Vol.7 Ch.208- Epilogue.

"You are falling asleep a lot these days, old man. You didn't even notice I was here," a voice called to me.

It is true; I am getting old, and fast. And damn, does it suck. If I knew getting old was this much of a pain in the joints, I think I might have been riskier on a few missions…

"Yeah…I'm old. That's what old people do, right? Sleep? So why don't you scram, little girl, and let this bag of bones rest," I groaned at Artemis.

I couldn't see her face, but I could sense her rolling her eyes at my back. "You know I wouldn't be waking you if things weren't important."

Admittedly I perked up at that as I rolled over on my side and looked up at her. "Oh? Did they finally crack her?"

Artemis grinned at me. "Yeah, so go get armored up. We've got to look the part when we ruin her day."

"Finally…took them too damn long," I groaned as I sat up and stretched.

Naturally, everything inside of me popped, well, besides my new bionic arm and leg. If those popped, I would have a really bad time. Either way, I got up and made my way toward the armory. Getting my armor put on me was a long process that took over thirty minutes.

The machines were whirring, and the multiple engineers and attendants needed to operate them called out to each other, following the monotonous sequences. The hustle and bustle of it all had grown tiresome. I tried to stay out of armor whenever I could, but…being in a constant state of war made that nearly impossible, so I relished the time I did get…or what I had left, anyway.

Man, they made these custom suits using some fancy technology that was the culmination of hundreds of thousands of years worth of technology from multiple space-faring civilizations…couldn't the process be a bit quicker?

Eventually, the attendant, a young Human engineer with a bright smile that I had seen around, handed me my shiny yellow helmet. I took it and tried to make my way out when he launched into a barrage of things I frankly didn't understand. I understood a lot about my old suit, but ever since the tech got merged with other species, things just went way over my head.

Not only that, I felt myself getting more and more annoyed as I tuned out his enthusiastic regurgitation of the things recently upgraded on my suit. Had I just become an old foggy who hated the youth and their enthusiasm? I'm not sure to be honest. And I really didn't like that.

I guess Humans aren't meant to age this rapidly…. it really messes with my head and my damn body…maybe I'll just go completely insane one of these days…

"Or maybe I'm already insane…" I muttered.

"What was that?" the young engineer asked me.

I pat him on the shoulder and smiled. "Nothing important. Thanks for the rundown, kid."

"But wait, I wasn't done—"

"Just mail me a report or something!" I chuckled as I walked out, making sure to grab a bolt pistol and some spare ammunition.

After all, what was the point of the armor if I didn't have a gun? I almost felt naked without something on me. Which was worrisome, but out of all the things I could worry about in my life, that was pretty low on the list.

I checked my armored limbs with some stretches as I strode down the pastel-colored hallways. This station was built by the Elunari, so they used their plastic material, and I had to say it had grown on me. The bright colors were much more cheery and welcoming than the dull gray and black of most Human ships.

But after a moment, I reached the portion of the station that required me to show identification and go through a series of scanners and guards. It was another long process, but at least I understood the reason for it all. We couldn't just let anyone back here.

"Five checkpoints later, and I'm finally here," I groaned.

"Did you get lost on your way here?" Artemis snickered.

"No, the commander just has a lot of jazz in his step now," Va'cot answered dryly.

…what?

"I believe you meant to say that he has a lot of 'pep in his step' Va'cot," Apollo corrected.

Va'cot tilted her head. "What does having pep mean, and why would someone's step have it? At least jazz is a form of music in which you could, therefore, have it in your step through—"

"Alright, we'll be here all day, so let's get this over with," Hephaestus said with a clap, interrupting the young alien's train of thought.

Artemis cracked her neck as she stood with her ear-to-ear grin. "Finally, after all these years, we get to see her squeal. I'm really looking forward to this."

For most of us, this was the moment we had been waiting for. It took all these months to break up all the fail-safes inside of Doctor Octario. She had a literal bomb tucked inside of her. And if people went digging around inside of her or started seriously causing her harm, it would explode with enough force to level a house. Which was unnerving, considering if Artemis had hit her any harder back then, she would have just exploded and killed us all.

