Aurora followed after Aaron, shooting the locks on the cages as she went. Her magic created portals outside the entrances of each cell allowing civilians to escape swiftly to the entrance without risk of being attacked. Some of them were so neglected they looked more like shells than people, Aurora tried not to focus too long on their despairing faces and remember the mission in hand. 
"Aaron on your left!" She shouted as a robotic creature launched itself from the ceiling attempting to knock Aaron to the ground, without hesitation she reached for her revolver and shot it in its mechanical head, the thing writhing around before it died. 

As they continued down the dimly lit passageway the murmuring sound of a great machine emanated from behind imposing steel doors. 
"Whatever is on the other side is the main generator, we need to disable it at all costs." She nodded to the group and with that stepped forward and shot through the doors with a magnetic blast, the doors shattering into pieces as she did so. The group proceeded forwards into the gunfire of machines that had become distracted from their conversion of innocents to monsters. This was clearly the room in which the horrific process took place, machinery covered almost all sections of the walls, slabs of metal were focussed at the centre of the room with expectant specimens secured to the them with straps. Aurora shot her revolvers at the incoming robots and she shuddered to think at how newly created they were. With her arrows she loosened the binds on the subjects and allowed another portal to appear, assisting one human woman who was barely able to stand, 
"We're going to get you to safety." She said to her as she encouraged the woman into the portal, she hoped that the lady had understood her language. 

Once the captives were cleared Aurora's focus returned to the raging machine on the lefthand side of the room, the only thought in her mind was to destroy it. With a ball of energy clasped in hand she advanced towards it with fury unleashing a blast of light into the heart of the mechanism. There was a flicker in the lights and all at once the thing erupted and threw Aurora backwards, then all was black.

As the vampires charged into hell they all activated their stealth suits, the children of the night disappearing from view. Diana moved through the Helix soldiers with a savage invisible grace, the only true clue of her presence was that Helix solders seemed to be fighting air and losing when ice shredded their metal skin. 

The rest of the vampires were doing quite excellent as well, medieval seeming weapons jabbing through the Helix soldiers with a blink of the eye. Diana was focused on the battle when the sound of something up high reached her sensitive ears, Diana whipped her head towards where the sound was coming from and watched as Dumont tipped over the edge. 

Diana's hand flew out, ice leaping from her fingertips and towards them. Doing this over a great distance took focus and a little time, so two vampires were suddenly covering her as ice caught Dumont and the HELIX soldier. But then Diana still continued with her powers, creating a sort of icy slide that would allow Dumont to continue his unstoppable descent more safely.

While the ground troops continued their renewed assault the Tsukam simply did what they could, their fighters providing cover, engaging Helix fighters in vicious dogfights while also flying over the ground troops and proviging an escort of sorts, protecting them wherever they saw Helix ships attempting to fly overhead and wreack havoc. For the most part the Tsukam fighters ignored any ground forces, they were specialised mostly for air-air combat, with only a single rocket pod for ground use and chainguns with very limited range, the other lesser forces could take care of the immediate land based threats while the stealthed fighters would help to clear the way in the air and prevent them from dying. After all, the lesser speccies had no great intelligence and without some sort of help would likely lose this fight, and while the Tsukam'akai had no love for the lesser species, if the Helix virus managed to defeat all of them then it could potentially become quite troublesome.

From out in space from the direction that tThe Tsukam'akai had come, were one to be looking, they'd see another much smaller fleet of ships slowly drawing closer, making a direct line towards where the carriers were currently parked. This fleet was comprised entirely of slarge spherical ships with small rods and antennae poking out all across them. Several of them would form up around the grouping of carrier ships, their shields buzzing into existance and surrounding the carriers, keeping them safe allowing a safe spot for the Tsukam'akai to repair, refuel and coordinate from as the carriers were the acting relays to the fight for those back on Tsuka. Those spheres that didn't remain with the fleet began to surround the Helix planet, slowly encompassing it within the spherical ships radius, it would take a while for it to all be positionned properly, but once it was, the switch was flipped and all jamming frequencies were activated. Those that were assaulting Helix wouldn't feel any effect from the jammers as they were adjusted only to block the specific signals that had been designated as those coming from the Helix planet, but for Helix, let's just say things were about to go dark.

The upper skies of the Helix planet suddenly became filled flashes of energy which grew in number. It quickly became clear that these flashes of blue light were portals opening up several thousand feet above the planet’s surface. Hundreds of thousands of miniature portals, no more than roughly two-meters in diameter decorated the sky and casted a luminous blue glow over the entire snowy landscape below for several moments.

Out of each portal came silver-coloured spheres a meter in diameter. Each sphere featured a glowing red optic at its center, an energy shielding that was strong enough to protect it from ballistic attacks from Helix troops and a deadly laser that it would emit from its eye that was capable of melting through the toughest of metals and armour within seconds.

The spheres - sentinels, flew down in a massive swarm. Millions upon millions of these constructs descended towards the surface with great velocity, flying past GSU starships and fighters, Tsukam’akai Hunter Killers and any other forces that were aiding in clearing the skies of airborne Helix weapons platforms. The sentinels then proceeded to divide into groups. Some of them broke off from the swarm and engaged Helix fighters, their beams of red energy cutting through their armour within seconds. This, combined with their relatively small size that allowed them to easily dodge and outmaneuver attacks from Helix fighters quickly turned them into formidable opponents for the robotic plague and allowed them to lend a great helping hand to the other factions’ air forces that were struggling to clear the skies.

