[Concord Colony, 150 years after first contact]
Thus speaks the end of sanity.
Rena could recall those moments like they were yesterday. Even before the advent of Yrix and her Consortium. There was only the rotten memory of her departure from home and safety.
The sky was dark and filled with ash. Tiny embers danced across the fields. And the people ran.
"Let me through!" One woman cried.
Another followed her voice. "Just take my son!"
Soon, the air was filled with screams of desperation. There wasn't enough room on the shuttles. And the heartless smile of Tesselation kept on marching.
"H-hold on!" Rena panted within her dream, feeling her memory as if it were real again. "Wait!"
She was pressed against the checkpoint's barrier, the sign above her flickering with the once-renowned greeting.
"Welcome to Concord. Home of the Misty Spires."
She never did learn what had happened. One moment, a great plague befell her people, and all transit to the colony of Concord was canceled. A few weeks later, relief shuttles came with promised supplies, only to unveil a horde of unkillable machines.
It was a brutal slaughter, with no chance for a conventional military response. Her people were corralled to the colony's main spaceport, where they attempted to force their way into the trade vessels designed for exporting their colony's goods. There were never any proper evacuation plans.
Just panic and shock.
Rena looked down at her watch, hoping its signal would deliver a message to her family. But the entire colony had gone dark hours ago. She was cut off.
The brave side of her wanted to turn back and look for any friendly face she could find. But the thought of facing those machines, and their wicked skeletal smiles, forced her back into the stagnant herd of human bodies.
"There's no room! No room!" A panicked spaceport worker pleaded, standing atop a desk as the crowd pushed through him.
An explosion shattered the outside windows, its deafening boom coming from the parking lot where a sea of cars lay still. Rena was nowhere near any possible form of transit. She hadn't even made it past the first line.
"To hell with it." She grunted, pushing her way around the crowd as she tried to make her way to the airway by alternative means.
There must have been at least a thousand people in her way, crowding around the shops and vendors that dotted the spaceport's entrance. And just as they began to simmer down, a nearby explosion reminded them of the peril. It wasn't long before pushing became shoving, and chaos turned into a brawl.
The endoskeletons were getting closer.
Rena slid under a barrier and climbed a fence, breezing past the security guards who frankly had no time for her. She knew that a few shuttles remained, and that something was delaying their departure. It was essential to reach them before things escalated further.
"We haven't even finished fueling, get them off the runway!" A garbled voice poured out from a worker's communication badge as Rena shoved through them. "I don't care! Shoot, dammit!"
Any doubts about the violent act were quickly done away with once the sounds of bloodcurdling screams began emanating from the back of the crowd, reminding all of what was drawing closer.
Rena didn't think, not even when the deafening gunfire flew past her. Bodies crumpled all around her, but the airway was in sight. With her current trajectory, she could make her way through the outskirts of the main hangar and towards a shuttle.
As she rounded the corner, skidding across the concrete, she found a guard standing in her path. His weapon raised aloft, he prepared to fire, only to find himself flung backward by an invisible force. Rena didn't even have the time to register what she had done.
Being a Psion was the least alarming thing that day.
Another explosion knocked the girl off her feet, and soon she found herself facing an entire formation of soldiers tasked with keeping the spaceport clear. But as they began to fire their weapons, it became clear she and the people around her were not the target. Something else had gone through the fence.
Rena spun around to see a tall black skeleton, its spindly features glistening with blood as it marched forward unbesmerched. Its sheer height gave its stride considerable distance, and soon it was upon the crowd. Rena would never forget the words written on the machine's armored chest.
"Prototype Mark II, property of Tesselation."
First came a gentleman who was too slow and elderly to outrun the Mark II, his entire spine ripped out by a skeletal hand. Second came the guard brave enough to stand his ground and fire at the creature's face. His head came clean off after a quick jab from the machine.
The crowd became more disorganized than ever, running into both the fire of the guards and the endoskeletons who began to arrive in the dozens. All manner of attack simply bounced off their metal frame, making any resistance against them futile.
Still, the spaceport security stood their ground, bravely facing their doom as it leisurely strolled towards them. Rena, on the other hand, quickened her pace, driven by fear and anxiety. The mere sound of the endoskeleton's footsteps nearly drove her mad.
The look on their faces. That boney smile. Those soulless red eyes.
"Come on!" Rena panted, finally reaching a transport shuttle loaded with boxes.
The entire thing was full, its passengers trying to push away those who attempted to climb in. Men threw punches to try and forcefully enter, and women offered jewels in a vain attempt to bribe. Rena knew better than to try and reason with passengers.
