With a final shuttering the vault doors had been sealed. With a cool whipping sound, purple barriers sheltered them the add extra security, but they would not hold long against a full Reaper force. Alex and his team followed Sha’shi towards the service elevator where the other Keepers had already taken their positions. With a sudden jolt the elevator began to lower at rapid speed diagonally downwards.
“What about the others? While they’re mercs we can’t leave them out there to die.” Alex muttered to Sha’shi.
There was a brief conversation between Sha’shi and another Keeper in their own tongue which couldn’t be understood. After what looked like a slightly heated debate between the two, Sha’shi faced Alex.
“Should they survive another three minutes and twenty-one seconds; they will be safe.” Sha’shi remarked.
Suddenly as they got further down, the architecture of their surroundings changed. No longer were the walls bleak with grey stone, but royal blue and crimson metal, resembling a hive like structure. The elevator then passed a clearing. They we in a changer, filled with what looked like personnel transports. Beside them were hundreds of Keepers, all running pre-flight checks and other maintenance tasks.
“Welcome aboard the Blockade Destroyer Class Carrier, Last Stand, Human-Green.” Sha’shi announced. “We must hurry.”
Before the elevator came to a complete stop, the Keepers jumped off and moved as fast their legs allowed them. Sha’shi escorted Knight and his team through the various corridors and passageways until they arrived into the CIC.
The atmosphere was intense. Never before have so many Keepers been seen collaborating with each other in such an environment such as this. Orders in the Keeper language were barked out. That was until Sha’shi took his place in the centre control console. Then a dead silence fell.
He pressed a few keys in the console and the whirling began. Quiet at first, but soon the entire ship began to shake with an intense force.
Above ground the Reaper forces continued their assault. But Chimera had stopped firing his laser. He knew that something was amiss. He looked up to the sky and there they were. Seven flaming orbs, all screeching the undeniable scream of the Reapers. They have come to investigate why the other Reaper had been destroyed.
But before he had a chance to react the earth beneath him began to give way. The ground torn and the shuddering ripping sound was cast for miles. The husks fell into the chasm to be disintegrated by a biotic barrier that surrounded a large metal skeleton.
However, the allied forces who opened their eyes saw that they had not fallen into the crevices. In fact, they hadn’t even been tumbled. They were surrounded in a blue aura, floating above this metal frame that spanned for miles. And it began to rise from the ground. Chimera had been tipped into the chasm and had thousands of tonnes of earth and dirt fall onto it.
The allied forces felt their bodies move along with the ship and directed into openings within the structure and brought on-board.
A broadcast went out across all channels.
“Attention organics. This the KBD The Last Stand. All ships are to dock in the allocated docking stations. That also includes any vessel of Warship classification.”
As the ship continued to rise, the dropships from the hangers zoomed out, heading quickly towards the population centres picking up any and all organic lifeforms.
Once all the ships were docked, the Last Stand made its way into high-orbit.
However, as they made their way towards the relay, a Reaper jumped from it and made a beeline towards the last stand.
But Sha’shi remained calm.
A wooing sound singled the chagrining of something big...
As the Reaper’s fangs neared, a large rail shot was fired from the bow of the ship that penetrated straight through the Reaper chassis and into its E-0 core. It floated motionless a second before exploding in a spectacular array of blues and purples.
Once the ship was clear, it used the relay to exit the system, its destination unknown.