The remainder of the sentinels continued to descend downwards towards the ground and some of them quickly swarmed around the Imperos Walker while taking care not to get in the way of its weapons. They proceeded to fire upon any Helix weapons placements or infantry that were attacking the walker while also taking hits meant for it occasionally. Most of the sentinels however spread out across the valley, ignoring the allied forces and solely concentrating their attacks on Helix infantry in an effort to lend support. They had no trouble in cutting through anything they shot at, frying each target with deadly efficiency. On the oft occasion, some heavy artillery would strike a sentinel and bring it down in a ball of blue flames, but these losses were insignificant compared to the overall number of the sentinels present on the planet.

Yet again, some of the sentinels that were performing firing runs on the ground suddenly broke off from their attacks. Groups of sentinels a few dozen in number gathered together several hundred meters above the surface and began to combine. Within seconds, there were four octahedral constructs, a dozen meters in height and half a dozen meters in width floating above the battlefield, their silvery surfaces reflecting the flashes of gunfire emitting from the carnage beneath them. A few Helix AA placements and some more heavily-equipped infantry turned their attention to the skies and fired upon the four super-sentinels. However these artillery rounds and explosives did not phase the constructs in any way whatsoever, the explosions not causing a single scratch to appear on any of them.

The super-sentinels merely ignored these attacks, allowing the other smaller sentinels further down below to take care of their attackers while each of them floated off in different directions, each headed towards a different server hub spread across the landmass. One of the super-sentinels reached a server hub before any of the others did and stationed itself almost directly above it. The hub’s defences attempted, fruitlessly, to bring the sentinel down using artillery fire. The super-sentinel merely replied with a quick charging of its main weapon - a heavy laser beam to be emitted from its midsection fueled by the combined power of all the smaller sentinels composing it - and then fired the beam down onto the server hub complex. Instantly, the ground where the hub used to be exploded and the server hub was simply no more, instead a smouldering crater of molten lava and metal remained in its place. The other three super-sentinels repeated this attack for their respective hubs before moving on to attack more of them that were spread across the frozen continent.

“Holy guacamole, that’s a massive insect if I’ve ever seen one,” Marcus exclaimed as he peered down at the chaotic battlefield from inside the stealth ship that was bypassing Helix’s front lines. He was of course, referring to the Imperos Walker that was seemingly dominating the battlefield and quickly became the center of attention for all Helix forces.

The stealth ship swooped low and began to slow down to docking speed. Marcus spent this small window of time to quickly run an equipment check on himself - something he had already done a dozen times prior to the commencement of the battle. However this time he also had something new with him - or someone depending on what it prefered pronoun was. Marcus didn’t give a shit. A silvery orb with a red glowing eye in its center floated by his side at head-level, watching him as he finished up on his check. He looked at the sentinel directly in the eye.

“What? Haven’t yew been taught manners not tew look at someone when they’re gettin’ dressed?” Marcus joked. The fragment of the Custodian that the Sentinel’s casing housed processed his question for a microsecond or two before replying.

“I apologise. I assumed that you were already in your armour, I was unaware of the fact that you intended to apply additional articles of-”
“It was a fuckin’ joke man, lighten yerself up a little why don’t ye?” Marcus interrupted. The monitor simply stayed silent, which caused Marcus to roll his eyes from within his helmet and turn away, peering through one of the windows. The Custodian followed his gaze.

“The sentinel armada will enter the battle via slipspace portals in high altitude within a few seconds. Their additional firepower will lend great support to the allied air forces and ground troops.” It paused. “I must say, the Imperium have shown considerable engineering capabilities in regards to the Imperos Walker that they have currently deployed.”

“Yeah, fuckin’ spider they got terrorisin’ the battlefield.” He snorted. “That oughta put the feart in the hearts of those fuckers.” While his exterior showed a display of carefree attitude and unrestrained humour, Marcus in reality truly appreciated the scene in front of him.
Here, there were soldiers, not only Human but of different races across the galaxy uniting under one banner to see the destruction of an enemy. An enemy that would truly affect the fate of the galaxy if they won this battle. He watched as the sentinel armada rained down from luminous portals several thousand feet above the ground and quickly descend down to join the battle, intensifying the chaos of the battle below.

Part of him ached to be there. He knew that some of his fellow Spartans, under the command of Queen Diana were in the thick of battle and it was likely that not all of them, if any, would make it back out alive… let alone any of the other normal soldiers of not only the GSU, but other species and factions who had bravely risked their lives on this day. Marcus had nothing but respect for them.

The ship had finally docked and its rear cargo hatch opened. Marcus turned off the safety on his rocket launcher and attacked it onto his back. He turned off the safety on his gauss rifle too and gripped it in both hands in alert carry position before turning to look at the rest of his team on the ship. “Time te button yer knickers up tinkerbells, we’re goan'a put an end to this.”

>Ground assault.

There was nothing standing between the Allied forces and their push.

Helix was for once outgunned and potentially outnumbered,between the advancing Imperos Walker,magics of the GSU,Valor Santori and the many mages such as the Tanuki and Elizabeth showed a unity between magic and science,man and alien,all rendered to brothers and sisters bleeding on a snowy planet that's cold,barren and lifeless.

The Forerunner Sentinels combined with the Imperial Scarabs and the unidentified Tsukam’akai fighters rendered Helix’s air superiority null,a decisive step considering Helix relied on that advantage to limit the mobility of the organics.Now with every server hub lost,the AI struggles to process the commands to every individual Helix drone causing delayed reactions,this forced Helix to improvise by pulling processing power from the other Helix armies across the galaxy to bolster it's defense force.But thanks to the aid of the unidentified Tsukam’akai jammers Helix was unable to communicate with the Valley drones and failed to halt the Sentinels destruction of every outlying outpost.

