"What?" Aildris blinked. "You'll what?" "You'll need me to get close. You'll need me to bypass the internal defenses of Oblivion-39-A. And most importantly… you'll need me to confront my father." Falco stared at her. "You're willing to fight him?" She nodded. "Yes. Because if he succeeds… there won't be a universe left to argue about." The room fell silent. A heavy, resolve-filled silence that marked the true beginning of their war. The 16th Commander leaned back slightly and closed her eyes. "Ask the questions you need to ask. After that… we move." ... ... After divulging the location of the supreme leaders, the 16th commander was ready to take them there. E.E's eyebrows shot up. "So you're really committing treason against your own father." She exhaled, folding her arms. "It stopped being treason the day he decided the universe was expendable." Aildris nodded with grim acceptance. "Then we need to leave immediately." "There is no time to waste," she agreed. "The preparations for the seal-breaking ritual are nearly complete. And the ritual Gustav is undergoing—while crucial—will not finish fast enough to counter what my father and step-mother are planning." Falco tightened his gloves as dark wings flickered out from his back for a moment before retracting. "Then let's move. Every moment wasted is another moment closer to that seal shattering." She led them out through an auxiliary shaft bypassing the mechanized patrol routes. With several flicks of her fingers, she shut down entire clusters of security nodes, manipulated false readings into their logs, and blocked every outgoing alert to the station's higher systems. Within minutes, they were back aboard their ship with one extra passenger. As soon as the ship's hatch sealed, she transmitted several encrypted coordinates into the navigation system. A holographic projection appeared in front of the pilot seat, displaying a blurry mass of cosmic distortions. Falco blinked. "That's not a star system." "No," she said, taking the co-pilot seat. "It's a space-fold pocket. A dimension carved between two gravitational sheets, almost impossible to navigate without the correct sequence." "How did they hide an entire planet in something like that?" E.E questioned with intense disbelief. "Very carefully," she answered. "Oblivion-39-A doesn't exist on any star charts, Alliance or otherwise. Only two living beings know its exact signature." Falco's eyes narrowed. "Your father and step-mother." "And now you." She flipped a switch, initiating the hyper-drive. "You will not get a second chance if something goes wrong. That pocket rejects foreign entities with a force strong enough to tear lesser ships apart." E.E chuckled nervously. "Great. A hidden death pocket. Just what we needed." Aildris shot him a sharp look. "Focus." The ship lurched, shaking slightly before stabilizing as streaks of white and gold blurred into lines outside the viewport. The hyper-drive roared like a wounded beast. The commander leaned back. "This journey will take a week even at full hyper-light acceleration. Overusing the hyper-drive risks overheating, hull tearing, and dimensional backlash. But we have no other option." Falco folded his arms. "We've been through worse." E.E raised a hand. "Actually, I don't think we have." Aildris nodded in agreement. "He's right." Falco rolled his eyes. "You two are killing the mood." Once the ship stabilized, the 16th commander began explaining everything they needed to know. Aildris recorded every detail in a hidden micro-core storage device. "First," she voiced while projecting a hologram of a tall, silver-skinned being with elongated facial features and burning violet eyes. "This is Xyrath Val'Quorin, my father. The First Supreme Leader of the Gustavo Alliance." Falco studied the hologram carefully. He felt a cold, instinctive fury just looking at the silhouette. It reminded him too much of Nocturnis... the way the shadows reacted to him, the unnatural calm in his expression. "He is an Elyndran Void-Born," the commander continued. "A species born in close proximity to the void oceans of the upper dimensions. Their bodies can naturally bend cosmic energy." "And his abilities?" Aildris asked. She typed several commands, bringing up multiple layers of data. "He is a master of: — Spatial Pressure — Cosmic Pulse Manipulation — Void-Will Projection — And emotional precognition." Falco tensed. "Emotional precognition?" "Yes. He doesn't read minds… he reads intentions. If you decide to attack him, he will know before you act." Falco growled. "Then I'll avoid making decisions." E.E blinked. "Falco, that's not how fighting works." But the commander smiled. "Actually, for beings like Xyrath, uncertainty works against them. If your mind is constantly shifting, never fully settling on a plan, their ability falters." Falco