January 26, 2019, 5:59:34 pm.

Five seconds too late.

At least that's how it feels.

The sun is setting, shining at just the right angle to give Genitha a halo as I pour my mana into the dull brown feather. It feels like the universe's sick idea of a joke.

But I have bigger worries.

The feather isn't working.

I've dumped half my mana into it, but the wound won't close. Several other minor scuffs close over, but the dull black edges of the gash seem to repulse the feather's efforts.

It's only once I'm out of mana, frantically trying to think of something, that it occurs to me to get Roberts. He could fix this.

Glancing in his direction, I see him shielding Beth from the red dragon that was chasing the millipede. Clearly, the dragon is a distraction. Though with the trouble Beth is having landing a shot, it's an effective one. I know an easy way to fix that, I just have to do it.

I teleport next to the dragon, it's large red tentacles writhing as it releases a roar that shakes the air.

Okay, Lexi. It's simple, just teleport away with the giant dragon's head.

Yet, I hesitate. Which is when a heavy impact throws me careening away. That one hit cost me half my health. I don't think it was even aiming at me.

This time I don't give myself time to hesitate. In, then out with its tentacles squirming around me. When I teleport away I bring a sizable chunk of its head with me.

This time it's more of a 'clang,' the armoured skull smashing against a broken golem.

But no more distraction. The rest of the dragon is crashing to the ground behind me when I teleport next to them. They don't even realize I'm there before I've relocated us to Genitha.

"Alexis, what?" Roberts is blinking at me instead of helping Genitha. I don't think, instinctively turning him with a transparent wave of wind magic, nearly shoving him into her. Which reminds me that even with no mana I can still create minor effects if they're close enough.

It doesn't take him long after that to start working, but it still doesn't feel fast enough. Yet I can see him making progress. The black gunk at the edges is being pushed back and the flesh underneath is starting to reknit.

Then everything goes dark as a wave of earth slams over us. I'm thrown clear, and I can feel Roberts and Beth should be clear as well.

Glancing up, I see the Fallen. The one Genitha was fighting.

And it is a Fallen, that much is clear now. It's the missing chunks in her torso, ruining her otherwise well-groomed chocolate brown fur, that gives it away. Because either she's Fallen, or she was doing poorly against Genitha.

She's staring down at us, making no further move to attack. She's just... floating there as if unconcerned. Analyzing her, I confirm what I thought.

"Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 7.

Name: Minister Traxla of clan Lithania.

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

She's at least as powerful as Ivicka.

Temporarily dismissing her, I search for Genitha. I spot her crumpled form through the spiked rocks Traxla used to separate us. Roberts is picking himself up only a couple metres away from me, so I fly to him, then transport us beside Genitha, my eyes glued to Traxla.

She reacts immediately, sending a new wave of rising stone to separate us.

So, I teleport all three of us away. Keeping everyone well within the rings.

Not far though, I'm limited to line of sight on all my teleports, except for Return. But I'll need everyone together if I don't want to leave anyone behind.

I start picking up the others, warning them to stay close.

Everyone is crowded next to me. Roberts is attempting to revive Genitha while dealing with the nausea of repeated teleports. They're all feeling the effects.

Rufka is the only passenger I still need to collect.

Traxla isn't making it easy for us to reach each other. She doesn't leave me enough room to teleport everyone close to Rufka safely. Rufka insists she'll be fine, that I should get her mum out. But I can't bring myself to leave her.

So, I make a quick teleport without the group.

It's only for a second, but it was a mistake.

The second they're left without me, Traxla drives them apart, another eruption of stone violently spewing upwards. Thankfully, Beth and Tipan aren't hurt, at least not enough to worry about.

But I can't see Roberts or Genitha.

I can feel them buried somewhere under that mass of stone. With only a sliver of mana remaining digging them out is going to take time.

Should have dealt with Traxla first. It's obvious now. If I want to save Genitha, the Fallen needs to go.