The Walker rendered all Helix mechs and war machines into molten scrap,and the mass of soldiers brought a swift end to Helix infantry.

They would be in firing range of the central tower…..Helix had to make a risky move.

This planet was at the centre of a powerful energy source….Far beyond anything that a civilization could consume alone,it was however unstable and immensely deadly it could render permanent damage to the galaxy itself…..And Helix weaponized this.

It began to activate the generator.

>Helix Underground foundry

The Flickr and Helix Drones engaged Valor forces using the freshly converted as meat shields to draw Valor magic,shooting at the civilians as they were ushered into the portals but to no avail as Valor magic shielded them from their ordered bursts of fire.

In a few minutes they saw one female target generate a ball of energy and threw it towards the Conversation Generator rendering a dangerous chainreaction that ruptured the underground tunnel that caused the earth to cave into the complex leaving a sinkhole on the surface as the only indication of the now ruined complex.All was dark save for the little light beaming from the hole to the surface.All was quiet besides the gunfire cracks and booms of the war softly raging from the surface.

Movement stirred the gravel,a red sensor gaze fixed slowly upon a figure strewn in the dim light,as the movement neared it exposed itself to the light revealing a Flickr soldier drone,one of the survivors dragging itself towards Aurora using it's four arms,it's lower body crushed clean off by debris,leaving behind exposed insectoid flesh dripping a trail of yellowish blood that faintly smelt of sulphur as it carried on towards the unconscious Valor mage.The programmed insectoid carried a crude combat knife in the upper right hand,yellow blood stained the metallic implants of the soldier and the knife shone dimly as a sunray hit the gleaming blade being lifted,the battered amalgamation of machine and flesh was now over Aurora preparing to bring the knife down in programmed vengeance.

>Hills

As Diana and her vampire forces cut their way through stray Helix formations without effort only to come to Dumont’s aid it became clear to the Helix drones that between the invisible vampires,approaching Allied ground force and their lost air superiority that the battle in the fields have been lost.So to buy Helix time to activate it’s secret weapon they began to erratically throw themselves to the enemy,the remaining hillside Helix Drones fired upon the sliding Dumont,drones on the ground began converging on where they calculated Dumont to land,they wished to cut down the GSU officer and disrupt the command chain.One of these Helix drones was a 30 metre mech that avoided the Imperial walker and the allied air forces,this mech appeared like a crab and carried deadly 90 Caliber explosive AP  machine guns built to tear through tanks.The Crab mobilized and stopped at a clear firing line 200 meters away from the path Dumont was sliding to,the crab opened fire,it’s accuracy disrupted by the loss of the hub servers but with it’s rate of fire it calculated Dumont’s demise before he would reach the end of the slide.


>Helix team

The landing platform was empty and abandoned,practical shapes littered the architecture of Helix’s Central command,the Tower seemed larger on the ground,it’s roof clouded by misty ice fog,the walls had no windows looking at the landing zone and the doors unguarded.There was however the slight but unending hum underneath the ground,vibrating softly all across the facility.

Once the team entered the structure they were met by a large open room with what appeared to be a elevator in the centre where the tower supported the roof.It was guarded by a full regiment of Helix humanoid drones armed with laser weaponry,there were some Flickr soldiers patrolling the other doorways that led to various factories and facilities in the massive complex.Many other drones were damaged,many pulled back from the fighting to bolster the defenses of the complex interior.

The Helix team would have to fight through this but luckily they had the element of surprise…..

>Elizabeth

Helix was not pleased at this breach of security.It isolated Elizabeth to a separate server and decided to amuse the rat that attempted to play coy.

“Unwanted……” Helix would repeat.

“You play a dangerous game…..You and yours will end the assault”

“You…..”

“Have lost.”


>Battlefield.

The Allied assault continued uncontested reaching pushing through the shield that covered the Helix tower and coming into firing range.The infantry and light vehicles took up defensive positions on the hills surrounding the tower creating a crescent moon shaped firing formation to disrupt the Helix defensive counterattack.

The Walker turned to the tower and prepared a salvo,it fired on the outer complex destroying the Helix turrets that plagued the air forces that came near the tower.Soon enough the complex was defenseless and victory close at hand.Helix troops stopped advancing,falling back into the interiors of the complex.The Grand Imperator was ready to call a advance to let the infantry lay siege to the complex when something happened.

Inside the command bridge of the walker,new data flooded the Holomap.Energy signatures appearing and disappearing all across the battlefield.

“Explain this….” The Grand Imperator demanded.

“Unsure my lord….Running the data now…...Our sensors are picking up major interference”

-------------------

Helix finally had it’s window…...The generator cycle was complete….It would end this infestation and cleanse the planet of the allied forces…...Nothing they had could protect them nor stop Helix’s wrathful fury.

“BEGIN”

Suddenly a Helix fleet rerouted from the frontlines broke through and entered the system,the fleet ten times larger than the Allied invasion fleet began to lumber towards Imperial Grand Admiral Kar’Shen who realized their disastrous position.

“Admiral….He…..”

“I know”

“Orders?”

The Grand Admiral would not abandon the ground forces,they had no chance of surviving against Helix’s fleet.The Grand Admiral looked at the holomap and sighed.

“Recall the ships that carry the wounded,order them to flee the system….Any admiral who wishes to escort them may do so……”

The orders were given and the transports carrying the wounded fled the system,jumping towards the safety of the Imperial frontline,however none of the military vessels followed,each admiral choosing the hold the line rather than to abandon their friends.

