W.N.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- D. Thomas
***
[Unitopia, Southern Archipelago]
Dreams of neon skylights haunted Bane son of Geos' fading vision. Dreams of a life long past. Of a place no longer here. From the perspective of a child that no longer exists.
Breaking free from the daydreams, he turned his eyes one last time towards the subject of his final oath. Her small body looked as fragile as a crystal glass sculpture a stray gust of wind threatened to shatter.
This little one has withstood far stronger gales unbroken. She is made of sterner stuff.
Though 'sterner stuff' alone would not protect her from high-ordnance rounds. That was his job, after all.
He turned back and stared at the broken strings of code running across his damaged HUD, the numbers that promised nothing but defeat, and he rejected them. Opening his mouth, he whispered, his voice hoarse yet firm.
"Unspool reactor core."
WARNING! ENERGY DANGEROUSLY LOW! FRAME AT <0.01% FUNCTIONALITY!
Alarms blared as whatever rudimentary systems still running overflowed with error messages, but Bane ignored them.
"Override: Last Stand."
The warnings faded and his display went black for a second. A single script flashed across it in a different and ominous, blood-red script.
ARE YOU SURE?
Bane cracked a grin despite himself.
"Positive."
ACKNOWLEDGED. IN THE NAME OF MERCY, COMPASSION AND HONOUR.
"Engage Heart Drive."
The blood red text overtook the screen, archaic scripts running across it in languages Bane had never seen. The display itself stuttered and buffered, as though the code it ran defied to be understood.
Bane's attention was ripped from the archaic code as he barely had time to brace himself before it hit.
A searing pain pierced his left chest like a direct injection of molten lead. He let out a stifled grunt, cold sweat matting his hair to his scalp. His muscles tensed and spasmed uncontrollably like a seizure.
But his eyes never shut, looking past his HUD at the image of his oath that shone like a beacon in the dark, guiding him forwards.
The pain intensified sharply as Bane gasped for air. Even his iron will seemed to face the biological limits of his own body, darkness encroaching at the corners of his vision.
Still he forced himself to remain conscious. Frantically muttering their motto under his breath like the mantra of a manic man.
"Mercy. Compassion. Honour."
"Mercy. Compassion. Honour."
"Mercy. Compassion. Honour."
He fell into a trance state until, abruptly, the pain receded. Not entirely: from an ocean of pain to a moderately sized lake. But the relief was sharp enough to almost throw him into delirious ecstasy.
The only thing that stopped him was the marvel of a startlingly clear sensation. It overwhelmed him entirely, nearly drowning out his sense of self.
He felt like a buoy, floating under a starless sky, the gentle movements of the tide rocking him back and forth. The soft waves lapping against him like whispers just barely beyond comprehension.
He strained to understand, but the rocking motion was lulling him into towards an irresistible sleep. Just as he was about to succumb and be submerged, an odd thought passed through his sluggish mind.
If there is no soul in the machine...
Abruptly the whispers that had been unintelligible before, as though bursting through some veil, screamed to be heard. They were the same phrase, a cacophony layered over and over a thousand times. It somehow lanced the meaning directly into his slumbering brain like a spike of molten glass.
: : THEN WHAT AM I? : :
His mind instantly shot to awareness, the echoing shout still reverberating in his mind. The illusion of the ocean disappeared and the starless sky morphed into his blank HUD, displaying those same words in that archaic script.
IF THERE IS NO SOUL IN THE MACHINE....THEN WHAT AM I?
Yet, somehow, he now understood. And that strange comprehension was far from the only change. The overwhelming sensation of losing his self had disappeared, but what remained was that feeling of being connected to something greater.
The Frame...
His senses, his mind, his everything felt connected to his Frame. The tether attached to his Crucible-tier Heart Core unified them in a manner that could not be described.
It was a union of power, pure and distilled. At a cost, no doubt, but power gained through sacrifice is all the greater. In both strength and justice.
The HUD once again went blank before a new line of code appeared, still in that ominous crimson script, though accompanied by a distinct sense of anticipation.
AWAITING ORDERS.
At the same time he heard voices, muted yet clear to his now-enhanced senses.
"Scan complete. Crater clear for entry."
The robotically emotionless voice was followed by four regular footsteps approaching very near to the crater and the hum of the drone retreating high into the sky.
Perfect timing.
Bane, son of Geos, grinned in sheer, honest pleasure for the first time in a long while.
***
The four soldiers approached the lip of the crater, seeing into it with their own eyes for the first time. Their target outlined in red on their thermal HUD hadn't noticed them, but in the darkening gloom and without visors like theirs it wasn't that surprising.
The four of them also noticed the lying wreckage of the Crucible Frame, closer to an armoured tank than a fallen soldier. Clear damage was visible in several places where metal splayed outwards like petals on a flower. Scorch and soot obscured the insignia on its pauldron.
"Damn, that's huge", Two blurted out. "What the hell could have destroyed that in the first place?"
"Not our issue", the Squad Leader replied coldly. "Get the stun-net ready, Three. Be ready to shoot on my command. Two and Four follow me in. We'll use the mining equipment to salvage what we can from the fallen Frame."
The three soldiers nodded with the comfortable relaxation of an experienced crew on their thousandth errand. Leaving the silent Three overseeing them at the lip of the crater, the rest slid down into the craters, into the shadow, and into the jaws of the waiting Hunter.