Bringer Of Light

All around her, the world burned. Searing eddies of dry air and smoke scorched exposed skin while airborne embers blurred her vision and left tiny pinpricks of pain wherever they touched.

And the sound... the sound those towering monstrosities made... was deafening.

But through it all, Hera Valroma had not wavered, had not flinched, had not even so much as thought of retreating. She and her men had pressed ever on, systematically gunning down husks while extracting what survivors they could from the wreckage of the city. There were precious few left, but every one saved was one more life that the Reapers did not claim, and that was all that had mattered.

Now, though, she was alone. Of her gathered units, many were now dead; she had ordered those still living to fall back with the civilians, to protect them and ensure that the last shuttles escaped to safety.

She had remained behind.

In the midst of the inferno and the chaos, Hera stood proudly, a smile on her face as blood seeped from a dozen different wounds. She'd known from the start that this would be her last battle... her last day among the living.

Theron... my love... Be patient but a little while longer. I will be with you soon.

Her breath rattled in her chest as she inhaled, lifting her head to look up at the titanic machine that was leveling the city. It was a monstrous thing, a void-black nightmarish behemoth seemingly risen from the deepest pit of the darkest hell. Its form dwarfed everything around it, and its footfalls shook the ground like quakes. For a moment, Hera almost felt awed... but that was rapidly stifled by rage.

How many civilian lives has this beast snuffed out? How many mothers and fathers? How many children?

Her fury bubbled up as surely as the blood filling her lungs, and she roared her challenge to the titan before her. Whether or not it heard her, or cared, was irrelevant. What was, was the homing beacon she activated as she made her final approach, bringing her Vindicator to bear and firing bursts at its nearest leg, and up into its underbelly. Perhaps that took it by surprise, as she saw its menacingly red optics searching the ground until they'd zeroed in on her; and as she started back at her death, Hera felt a startlingly deep sorrow - not for herself, but for the daughter she was leaving behind. She had made sure that Aegis would have her due... but she knew, as well, that no inheritance would soothe over the inevitable grief...

Be strong, Aegis. The future is yours now, to shape as you see fit. I know you will make us proud.

The air around her was electric now, reeking of ozone and superheated metal and humming with energy. The thing was still watching her, tracking her movements, preparing to fire.

Meanwhile, high above the city, a star flickered into view, growing larger and brighter with each passing moment.

"Do you hear me, beast?" She bellowed in defiance, raising her gun. "Do you who dwell in darkness dread the light? Then know fear, now, for I bring the dawn!"

In the split second after the utterance of those four last words, an arrow of light descended from the heavens as the Hyperion, locked on to her beacon, went into FTL on command... and the world exploded into light and fire.