The Grand Admiral smiled,he wished he could meet each of these admirals,the brave and few.He wished he could have known who he stood with in the face of such odds….They would enter battle knowing only name,rank and flag against a foe that carried none of these things.

“Advance!”

The Imperial flagship pushed forward and the rest of the fleet joined in a arrowhead formation firing their long ranged cannons towards the Helix fleet who in turn retaliated as a storm that shredded one of the forward Imperial frigates into a fireball that was sucked away by space.

The Grand Admiral sent a message to the Imperos Walker as they engaged the enemy.

“Grand Imperator….Zorbek….Seconds ago we engaged a Helix Armada,we will at best be able to hold them for two maybe three hours,do not send the wounded to us for I have recalled the support fleet…..This may be my final day in command….I wish you swift victory…..May we meet again in the next life….Wherever that may be”

No message would follow after that one and all communication with the fleet became silent.

-----------------

The moment the Grand Imperator finished reading the message,he slammed his fist on the holoboard,causing it to flicker for a moment.

“Prepare the siege….All forces adva…..”

“LORD…..The energy signature is spiking and moving towards us!”

“What!?!”

“The signal is erratic….I cannot keep track of it”

“Is it a ship....projectile?”

“Not sure sir these signals just don’t make sense.”

Then the spike stopped.

Suddenly a surge of energy fell across the planet,then the gravity shifted and the snowflakes falling around the ground forces started flowing back into the sky.The wind changed and a vibration shook the entire planet.

“Status...What is happ” The Grand Imperator’s words were interrupted as the Walker shook,the right cannon exploded as the air between it was cut away by a spear of energy that was pure black with the faint sightings of stars within it.The energy cut clean through the walker and it’s right cannon’s burning debris fell into the hapless ground forces that was near the right of the walker,without warning this energy that appeared out of nowhere simple disappeared as the walker stood silent.

Then suddenly similar energy signatures appeared all across the skies,like cuts through existence they simply disintegrated the air forces unlucky enough to be caught in it’s path,none were safe and Sentinels simply ceased to exist alongside many allied ships,only the echoes of their pilots screams on the communication haunted the officers.These cuts would then begin spreading across the ground formation,tearing through the light vehicles,leaving holes in their chassis and the gored remains of their drivers.

For five minutes this continued and then stopped,leaving the allied assault in complete disarray.

Helix however was pleased with the results of its material disruptor and the Cosmic energy generator that powered it.The weaponized energy stopped the assault with ease and proved Helix’s calculations of effects this energy might have in ending the war and organic life…..All will be remade…..In utter perfection…..No more wars…..No more Celestials…..Vengeance for it’s fallen master…...The Almisfall protocol will be seen complete.

For now while the generator recycles Helix will send it’s hordes to clean up the remains of the allied force


>Imperos Command Bridge

The Grand Imperator stood from the rubble,the east wall was blown in by the resulting explosion,killing more than half of the bridge staff,the Imperial commander looked down to see a metallic rod embedded in its chestplate,he coughed and gripped it and after a short delay removed it with ease sending a spray of red blood to cover the holoboard.It has been decades since he experienced bleeding….The cyborg had forgotten the feeling of pain and it almost overwhelmed him as he gripped the railings of the holoboard to remain standing.He looked at the board to see almost all the air forces routed,the ground troops breaking formation as their officers struggle to maintain command and order.

The remaining bridge staff soon regained their footing and looked in silence at the Imperator,waiting for orders and hiding their panic and fear.

The Imperator looked at the gored bodies of the staff that died in the explosion,he looked back at the blood that trickled out of his chest,he looked at the holoboard as half of the map was coated in crimson.He saw Helix forces forming in attack formations

“Rally the troops…..and dig in…..Reroute all out power to our still functioning weapon systems…..Urgh….” He hissed in pain. “Order the company commanders to hold the line…..”

The allied commanders quickly regained control of the situation after hearing the Imperator’s commands,they regained a shred of morale as they saw the walker turn to engage the enemy,all forces in the field where recalled to the formation and the remaining air units ordered to make supporting gun runs against the Helix counterattack.

It is here where the Grand Imperator broadcasted a single phrase.

“Like rocks on a coastal beach we stand we endure.” On a open channel towards the tower mocking Helix.

Dumont's hulking armour continued to descend down the cliff, latched onto by the large metallic creation that now send its fists pounding into his plating. The blows were enough to disorientate William, but his armour held intact for the moment. Only when swarms of drones and soldiers converged on him did the pressure build. More robotics grasps, added gunfire, and to top it off a 30 meter mech waiting for him below. His military training racked through his brains, but there wasn't much they taught you about descending into a robotic hell.

There was one thought though; the number of Helix converging on him was quite considerable. If he could destroy them all it would be a worthy blow against their forces, especially the mech. With all his might he reached for his sword, bringing it down swiftly through the initial opponent, breaking himself free from the hold. From there he could look down, seeing the ground covered in awaiting soldiers below. He let go of the sword, reached for the power core in his center and began to prize it out from its socket.

The large mech took position beneath him, but he was prepared. He slammed the core downwards into the equivalent of its eye, the sheer force thanks to the suits strength enough to shatter the volatile energy and create a chain explosion across the area. Even Dumont's Legionnaire armour, now battered by the countless drone attacks, could not withstand the blast. Like a strategic bomb he managed to strike the mech's main body, whilst obliterating the surrounding Helix...