Teleporting to her is easy. But she's even faster than Ivicka. She doesn't dodge much, just enough to stay several metres outside the range I can teleport her at.

She's still not shooting back.

Yet she's not grinning like Ivicka either. She's just avoiding me.

If I didn't know better I'd think she didn't want to be here. But I already encountered Fallen like that, and they were locked up.

Maybe I can try talking to her?

Worth a shot.

"Hey, any chance you'd let me heal my friend?"

She stares at me but doesn't respond. I wait five very long seconds before I square my shoulders then attempt to get close to her again. After three more teleports, I realize I'm not going to get close to her that way. She seems to be able to gauge when I'm about to teleport, moving out of the way before I can set new coordinates. I'm certain this wouldn't be a problem if my Agility was higher.

Now's not the time to be lamenting your attribute allocation Lexi, think.

Instead of continuing to harass her, I teleport away, pausing time.

Should have done this first, instead of hopping around like a crazy person. Okay, I can still reshape things. Even with no mana, I still have control in my sphere.

Plus I'm regenerating while paused. Not much, but maybe enough to do… something.

Right. I have time to look through Roberts's eyes now.

He's trapped under a rock only metres away from Genitha, his arm stretched in her direction. He's moving her closer, suspended on one of his barriers.

I don't have to do anything but keep the Fallen distracted. I can do distracted.

And as I disconnect from Roberts, even while paused, I see Beth and Tipan are in the midst of harassing the Fallen. She can't ignore Beth's shots anymore than she can ignore the danger of my teleportation. And while Tipan's crackling lightning discs don't pack the same punch, they make it harder to notice Beth's already near-invisible projectiles. It's the same problem I was having with Ivicka.

Now, before I distract her properly, I should retrieve... Ah, perfect. There's Smoulder.

Dropping out of pause, I teleport to where Smoulder's peeing on a dead treant over a thousand times larger than her.

Because, of course she is.

It's been less than a minute since we were scattered, and it's the last of the dozen that were nearby. In fact, it seems everything except Traxla is either dead or running. Much as she'd like to, Smoulder can't take credit for all the destruction.

Asking Smoulder to watch my back in case anything returns, I return to distraction duty. And just in time, Traxla is already turning towards Roberts. When I teleport next to her, Smoulder almost launches herself at Traxla despite my request to just watch my back. She constrains herself to a jet of flames which I match with a single weak torrent of wind, though she grumbles about it.

Even with all our efforts turned towards her, Traxla keeps dodging, not doing anything but deflecting our attacks.

With nothing but my weakest spells, I feel nearly useless. I'm even running low on Facet and Focus. Beth stops firing after a minute, but the rest of us continue. Even though she's not targeting us, there's enough random fire that it's still hectic. Then, after nearly two minutes of attempting to harass Traxla, Roberts informs us Genitha is stable.

But not conscious.

Yet, it's enough. Enough that we let up our, admittedly useless, assault for a second.

Traxla immediately dives towards Roberts and Genitha.

But Beth's waiting for her, her invisibility failing as she uses the last of her Umbra. This time she doesn't miss.

A puff of blue dust and a single falling shard herald Traxla's end.

But I'm already kneeling by Roberts's side, staring at the new scar on Genitha's chest. Her chest is rising and falling, but it seems shallow.

"Mum!" Rufka cries out as she comes skidding in. Damn, I should have brought her closer myself. When she sees Genitha's chest rise, she chokes.

"I thought you could heal anything," Rufka states, staring at Roberts.

Roberts meets her gaze evenly. "Maybe I can. But I need time. And so does she."

Rufka nods but doesn't say anything. I grip her shoulder to offer support.

"Rufka-," I start but she interrupts me, nearly knocking me over as she collapses against me, crying into my neck. I can't help but think I wouldn't be half this upset if my mother was hurt.

Genitha and Rufka deserve better from me.

"Hate to say it, but we're not done, people."

