Latuya, Month of Stars, Day 23, 2175 2SE. 1:04 AM.
The crew hasn't slept in nearly 24 hours and are getting a little tired.
"*yawn*… I'm tired.", says Rain.
"We have to destroy the final layers and kill the monster.", says Mailen. "Why don't you take a nap? I'll grab some of Zarya's energy drinks."
"Good idea.", says Zarya, handing out an energy drink from her bag.
Everybody takes Zarya's drink, and drinks it. Except Rain, who stays on Latuya and is taken care of by Xita. Xita builds a portable bed and lets Rain take an energizing nap. The sounds of guns shooting in the back and lasers burning the Driftspace fill Rain's ear as she slumbers to sleep.
"Alright. Us three will go and destroy the layers. Rainy should be awake whenwe destroy the layers, and then we could fight the monster together.", says Zarya.
Aeternum gets shocked seeing Zarya fully locked in. "This is a rare occurrence."
"Okay, Aeternum, you're just being a little rude…", pouts Zarya.
"Sorry, sorry.", apologizes Aeternum.
They enter the Thread and move. The guns – getting louder, fill their ears. Ships are exploding everywhere due to Driftspace's retaliation, throwing out parts of its walls at them.
"This looks sad…", says Zarya, trying not to get too emotional.
"Well, that's what cosmic war's like.", says Aeternum.
"I know… I've been to Kephar. My homeland has been in the middle of war. It's always sad to see this.", adds Zarya.
Mailen and Aeternum look at each other as Zarya grabs the Thread's defense system and enables guns. She reaches for the nearest one, aims, and shoots at the Driftspace. More precisely, the defensive layers around the monster.
"I hate war-mongering f*****s.", says Zarya, in an insanely low-pitched voice. She has had enough.
Aeternum and Mailen leave her alone to deal with her own feelings. They call up Xita and ask about Rain.
"She's sound asleep. She looks adorable. Want to see?", says Xita on the phone.
Aeternum denies, but Mailen hesitates. However, he denies, to respect Rain's privacy. He doesn't want to see Rain at her most vulnerable time.
Hikari connects to their comms and says: "The Driftspace is mostly destroyed. Layer Three is gone. We are nearly finished with the final layer. We can see the monster."
Hikari sends an image of the monster to Aeternum.
"…That's a gooey creature. Looks like a 'meme'.", he says.
"A meme… Which class?", asks Mailen, looking at the data bank.
"Basic III. Strongest of the basic viruses.", says Aeternum. "We may be screwed."
"…Remember Kael's discussion with us back on Kephar as we left?", asks Mailen.
"I do. They gave us an emergency call sign. They could help us… I think Leinata and Pequina will abstain though, they are still recovering from the war.", says Aeternum.
"We'll see if we need to call them. Make sure to keep it in your head for now.", says Mailen.
"Understood.", says Aeternum.
In the other room, Zarya is still mumbling, destroying the Driftspace's final layer.
"This place doesn't have enough space for both of us, you f*****g memetic piece of s**t.", mumbles Zarya. She hates seeing people die. Ships around the Thread are getting destroyed one by one, with pieces and people flying out, already lifeless from the explosion. Sometimes, the Thread also gets hit, but the Thread is thousands of times more durable.
In Latuya, Rain is slowly waking up after nearly 3 hours of her nap.
Current time: 3:56 AM.
"*yawn* Good morning, Xita.", says Rain.
"Hey there, Rain. The Thread is waiting for you. I will teleport you to them. Make sure you're fully awake and ready first.", says Xita.
"Give me like 2 minutes."
After Rain stretches, Xita teleports her inside the Thread, right as the final layer breaks.
"Just on time, Rain.", says Mailen. Zarya collapsed next to them.
"…What happened with Zarya?", asks Rain.
"She's exhausted. Please take her to sleep. She crashed out at the Driftspace.", says Mailen.
Rain calls up Xita and tells it to get Zarya there to sleep. She will have to skip the fight.
"The monster is forming. Prepare for the final fight.", says Lucien through the comms.
"We're all here.", says Hikari. "Asten, Jeanne, Nerev, Lucien, The Thread, and me."
The monster – a gooey meme, formed. It's huge, around the size of 4 Threads.
Rain's eyes widen at the sheer size. She has never seen something this huge.
"This is probably bigger than the Leviathans…", says Aeternum.
"I doubt it. But it's still huge.", adds Mailen.
Everyone starts shooting at the monster. The monster starts to fly and destroy ships one by one. The Thread is moving all around, to make sure it's not hit.
"Keep shooting! Do not resist or hesitate!", motivates Jeanne through the comms.
The monster has been circled and getting hurt. However, it's not enough.
"We just need a little more power…", says Rain.
Mailen gets an idea and calls Kael.
"Kael! We need you here! The Driftspace has evolved and is destroying us all! We need only a small bit of power to balance ourselves!", says Mailen at the phone.
"H- huh...? Alright. Send us your location. We'll use your waypoints system to get soldiers there to shoot from the ground.", says Kael, also adding. "We'll get Komara involved too. They've been a huge help in the renovations of Leinata and Pequina."
It takes a few minutes, but Kepharian troops arrive at Almatia. They're welcomed by Vega thanks to Thread's command.
Vega moves them towards the Large Theatre, where they can freely shoot at the sky, towards Driftspace.
"You must be Mr. Kael, right?", says Vega.
"Yes. I am the leader of one of 20 nations of Kephar, named Sanydra.", says Kael, showing his presidential badge.
"Great. Here are the coordinates for Driftspace. I'm sure you know the conversion here, right?", asks Vega, also giving a backup system in degrees for the soldiers to shoot at.
"It's a piece of cake, no worries. Thanks.", says Kael.
Kael then goes to the center of the Theatre, guided by Vega, and declares a full-on attack at Driftspace.
"Look! It's Kephar! We have enough power!", says Rain.
After a few hours of non-stop fighting, and hundreds of ships destroyed, the crew finally manages to eliminate the monster. As it's dying, it caused a huge explosion, blowing itself up as a last resort. Nobody got hurt because of it. Zarya, already awake, saw the explosion. She was in awe but was also scared for the Thread. She decided to wait with Xita for a little bit.
"It's finally over.", says Rain as she sits down on the command chair in the Thread.
"Do you want to go get Zarya and then say hi to Kael?", asks Mailen, caressing Rain's shoulder slowly, but gently.
"Please. I am exhausted.", says Rain.
"Just remember, this isn't over yet. We need to give a proper cure for future memetic viruses, if they come.", says Aeternum. "I'm honestly surprised why Almatia wasn't covered. This is the second capital of the Milky Way… One of UHC's most important cities in this galaxy."
"We'll see eventually.", says Rain. "Let's pick up Xita and Zarya."