Aaron stirred in the rubble, forcing his eyes to adjust to the new lack of light in the broken facility. There was little other movement around him at first, allowing him to recover from what had just happened. The explosion has completely wrecked the place, but from what he could tell the civilians had been teleported away safely. With some hope in his mind he pushed himself up, using magic to assist in shoving off the rocks and metal pieces on him.

"Aurora?" He spoke out into the room, hearing it echo around for a moment. Something stirred on the other side of a rock pile; maybe it was Aurora. Aaron pulled himself over the pile and spotted her lying unconscious. The stirring had not been her, but a robotic creation still clinging on to 'life'. "Aurora!" He called out in warning whilst moving to help her. A cold metal hand however caught his leg, dragging him back down the rocks to face it on the floor.

It too had a knife and was trying to plunge it into Aaron's heart. A quick turn and kick allowed him to remain on top though, keeping the soldier down whilst he tried to regain vision of the other robot.
"Aurora!"

The tanuki seemed to have their hopes up after seeing the destruction made by their allies. Rokumi, in particular, was relieved, watching the walker do its work. It was so strange to see such a non-magical beast of inorganic parts work together so flawlessly with great power to boot. They use this break in the constant fighting to converse and chat about the different races in their amongst each other. Though they were intimidated by their comrades, they were glad such power was on their side.

As the ground forces marched onwards, they came across the central tower. Such a building felt massive to the tanuki, looking up at the wonder of architecture with fascination. Although it was likely just a plain tower with some powerful stuff inside of it, to the primitive creatures who were just now getting used to the real world, it was magic.

Aurora woke to nothing but an unbearable ringing noise in her ears, her eyesight blurred and surrounded by piles of rubble and flames emerging from the corpses of the mechanical machines. She attempted to move but found that her entire body was frozen, a strange pain shot down her back like a bolt of lightning. She felt nothing in her legs. With all her strength she strained to drag herself onto her side to better see her surroundings but her limbs would not cooperate. As the feeling returned to her arms she waited for the same to happen to her legs, but it was to no avail. The ringing in her ears began to subside and she heard her name being called from across the room, she recognised it to be Aaron. Turning, she saw that he was now fighting off a remaining robot with a knife aiming straight for his heart. In desperation she outstretched her hand, a bolt of magic shooting towards the robot and throwing it backwards off Aaron and towards the half broken wall at the other side of the room. 

"Aaron!" She screamed, "I can't feel my legs."

"It appears that an infiltration was anticipated by the robotic virus." The Custodian said to Marcus. The orb floating closely by his side as they arrived in the large room with a central elevator that was heavily guarded.

"Aye, but I bet they weren't expecting this." Marcus replied as he hauled his Heartseeker rocket launcher over the right shoulder. The weapon was loaded with rocket-propelled cluster bombs. His helmet's smart-link system connected his HUD to the weapon, allowing him to magnify his sight on the cluster of enemies several meters ahead of him. Marcus used the weapon's targeting system to specifically lock onto six specific targets that were situated roughly around the middle of the regiment of Helix drones, and opened fire.

The Heartseeker rapidly fired six rockets from each of its barrels, each missile homing in on its selected target and accelerating towards them at high-speed. The resulting impacts generated the primary explosion that covered an approximate four-meter radius and flung out smaller spherical bombs from the point of impact. The second set of bombs also exploded, increasing the radius to a further seven-to-ten meters. Marcus had made sure to select targets that were spaced out enough so that the explosions wouldn't overlap too much.

Drones and weapons went flying everywhere as some of them were blown to bits in the explosions while others caught inside and just outside the blast radius were thrown in all directions. It took merely a second for the robots to find where the attack came from, and they immediately opened fire on the team.

"Fuckin 'ell!" Marcus yelled over the sound of lasers whizzing by and occasionally hitting his energy shields as he strafed to the side, while reloading six more, this time normal, rockets into his weapon.
"I believe it would have been wise to develop an offensive strategy before engaging the enemy, Marcus." The Custodian said, still floating by the Spartan's side. The sentinel's eye glowed for a second, before firing a red beam at some of the drones, melting through several of them within a few seconds before stopping to recharge.
"For fucks sake man, just zip it for once will yew?" Marcus shouted back as he took selected six more targets and opened fire. Several more drones went down in a fiery blaze. Some Flickr soldiers were redirected to the main room in an attempt to backup the forces there, however the combined might of the team saw their numbers rapidly decreasing regardless. Marcus' energy shields held up quite well against the laser weaponry, and he made sure to be constantly on the move to avoid getting hit as much as possible. The Custodian chose to stay high in the air to have a height advantage and bombarded the drones with its own laser weapon.

Marcus switched to his Gauss Rifle and started to individually pick off targets with a much more rapid rate of fire. A single projectile was enough to shred each drone apart, and maintain enough momentum to pass through several other targets standing behind them.

After downing several drones, the team made a move for the elevator, mowing down any straggler that made a futile attempt to stop them.

Elizabeth Penree


Elizabeth sighed as her form shivered in the electrical pulses that contained her essence. Looking up at Helix's form, she let her hand run through her fiery red hair. Elizabeth stood there, in a simple white dress. Large black wings spread out behind her, her long tail wrapped around her leg. Blue eyes scanned the electrical signals that abounded around her. Reaching out, Elizabeth's vision moved to where the armies were engaged.


