Moon
Hermitcraft System
3 Hours

Tango eventually forced me to take a nap, a few hours later.

I think you know where I ended up in my dream.

The goat man was waiting for me patiently. This time, I didn't reach for my axe. I didn't yell, or demand to know what he wanted. I understood now, just a little more.

"You know who I am?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Death. You're Death. You visit the dreams of people who are going to die soon and offer them one of your apples. Once they eat it, they die." I replied smoothly.

He cocked his head slightly. Face impassive.

"You're clever. I knew you were. But you're still missing a piece of the puzzle." He said.

I frowned.

"What?" I asked.

He just smiled knowingly.

"You will see. I hope you're not... claustrophobic, Miss Moon." He said, a cruel humor twinkling in his eyes.

He snapped, and a black sphere slammed into my shoulders. My arms immediately shot up, holding the walls back before they immobilized them. I planted my feet apart, and held back.

A small gasp escaped me. The force was greater than anything I had ever experienced. There was no way I could've ever of held that back.

Just as I lost my grip and the sphere crushed me, I woke up.

.  .  .

I gasped awake, sweating. My entire body was shaking.

I had no idea what that dream meant. The more I thought about it, the more I tried to chalk it up to coincidence, I found I just couldn't.

The gods were trying to tell me something.

I rolled out of bed, trying to force it from my mind. The entire Hermitheus kept rocking from enemy blasts. All night, we had been pushing towards Wrath of Andromeda while protecting Polaris Station. The Station had less advanced technology than the Andromeda, and took longer to charge up blasts, but the sheer size of Polaris put so much more power behind it.

I marched up to the bridge, ducking past the new crew. We had been provided with permanent fighters, shuttles, and new personnel overnight as I had slept, giving the Hermitheus the full capabilities of a cruiser.

Tango was slumped in the chair, frantically working.

"Tango. I'll take over." I told him. He gave me a grateful smile, standing without protest.

I sat down, immediately ready for business.

"Kraken, this is the Hermitheus. What's our status?" I asked, pulling the battlefield map up.

"This is the Kraken. We're currently honoring a brief cease-fire.We've pushed Gigacorp back, but we've nearly lost any kind of access to the planet's surface. Our ground forces are stranded."

I grumbled.

"Can we send any backup?" I asked.

"Patching the Overlord through now."

Most of the Hermits were on cease-fire leave, so it was just me and a few of the Unbroken crew in the bridge.

"This is The Overlord. Go ahead." He said after a moment.

"Do we have any ships to spare to go and clear a path to Hermitcraft once the cease-fire is up?" I asked.

"I'll speak with Ivan to see if he can send a force if you really think it's necessary. But, Moon, they'll be fine. Your brother is leading them on our behalf. He has been fighting very hard since he heard you arrived." The Overlord assured.

I snorted.

"That's exactly why I'm worried. He had never even seen real war before this. His whole life, war consisted of seeing who could do the best pranks. He's not a warrior." He's not me.

"You underestimate him, Moon. He's been fighting harder than anyone I've ever known ever since he joined us. He believes he has something to prove, and he has a lot of anger in him. Put all of it together, along with training, and he's dangerous." The Overlord said gently.

"He shouldn't have to be. He should be happy. Causing havoc with his friends. Refusing to build the back of his base. Fishing on the weekends, his biggest worry being what's for dinner." I said, letting it all out in a rush.

The Overlord chuckled softly.

"It was always going to happen, Moon. You know he had wanted to go beyond what he knew. And the universe is cruel. If he was to survive the challenges the gods sent his way, he would've still become the man he is today. And that man is good. Angry, sure. Stubborn? Unbelievably. But he is good. Loyal, almost to a fault. But when all of this is over, we'll pull out of Hermitcraft if you wish. Lazarus will protect it, lead by the Kraken itself if necessary. When we win this thing, and we WILL win, we'll build a new Galaxy. And you won't have to hide." He said.

I let the promise wash over me, the imagination of it running wild. Plans for rebuilding. New bases. New shops. Hell, a new spaceport and ship production line.

Then the peace was shattered.

B let out a sharp gasp in front of me, clutching a monitor in disbelief. Nafia stared in shock for a moment before letting out a cry of pure, crushing pain. She broke into body-wrenching sobs, collapsing into B's arms. He barely seemed to register it.

"What? What happened?" I called, ready to jump out of my seat at a moments notice.

B closed his eyes, a single tear running down his cheek.

"Therllyria. Those son-of-a-bitches destroyed Therllyria and the entire gods-damned system. Eleven billion of Thellrilians are dead. The Empire is gone." He whispered.

My heart froze.

Therllyria?

Gone?

"Pull up the news. Show me Earth." I demanded of the ship.

