What Are You Fighting For?

Kaletor chuckled to himself, as he flew away from the fortress, unnoticed and cloaked. "I don't see why they were so worried. After we kill them all, we can just take their ships. Let's see... now where would they deploy their weakest?"

He felt a mass amount of life dissipating from a nearby outpost, holding the majority of their weapons and arsenal. "Looks like I can kill two birds with one stone. What's going on over there?"

The prince hurried over, on a stone platform he raised and arrived at the site, about ten minutes later. Just to find a shiny new grey, white and blue, thirty-foot-tall robot, cutting down giants and soldiers with a massive photon sword.

It paused seeing him flying towards them, as other siegemech launched rockets into crowds of Cerian soldiers charging at them and hiding behind stationed barricades. One by one, drawing their last breaths.

Kaletor couldn't help it. He felt excited, as he called out to the pilot of the giant robot. He had only seen a handful of other species capable of building tech that Hadoron and their top scientists had been perfecting. "You there! The one controlling the giant warrior. Face me in battle!" He spoke, while simultaneously summoning a large golem the size of the robot out of the ground, challenging it.

Selvin wasn't too shocked to be encountering a child of Atlas on his mission, however, he didn't hesitate to improvise. After carefully reading his opponent's energy levels, he braced himself and threw away all of his fear.

Sarah had made him a new Nova Prime suit, using data from his fight with Abon. She found ways to increase durability and maximize energy efficiency for battle. Then decided to rename the new Nova tech, as the Prime Ultra.

The golem reached for the Prime's head trying to rip it off, however, Selvin stepped back quickly and unholstered the pistol on the Prime's belt, then fired three critical shots down its body. Kaletor laughed out loud and floated closer, as his golem began to crumble.

"It seems you're worthy of a good fight. Let's see what you're made of!" He raised his palm forward and yelled out. "Titanic Hammer!"

Out of the golem rubble, a massive arm formed and stuck upright, then swung around while manifesting a detailed humongous hammer, that pulled itself together into its palm. Before landing a deafening blow to the Prime Ultra and sending it flying across the field of soldiers, engaging in deadly combat.

"Protect the General!" Some of the soldiers called out, firing at the prince.

He snickered, as he summoned stone barriers to protect himself from the incoming fire. At the same time, quietly behind the soldiers, golems rose. Creeping up behind them to bash their helmets in and snap their necks.

Selvin woke up from the AI of the Prime Ultra, blaring warning signs of damages incurred from the recent attack. It would take several minutes for the nanites to repair and rearrange damaged parts on the siegemech.

Pain rang through his head, as he could feel a slight concussion from smacking it on the side of the cockpit. Selvin got up and quickly regained control of his siegemech, then started making his way back to Kaletor.

"Mary, Status?"

Selvin named the AI inside the Prime Ultra after his late wife, so that she would always stay by his side during battle. She could also be transferred to his Nova Lite suit, helping him out as his personal secretary.

"As of now, 13 dead and several injured while you were unconscious. The rest of the soldiers have taken cover. Kaletor has wiped out a majority of the android militia that came with us and the Prime suit is at 63% health."

Selvin gritted his teeth at the death of his soldiers. "I have to stop him or slow him down until a Nova can make it here. Otherwise, he will kill us all."

The AI whirred, processing some more information. "I've already alerted Saphyra and we have the Sky Hammer on standby. Please be careful Selvin."

Selvin took a few deep breaths, then prepared himself, seeing Kaletor in view, and having his way with his soldiers. "I will Mary... Don't worry, I will."

At Valtorin's Main Aircraft Hangar...

"Hurry up Druqen, Kari will be onto us soon. We've got to get out of here before it all goes to shit!" Arna was desperate, regretting the fact that she went behind her father's back because of greed. 'How much would it cost?' She asked herself over and over, yet she couldn't come up with an answer.

The enemy attacking them, was way too organized to be like the primitive insects, that she and her siblings had joked about. "We underestimated them." The princess whispered.

Druqen looked at her, still doubtful, if this was their best move. He didn't want to waste any opportunities, but he wasn't willing to lay his life down for a lost cause. That was the only reason, he agreed to help her escape.