She may not have realized it, but her body had become translucent, allowing her to slip through the crowd and towards the pilot's cockpit. It was a close-run thing as the shuttle soon lifted off, burning the bodies that clung to it with its exhaust. But Rena had made it, crumpling to the carpeted floor of the cockpit in a daze.
"What the hell?" The co-pilot gasped, turning around to see Rena occupying the space behind the seats.
"Please wait-." Rena wheezed, looking up with tears in her eyes. "I'll do anything."
If she knew how desperate things would become, she would have never said that. Rena was a young and attractive girl. And the flotilla she would soon live on had little use for her kind.
- - - - - - - - - -
"She's stuck in there." Alia frowned, looking down at Rena as she sat by her side. "In that awful dream."
The twins Mina and Dina stood close by, seemingly concerned with Rena as well. Their frilly black and white dresses did little to hide the truth of their body language. They felt a need to be wary for the sake of Rena.
"Why do you think they can help?" Mina huffed, her sister following suit.
"The alien. Lunae. She's more powerful than she lets on. I think she can penetrate the barrier." Alia explained, softening her expression. "Rena needs help. And soon. We can't be picky."
"She saved us." Dina retorted, pointing towards Lunae and Ivy as they lay beside their companions. "Not them. We don't trust them."
It was a simple act from Rena, done amidst her search for Ivy during the second trial. But the twins remembered. They could easily recall how Rena paused her vengeful path to assist them against a group of Daregen. It was completely selfless, and she asked for nothing in return.
Mina and Dina were not accustomed to acting good for the sake of it. Everything was a transaction to them. And so until they found a way to repay Rena, they felt tied to her fate.
Alia, on the other hand, seemed invested for increasingly mysterious reasons. Surely a common experience in theivery wasn't enough for her to feel loyal. But then again, the Aerie had a habit of forming strange bonds among haunted girls.
Across the room, Ivy remained seated near Lila, massaging her scalp with her tender hands. She was waiting for her to stir. And soon enough, the Earthling finally opened her eyes.
"Ivy?" Lila groaned.
The back of her head rested upon Ivy's soft, pale thighs, offering her a unique pillow that Lila soon took notice of. Looking up at the heiress also revealed her divine features, with the glow of her eyes and curve of her chest being the most apparent. It wasn't long before the Earthling was blushing.
"Hello, Lila." Ivy tried to smile, holding back tears. "It's good to see you."
Lunae sat close by, eagerly waiting for Sonera to wake as she watched both Lila and Ivy bond. She was happy for them. Moreover, she felt a bit inspired.
"My hero." Lila joked.
Ivy was overjoyed to see that a bit of the girl's humor had returned. She sniffled, and after a moment of hesitation, leaned down and placed Lila's forehead against her own.
"I'm so sorry." Ivy wailed. "For everything."
Her hands trembled and her voice quaked. But Lila's soft breathing was all she needed to be reminded of her purpose. The heiress then pulled herself together, maintaining a proper smile as she stared into Lila's soul.
"I know." Lila curled her lips into a little grin.
She then received a peck on the nose, and her face turned redder than ever before. Ivy felt proud of that. It was good to be perceived as something beautifully unreachable.
As if not overwhelmed enough already, Lila felt the shadow of Lunae loom over her, and soon her vision became obscured by two bountiful chests.
"How brave you are, Lila." Lunae giggled, squeezing her hand.
"Uh-uh, Lunae. How's it poppin?" Lila stammered, trying not to stare at the exotic girl.
It was all a bit much for her. A beautiful heiress and an alluring alien. If not for her conscience, Lila might have reached out and squished them both.
"Oh, please." Ivy rolled her eyes. "They're just boobs."
Grabbing the Earthling's wrist, Ivy directed her hand over to Lunae's chest, rubbing it against the squishy mounds. What followed was only the most embarrassing reaction from Lila as she yipped like a scared puppy. Lunae blushed a bit before giggling uncontrollably.
"Wa-aah!" Lila shivered as Lunae looked down at her with a very womanly smile. "I-Ivy!"
One might expect Ivy to feel jealous about the whole affair. But her sisterhood with Lunae remained rather potent. They had a mutual understanding as far as their chosen partners were concerned.
Besides, it was better to learn what Lila liked without compromising herself. It's not like Lunae cared.
"When Sonera wakes, let's tag team her as well." Ivy joked, smiling at Lunae. "See what she likes."
"She's into something a bit more forceful, I'm afraid." Lunae teased in response. "Your Lila here is just a plain ol pervert. Easy to toy with."
The heiress sighed. "I know. Now stop squeezing Lila."
"I didn't!!!"