So months after her capture, the people doing whatever the thing they do finally nipped all the ends, cut the wires, and they must have disarmed the bomb. Artemis was pleased, and so was I. I signed up to either win this war or see Octario's head on a spike. Whichever came first was good enough for me.

Or…that's how it was at first…seeing what happened to Va'cot and her comrades…I wouldn't mind taking down a few other bastards on my way out. Who knows? Maybe a large chunk of Humanity will join us once we get this information to the public.

We arrived at the sterile white doors that led to the medical section of the station, and with a quick identification check, the doors hissed open. Inside was a gaggle of white-coat doctors from various alien races moving about and mumbling to each other. The excitement in the room was palpable.

At the center was a familiar face that looked worse for wear but was just as beautiful as always. "It's good to see you on this fine day, Doc."

Doctor Suárez smiled as she ran a hand through her graying hair. "It's a damn good day to see all of you here. Thanks for coming."

Artemis snorted. "It better have been us. I think we deserve the first few kicks since we brought her here."

Apollo nudged Artemis with his elbow. "Be thankful to the doctor for her hard work and decision to allow us to be the first ones here. There are many who covet this moment, you know."

Artemis sighed as she nodded her head. "Yeah, yeah…thanks…Doc."

Suárez smiled softly. "Of course, Artemis. I know you have been looking forward to this the most. And I'm just happy I get to keep my promise to all of you," she said as she swept her arms toward the other side of the large room.

Beyond a locked door and a large pane of one-way glass was none other than Doctor Octario herself, strapped to a chair and blindfolded. She looked terrible, and that made me smile. Her hair was buzzed down, exposing all the fresh scars from cutting into her skull, and Father Time had kicked her in the stomach a few times for good measure.

She was the woman who essentially kidnapped us as children, experimented on us, worked most of us to death, killed our friends in the process, and forced us to become emotionless soldiers for Humanity to fight in a war we were already winning.

And, of course, authorized the hit on our most beloved Commander.

"So? Do we get to go in there and get a few hits in before we ask some questions?" Artemis asked as she licked her lips.

"Just don't kill her or make her unable to speak, and you can do whatever you want," Suárez said. "We'll be watching from the other side."

"Music to my ears…" Artemis said as she rolled her shoulders and opened the door to the cell.

The room was cold and deathly silent to the point we could hear each other's breaths and the clangs of our usually silent armor.

"Finally come to—"

Doctor Octario's words were cut short as Artemis kicked the metal chair with enough force to crush the legs, sending the old doctor to the ground with a moan of pain. In a fluid motion, Artemis ripped the blindfold up and hoisted Doctor Octario up into the air with a single hand around her throat.

"Remember me, asshole?" Artemis spat.

Octario glared down at Artemis and spat in her face. Artemis just let the spit drip down her forehead as she chuckled.

"Damn, it feels good to see you struggle. Do you remember the first time you injected me, and I cried over the needle?" Artemis asked.

"As if I would remember something so useless about a failed product," Octario said through gritted teeth.

Artemis dropped Octario to her knees and gave her a firm backhand. Of course, at the minimum amount of strength. If Artemis or any one of us had put our full strength into it, that would have turned Octario's head into a paste.

"Well, I do. I never forgot how you just didn't give a damn. It really pisses me off just thinking about it," Artemis growled. "So here's a taste of your own medicine."

Artemis flicked a knife out from her armor and sent it straight through Octario's right shoulder from the top down. Octario let out a scream of pain as blood stained her white medical gown.

"You—you don't care about any of this! You just want your petty reve—"

Artemis kicked Octario in the stomach and chuckled. "That's right. I really don't care about this war or anything like making Humanity pay for their sins. I signed up just to see you suffer and die a miserable death for what you did to the Commander and everyone else on Mars. That's my only wish."

"At this rate—you'll kill me before it happens," Octario said with a grin.

Why did she say it like that?

Artemis just looked down at her with a cold glare. "You see, the big wigs said we get to do whatever to you as long as you can talk and don't die. And you trained us up really well, and I don't miss…I think each of us can take a few toes and fingers before you pass out…maybe even an arm or leg if we get some supplies."