Their shuttle raced through the sky, picking up speed while cloaked. Druqen picked a path, avoiding the attacking ships still raining thunder on the desolate planet. Suddenly he started to get a warning on his radar of an incoming large object. "Arna we may have some trouble."

Arna grunted, then unstrapped her seatbelt. "Release the door, I'll destroy anyone trying to stand in our way"

Druqen's face turned pale. "Wait Arna-"

The shuttle rocked intensely as something grabbed hold of it, stopping it midflight. The view of the cockpit shifted, from the sky to Machia's face, which had morphed to resemble Kari's.

"Going somewhere?" She asked precariously, leaving the siblings trembling in fear.

Druqen erratically pressed buttons on the console, trying to get the shuttle to budge, however, he came to realize that there was no way out of this situation. He looked up, defeated, as Arna spoke, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. "Kari, this isn't what it looks like... we were only going to radio in for reinforcements. We would have been back in no time."

Kari let out a soft-hearted laugh. "Even if I were to believe you, we could have died by the time you came back. Wouldn't it have been better, to stay and help us drive off the ambush?" Her expression had turned serious, which Machia mimicked. "We came here to avenge Hadoron and our other siblings... Were you really okay with abandoning your blood?"

Arna was taken aback by the question, while Druqen remained silent, speechless and filled with guilt. "No... No... Sister that's not it-" Arna tried to say.

Kari smiled. "Good, I'll forgive you both, if you do one thing for me."

Arna looked up, feeling a slight ray of hope. "We will do anything...Right, Druqen?"

The prince nodded without looking up and gave his approval. "I'm sorry sister. We'll do whatever you ask of us."

Kari was ecstatic. "Well, it's simple. I'll need you to possibly die for me."

The siblings' eyes went wide. Processing what she was saying. "NO WAIT-"

It was too late.

Amaara just caught up to Simon and Koji, who were shocked by the scene they were witnessing. Machia chomped down on the cockpit of the shuttle and swallowed everything inside. She came to realize what had just happened. "Wow... She's really the type I hate the most."

Back at Kari's Fortress...

Lita's laugh, sent chills down the Nova's spines, however the rookies were undeterred. Amir raised an iron golem behind her, as Sofia launched a quick fireball, much more condensed than her last.

"Create: Raksasa Besi!"

"Ignite: Broca!"

Lita ducked down, dodging the golem's reach, before spinning to kick it flying into the distance. Then, quickly followed up with another roundhouse kick. Emanating a slice of ice and electricity to completely erase Sofia's attack, then continuing to crash into a flame barrier the Nova managed to burst out, just in time. However, it wasn't strong enough to protect her, sending her flying from the impact.

Amir was starting to get nervous, realizing the situation they were in. Instinctively he raised over a hundred golems, followed by hundreds of stone volleys from the ground, targeting Lita.

"Aww, all of this for me? You shouldn't have!" She placed one palm forward, as a ball of electricity crackled to life in front of her, rotating at Mach speed.

Simultaneously, roots of ice trailed from her feet and froze each golem it touched, turning them into her puppets as they began to fight the ones out of her reach.

"Divine Shock." She commanded, as the ball of electricity burned white hot and cracked open, incinerating every stone volley Amir created.

Nur and Amir dove to safety, avoiding the wave of energy. Amir ran through his options, but his body was screaming at him to run. He looked at Nur, who was still frozen in shock, immediately knowing, he wouldn't be able to get through to her.

Although she was his senior, he wanted to protect her. "It's times like this, that make a man." He said to himself, then cladded himself with stone and iron and unhooked his spear. Specially crafted and made out of versillium alloys, Amir practiced with it day and night, to become one with it.

Lita smiled, watching him charge and cut down ice golems, as they had already made light work of his. He jumped up, stepping on top of a golem, and threw his spear reinforced with steel and iron, hoping to make its mark.

Casually, Lita sidestepped and caught the spear, whilst maintaining momentum, by spinning herself on one foot. Then threw it back with lightning speed at the Nova.

He managed to raise a few stone barriers in front of him, to slow it down. However, it proceeded to tear through them like butter, lodging into his stone armour and taking him dozens of meters south of his position into the air.

Lita laughed, as it echoed across the fortress's remains. She held her sides, unable to control herself. Electricity emanated randomly around her as temperatures dropped and rose unnaturally in their vicinity.