News reports flashed by. Relief immediately hit me when I saw that my species's homeworld hadn't been destroyed. But then my heart sank.

NEWUN had collapsed yesterday night, and World War Six had broken out. They had practically bombed each other back to the 22nd century, and the Moon's two halves were on a collision course with the planet. America was in the middle of a fierce Civil War for the third time. Over half the population of the planet, almost ten billion people, were already dead. Gigacorp had completely pulled out of the Solar System and joined up with the Milky Way Fleet, who was pushing to...

Hermitcraft.

My eyes went wide.

"Unbroken Convoy, come in. This is an emergency. The Milky Way Fleet is on its way. Therllyria has been completely wiped out and Earth's moon is on a collision course. The Tri Orion Alliance is well and truly dead. Pull into a defense formation!" I yelled just as warnings started popping up on my screens. My eyebrows shot up even further.

I pushed the screens aside, watching in horror as the Milky Way Fleet emerged from FTL near Titan.

And Milky Way's Wrath followed.

Andromeda's Wrath paired up with Milky Way, and each of the white dwarves took up stances on either side of Titan.

Titan, the star that had given my home light my entire life, stretched at the edges like an egg as the two stars began to harvest its energy to charge up.

If they succeeded, Titan would be no more.

And there was nothing we could do.

"No!" I cried, shooting up from my seat. Panicked orders flew in my earpiece.

"Moon, I'm sorry. But Polaris Station needs to recharge too, and Titan is the quickest option. After this is over, Polaris will stay. We'll keep Hermitcraft safe." Rat promised me. I could hear the anger in his voice.

But it wasn't that. It was just a star, I knew that. One star out of trillions, nothing unique about it. But it was OUR star.

"Fine. But those sons of bitches aren't getting away with this. Not for this, or for Therllyria." I snarled.

.  .  .

We fought tooth and nail for what felt like years. For centuries.

Then Mowgli pulled me away from the bridge. I let Skizz take over in my stead.

He pulled me into an empty planning room, where the Unbroken crew—Ivan included—and Joe waited. A stack of crates sat in the corner.They each had an unfamiliar flag printed on the side, the red, white, blue, and gold tones faded so I couldn't even tell what it was supposed to look like. Definitely not American, though.

They all had solemn looks on their faces. I frowned.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Mowgli has a...plan." Karn drawled, resting the side of his head on the table. He lazily spun a knife against it.

"A stupid-ass idea, Karn! Not a plan!" Zara snapped. She looked incredibly worked up about whatever it was.

"It's a good idea and you know it, babe." B said, putting his muddy combat boots on the table and leaning back in his chair. He rested his hands behind his head.

Zara turned, pulling something out of her coat. A blur of silver stuck itself just between BigB's feet. He didn't even flinch, instead yawning loudly.

"Noted." He said. Zara screamed in frustration, kicking one of the crates. It didn't move.

"What's this plan that has everyone so worked up?" I interrupted.

Mowgli stepped forwards, brushing B's feet off the table without a second glance. B gave him a half-assed middle finger, but didn't protest any further.

He pulled up a diagram of a large, cylindrical ship with a glass band making up the center.

"This is the Prometheus. It was the first interstellar biosphere ever built and acts as Admiral Barne's personal hideout. This thing looks like a Pringle's can, but it can withstand the entire nuclear stockpile in the Solar System." He explained, stroking his chin. His tail had started swishing behind him. "It's almost as heavily guarded, both outside and in, as the Dyson's Cannons."

I whistled slowly as he showed the numbers.

"There is, however, a small window between patrols where a small team can slip into the main biosphere unseen, just here. They can get in, take out Barnes, his main generals,and his right-hand man who, according to Scar, is called Myth." Mowgli continued, highlighting a section of the glass portion red.

I found myself nodding along.

"Now tell her the catch." Zara snapped.

Mowgli shot her a dirty look.

"I was getting there, chica." He said. She scowled. "The downside, however, is that we, as the team, would be unable to return. It is a suicide mission. But it would completely sabotage Gigacorp. 'Cut the head of the snake,' as the saying goes." He finished.

Everyone immediately began to argue.

I closed my eyes, thinking, as the shouting flooded over me.

"SILENCE!" Ivan suddenly roared, shocking the room into quiet.

"What do we have to lose, huh? If we lose the war, we spend the rest of our lives on the run. No where will be safe ever again. And even if we win, we won't fit into the new society. I've seen it. Men come back from war changed. They never quite fit back in right. And we've been fighting non-stop for MONTHS. So, what do we have to lose?" He said.

"Each other." Zara snapped.

"Then we die together." B retorted.

"I don't want to die..." Nafia whispered.

We went silent, and she colored.

Then I sighed.

"Ivan's right." I said quietly.

