"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a Laxtros cackled from the other side of the barrier, "The Elandrian I expected, but what is this creature I see here? Who are you, girl?"
"My name is Emory. Are you Petrine?" Emory roared as her blood boiled.
"Emory? Are you the girl who beat up my Selena?" Petrine smirked, "I am Petrine. I was wondering when we would meet."
Soren interjected, "Emory, let's get out of here. We've done what we came to do."
"And you're Soren, right?" Petrine turned to him, "The Legendary Phantom and a Dragon. Today must be my lucky day."
"Soren, take the others and get out of here. I'm going to finish this war right now," Emory hissed as she curled up her fist.
"Look at the little dragon roar!" Petrine laughed snidely, "Selena was right; you are quite an interesting person. But you still have much to learn if you think you can defeat me."
Soren put his hand on Emory's shoulder and pleaded, "Emory, you're not ready for this fight. Come on, let's get out of here."
"I'll transform and take her out," Emory gritted her teeth, "With all the magik coursing through my body right now, I know I could win."
"That's pride and anger talking, little dragon. You don't have a chance here right now. Tell me, Emory, did you know your parents? I only ask because I've only been to your star system once, and you remind me of the two people I met there," Petrine's lips curled into a sinister smile.
"What did you say?" Emory's eyes widened as waves of magik began pulsing off her body, "I don't think I understand what you're saying."
Petrine's sharp teeth began to protrude as her smile grew, "I remember a woman with long straight red hair and a man with blonde curls. If I recall, they were both formidable enough that I attempted to capture them. It's a shame they both turned into particles before I could." Emory's nostrils flared as she pointed her palm towards Petrine.
"You've just sealed your own fate, you heartless bitch!" Emory screamed as a beam shot out from her hand that was as wide as the whole facility. It cut through the force field like a hot knife through butter, but before she could see the result, Soren grabbed her shoulder and teleported her away.
The next moment Emory, Ilyana, Soren, Sothe, and Titania appeared on the floor of a large room filled with Elandrian. Emory immediately collapsed to her knees and began sobbing loudly which caught the attention of everyone around her. Ilyana, Sothe, and Titania took a few steps back while Soren gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Emory," Soren comforted her, "That wasn't the time or place to learn about your parents' deaths."
Emory wept, "Why didn't you let me fight her? I could have avenged my parents."
"And what if you would have lost?" Soren pressed, "You don't know the full strength of your power, but she's been alive for hundreds of years. You've been in a few fights, but she's been in thousands. Emory, you weren't ready for that fight."
Emory slammed her fist into the ground and cracked the stone floor as she continued to cry. Soren rubbed her back to try to comfort her, but he knew she needed to process this on her own. After five minutes, she continued to weep albeit much quieter, so Soren left her side to walk to another part of the room. Bramimond was on the other side of the strange room filled with raised basins scattered around the space and large boards covering the walls.
Soren saluted Bramimond as he got close and reported, "The mission was a bigger success than we can have hoped for."
"You actually destroyed it," Bramimond raised an eyebrow, "That's remarkable! Congratulations. But I have to ask, why is Emory so sad then?"
"We ran into Petrine right before we escaped. Apparently, she is responsible for the death of Emory's parents. Emory wanted to fight her there, but I didn't let her for her own safety," Soren sighed and lowered his gaze.
"I see," Bramimond said quietly, "I can't say I blame the girl. That's terrible news to learn, from the killer themselves no less."
Soren frowned, "There is something about Petrine's words that struck me as a little odd too. From all the reports we got from the humans, they had never encountered Uthid or Laxtros before the war. However, Petrine said she had been to their system before. Why did she herself go to their system then?"
"Hmm, that is intriguing indeed," Bramimond rubbed his chin, "I wonder what drew the Spider Queen to the Sol System, especially if she wasn't interested enough in humanity to send the Uthid forces. Was she looking for something or did she not consider the humans a threat at that point?"
"What could she be looking for? It's unsettling to think that she's looking for something or someone in particular," Soren grumbled.
Bramimond shrugged, "Who knows. What we should be focusing on at the moment is the landscape change. With one of the facilities destroyed, they will most certainly plan a counter-offensive of their own. I think it's time I join you in the field."
"Are you sure?" Soren asked, "Shouldn't you remain here to oversee the whole war?"
"Athos is doing some reconnaissance but should be done in the next few days. Then he'll take my place here, and I'll join the main force," Bramimond nodded as he responded.
"Very well," Soren replied, "As for my team, what would you like us to do?"
Bramimond rubbed his chin, "Send Emory back to her people. Then head to the secondary front and support that group. The other facilities are much closer to the Apleem home system, so it seems implausible that we could go after one of them for the time being. If we can drive them back to their home system before the humans join us, we'll be in better shape to end this war."
Soren nodded and saluted Bramimond before walking back over to Emory who had finally stopped crying but not yet risen from the floor. She heard him approaching, so she looked up with her swollen eyes and red cheeks.
Emory cleared her throat, "So what's next? I'll be ready to go in a couple minutes."
"We're going to take you back to your friends to give you time to process everything and check in on them," Soren answered as he helped her off her knees, "This is all we need help with at the moment. Thank you for helping us as much as you have already."
"No, I need to fight, to get rid of this threat. I don't want anyone else to go through what I have," Emory glared as tears filled her eyes again.
"If you went to the front line right now, you'd only be a danger to everyone around you," Soren admitted quietly, "Take some time and check in on those people you're fighting for."
Emory sighed as a single tear streaked down her face, "You're probably right. I'm glad I was able to help you."
"Emory, you didn't just help us," Soren comforted her, "You changed the course of this entire war. Destroying the chamber and facility will put the Apleem back decades. No one has ever been able to do what you did today."
Emory nodded but didn't say any words. She was still deeply hurt by the old wounds of her parents' deaths that had been reopened. Seeing that Emory was preparing to leave, Ilyana, Sothe, and Titania ran up to tell her their goodbyes. Once everyone had bid her farewell, Emory snapped her fingers and disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.
When she rematerialized, she was surrounded by a frozen outpost bustling with people. Overhead, ten ark ships hovered in the sky while smaller ships were speeding back and forth between the ground and the ark ships. Although it was always a bit darker on Bustrun, she could tell it was the late afternoon. It took a few moments for her to realize what was going on, but once she remembered that this was the second wave of Collective troops, she took off running out of the outpost.
In a few minutes, she was miles away from the outpost in the middle of the frozen wasteland. She continued running until she reached the sea that surrounded the massive iceberg they were on. As she arrived, Ninian was just coming out of the water and drying herself off with flame magik. Without a word, Emory hugged Ninian tightly and began crying again.
Ninian questioned slowly, "What's all this, Emory? What's wrong?"
"I met Petrine and found out she was responsible for my parents' deaths," Emory sobbed, "And even though I wanted to fight her then, I could sense I wasn't ready. I thought I had buried all my feelings about them, but now it's bubbling up and spilling out."
"My dear child, I'm so sorry. I share your pain and anger; after all, that was my brother and sister-in-law too. But don't worry. You'll be stronger than her soon enough. Then you can avenge them for both of us," Ninian tried to comfort her.
"Why was she even looking for my parents?" Emory sniffled, "Lady Cassandra only ran into Selena at the end of the war. How did she even know where to find them that early in the war?"
Ninian rubbed her chin, "That is strange. I can't say for sure because I ran into Petrine in a different part of the galaxy. More importantly, it was over a hundred years ago."
"Would you tell me about it?" Emory stuttered, "After all, you left her a permanent scar."
"I don't know how that story will help you, but sure. I'll tell you the tale of my fight with Petrine," Ninian started.