leaned back. "Good. I fight on instinct anyway." "Which is why," she added, "you are the best person to face him. Your power has no fixed form. Your shadow abilities change based on circumstance. He cannot predict the unpredictable." Falco's nodded. "I'll handle him." Aildris and E.E exchanged a look. She pulled up a second projection and this time, it was of a female. She was tall and armored in organic crystalline plates with her hair flowing like burning plasma. "This is Seraphine Vortera, my step-mother and Second Supreme Leader." Aildris studied her. E.E looked terrified. "She looks… intense," E.E muttered. "She is," the commander replied. "Her race is the Aetherion Ascendants—a species formed from condensed stellar plasma. Pure energy beings given physical shape." Falco shook his head. "And she married him?" "Power attracts power," the commander replied. "They share the belief that it is only right the primordial deities return. They consider life in this universe flawed and weak… a mistake that needs correction." Aildris frowned. "Her abilities?" The projection shifted, highlighting glowing nodes throughout Seraphine's body. "She controls: — Stellar plasma — Aether-fire — Molecular ignition — And quantum heat compression" E.E blinked slowly. "She's… literally a walking supernova." The commander nodded. "And she cannot be fought alone. Her attacks cover too vast a radius. She will annihilate anyone who tries to face her individually." Aildris turned to E.E. "That means us." E.E groaned. "Why do we always end up fighting the unstable one?" "Because you two complement each other," she said. "Aildris can bend color and heat spectrums… and E.E can redirect unstable energy into dimensional pockets or vortex chambers." They both looked at each other. Aildris smiled. E.E sighed. "Fine. We'll fight the intergalactic sun-lady." The commander nodded in approval. By the fifth day, the ship felt impossibly hot at times, cooled only by emergency systems kicking in whenever the hyper-drive almost melted through its own casing. Still, they pressed on. In the dim glow of the control room, the 16th commander outlined the final plan on a holographic map. "We arrive on Oblivion-39-A," she began. "The planet is small—barely the size of Earth's moon. But it contains three things: 1. The ritual core. 2. The two supreme leaders. 3. The failsafe." Falco frowned. "Failsafe... your father..." She nodded. "A mechanism tied to my father's life-force. If he dies, the seal to the dark dimension will be destroyed." Aildris inhaled sharply. "Falco, remember to hold back." Falco gritted his teeth. "Then I'll break every bone in his body without killing him." "You will need to," she said calmly. "He must be neutralized, contained, or subdued—but not killed." Falco nodded again. "Meanwhile," she continued, "Aildris and E.E will face Seraphine. She will not hold back. She is the aggressive one between the two. She fights like a star on the verge of bursting." E.E swallowed. "Wonderful." "And what about you?" Aildris asked. The commander grew quiet. "My job… is the most important." The hologram shifted, revealing a complex structure at the center of the planet which happened to a massive crystalline monolithic structure suspended above a circular altar made of void-metal. "That is the ritual core. This is will tear open the Seal of Yh'Monthel." Falco's blood ran cold as the commander continued. "My task is to sabotage the ritual. I must remove or corrupt at least two of the items within needed to complete the ritual. Even one might suffice, but two guarantees a shutdown." "And you're sure you can pull it off?" Aildris asked. She nodded once. "If I have the time." Falco gave her a firm look. "Then we'll give you that time." The ship groaned as the hyper-drive reached its final stretch on the seventh day. Space outside twisted violently as folds of reality overlapped like ripples on water. "We're approaching the pocket boundary," the commander announced while tapping speedily on the control panels. "Hold steady." A violent tremor shook the ship. E.E grabbed the armrest. "We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna—" Aildris slapped his arm. "Focus!" Falco stood resolute with his eyes locked ahead. "Almost through," the commander whispered. The ship stretched, becoming rubber like as the fold tried to tear it sideways. Lights flickered and a console exploded behind them. Then— FWOOOOM The distortions suddenly vanished and before them lay a tiny, gleaming world hovering between sheets of glittering space, like a jewel trapped between panes of glass. Oblivion-39-A~ The commander exhaled slowly. "We're here." Dark wings sprouted out of Falco's back, expanding slowly and charged with crimson-black energy. Aildris stood, rolling his shoulders as color destabilized around him.