"It's over, NOVA."

Rui's ethereal voice was one of finality.

His translucent eyes bore deep into the cybernetic eyes of Sentinel Prime. "You tried, and you failed. This is it."

The ocean of darkness within his irises seemed to stir.

"You should be grateful that I don't just rush over to Greater Tekvoria and hunt you alive before erasing every qubit in that stupid computer containing your mind."

His voice contained an edge of peril.

One could hear his yearning to unleash annihilation upon Greater Tekvoria, but alas, as long as the threat of mutually-assured destruction existed, no force could ever go too far and try to unleash destruction on a continental scale.

It was frustrating for Rui to be shackled by Panamic Civilization. A part of him even yearned to simply shed those shackles and do as he pleased without caring for anybody.

But unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to go that far.

'The Kandrian Empire has already paid the price for my selfishness.'

The air seemed to calm down even as NOVA struggled to retain control over the sentinel's body against Rui's manual takeovers. It was a silent battle, one that didn't produce any large explosions, or shockwaves, or seismic radiation.

Yet one that was fierce nonetheless.

It was a battle that Rui won with each passing moment as more and more of his cells spread through Sentinel Prime's body, multiplying as they began seizing circuits and wires, and any other means of communication, isolating the central processing systems that NOVA had hacked from the rest of the body.

With each passing moment, Rui managed to restore control.

"Not yet…!" Sentinel Prime gritted his teeth as he unleashed plasma from his own body. "I'm almost there. I almost have him!"

Rui's eyes sharpened as his intuition told him something was off.

Why was she fighting so hard when it was obviously over?

What did she gain from trying to prolong the conflict to such an extent?

She was fighting tooth and nail to prolong control over the sentinel's body, fighting for every extra second.

What did she gain by doing that?

If he were in her shoes, he would have done everything in his power to delete all data relating to whatever means allowed him to control Sentinel Prime's body and then be done with it.

The more she prolonged the inevitable, the greater the chance that something else could go wrong.

The only reason she would be fighting this hard was if…

His ethereal eyes widened with realization. 'If she has some other objective.'

Immediately, his eyes sharpened as he charged towards the sentinel, blasting him with an even more powerful blow as he injected even more evosapien cells across his body.

Whatever she was trying, he couldn't allow.

They worked quickly, seizing control of even more communication channels at an even higher rate as he began to fully take control of the sentinel's body.

And yet, Sentinel Prime's cybernetic eyes were fixed on the distant Kandrian Empire, glowing as they stared intently, ignoring Rui altogether.

Then, his eyes lit up.

They lit up with ecstasy.

They lit up with ecstasy even as NOVA lost full control of Sentinel Prime's body.

His gaze peered an extraordinary amount of distance away as he spotted a distant underground facility entirely isolated from almost any and all kinds of information and energy flux.

Except for a single stream of information.

A single call.

A chilling smile emerged on Sentinel Prime's face as a single remark escaped him.

"Found you."

Far away, at the location Sentinel Prime's eyes had fixated upon, sat the Emperor of Harmony.

His face was pale.

One of deep exhaustion, covered in sweat.

Yet, his expression was one of relief.

His golden eyes were filled with a profound emotion beyond words.

His golden hair was disheveled.

Opposite him was a projection of Prime Minister Edward as well as holograms of satellite feeds of the battle, as well as all other relevant information collected about not the battle.

A small smile emerged on his face as he gazed at the projection of his son defeating the enemies of Kandria with just a hint of pride.

Pride for the son that he loved so much.

"That's my boy."

Then, it happened.

WHOOSH

Behind him emerged a female tekvore out of thin air.

Her body was mechanical.

Infested with machinery components.

Her skin was a cold, dark gray metal with countless circuits and hatches across its surface.

It was none other than NOVA's original body.

Her cybernetic eyes flared with bloodlust as her palm thrust forth at the Emperor of Harmony, piercing his heart in one smooth motion.

SPLAT

Emperor Rael's golden eyes widened as he felt a powerful, piercing pain in his chest. He saw pure horror erupt on the projection of Prime Minister Edward as he slowly turned his gaze down to his chest.

BADUMP

His pupils dilated as he beheld his own heart, still beating in the cold mechanical hand of NOVA. Emperor Rael coughed blood violently as even more poured from his wound copiously.

DRIP DRIP DRIP…

His face grew paler by the second.

His breathing plummeted, growing shaky and weak with each passing moment.

His body began losing its strength as even the pain washed away.

The world began darkening in his eyes as his consciousness began fading.

"How foolish."

NOVA's cold cybernetic voice hung in the air as the atmosphere grew electric with peril.

"I was in the top ten even before I transferred my consciousness to a quantum supercomputer."

Her words were chilling.

"Did none of you consider that my old body was still a powerful trump card when I commandeered it?"

"You…" Prime Minister Edward's shaking voice trailed off as he gazed at NOVA with an expression of pure terror.

"I kept this trump card in reserve for the sole sake of killing the leader of the Panamic Alliance," she spoke with a tone of triumph amidst the frustration. "From the moment you reached out to me diplomatically, as I anticipated, I began triangulating your position down, having gained some familiarity with your esoteric technology. After that, it was just a matter of having Sentinel Prime further narrow down your position with his proprietary sensory technology. Of course…"

Her expression darkened.

"I would have preferred to destroy the Kandrian Empire in its entirety before the Dawnbringer awakened, but I suppose I will have to settle for this."

Her gaze shifted to the declining figure of the dying Emperor.

"Farewell, Emperor Rael."

SPLAT!

She drew her arm out, teleporting away in the blink of an eye.

Blood gushed from the wound in Emperor Rael's heart as his body fell forward.

His eyes lost their light as a final breath escaped him.

His face slackened as his body lost all strength.

THUD

The Emperor of Harmony collapsed as the final embers of life escaped him.

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