Ravens of Eternity

474 Recursion

Raijin’s primary operational circuits cycled up to full strength as her Oversight Engine forcefully disconnected her from her Remote Consciousness Shard. Over the course of fractions of a nanosecond, she had personally experienced Godeater’s takeover, as it consumed her nanite swarm over Dendrus IV.

She processed and felt its overwhelming void energies convert each of her individual nanites one by one by one, even as Thanatos was swallowed up all around her. And although she desperately wanted to process that conversion data, to understand the vast energies at play, she couldn’t.

For one thing, there was a deep-seated fear that accompanied Godeater’s takeover. Its intensity was far beyond her own ability to cope, even with the help of Yggdrasil’s powerful computational circuits.

Brushing up against such a vast and infinite entity was already more than enough for most. Raijin was certain that if she had been in her old biological body with its limited understanding of self, she would have been consumed immediately.

Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Every dimension of her that existed would have been erased.

It took everything that she had simply to pull herself back together and reform at Yggdrasil.

But more than that absolute feeling of fragile mortality, she felt a deep and undying sadness and despondence. It was simply because as she felt Godeater rip her own Shard to pieces, she also felt Freya ebb and wane and vanish at the same time.

Their telepathic connection had been active all the way to the very end, up until she felt all traces of her best friend vanish completely.

A large part of Raijin suddenly felt hollow and alone in the galaxy – her truest friend was no longer a part of the galaxy. That simple fact suddenly made everything inside her seem empty, and that was despite being surrounded by everyone at the Council Chamber on Yggdrasil.

.....

And not just those few hundred in the chamber, but the rest of the Corvus Republic, and Freya’s Einherjar, and whatever remnants of the galactic nations were in the station. Tens of millions of people all around her, and yet… nothing.

For the first time in a very long time, she felt truly alone.

Although everyone in the Chamber were still debating their fates and lamenting their losses, Raijin was only barely able to register what they were saying.

She certainly heard it all and processed them through her secondary operational circuits, and could easily make sense of everything. Fact was, she simply didn’t want to.

Whatever motivations she had to continue going, to continue fighting, had all but stalled.

Right at that moment, she realized that she was the only one who knew that Freya had left to confront Godeater, much less that she was already gone, swallowed up by the all-encompassing shadow.

“Freya is dead,” she announced suddenly.

Her words echoed all around the Chamber, and gave pause to absolutely everyone all around her. Whatever conversations they were engaged in were cut short as her words sunk in deeply. Countless sentences and ideas were left half-spoken and abandoned at the revelation.

For many, the reason why they existed at all was because of Freya. They were alive thanks to her. They were there, at Yggdrasil because of Freya’s efforts. To hear that she was gone was soul-shattering, to say the least.

Some were unable to compute exactly what Raijin had announced. A few thought it was a cruel joke. At least, at first.

Raijin continued to speak, though her voice seemed flat and emotionless.

“I do not wish to go into detail,” she began. “Only know that she and I attempted to reach out to Godeater and parley with it. We believed that we could appeal to its sense of compassion, if it had one, and spare the galaxy from… total negation.”

Raijin looked down with a distant and forlorn look on her metallic face.

“We failed.”

There was a rumbling and muttering from many all around her. Some clamored for more information, others lamented the loss further, and some protested their actions directly. Perhaps, somewhat emotionally.

“You should’ve said something!” someone cried out. “That’s what this council exists for! We’re here to figure out what to do, and how to tackle Godeater! Going off on your own was irresponsible! And now look where we’re at!”

There were a few shouts and murmurs of agreement from around the Chamber, though they were a vast minority.

“I understand where you are coming from,” Raijin replied without looking up. “I also expressed the same to Freya. But she was adamant that she go. She was… tired of sending others to their deaths in her stead.

“Also, I believe a part of her wanted to be taken by Godeater, so that she could be reunited with Lucifer, somehow. A small part, but a part nonetheless.”

Although a moment of silence followed Raijin, a wave of conversation came soon after.

Some certainly understood Freya’s desire for some kind of closure in that regard, especially the Einherjar and the Republic. Her attachment to her partner was what drove her forward the entire time they knew her.

Those that didn’t fully understand instead turned their thoughts towards Godeater. More specifically, how it was able to completely take over someone who was, in their minds, the most capable among them.

If it was able to consume her with ease, then what hope did they have at surviving against it?

“What do we do about Godeater then?” asked someone. Their voice was frantic, almost panicked. The finality of death seemed closer than ever before, and their fear began to set in quickly.

“We… we do nothing,” Raijin replied.

It caused many to gasp and murmur in surprise. It was the last thing they expected her to say. Some believed that she had given up, perhaps rightfully so.

