Maverick didn't know how long she had been out, but when she came to, her brain was already working a million miles an hour. Despite her groggy body, she hauled herself upright and lifted a hand against the blinding golden light that filled the room. She thought she remembered this room being dark, but when she could finally open her eyes, the walls and floors around her were alive with golden light which seeped to spill out from her and across the empyrean's floor. The light pulsed gently as she got to her feet, and she got the distinct feeling that the ship was pleased she was awake. She shook her head, looking down at the floor to find a dark strip running across the floor where the light did not touch. For a moment she was simply confused, until the Empyrean's lights pulsed again almost urgently.

It wanted her to....

Follow

Everett, it was showing her where he had gone. Maverick broke into a run. She wasn't sure how the Empyrean hadn't noticed a void creature living in its own halls, but she supposed Everett wasn't entirely void.... Just like her.

Ugh, how she hated to think like that, but it was true. It had taken her being filled up with the void to sense another void creature past his still intact Anima. He was corrupted but not entirely gone, just like her. The difference was she didn't plan on switching sides. She was going to stay right here, and she appreciated how the Empyrean trusted her.

Her void companion.

Not so pleased.

"Why did it hit us." It grumbled to her inside her head. To it, she should have been teaming up with Everett for whatever ends he was planning. To the void creature they were on the same side and should have the same goals. Maverick was pleased to see at least Everett knew better. She followed the trail of unlit floor through the halls at speed, sprinting at full tilt and had just made it to the cargo bay when the ship around her rocked. She staggered and nearly fell reaching out a hand to steady herself against the bulkhead. The Empyrean vibrated and pulsed with a burst of power that surged through the walls as a wave of light intensity.

When the ship stopped shaking, Maverick turned the corner.

And found the trail ended at one of the airlocks. So Everett had left the ship, but wasn't that a good thing? Didn't that mean he was gone . There was no one out there to-

Adam

Adam was out there.

Shit.

Maverick turned and began to run, racing through the ship and up towards the bridge her feet thundering against the metal. Crewmates passed her on the left and on the right running to their battle stations, but she shoved them aside without regard knowing she could apologize later. They would understand if they knew what she knew. The double doors to the empyrean bridge slid open as she came racing, the Empyrean clearing the way for her.

She came onto the bridge panting and gasping.

Overhead, Ramirez and another crewmember floated together to power the ship. Ramirez's hands were outstretched, and both of their bodies glowed with inner golden light as their Anima were activated.

Maverick was only momentarily slowed by the vision she saw outside the window. The Starborn clot had cleared up, though many were still clinging to the hull of the empyrean. Outside a thousand ships had appeared gleaming and white, full of golden energy just like the empyrean, but they had been met on the other side by void ships, sleek and black and shedding burning orange light like fire. The two contingents were in the middle of a violent engagement that had the empyrean caught up in the middle.

Ramirez had grown a lot in the last few years, and this included his skills as a pilot, but even with that, he was no match for Adam, and it took everything he had to simply avoid being smashed within the churning meat grinder of metal, "Coming to you." She heard Ramirez say. Below her the floor pitched and she was thrown forward onto the floor skidding across the metal to come to a stop gripping one of the nearby railings.

The Empyrean was supposed to have an excellent inertia dampening system, but that was one of the ship's secondary functions, and without a full Maker to power the ship, there were a few pieces of equipment that went woefully without power.

"Ramirez." She called.

She didn't want to distract him but this had to be done.

Overhead, the crewmember attached to Ramirez turned taking the brunt of the conversation so Ramirez could concentrate.

"Maverick?"

"You have to call Adam back, you have to tell him. Don't trust Everett. He's with the void."

There was visible confusion on the faces of everyone in the room who had heard, "JUST DO IT!" She ordered, ad wasn't surprised when Ramirez made the call. If there was anyone in this rom that trusted her, it was him.

"Adam, this is Ramirez. Maverick says not to trust Everett. He's with the void."

Maverick stood helplessly at the base of the command deck blotching onto a railing for dear life. It wasn't until a hand grabbed her by an arm and hauled her into a seat an extra seat did she notice Sunny sitting with concern and confusion at her weapons station. The Drev was using four hands to coordinate the weapons systemon the empyrean, while simultaneously controlling one of the big guns along her starboard side.

"What's going on." She demanded, "Is Adam Okay."

Maverick shook her head, I.

Inside her head the vid creature hissed.

Apotheosis, it spat into her head raking the word across her mind like it was attempting to drag the name across hot coals .

Maverick shoved it aside, "Everett, the maker that is supposed to be watching over Adam is a double agent working for the void. The ship, the derelict crew ship that we found Everett on was one of the first and early infections by the void. When Everett died they got to him."

Sunny cursed, and Maverick could see in the Drev's eyes that she wanted to be able to do soemthing, wanted to go after Adam, but still her hands never stopped on the controls of her station. She would not leave her post.

Adam was on his own until they all got there.

And with the pitched battle before them, that was seeming less and less likely.

***

It was hard to see where they were going through the spinning glass, but Everett kept them moving forward, blasting shards out of the air with fields of churning orange light. Together they spun through the air and Adam took out a darkboarn heading straight towards them with a flair of golden light. The sudden surge and loss of energy made him feel slow and lethargic for a moment before he was able to recharge.

Everett's hand still gripped him tight around the wrist.