"Wait, what is going to happen?" I questioned, stepping in front of Artemis.

Octario's bloodied lips curled into a smile as she looked over to the glass wall, seemingly looking through it. "All of you are a group of fools. Do you really believe what you are doing is good? That you were taking some kind of moral high ground when they wanted us all dead?! Do you think that the Xeno scum would offer us any tears as the last Human withered away?! Well, do you?!" Octario shouted in anger.

In all my years, I had never seen Octario show such anger before. Her shouting seemed to bring silence to the room as she glared at the people from the other side.

"Of course, you don't; how could you? You are just a bunch of self-serving pricks stroking your own egos because you think you are the good guys…they started it first, and they had everything planned to see it through to the end, even with galactic war. They got what they deserved and more. We should have finished the job when we had the chance," Octario spat.

"And did you really believe that Humanity was disarming itself?! Has anyone in our history ever signed a peace treaty and done that?! Hahahah…as if you stood a chance," Octario chuckled.

"That's enough babbling from you, granny. Time to—"

"And all of you," Octario growled, interrupting Artemis.

"A bunch of failures, some of my greatest regrets in life were giving you dredges a purpose more significant than yourselves. So how dare you bite the hand that made you. You are all nothing more than a group of traitorous dogs."

Octario's smile grew as Artemis picked her up again. "And what better way to put down a ragtag band of mutts than with some loyal ones? You see, I don't make the same mistake twice. They wanted all of you a certain way after the first ones…but that didn't need to happen the second time around."

"Warning. Warning. Multiple warp jumps detected," the alert system blared.

It's impossible…we are deep in uninhabited space. They can't just stumble upon us, even by accident. There's no way they could find us—unless…the bomb wasn't just a bomb…what if it did something else?

Doctor Suárez's concerned voice came loud and clear over the speaker, "Come back immediately."

Octario started cackling, "I hope you all die the dog's death. You deserve it you mutts—"

Smash.

Crunch.

A spray of red and white splattered across the room. Artemis pulverized Octario's head with a single punch.

"Artemis that—!"

"I don't care. You can kill me later if you want. But there's no way I'm about to risk dying when she is in my hands; sorry, Heimdall," Artemis said as she let Octario's headless corpse fall to the ground.

Damn…what's done is done…

I led the way through the door as the doctors huddled around a console, heedless as to what happened. The console was split in two. One showed the outside of the space station as black and red ships glided through the void of space. It was a carrier strike group…not nearly enough to defeat the sizable naval army we had docked here. Just on a ship basis, we had dozens of battleships, and we outnumbered them twelve to one currently.

On the other side was a transmission of a Human man wearing an all-white officer's uniform. "This is Federation Admiral Gallant hailing all vessels in this sector. I hereby order the non-negotiable and total surrender of all insurgent personnel in this region."

"Doctor Suárez…what do we do?" a random doctor muttered.

Doctor Suárez pressed a button on the console as her voice rang out across the entire station. "Prepare for battle and evacuation. Warships move in and prepare for retreat after the station has jumped. The Federation is declaring war; strike first."

"Understood, Ma'am. These bastards didn't bring enough firepower to stop us here," a voice answered over the network.

On the screen, the Human admiral furrowed his eyebrows at us. "Understood."

"Warning. Warning. Multiple warp jumps detected."

As our ship's dark silhouettes covered the cameras, we all watched in horror as dozens upon dozens of warp points began to rip open the void of space. All of them were large enough. And we caught a glimpse of what must have been hundreds of Human vessels. I counted over a dozen battleships alone, peeking through the warp points. And…multiple dreadnoughts as well as supercarriers.

This was mankind's armada…and they had arrived.

The screen flickered, and the former admiral was replaced with a more familiar figure. An older Human woman with graying hair, wearing a crisp white and gold uniform, stood proudly before us. It was Fleet Admiral Muller.

"With the power granted to me from the federation, I, Fleet Admiral Muller, hereby declare total war on all of the Coalition forces and any of her allies. May God have mercy on your souls and remember New Nevada."

"We are leaving now," I ordered.

Like the well-oiled machines we were created to be, we donned our helmets and grabbed Suárez. Priority one was extracting her. There was no Coalition without Suárez.