When she was finished she looked over at Nur, pointing in the direction Amir flew. "Omg, did you see that? His eyes looked so cute as he flew farther and farther away... Ahh, that was funny. Anyways, what's with you." Her tone suddenly became cold.

Nur started to back up as her knees started to give way, while Lita slowly walked towards her. "You're a civilian on a battlefield. What makes you think you have the right to face me? To call yourself a soldier? You're comrades at least put in some effort, but you..."

The same thoughts were running through Nur's head. 'I can't do this. I'm going to die. Somebody save us!'

Lita's eyes started to wander, as she looked Nur over. "Part of me wants to keep you as a pet and play fun games with you. The other part of me hates your guts and wants to completely pulverize you." She bit her lip, as she got less than a few meters from Nur. "Ahhh the dilemma, how about I just have both and play with your corpse."

Suddenly, she quickly raised her hand to the side, manifesting a wall of ice, as a fireball crashed into it.

"Get away from her!" Nur broke out of her trance, hearing a familiar voice.

Although she had sustained a large cut on her forehead, Sofia stood strong, while wiping away occasional blood, covering her eyes. She could feel several fractures being fixed by the booster she had injected earlier.

Lita was surprised. "I didn't think you would be able to survive that. You're more resilient than I expected."

Sofia ignored her, looking Nur dead in the eye. "You can't just stand there. She'll kill us, then the rest of them will be in danger. We're Nova's, Nur! What are you fighting for?!" Her voice nearly broke, getting through to her.

However, it was enough. Nur clenched her teeth, ashamed, guilty, and feeling the worst she's ever felt. She closed her eyes and shook her head, then yelled out. "I know! I know!"

She slapped her cheeks, psyching herself up, then, took deep breaths as she remembered Norah and Amara. Giving her newfound strength and confidence to shift into first gear.

Lita was wary, of her newfound confidence, but directed her anger at Sofia. "You should have stayed down." With one palm facing her, a giant condensed electric ball manifested and launched at high speed. "Surge Execution."

Sofia's life flashed before her eyes, she knew nothing she did, could stop the incoming danger. However, within that second, ice crept up, erupting a thick wall, that protected her and redirecting the blast.

"Frost: Ancient Valley!" Nur yelled out, as sheets of ice spread out from under her feet and reached a radius of several kilometres. Creating ancient buildings, roads, and native people walking around, all minding their own business.

Energy started to swell up within her. She realized with Lita's speed, it was impossible to gain control of the situation. However, just as Tobi had taught her, each element had something to compensate for its shortcomings.

She found out, she could keep up with lightning users like Norah, as long as she stayed within her domain of ice, currently laying out all around them.

Sofia looked at Nur, ecstatic by her growth. "Yes, Nur! Let's kick her ass!"

Nur smiled back, then focused on aiding her comrades with energy from the planet. The only drawback was that this technique only gave her eight minutes before her side effects kicked in.

"Don't be presumptuous!" Lita yelled, rushing her, in a blur.

However, the Nova was already on the move, feeling every movement within her domain. "Frost: Kohwj."

Wings sprouted out of her back, made out of snow and ice, followed by a light armour, beautifully detailed and settling itself over her Nova suit, allowing her to sidestep Lita's strike and trip her.

Before Lita could hit the ground, a massive ice pike erupted from under her, striking her abdomen, and continued till she launched away from the remains of Kari's fortress.

"Whoa Nur, that was freaking amazing! How do I make wings?" Sofia said, rushing over to observe her transformation.

Nur blushed, then raised a hand towards the direction Amir was in, beckoning her hand towards herself.

"Aaaaaah!" They heard Amir yelling from far away as he was hurried back to them, by ice golems, dressed as natives of the Indus Valley.

"What's going on?" He asked as the golems, injected him with a booster, from his belt and healed him along with the nanites. He was barely able to maintain consciousness, but the spike of adrenaline kick-started him.

"Guys, this might sound a little selfish, but I have a plan to beat her. However, I will need you both, to trust me with your lives... Are you ok with that?" It was the most serious, the two had ever seen her.

Amir gripped a fist in front of him, while Sofia, let loose a soft grin. "Of course!" They said in unison.

Nur smiled, she loved these two. "Let's go back home together."