The world around him was chaos, but still silent. Small shards of glass peppered his suit. Tiny clicking sounds filled the otherwise silent space inside his helmet as microparticles impacted the clear screen of his visor. They spun and dove, cutting through the glass field in strange and confusing patters, which seemed to Adam to be mildly unnecessary unless Everett was trying to lose pursuers.

Either that or disorient him.

If that was the case the last part didn't work. Adam was a pilot by training and so didn't get disoriented very easily. He righted himself, until he was floating on the same plane as Everette following the other man's eyes in the direction they were fleeing.

That was about the time he realized they were not, indeed fleeing.

But heading straight towards the Darkborn mother.

Adam had not realized just how colossal she was, but the closer he got the larger she became, until she was hundreds of feet tall, taller than the spiral tower back on Arcadia, bigger even then the empyrean. She was large enough she could have used Smaug as a rather fashionable scarf, and the glowing nimbus above her head was even brighter. The orange ball of light had broken open as if slashed by a sword , and the orange light swirled down and inward like the spiraling light ring of a black hole's event horizon.

And they were heading straight for it.

Everett blasted another wall of incoming glass particles energy fanning out from his hand in a burst of fiery orange light.

Orange.

Light.

Shit.

Adam fired the thrusters on his jetpack in the complete opposite direction, ripping himself from Everette's surprised hands just as Ramriez's voice came crackling over the radio, "Adam, this is Ramirez. Maverick says not to trust Everett. He's with the void!"

His thoughts were loud probably broadcast to every starborn, maker and darkborn in a hundred mile radius as fear, rage, and disgust washed through him. Everett turned, and in that moment Adam could see the void lurking behind his blue eyes as a pinprick of orange flame in his pupils. This all made so much sense now. Everett had always presented himself freaky as hell, a shadow on the edges of Adam's vision, a strange face in the mirror.

He only felt stupid now that he didn't think it.

That was some horror movie shit right there, and he had allowed himself to believe this man was a guardian angel.

But there would be time to pass out the stupid rewards later.

Everett opened his mouth in a snarl and lunged for Adam grabbing for his arms.

Adam fired his jetpack diving out of reach from the voidmaker's grasping hands. He reached to his side and grabbed for the collapsible spear on his hip feeling it snick into place with a soft click that reverberated through his armor and into his body. Fealty was roaring at full power, glowing with the full force of Anima light. Adam's human skin began to burn with heat, just like when he had confronted Hunt at the peace summit.

Everett came for him, and they clashed in mid air, Adm batting him to the side with the shaft of his spear, knocking them both apart. Everett had no trouble as he could maneuver under his own power . Fealty worked with Adam to keep their course steady, firing the Anima powered jetpack, and flashing Adam's openings in red. Sometimes his timing was right and sometimes his timing was wrong. They struggled and grappled there in mid air as glass and darkborn swirled around them in a whirlwind.

Everette hit Adam so hard he spun over backwards, end over end before he was able to fire his jetpack

Everett come in again. Adam thrust the spear forward, but Everett dodged and grabbed the shaft hauling Adam in close. Adam didn't mind opening the flat of his hand against the man's stomach and firing pulse of golden energy that had both of them reeling in the opposite direction. More energy flooded into him, and it felt as if his brain was on fire.

Everette came again, and when he did.

He met Impetus staring back at him from the glass.

Impetus recognized the void creature, but did not hesitate raising his spear, sparking anima energy crackling from the tip like an impossible lightning bolt. He thrust the spear forward catching the voidmaker in the shoulder. Everette howled and clutched his arm silently. Impetus drew his spear back and lunged, grabbing the voidmaker around the neck pulling him close. Hot golden energy crackled through his fingertips as he held the voidmaker who thrashed in his arms.

He would crush the life out of him if he had to .

And then.

Darkness.

Impetus was more than confused for a moment, spinning in place, but keeping a tight grip on Everett.

That was when the void mother's fingers clamped shut. Impetus cursed and kicked Everett in the chest sending him backwards to slam into the palm of the void mother's hand. He hit hard and bounced off dazed and disoriented. Impetus flew forward and pressed his hands against the palm of the creature. He closed his eyes and reached deep inside for that vein of energy which he tapped and used to send a powerful burning pulse through the creature's hand. He half expected it to blow apart, but the creature's grip shrank, pushing them closer and closer together.

Everett had not given up, and Impetus was interrupted as he came lunging out of nowhere and grabbing him around the neck from behind. The two kicked and whirled pushing off the darkborn void mother's hand until the two of them were face to face, Impetus gripping into Everette's shirt, Everett gripping onto Impetus's armor.

And then a crack of blazing orange light fell across Impetus's back. He turned his head briefly just as the darkborn queen's fingers began to open. Below them the swirling orange vortex was so bright it was nearly blinding, and despite there being no sound Impetus felt it should have roared like a volcano, or a wildfire. He turned back only to see Impetus grinning at him. At first he didn't understand it, and then Everett kicked him in the chest.

Cloth tore and broke under Impetus's hands and he flailed backwards out of the hand and straight down into the swirling orange vortex his stomach dropping out from under him as he was caught by the strength of some unknown gravity. He tried to fire up the jetpack and pull himself out of the gravity well, but by that time the anima energy was waning

Adam's feet kicked and his hands grasped at nothing as he fell.

Straight through the opening of the burning orange halo.