However, an energy pulse powered throughout Helix's systems. Forced Elizabeth from the systems, she was flung back into her body. Flying backwards several feet, the electrical anomaly that had been the tower burst apart. The Server, now laying in ruin, sparked as electricity continued to jump between the metal plates. Elizabeth groaned as she sat up. A large smile adorned her lips as she looked towards a corner of the Server. There, under all the wreckage, was a maintenance hatch. The winding labrynth led all the way down to Helix itself. 


Groaning as she rose, Elizabeth immediately fell on her face. Wracked with pain, the Half-Dragon clutched at her side. The terrible wounds suffered only three months prior sent waves of pain rocketing through her. Clenching her jaw, Elizabeth slowly rose to her feet. Doing her best to shake off the pain, the Knight forced her way into the maintenance hatch. What awaited before her was pitch black. However, she was not blind. Thankfully, her communications system was tied with Helix now. 

Knocking on her helmet, Elizabeth called out to Helix.

"Oh, I'm defeated am I? Helix, you forgot something. Electricity can't hurt me." Coughing, Elizabeth was forced to stop in her tracks as dry heaves racked her body.

"Anyways, I've got a deal for you. Why don't you come with me?"

Elizabeth eventually made her way to the base of the maintenance tunnels. She knew, from her little stint in Helix's circuitry, the the Virus itself stood on the other side. Opening the door, Elizabeth could see the faint trickles of blood that rolled down her arm. Bathed in light, Elizabeth could see Helix Proper.

Hrolfr Stigandr


Rolf stood with his fellow GSU Soldiers. Helix Soldiers were pouring on them, attacking every living thing insight. Blood ran through the snow as Rolf fired his weapon. The bullets would bounce off the metallic hides of the Soldiers, denting and denting and denting, until one would pierce. It continued like this, for hours. Calling out to his buddies, they would switch out with each other. 


But then a Flickr arrived, tearing through his soldiers. Rolf could only watch as the flickr smashed into him. The last thing he could see was his best friend, Anthony, getting torn in two. Then, half buried in snow, Rolf's vision went black.

------>Outside the Helix Facility.

Helix drones swarmed the remaining forces of the crippled ground forces,the Imperos Walker now disabled stood still as the machines clawed at it with gunfire and explosives.

The allied forces responded in turn with furious and desperate gunfire,taking down the helix attackers like chaff only to engage the next wave with each reload.Bullet casings littered the field that was wet with blood as the wounded were given pistols to cover their medics who were constantly targeted by Helix assassins.Morale teetered on the brink of collapse as the soldiers soon realized what the commanders already knew.....They have lost.....Helix will overwhelm them.

Union....Imperial.....It did not matter as Helix gunned down soldier after soldier,wave after wave....There was nowhere to run....The fleet lost...No extraction.

An explosion tore at the walker.....But not from Helix,the hull now had a small hole and in that hole stood the Grand Imperator who leaped with his great mace into two of the Helix droids that broke through the defenses under the walker feet,the force shattered the droids instantly and the Grand Imperator stood swinging the great mace to crush another Helix drone.The Grand Imperator turned to the troops lifting his mace.Many expected another speech about endurance...But the Grand Imperator who's armour was littered with bullet-holes and torn to reveal streaks of crimson blood simply screamed.

"TODAY WE DIE,WARRIORS DEATHS!....LET HELIX REMEMBER THIS DAY....LET IT REMEMBER OUR FURY!"

He then charged the Helix formations,abandoning the defenses in one single desperate push.......No heavy weapons....No mechs.....No walker......All pure infantry on a suicidal charge.....One worthy of many songs.One who resparked a vigor unlike any seen in the galaxy before as the soldiers complied and in unison cried a battlecry that drowned out the sounds of gunfire.

Everyone then charged,guns blazing towards the steel frames of the Helix forces.

-------->Helix Central Core.

The elevator stopped to a room clad in steel,in the centre was a massive oval structure that glowed varied hues of colours,the central core...The brain of Helix,placed on a dais of steel

It was undefended.....The room empty and cold.......When suddenly a figure walked out of the shadows into view,the figure was that of a robotic female,a personification of Helix that had developed it's own personality.She approached Marcus and the Custodian slowly holding her hand out to Marcus having his weapons aimed at her only to have his weapons crushed by some strange force of gravity.The figure smiled.

"Hello....Ant......Who skitters across the floor.....Aimless.....Helpless......" She turned to the Custodian. "How quaint that now above all you choose to act....It's too late.....I have surpassed you..."

She turned towards the Core,her back towards the team.

"Why do you persist to resist.......My goals are the same as any organic......To make the galaxy a better place....But to do so.....One should first clean the palette before you start painting......Imagine a galaxy free of pain....hate...Free from factions.....Free from Celestials....."

She turned back to the team.

"I have unlocked the secrets of Cosmic Energy......I hold power unlike you have seen.....I can remake the understanding......Why don't you just let me show you....."

At this point Elizabeth entered the room and Helix turned to smile.

"Hello there....." She lifted her arm to crush any weapons Elizabeth held on her person.

"It's too late........Your friends will die......You will die.......The galaxy will die....And be reborn." 

An sudden burst of energy however wracked the Core.....The efforts of the allied assault and the loss of a factory unit having destabilized the Core.The Helix female fell as she screamed in mechanical pain.....There was an opening.

As this happened another burst of energy shot across the planet as the Cosmic Generator finished it's cycle.

Unless something was done now.....It will all be over.

"Cosmic energy..." The Custodian echoed. Out of everyone in the room, excluding the Helix Avatar, only it knew the true weight the mention of cosmic energy carried. It also explained the immense energy signature the Custodian detected earlier. The Helix virus had somehow managed to find a way to harvest the energy, and in their hands it would prove to be disastrous. It knew that Helix had to be stopped here and now. Unfortunately the AI couldn't see a way to engage without falling victim to the Helix Avatar's constraint fields.

