The ship shook as if it was trying to phase through a barrier that wasn't there. The very atmosphere of Savren now contorting and shuddering. It was all Neil could do to keep the ship steady as he punched all of the auxiliary power through the sublight thrusters. If they were lucky, they would have just enough power to make it to the November sky, and maybe a R.I.P. jump just in case. But other than that, the power modules had been damaged too much for Neil to be comfortable with the Highlander. 

Beneath them, the God Machine rose up, and for a moment it was still, as if it was a monument to a bygone era. It had the likeness of a vaguely human shape, with a crest rising above its head, and it was noticeably without a nose of any kind. The helpless survivors of the bombarment upon the planet's equator could only watch in horror as the monstrosity, hundreds of kilometer's away, opened its mouth and let out a pierce bellow, much like a alarm horn of warning. 

Suddenly, dark monoliths, unlike the ones they had found inside the facility, began to form along its chest and all to the ground, somehow landing at their base and forming by some otherwordly metric no one could begin to fathom. It raised its hands and began to decimate the Chalcedon's fleet with ion blasts that blinded all within two hundred kilometers of the beam's lights. Even now, the planet began to crack open like a great maw of magma, as if it were an even harsher beast of the void. 

Neil could focus on little of that, trying to keep the Highlander from being ripped apart or caught in the ever volatile orbit. Woods and her crew were in the cargo bay, as was Saxon and Sven. Taya, York, and Junebug sat in the cockpit with Neil, the transhuman clutching his jacket where the disk was located. He seemed far from his usually amused self, now fully intent on getting the forbidden knowledge of the cosmos to the November Sky. 

"So, once we reach the November Sky, we're to have our freedom and reward?" Junebug asked. 

York raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Of course. Though first we'll need to extract the data of the Ancient Ones from this file." he said, patting his breast. "T'will change the course of history forever. All will fall before the Imperium, and you will be free from all charges." 

Neil banked left, curving an asteroid cluster and spinning the Highlander back into place as he approached the open hanger bay. Despite their previous journey, it really did not sit right with him that the Terrans would gain such a massive increase to their technological power after they had proven time and again to be ill fitted for rule. 

Behind them, Savren exploded. 

Neil couldn't see it on the back display, as it was brighter than a thousand suns. But he read the energy readings on the output of the explosion, and he knew that unless the November sky had a crack pilot, they wouldn't be able to land on it and have it enter the R.I.P. before they were consumed. The blast radius really [i]was[/i] the entire system! 

"Orders Captain?" Neil asked. 

"We go to the November Sky!" York ordered out of turn. 
[@Penny]