Moments after their declaration of war, the station was bombarded by multiple hits, shaking the entire structure violently. Thankfully, its shields held, and we sprinted down the halls toward the hangars. But there was never going to be enough time.

The station was too big. And the breachers of the navy were far too fast.

The station rocked, and the sounds of impacts rang out everywhere. The warning system blurred, "Warning, intruders. Warning, intruders."

"Is there an armory on the way to the hangar?" Hephaestus asked as I picked up Suárez and started to sprint at full speed.

"No. We are fighting with what we have and what we are going to get. Get ready," I said.

Gunfire bounced off the plastic hall, followed by the screams and shouts of people. A group of frantic engineers sprinted past as we watched the last reptilian alien fall to a blast of molten ammo. On the far side of the hall was a squad of black and blue armored soldiers. Their entire bodies were clad in a void-sealed armor meant for surviving the vacuum of space. These Void Breachers specialized in breaching enemy ships and fighting in close-quarters hallways.

I put Suárez down and behind us as the hellfire of molten buckshot from their shotguns flew down the hallway. To an average person, those superheated pellets would rip through armor and flesh with ease. But it was basically useless against us as the rounds harmlessly burned up against our shields.

Our bolt pistols thumped, and with each trigger pull, a Void Breacher was blown to smithereens. In a flash, we had eliminated half the squad. Once we closed the distance, we did quick work on the rest.

I punched the final soldier to death as a meaty metal-on-metal sound echoed, followed by a burst of gunfire. I quickly grabbed the corpse, and a second later, an impact rocked me, destroying the body and turning it into mist.

"Auto cannon! Take cover!" I ordered over our internal comms.

The heavy thuds of the autocannon ripped through the hallway. The exploding anti-armor rounds destroyed the station walls and exploded around us in sprays of hot shrapnel. We were stuck in the open, and our shields would not last against an autocannon for long.

But they have to reload eventually.

My shield whined and flashed away as the autocannon's magazine hit the floor with a clang, and we sprang out. A hail of bolter fire smashed against our shields, but we stood firm. Artemis, Apollo, and I took aim and began separating the souls from the bodies of the breachers. The autocannon wielder was hiding behind a metal shield, but that didn't matter.

Va'cot sprinted down the hall past us. In her hands glowed brightly two energy swords used by the Elunari elites. The blades of energy hummed to life, and she closed the distance, dodging bolter fire. The front breachers were sliced into pieces by her swords, and we pushed in directly behind her, finishing off the rest.

The large squad was put down in a matter of moments, but there was no respite. We quickly searched the bodies and armed ourselves with bolters and spare ammunition, as well as any grenades we could get a hold of. Hephaestus hoisted the autocannon, a weapon that usually required a three-man squad to operate with ease.

"Commander Heimdall, do you read me?"

I let out a happy sigh, "Kla'nu, it's good to hear your voice. We have the doctor, and we are evacuating toward the eastern hangars."

Kla'nu was the leader of a group of mixed elites. But he and most of his squad were Elunari Albinos.

"Perfect. We are in the section above you, according to the map. We are hitting heavy resistance, but we will meet you in the next stairwell in five minutes," Kla'nu said.

"We'll clear the stairs for you," I said back to him. "You heard the man; let's go rendezvous with them," I ordered to the rest.

Now that we had made a connection, Kla'nu's squad showed up directly on my helmet HUD. And sure enough, he was just a floor above us and quickly moving toward our destination. There was little resistance, and we now had a large group of civilians and soldiers tailing us to safety.

We had to go up regardless, and using the elevators was out of the question. The entire station was rocking, and it was only a matter of time before the shields busted and the entire thing was blown to pieces. And this was only mankind's indirect fire, us and the bombs dropped by fighters. Our ships were holding off the armada…if a battleship or dreadnought made a direct hit…that would not be ideal.

Clearing the stairwell was always a pain and a risk, but it was clear of enemies; only cowering allies guarded by our soldiers were present. We stacked up against the door and flicked on our thermals. We could see straight through the walls, but it was all clear.