Zara opened her mouth to protest, but I shot her a look that shut her up.

"All we have is each other. And I can't think of a better way to die than marching off to Valhalla with this band of morons that I call my family." I said.

"In bed? Peacefully?" Nafia suggested.

I stood, driving my knife into the rim of the table. Everyone jumped.

"I want to die on my own terms. If any of you want to join me, step forward. If you don't, I won't blame you or try and convince you otherwise. So what will it be? Die here like a coward? Or go out in a blaze of glory destroying Gigacorp?" I said.

Ivan immediately stepped forwards, determined.

B gave an overly-dramatic sigh.

"I was comfortable..." He grumbled. But he stood, too. So did Karn.

"I guess I don't really have any other choice..." Nafia grumbled, standing as well.

We all looked at Zara expectantly.

She heaved a massive sigh.

"You're all determined to get yourselves killed, aren't you? I guess I'll just have to as well..." she grumbled, stepping forwards.

I smiled, but I wasn't surprised.

"One last thing. Xisuma and Doc left you all a little present." Joe said.

I watched, curious, as he wheeled the six crates over.

"You'll find your names on your crate. X designed them, and Doc built them. Some of the most advanced technology in the Galaxy." Joe explained, guiding each one to its owner.

I popped mine open, frowning in confusion.

A thin, red and black metal box sat in the crate, on top of a bunched-up bundle of sleek black metal and cloth. A letter with Xisuma's personal wax seal sat next to the box.

After turning the box around in my hands for a moment, I put it down and picked the letter up:

"Pearl. We built these as outlined by Protocol Unbroken. I know you don't know what that is yet. The letter explained everything. So I should explain what your specific gifts do.
The box is an attachment for your axe. Attach it to the flat of the blade, and the nanotechnology will go into effect. The suit is nano armor to accommodate for certain... loses when you were looking for Grian.
It will feel like this is a steep task, Pearl, and I honestly would've done it myself if I had been there. But this is how the gods intended it. You'll suffer horrible losses inside the Prometheus. You'll think that it's the end of everything. But it's just the beginning of something better.
Good luck, Pearl.
Your proud father,
-Xisuma

I tucked the letter into my back pocket, wondering about the meaning. What losses while looking for Grian? Did he mean my wing?

I drew my axe from my back, holding it in one hand and grabbing the box with the other.

I pressed the box to the flat of the blade. It immediately lit up as it attached, spreading out like cubic water across the whole axe.

I dropped it in surprise, watching as the strange technology completely covered my axe.

The black suddenly fell away. My breath hitched.

The axe had completely changed. Where it had once had a wooden shaft, a sloppily painted red head, and clumsy carvings of crescent moons in it, it had a matte black shaft with veins of red lights up it, a fresh, professional red paint job, and incredibly intricate moon and rune carvings that were so perfect that no human could possibly carve it by hand.

I crouched slowly, carefully picking it up as if it would burn me. The axe had gotten what felt like five pounds lighter. An electromagnetic sheen of energy spiderwebbed across the blades edge the moment I squeezed it with a sharp, metallic snap. The smell of ozone permeated my nostrils.

I shifted my thumb down, and it shut off.

Huh.

I swung it, and almost fell forwards from the lack of resistance. The weight on the swing was good, too.

I did a few quick movements. The new weight allowed at least twice the speed I normally had.

Humming thoughtfully, I put the axe down and pulled the suit out.

It looked exactly like my current red leather coat, just an inch or two longer and felt more metallic. It also had what looked like jet pack thrusters on the back as well as a slot to slide the axe in securely.
It also felt like it had more armored patting inside the metallic fabric.

I shrugged my old jacket off, sliding the new one on. It was more comfortable than the old one somehow, and immediately started fitting itself to my body shape.

I clicked the axe into place. It felt like nothing was even there.

I grinned, almost childish excitement coursing through my veins.

I looked around, checking everyone else's gifts out.

Ivan had gotten a similar box as me, which had attached itself to the head of his hammer and added what looked like miniature cruiser thrusters to the back that glowed blue inside. B had an almost exact replica of his black coat, but I guessed it was armor like mine. Nafia drew a pair of short, gold and black, one-handed scimitars from the box as I watched. She sucked in a sharp breath. Traditional Thellrilian blades, like the ones she used to have. She never used them, though. A gift from her father.

Zara now had a wicked looking silver, gold, and blue cross sword, which she had strapped to her back. She had strapped silver plate pads to her shoulders as well. Karn simply had what looked like an old assault rifle from the early 21 Century, but modified with a grenade launcher on the bottom of the barrel and to fire disrupter blasts.

Normally I would've smiled. All of us, on another mission together. But I couldn't shake the feeling:

This is it. One last ride.

And Death would finally claim my soul.