I stare blankly at Beth. She's standing on one of the outcroppings, staring to the east. Where Ivicka's Sanctum lies.

Then I remember the prisoners. And where they were supposed to be processed. We're lucky we fought her out here. There hasn't been a quest update, even though Ivicka's dead. There are several for taking out the Fallen, including Traxla, but nothing for Ivicka. Or the summoner. Does that mean she wasn't the summoner, or that the System needs proof that she was the summoner?

Well, it seemed to deliver on the giant weapon, might as well try asking directly again. So, I mumble my thoughts to myself.

Which Rufka hears. "You think she wasn't the Summoner?"

"I'm just thinking it's a possibility," I explain, hoping the System will update. But no such luck. Guess the giant millipede was a coincidence.

"Same as I was thinking kid. No quest update." Beth strides over to look down at Genitha. "Is it safe to move her?"

Roberts kneads his brow with one hand, standing with a sigh. "Her body was thrown around just like the rest of us. Yet the only damage was from that beam. I'm inclined to say we probably couldn't hurt her if we tried."

Genitha's body lying there unconscious doesn't look that strong. Again, I'm struck by the similarity to papa, lying in his bed after the accident.

And again, I feel like it's all my fault. If I'd thought to bring Roberts immediately, maybe she'd still be okay. Or if I hadn't hesitated with the dragon. Or if I-

"Thank you," Rufka whispers, breaking me out of my self-recriminations.

"Uhm. You're welcome?" Not really sure what she's thanking me for. But I feel like admitting that would be unwise. One of those questions that would get me called an idiot.

Or maybe that's just something my mom does.

A loud sloosh draws my attention to where a section of the dragon I bisected has tipped over, spilling pooled blood across the ground. When it starts seeping in our direction, I realize I should get on looting everything.

Right after my Facet recharges. Wow, I haven't been this low on Facet in a while.

"Did anybody see where Ivicka fell?" Beth calls out from where she clambered over the rise.

Blinking, I process what Beth's not just asking, but implying. Maybe Ivicka is the summoner but isn't dead.

Thinking back, I have an idea of where her body should have landed. If it hasn't turned to blue dust already.

"I think so," I yell back while extricating myself from Rufka's arms. "I'll go check."

Rufka holds onto my hand, making it clear I'm not going alone. Heh. Alright then.

We fly over to where her body was, indicating the location to Beth. It's buried under mountains of rubble thrown up by Traxla.

Or at least that's what I thought. As we search, shifting entire truckloads of earth and stone, we find no trace of her. Even the part of her I teleported is nowhere to be found. But we do find the rifle mostly intact. It's taken a bit of a beating from being tossed around, but it was undamaged by the teleport I thought killed Ivicka.

"She's not here," Beth states.

"There's no way she got up from that… is there?" I ask, turning to Rufka.

She tilts her head to the side staring into space, "Well, mum said…" Rufka trails off as she looks over to her mum. Then she shakes her head, continuing, "She'd need to have reached Silver. Which is nearly impossible."

"Nearly?" Beth prods.

"Yeah. Mum's Silver. But mum said the quest to unlock Silver has been sealed."

"In the same way I thought other entrances into the builder city were 'sealed'?" Tipan asks, poking Rufka in the side with her elbow.

"Oh. Vaus-damnit."

"What does this mean Rufka?" Beth prompts.

"She's alive. Probably. Which means she's in her Sanctum. Mum's made a point of explaining that's what happens to her when she gets critically injured. She gets teleported home."

We all turn to stare at where her mum is lying on the broken ground.

"Yeah…" Rufka sags so Smoulder and I move up and support her. She glances at me with a small half-smile then adds, "Look, that's what mum told me. I don't know how it works. Or why it didn't. I'd tell you to ask my mum but…"

"Like I said. We're not done, people. Just means we need to kill her properly." Beth punctuates the word kill by hefting the rifle Ivicka used on Genitha and sighting down its length. "Kid, think you can analyze this thing."

