much anywhere she chose to, whether with the droids and any other passengers or finding some nice little cabin or nook to get some privacy. Either way, as their shuttle lifted off and whipped away from Tartarus, soaring through the void, HK would be sitting by one of the viewports, watching the ruined planet, the installation, the superstructure around the compacted sun, all of it crumbling and evaporating, growing smaller as their ship would move to rejoin with [member="AD-8"], [member="Lord Mettallum"], [member="Archim Calixis"], and [member="WD-334"] and their Metal Lord forces which took part in the final battle against the Contingency, at least at that time, sending out a quick transmission to them to let the other droids know that he managed to survive the ordeal and he was back safely with them.

"Let us go in the garden, you will find something waiting, right there where you left it, lying upside down."

The machine would sound out softly, starting to sing, to himself, to others around who would bother to listen, singing as he watched their scene of battle fade away from view and their expedition was returning home victorious.

"When you finally find it, you will see how it is faded, the underside is lighter, when you turn it around."

HK would cease then, falling into a contemplative silence as their ship and others would finally jump into hyperspace, launching their journey back home to Denon. Caelag would be welcomed there as part of the returning victorious forces and she would be free to pretty much do what she liked, whether it was to stay with the Metal Lords longer, especially in the aftermath of the Contingency to take part in the conference that would take place on Denon later on, or if she just wanted to go back to Iron Empire, it was not like Metal Lords were short on shuttles to take her there. As for HK however, once they would arrive in the Metal Lords' capital system, he had other matters to attend to still.

Everything stays
Right where you left it
Everything stays
But it still changes

The door to [member="Kida"]'s room would open, presumably the Incursion taking place during one of the times the shapeshifter girl was staying with HK and not on Midvinter, although her droid caretaker was not against her visits and stay on the frozen planet populated by the ice-clad brutes. HK would walk in with soft footsteps, still wearing his armor, although it was cleaned by that time, muffled unnaturally by his sound dampeners, it would have been at the time that Kida would probably be asleep.

"I did it, Kida,"

HK would whisper, reaching down to run his six thin metal fingers through the child's hair,

"I kept you safe."


Ever so slightly
Daily and nightly
In little ways
When everything stays