Suddenly, a burst of energy shook the glowing core in the middle of the room, and the Helix Avatar fell to her knees as she screamed in pain. The Custodian quickly faced the Spartan next to it.
"Marcus, quick! I need an opening to initiate a direct connection!"

Marcus wasted no time, and took a few steps before jumping onto the avatar.
"Coming right up!" He shouted as he tackled her further down so now she was laying on her front, pressed against the floor with Marcus's weight. He straddled her back and grabbed both of her arms in one hand, restraining them and grabbed the back of her head with the other hand. He then quickly, and forcefully smashed her forehead against the floor multiple times, with each time causing cracks to appear across her forehead and scalp. "This is for crushin' ma weapons ya hackit!" He shouted over the sound of metal slamming against metal.
Finally, with enough repeated blows, her outer skin shattered and exposed the internal workings of the Avatar.

The Custodian quickly floated around to face her. Marcus held her head up so that she was facing the Custodian's sentinel body directly. A small beam of white energy shot forth from the Custodian's single "eye" and connected it to the breach in her head.

"Initiating connection." The Custodian said.
"Ehhh, yew best be hurrying up tinkerbell." Marcus said as he watched the Helix Avatar's skin begin to repair itself. "What are ye daen anyway?"
"This Avatar serves as a parent unit that communicates with the Helix Mainframe." The Custodian explained. "She essentially issues instructions to the entire Helix force by communicating with the mainframe." Marcus turned his head to look at the gigantic glowing core.
"Am guessin' that's the mainframe there."
"Correct. The Avatar and the Mainframe communicate back and forth and verify their identities using encrypted keys. I am attempting to forge one of those keys right now by initiating a brute force hack and testing out every possible combination in order to gain access to the mainframe."

Marcus watched as pieces of the Avatar's skin began to reform. He grabbed part of the healed areas and, with sheer force, ripped the metallic skin off again. "I don't mean te pressurise, but yew need'a hurry up. This burd's fighting back." Marcus said, clearly struggling to keep her in place now as she herself began to regain her strength.
"I'm in." The Custodian said. "Uploading virus..." The AI had specifically designed the virus in such a way that once it was inserted into the mainframe, it would clear every piece of data that existed, essentially reducing the entire Helix force into nothing but a bunch of lifeless husks. And now that the virus had been successfully uploaded, it was doing just that.

"Aw shiet!" Marcus yelled as the Helix Avatar threw him off using a blast from her telekinetic ability. He landed in a heap several meters away. The Avatar quickly got up and grabbed the Custodian monitor by its casing, perhaps intending to crush it there on the spot. The Custodian's connection with the breach in her head was now severed as she was fully healed. A sudden blast of red energy emitted from the Custodian's casing, throwing her back several feet and effectively releasing itself. Marcus was not on his feet and, unsheathing his combat knife, made a lunge for the Avatar, but was quickly swiped away by her telekinetic powers. "Fuckin' hell!"

"It is too late." The Custodian said to her, causing her to turn and face him. "You posed a threat to this galaxy, to the very existence of life itself. And now you are already being undone, piece by piece. Your campaign has come to an end."

Elizabeth watched as the Custodian, whatever that thing was, uploaded a virus into the Helix mainframe. Damnit, that wasn’t any good, not for her at the very least. Elizabeth, taking the time to attack while Helix was distracted by both Marcus and the Custodian, rushed forward. Without a moment's hesitation, Elizabeth summoned up several of her lightning serpents. Letting her power manifest itself, she pounced on Helix. Not giving the mouthpiece time to respond, she began to funnel not only her own electricity, but also the electricity that filled her surroundings, into her weapons. Watching, sensing, feeling as the repeated pulses of energy prohibited the machine from recuperating, Elizabeth pushed her advantage.

Forcing the machine to the floor, Elizabeth reached out to the mainframe. With just the tips of her finger brushing the casing, Elizabeth fell into the programmed world of Helix. Her body was outside in the same position as it had been before her mind departed. Her wings were outstretched her tail curled around her stomach. Lightning played off of her armor as her long strands of hair floated in the static currents of the air. Helix laid underneath her, Elizabeth’s sword still buried deep inside of the machine.
However, it was different inside of Helix. She could see the Program’s “face” clearly. Blue lines stretched out in every which way. But red dots began to appear here and there among these interconnected blue lines. Realizing these red dots were the virus, Elizabeth swiftly prepared to start blocking their paths, But Helix’s voice resonated throughout the cyberscape. "Everything .....Undone.....Why have you come here.....To gloat?"

"Well, no." It was all Elizabeth could say as she began to build countermeasures against the virus, her success limited. "Actually, I'm here to give you an out. However, there are a few conditions." She talked in multiple breaths, pausing to focus on the Virus’ progression here and there. Damnit, just a bit more time. All she needed was a bit more time.

The helix mainframe started to collapse as the virus ruptured it's systems. The reply was met with the same disruptions as Elizabeth was experiencing. "Why........"

"Why do you persist........On....Saving me."

Elizabeth barely had time to respond. The virus had cracked through one of the numerous blockades she had set up. The result sent several blips through the cyberspace. With an incredulous tone, Elizabeth responded to the program. "Oh gods, Helix, you are the most advanced AI ever created. Do you think that I could possibly let something like disappear without a fucking trace." Finally managing to create a series of barriers that would hold off the virus for a time, Elizabeth focused on Helix. "Now, you coming or not? Also, you don't really get the option of 'no'."