"Sure. Just give me a second," I reply. My Focus is still fine, and my Facet's recharging nicely. In fact, I can probably loot most of the area now. Which would be nice, the smell is getting offensive enough I wouldn't be surprised if it starts lowering our health soon.

When I Focus on the rifle, it actually feels as though there's resistance.

Which is a little weird, but not impossible to overcome. So, I truly Focus on it, using my improved scanning ability.

As my tendrils of Facet pierce the rifle, an understanding of its materials, construction and method of firing all fill my head, accompanied by an unwelcome System message.

"WARNING!: Reaper Paragon Genitech detected. Anti-Corruption measures deemed insufficient. Star System will be purged in twelve days. All Citizens are recommended to evacuate Star System MWVAE-22XXX prior to purging."

I'm about to tell the others about the notification when Beth says, "Well, that's not encouraging."

"Lexi," Rufka whispers at the same time, "Why do I have a notification saying the world is going to end in twelve days?"

Huh. This rifle is so badass the System wants to wipe out an entire star system to get rid of it?

That's kind of awesome.

...

Terrifying, but awesome.

I'm not sure how to respond to Rufka. I just scanned the world-ending Reaper rifle. It's not like I told the System to issue armageddon.

In fact, isn't this exactly the kind of thing we're trying to prevent?

"I don't know, I just scanned it," I finally admit after trying to figure out something better to say. And failing.

"Fuck. We did not need this. How the hell are we going to find our way off-planet in less than twelve days?" Beth snatches the rifle. "Do you at least know how to fire it?"

I nod, then take her through the firing system. It has an annoying number of switches that need to be toggled before it can be fired. It's almost like someone thought it was dangerous. Hehe.

As soon as I'm done taking Beth through how to fire the Reaper rifle, (it's probably Sab's dad talking, but I'm pretty sure it'd be better for everyone if it was a reefer rifle,) I reach out to Wyonna.

(A) "So, we just got hit with a notification saying the world's going to end in twelve days because I scanned a gun. What's up with that?"

(W) "Hahaha. Good one."

(A) "No, seriously."

(W) "Uhh. One sec. Okay, so I'm going to say you either found some restricted Creator or Reaper technology. And since you're not telling me about the new facility you have access to, I'm leaning towards Reaper."

(A) "Yeah. Some sort of Reaper Paragon Genitech."

(W) "Yep. That would do it. The System would gladly purge a planet for a chance to rid itself of a Reaper Paragon."

(A) "Seriously? Are they that much of a threat?"

(W) "To you? Not at all. To the System? Oh hell yeah. Besides, it's not like the System cares about people. It can just create a new world with a bunch of K'tharn from its genetic storage banks. But nevermind that. You can probably cancel the countdown by destroying the Reaper Paragon. Or proving it's gone."

(A) "Well, I guess that's something. I'm going to tell the others."

Relaying what I learned from Wyonna puts a smile on Beth's face. "Well, if the System wanted us to kill the bastard, why didn't it just give us a damn quest? Not like we're going to go easy on friends of Ivicka."

There's a barely audible buzz, accompanied by a quest notification the moment Beth finishes speaking.

"Quest Received: Kill the Bastard. Description: Find the Reaper Paragon that introduced their technology to Akilo. Kill them. Or prove they've left Akilo. Bonus rewards for every piece of Reaper Genitech relinquished to the System. Requirements 0/1 Reaper Paragon killed or fled. Rewards: Cancellation of Star System Purge, 1 iron-rank integration point. Time: 11 days, 23:56:22."

"Note: System Penalties for using Reaper Genitech will not apply when used against Reapers or Corrupted Entities. Normal System Penalties will apply if using Reaper Genitech against non-corrupted System Integrated Entities."

"Ha. There it is," Beth crows out in triumph, a single ray of light glinting off the glossy black of her raised fist.

Yay?