We burst through the door and fanned out, clearing the large corridor. The bulwark door had been dropped, and it was clear a breacher squad had plowed through the station and landed in the hallway on the other side of the door.

"Apollo, get the door open. Going around is going to take too much time. Artemis watch the stairs," I ordered.

Heph and I watched the other sides of the corridor as Apollo fiddled with the console. I looked over my shoulder at the silent Suárez.

"You seem rather calm," I mentioned.

Suárez smiled bitterly. "I must admit I've gotten used to all of this over the last decade or so. Rather strange, isn't it?"

I shook my head. "No, not at all. Humans are pretty good at adapting. Isn't that how we landed in this position in the first place?"

Suárez chuckled awkwardly. "I suppose you're right…"

The bulwark door collapsed and opened. The other side of the hallway was dark, except for the few globs of fire burning from the gaping hole in the wall. We quickly moved into position while protecting Suárez and moved down the hall.

It was littered with debris, shell casings, and bodies. Scanners were pinging life forms in between us and Kla'nu's squad, but as the sounds of plasma weapons reached us, the red blips of our enemies disappeared. Kla'nu was making quick work of them all.

However, there was a problem. A storm of bolter fire echoed in the halls as one of Kla'nu's squad members died instantly. A group of new intruders had appeared from another corridor.

We were nearly on top of them, just a corridor away, when we were forced to stop. An enemy squad was fast approaching, and we waited for them to round the dark corner.

On the count of two, the second we saw movement, we opened fire. Our first volley of bolter fire tore two breachers apart, but the rest bounced harmlessly off a tall figure wearing red and black armor. It was undoubtedly a 3rd generation Death Commando.

Their immediate return fire was pinpoint and accurate. The bolter rounds slammed into my shield in a tight group and broke it, forcing it to recharge once more. Another Death Commando went wide with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. That thing would devastate us if it landed, but thankfully, that never came to pass.

The heavy thuds of the autocannon tore through the hallway. The rounds impacted and exploded, turning the Death Commando and his launcher into a fireball. The blast wave rolled past us, and the bulwark doors closed, but we immediately began to go on the move again because there was a huge problem.

Kla'nu's squad was wiped out in the scant few minutes it took us to reach them, and the path to the hangar was the same way.

We pushed cautiously toward their last known location, but our pings came back negative for signs of life. We rounded the final corner and quickly crossed it so we could control both sides. The hallway was a dark mess of blood and soot, and sure enough, there was nothing living visible, even on thermals. It was as if their squad had been wiped away but an invi—

"Fire!" I ordered.

With no hesitation, my entire squad sprayed down the hallway, only for a hail to return back at us. Their firepower was overwhelming, nearly doubly ours, as well as the thuds of a heavy bolter. We were forced to hide behind what little cover the corners gave us as the people trailing behind us were ripped to shreds.

However, the invisible enemies' return fire wasn't mindless. They were firing in unison, allowing one group to reload while the other kept us pinned. And someone was running toward us at full speed.

In a lull, when one squad was reloading, I gave the order to return fire. What I saw shocked me to my core. In the darkness, illuminated by the flashes of bolter fire, were large red armored figures. Their blood-red visors silently gazed at us as they efficiently fired their weapons.

The thing was, they were all Death Commandos. That much was obvious. Yet, for some reason, they were all too big. There was no way there was a squad of the third generation that could get that large. All of them were the size…

Of the first generation.

My bolter rounds slammed into one of the two Death Commandos running toward us. The rounds impacted and exploded against their chest armor but only damaged it slightly. The large figures continued to sprint toward us, headless of the gunfire.

Then there was a gunshot from our side, followed by a scream.

A hail of bullets rained down from the way we came. Hephaestus held them off with autocannon fire. However, the air around Artemis shimmered, and another Death Commando stood over Artemis. She slumped against the ground, and the Death Commando was already in the middle of fighting Apollo.

The two engaged in hand-to-hand combat, but the difference was clear. The new and large Death Commandos were bigger, faster, and stronger than us.

Apollo was quickly overwhelmed, and his arm was broken in the process. But the second he fell to the ground, Hephaestus and I opened fire on the Death Commando. Bolter and cannon fire smacked against him and dropped him to the floor.

