The woman who stared back at me from the cockpit of the Iron Wraith no longer resembled the Cyra I had rescued in the mansion.
Blue Aether surrounded her like a tempest, her silver hair floating freely and for the first time, the power within her no longer frightened me.
Vexa peered at her from the pilot’s seat.
"That’s..."
She swallowed
"...not right."
Cyra raised her hand slowly and caused a ball of blue Aether to hover above her palm.
"No," she murmured darkly
Her gaze snapped towards the massive warship looming before us
"It isn’t."
The System flickered to life
[Target Evolution Progress: 8%]
[Aether Core stabilization successful]
[Current Core Damage: 12%]
[Warning: Further damage may destabilize target]
I turned towards the oncoming warship.
"Then don’t push yourself."
Cyra shot me a look
"I don’t intend to."
The warship fired another shot and a massive projectile rocketed towards us.
Vexa turned sharply to avoid it and the Iron Wraith rolled with the motion.
I dove behind the console as the projectile shot past us and slammed into the ground below with a flash of light revealing the true terrain of Aetheria.
Ruins.
Towering skeletal buildings that jutted out from the earth, forests of petrified trees and massive buildings, half buried in the dirt with some sort of enormous structure in the distance, looming ominously.
My jaw tightened as the flash of light died down.
"Did anyone else see that?"
Vexa nodded grimly
"Unfortunately, yes."
"What was that?"
"That," She muttered "was something we don’t want to meet."
"Seems to be a theme."
Another projectile was launched and Cyra raised her hand in response.
The air in front of the Iron Wraith rippled with Aether and the incoming missile came to a halt.
Not a slowing down, but a complete stop.
She willed it to turn around and shot it back towards the warship.
Vexa’s eyes widened as it slammed into the front plating of the vessel.
It hardly made a dent.
Cyra frowned
"They’re protected."
I stared at her
"You just turned a missile around!"
She looked at her hand
"I had no idea I could do that."
I laughed
"Neither did I."
Nyx drew near another weapon console
"Than let’s see what else she can do."
Cyra studied the oncoming warship and more blue Aether gathered around her
"I can feel it..." She said intently "...its systems. There’s hundreds of Aether conduits."
"Can you shut them down?"
"Not directly," She closed her eyes "...but I can disrupt them."
The warship fired another shot and Nyx took aim with one of the Iron Wraith’s side cannons
"Let me know when."
Cyan light flared across the cabin as Cyra’s hands glowed.
The ship’s instruments flared to life and for a moment, I thought she’d turned off our ship’s systems.
The warning lights suddenly changed their pattern however and I turned to see the warship’s shield flickering.
Nyx smirked in satisfaction
"Got it."
She opened fire and the Iron Wraith’s cannon roared to life with another shell destined for the warship’s side.
Another massive explosion erupted across the vessel’s hull and it lurched to one side
"That’s it!" Vexa laughed
"They want Cyra."
"Why?" I asked
She looked at me
"My family didn’t hide my power from you because they were afraid of me."
"Then why?"
"Because they knew someone would come looking for it."
The System flashed
[Aether Sovereign classification confirmed]
I frowned
"What exactly is an Aether Sovereign?"
"My father never told me," She replied
Vexa suddenly grew quiet and I turned to look at her.
She looked guilty.
"You know something."
She sighed
"Fine."
She adjusted in her seat and faced me
"Aether Sovereigns are rare."
"How rare?"
"Extinct," Vexa said bluntly
Cyra gave her a strange look
"Almost?"
Vexa nodded
"According to the old records, there were only three known Sovereigns before the Great Collapse."
I turned to Cyra
"And what happened to them?"
"They disappeared."
Her expression darkened
"No bodies... no records... nothing."
Nyx looked up at the approaching warship
"Then why does that ship know what she is?"
Vexa’s mechanical eye blinked
"Because someone has been searching for another one."
Silence filled the cabin and I turned to face Cyra
"Who?"
Vexa shook her head
"That’s the question isn’t it?"
The warship opened a bay in the center of its hull and from within, something even more massive than the vessel itself slowly emerged.
An enormous cannon of some sort.
It wasn’t made to fire standard sized projectiles either.
If anything, it could put out a shot capable of obliterating an entire city block
The System appeared
[Extreme threat detected]
[Recommended action: Evasion]
"Vexa."
"I see it."
"Can we outrun that thing?"
"No."
"Can we shoot it?"
"No."
"Can Cyra stop it?"
Everyone turned to face her
Cyra looked up at the weapon
"I don’t know."
The cannon charged up and the sky was washed in blue light
"I can try."
I caught her wrist
"Don’t"
She looked at me
"If you fail-"
"I won’t fail."
"You don’t know that."
She gave me a small smile
"Neither do you."
She slid her hand from my grasp and rose to her feet.
Blue Aether flared to life around her and the very air seemed to distort.
The System appeared
[Target Aether Core output increasing]
[Core damage risk: 12% -> 19%]
My expression changed
"Cyra!"
She continued to stare at the cannon
I ran to her side and grabbed her shoulders
"Stop!
She knelt to one knee and I caught her
The Aether around her flickered
"You’re hurting yourself."
She sucked in a shaky breath
"I know."
"Then stop!"
"If I stop..."
She looked out the window at the oncoming warship
"...they’ll catch us."
I turned to look at the enemy vessel and then back at her
Then at the System
An idea began forming in my head.
Probably a stupid one.
Those seemed to be my specialty lately.
"Can you control the Aether in that ship?"
"Maybe."
"Not the whole thing," I gestured at the engine of the warship
"Just the engines."
She seemed to understand
"You want me to overload them."
"Exactly."
Her eyes widened
"That could destroy the whole ship."
"I know."
"And everyone onboard."
I hesitated.
I didn’t want to kill hundreds of innocents
But if we did nothing, they’d kill us
"We don’t have another option."
Cyra closed her eyes and more blue light erupted from her form
Vexa watched the readouts on her console
"They’re losing power."
The engines of the enemy vessel sputtered and coughed then one engine died completely and another soon followed.
The enormous warship began to slow down and fall back
Cyra opened her eyes
"I did it."
She collapsed to her side and I caught her before she hit the floor.
The System appeared
[Enemy vessel disabled]
[Combat victory achieved]
[Upgrade Energy acquired: +5]
I stared in surprise
Five more...
that put me at fifteen overall.
Not that it meant much of an upgrade, but it was still a nice reminder that we could always get stronger after each fight.
Cyra looked up at me
"Did we win?"
I smiled
"For now."
She closed her eyes
"Good."
Vexa turned the Iron Wraith so that it faced away from the disabled warship and we continued on our journey.
The wasteland stretched on and on before us and I glanced out the window at the distant horizon.
Cyra was asleep against my shoulder. The System appeared
[Crew Member Evolution Progress: 8%]
[New objective unlocked]
[Locate an Aether Core capable of restoring Cyra Valt]
I frowned
"Where are we supposed to find one of those?"
Vexa looked up from her console
"There is one place."
I turned to face her
"Where?
She gave me a strange look
"In an abandoned city."
Nyx’s expression darkened
"The Dead City?"
Vexa nodded and I turned my gaze to the front as the storm clouds grew closer in the distance.
Beyond the wasteland, something that had supposedly been destroyed long ago now waited for us.
And somewhere within it, the answer to Cyra’s salvation.
I sighed
"Tell me why it’s called the Dead City."
Vexa chuckled
"Because it will be."
The Iron Wraith flew into the storm as something massive and unknown rumbled deep within the dark clouds ahead.