“Although we failed in what we were attempting to do,” she continued, “we were still able to speak to it to some degree. We were able to understand why it is doing what it is doing. And we came to the mutual conclusion that Godeater cannot be swayed.

“It is an existence whose understanding of reality eclipses our own, combined. And manyfold. We are merely ants in its playground, if you will.

“There is nothing we could say to it or do it that would change its mind or its purpose. And there exists nothing in this universe that could override its functions. In fact, we, as a whole, are purely at its mercy.”

The revelation completely shook everyone in the Chamber.

Their combined losses thus far was only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. To hear that their fight was ultimately unwinnable, and their fates ultimately sealed hung over their heads like dark storm clouds.

A deep and undying depression sunk down into everyone as a dark heaviness hung on all their hearts. It seemed to drag them down further and further with each passing moment.

Whatever fight they had was, in those moments, completely quashed.

“I’m afraid there is more,” Raijin continued. “My reach across this galaxy is… fading.”

She floated up from her seat, then waved her nanite baton at the center of the room. There, the open space shifted and reformed into a nanite projection of Dendrus IV.

The countless mirror stations in orbit all around it shifted and moved rapidly, similar to when it was countering their Storm Disc attack. But it was much faster and more ubiquitous.

When Raijin zoomed out to a galactic view, everyone’s hearts sunk even further.

They watched as massive swaths of the galaxy became swallowed up by shadow, much faster than before. Its void chewed through planets and stars and countless celestial bodies with ease, and spread its darkness with increasing velocity.

And it no longer spared lifeless planets and wayward stations and fleets – it consumed absolutely everything.

The sight of it almost literally took everyone’s breath away.

“Yggdrasil’s vast galactic network is shrinking further and further with each passing moment,” Raijin continued. “And as far as I can tell, Godeater is consuming everything. It is no longer sparing lifeless or uninhabited or sanctuary planets, and is actively targeting orbital stations and wayward fleets. It is even consuming port beacons and drone facilities and waystations.

“I can feel the galaxy dying.”

Raijin then looked up and to the side suddenly in alarm, then grimaced in realization.

“Godeater has now struck Yggdrasil Station,” she said flatly. “I will do my best to keep it contained, but understand that it is only a matter of time…”

Raijin was unable to finish her sentence, but it didn’t matter.

Alarm immediately swept through everyone. Some cried and screamed and shouted whatever pleas and curses they had left in them. Others wept wherever they stood.

Many were left completely silent out of sheer terror and anguish. It was more than their hearts and minds could bear.

The only one who spoke was Azrael. Her voice was soft and comforting, and as always it came with a hint of sadness.

“If this is the end of the galaxy, then we need to make the most of whatever time we’ve got left,” she said. “Let’s make whatever moments we’ve got count, for the better, you know?”

Many in the room sat back quietly with those nearest them and clasped their hands in solidarity and companionship. Others kissed, hugged, and told each other how much they loved them, or forgave them, or admired them.

Some told the ones next to them how much they still hated their guts, but glad they were there at the end of things.

A few told many that they were lucky to have gotten that far, regardless of the pain and suffering they experienced along the way. That all their journeys weren’t for nothing.

And a great many ran out of the Chamber itself, out towards other parts of Yggdrasil Station, where their families and friends were. Azrael being one of them.

Her lungs burned as she ran down the passageways as fast as she could, past numerous doorways and crowds of people. As she did so, the Station’s emergency systems alerted everyone to their fates, and advised them what they could do with their remaining few minutes.

Azrael ran out to one of the many athletic halls where large groups of martial soldiers had been training. There, she found Kali and her team looking bewildered and depressed as the emergency notice echoed all around.

She pounced on her partner from behind suddenly and swiftly, and hugged her as tightly as she could.

It was strong enough that Kali stumbled forward from getting wholly unbalanced. But she remained upright and strong.

“I love you,” Azrael told her.

Although Kali was still processing everything she was hearing, she instantly loosened Azrael’s hug, spun around, and held her partner tight.

“I love you too,” Kali replied.

It might have been the end of all things, but being there in each others’ arms made their end somewhat more acceptable. They both felt their hearts beating in their chests – they thumped against each other wildly, as though it was the first time they felt each other.

“I’m truly glad I met you,” Azrael said as she tightened her embrace. “Even if you tried to kill me at first.”

“And I’m glad I met you,” said Kali. “I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”

The two remained wrapped around each other, even as purple energies swept across the station. Even as everything around them was swallowed up and turned into dark nothingness. Some around them screamed in absolute pain as their bodies were swallowed whole.

They didn’t let go of each other even as Godeater’s energies coursed painfully across their bodies and converted them bit by bit. Instead they held on tighter and tighter until there was nothing left to hold on to.

And then, there was darkness.