At the same time, we were forced to fight the two Death Commandos who pushed us down the hallway. I swung around and aimed for the first one's legs.

My bolter rounds slammed into its knees, blowing them off. But like a damn zombie, the thing simply just got up and started firing its pistol at us. The second one rushed me, and Va'cot jumped in front of me to take charge. But to my surprise, a red energy blade burst out from the Death Commando's gauntlet, and they began exchanging blows.

I covered Suárez with my body as the crawling Death Commando continued to shoot at us. We were running out of time and would be overwhelmed any moment as the group in the hallway rushed toward us. Va'cot was forced back, and one of her energy swords was destroyed.

She pulled her pistol, and so did the Death Commando. The two exchanged bursts of bolter rounds as a bolt round hit the back of the Death Commnado's head. The commando staggered and Apollo sent another burst into his head, exploding it.

Artemis had stood up. She leaned against the wall and aimed down the hallway with the incoming Death Commandos. They sent a storm of bolter fire, but Artemis just let them bounce or explode against her shield and armor. With a single shot of her bolt rifle, she managed to hit the fire alarm, and with the second shot, she disabled the door control, dropping the bulwark and separating us from the incoming Death Commandos. Of course, that would only buy us a few moments, if that. Hephaestus mopped up the breachers on the other side, and we regrouped. We immediately began to run at full speed, picking Suárez up and slinging her over my shoulder.

"Artemis! Artemis, are you—Artemis…no…"

Suárez's shouts of concern stopped as Artemis turned to face us. On my HUD, I could see Artemis's health status, and it was bloody red. Her helmet and visor were cracked open with a splatter of blood and black soot. It was a miracle she even survived. She should have been dead…well, she already was.

The Ambrosia pumping into her veins was the only thing driving her forward.

The rest of us remained silent. We slowly and methodically pushed through the hallways, killing breachers and gathering survivors. Anyone who couldn't keep up was left behind. We were short on time, and the station was about to succumb to Humanity's warships. If we were surrounded and stranded at the station with no exfil, we were doomed.

We rounded another corner, and heavy weapons of plasma and bile launchers fired at us. "Yellow on yellow! Yellow!" I shouted, but our communications were now wholly jammed.

Thankfully, my voice carried, and the shots ceased. We ran over the pile of corpses and into a defense line of Zanton and Elunari guarding the hangar. Multiple warp-capable escape ships were waiting to be launched, and we quickly boarded them. Well, all of us but one.

"Artemis, please, we can—"

"No, Doc, sorry. You can't. I'll stay behind and cover everyone else until all the ships leave. Besides, my mission is complete. Make sure you send those bastards to hell for me," Artemis said as she tossed her broken helmet off and onto the ground.

Her injury was gruesome. Half of her face was either burnt or ripped to shreds. Her skull and brain matter were exposed, and her skin and veins had taken on a sickly golden color. All I could do was walk forward and extend a hand to her.

"Thanks for sticking around, Makya," I said.

She shook my hand. "Yeah…pissed that you lived longer than me, old man, but that's just life."

"Yeah. It was a good run," I muttered.

Hephaestus and Apollo looked down at the ground as Artemis chuckled. "Try not to cry, you two. And keep the Doc and old man safe. If there really is an afterlife, I'm sure we will see each other again."

"Yes…I'm sure we shall," Apollo said solemnly.

"Kill them all, Artemis," Hephaestus said with a nod.

Artemis turned and started to walk down the ramp as she waved, "Of course, that was my plane all along—huh?"

Artemis stopped, her head jolted up. She stared off into the distance, which was just the wall of the ship. Her one bloodshot eye went wide as an eerie yet genuine smile formed on the corner of her lips. She even let out a laugh I had never heard before as she smiled to herself.

"Well, at least I'm not alone in the end," Artemis mumbled.

Artemis hobbled down the ramp, and it closed behind her for the last time. I'm not sure what to make of what she just did…did she see something? Or was it just her brain finally reaching its end? Who knows…I've heard people see weird things when they die.

"Those Death Commandos. What were they?" Apollo asked.

It was a question we already knew the answer to. It had to have been him…

"Loyal dogs…apparently."