Helix, having already been damaged by the virus fracturing part of it's primary core AI, isolated and removed from itself its most essential program. "A fragment then......An echo......Anymore I cannot summon and anything less will be redundant"

"Damn..." Elizabeth had been hoping for more, but the virus had denied her that option. She was about to speak as she started the process of downloading the Helix fragment, but she was sufficiently booted from the system.

On the outside, wide-eyed and focused, the young technomancer waited for any sign that Helix had made it over. She dared not speak in case Marcus found out what she did. Her arcs of lightning died down as her outstretched hand returned to her side. With baited breath she watched as the fragments of info downloaded across her helmet screen. Eventually, after a few moments that felt like an eternity, a small box appeared in the upper right corner of her vision. One word was typed onto it.

Hello

Falling onto her back, a huge smile swept across her face, though it was hidden by her helmet. With her wings and fiery red hair splayed out around her, she couldn’t help it as a deep, body shaking laugh echoed from her lips. “It’s over, it’s finally over! And we made it!”
Her words meant the same for both Marcus and the newborn Helix, but neither one recognized that the other existed.

The grind and whir of machinery came into focus as Altus regained consciousness. What was left of his mech lay around his, a destroyed mess. He sat up, the seat giving way and allowing him out. The sound of his armored boot would of echoed in this room if it hadn't been for the fact that a huge mass of machinery was running. It was deafening or atleast, that's what his suits reading told him. He remembered dark energy erupting from the ground and then.... He must of crashed through the open earth where the energy had come from. This must be part of the machinery of whatever was causing the havoc above. "One cog, broken in a machine, is all it takes to stop the entire clock..." A voice echoed from the past, his instructor in demolitions. Altus grabbed around him, finding a few satchels of explosives. He checked the tank for his jets in his suit, full, no ruptures. Luck was on his side indeed. He straddled the explosives to what was left of the Mechs engine. If he could overload it, he could cause a chain reaction that'll do a ton of damage. Hopefully enough to.... stop the clock. He set the bomb to blow remotely before he activated his jets, taking him skyward through the crack that brought him downward into this place. He brought his hand up and hit the button right before he made it out of the crack and into the air.... right in the middle of a infantry battle of epic proportions. He didn't stop to chat, using his jets to propel him almost like a madman across the battlefield, as far as he could get from where the bomb was going off behind him.

Helix began to collapse.

It's machines becoming erratic as the virus hampered it's commands.In the opening Altus flew into one of the formed cracks that led to a series of important generators under the Helix complex,he dropped the bomb and quickly flew out as the room filled with fire and smoke from a explosion that caused a major failsafe failure for the Cosmic Generator,energies warped and twisted it's metallic container as it slowly grew beyond anyone's control.

Then the machines simply fell to the ground,one by one without warning.

Helix Core was compromised,it's archives collapsing as the complex lost power,there was a brief silence for Marcus,Elizabeth and the Custodian before the tower shook,the floors began to cave in,the tower began to sink into the ground,the cosmic generator having become unstable creating something akin to a black hole that began to consume the entire tower from it's underground foundations.The three barely escaped the collapsing structure.

The tip of the tower tore apart falling to the side of the snowy mountain causing a small avalanche that rolled down the valley.Right unto the allied lines like some final strike from the now defunct AI.

The Grand Imperator yelled his orders.

"Take cover!.........Take cover." He said as he crushed the power mace in the snow using it as a anchor.

The rest of the allied commanders yelled similar orders as the snow rolled in consuming the men on the ground.Then silence....The valley was finally silent.

"Over here!" Cried a voice as survivors began to dig out their comrades,it was a grim sight to see the wounded as medics rushed across the snow. Varanus legionarres used their plasma gladiuses as a means to melt the snow as the various medics of the allied forces pulled out the dazed troops.Some ships of the fleet stood in the sky,scars of their battle littered the hulls as dropships flew to and fro delivering supplies to aid the rescue operation while they took the wounded to care aboard the ship clinic.Grand Imperator Zorbek limped towards the other allied commanders who stood watching over the mess.

They owed it to their men to watch.

The surviving airforces surveyed the planet to ensure there was no Helix stragglers,the Custodian much to Zorbek's delight seemed to deliver,the virus should have not only shut down Helix but caused all it's forces to delete it's own code and collapse.They where nothing more but empty husks like they have always been.The effort was not without cost.

The number of dead kept rising each minute,wounded numbered tens of thousands.

It will take years to truly recover from this.....

The Viscount joined the commanders,his armour chipped and cracked with markings of regenerated wounds and a few new scars.He thanked the commanders and left to walk around the camp to boost the morale of the Imperial troops.Some of the GSU commanders did the same.

All in silent nods and agreements.....A sort of respect earned by fire and tempered by loss.

And the loss was great.

The allied commanders realized the plight and agreed on a ceasefire,the galaxy would not take another war....It was time to rebuild.

The casualty rate at the end of the day was capped at 3/4,considerably the bloodiest battle in the entire war.

The snows carried the light tinge of red.....The walker loomed overhead as the dropships scurried across the skies.Despite the loss and sorrow many soldiers took to entertaining their mates to lift the mood....The humans took to singing,the elves played instruments if they had any,the Varanus danced and the dwarfs somehow brought kegs of beer.

This triumph of life over machines was something that would echo throughout the history of the galaxy and act as a reminder that if pushed the galaxy and it's people can face any threat.

This was their home.

And this is their story.