Days later on Earth...
It was a quiet evening at Police One Plaza when she felt a familiar jolt in the back of her neck. Instantly, many officers collapsed. The survivors, mostly Ingram-Kassandras, were alarmed and disoriented when sudden rumbling came from the streets below. Aurelia looked out the window and saw fire and explosion erupting from the streets below.
The once crowded streets now littered with dead. Lights flicker as air thicken. Lighting arced from sky, setting buildings ablaze. Monstrous forms hulked through the street, shattering buildings as if rumbling through thick fog.
Aurelia's felt surges upon surges of heat rising from her chest a chill down her spine as she recalled the names of the monsters - Weapons.
She couldn't stop smiling as she barked order for survivors inside the building to engage the monsters. Her pulse quickened with each deep breath as she charges down the building with heavy weapon in hand. The stiffened air scraped at her skin as she hastened.
Aurelia quickly danced over the quaking ground and closed in on the closest Weapon, heavy blade in hand. Time slowed down as the Weapon turned its focus on her, but she leaped high into the air, cracking the pavement beneath her feet and swung at the Weapon's armored torso.
The blowback from the blade carving deep into the Weapon's armor sends a wave of euphoria from Aurelia's hands throughout her whole body, pushing her only to strike again and again as the Weapon narrowly misses her with its claws and eye beams. Soon she was joined by her BASTION officers and then surviving civilians.
She didn't know how long it took, but finally the Weapon falls. It released a flash of light as its skeleton and armor crumbled. Only then did Aurelia notice that all the combatants shared the same entranced look of euphoria.
In silent unison, the surviving people rushed toward another Weapon rampaging in the distance, heedless of the danger.
Ω̢̼͙̩̘͓͚̞̲̱̠̠͆̿̌͑̀̋̈́͑͛͒̕̕͟͠Ω̢̨̤̞̤̮̰̥̮̥̏̏̅͆̇̈͑̓̕͝Ω̢̢̱̟̦̣̠̤͖̝̐̓͛͒͋̏͌̐̈́͗͘͜͟͝Ω̧̪̟̪̳̜̹̮͕̥͙̫͈͍̯̄̎́̄͂͗̇̉͂̂͑͂̓̒͝Ω̱͇̠̤̻͕͉̼̹̦̠̝̦̃̂̉̾̑̋̾̌̊͑̕̚ῼ̧̹̺͈̮̳͓̺͂̌̆͑̏͋̐̀̚̚͜͜ῼ̢͍͖̤͙̹͉̬̿̓̓̎̿̒͊̌̇͊͟͞ῼ̼̠̭̺̬̣̫̮̲̬̱̝̾͆͌́̇̇͋̅̏͆̂͘͟͠Ω̛̛͚̮̲̜͚͍̥̰̩̮͕̰̑̊͛̓̅̿͆͆̔̋͟͡Ω̨̡̢̧̛͎͚̤͓̠͓͓͍̞̈́̿̑̓̎̆̑̍̍́͒͘͟͠Ώ̧̩̪͇͍̺͈̲̘͔̥̠̻̳̾̀͒͂͂̆̒̐̃̐̚̕Ὤ̧̛̠̲͙̟͇̰͙͉̙̘͎̙̆̓͆̎͆͛̊̚͘͟͟͡͝Ω̨̟̺̜̱̱͍̯̱̽̌͂̍̒̓̌͆̃̑̑̚͜͟͟ῼ̢̢̤͓͚͚͙̰̄̅̎̿͑̍̑̈̒͘̕͢Ω̨̨̢̝̙̙̟̼̞̥͓̒̔̾̂̾̓͆̈́̿̔͐͘͜͟ῼ̡̡̲͙͉̟̟̜͍̐̎̿̈́̽̎̏̿̅̑͑͗̿̕͜͜ͅͅΩ̨̩͓͈͙͔͔̬͕͈̠̤͚̋̇͒̔̈́̏̄̉̔̅̌͒̾͆͟͜͟͞Ω̧̛͓̙͇̥̪͇͈̘͔̌̃̆̏̉̄͌̈́͑̏͋Ω̡̨͇͙̱̝̝̱̟̥̳͐̋̊̏̋̆̓̇͐̊̾Ὠ̡̝̜̮̣͓̜̟̭̫̯̰̤̾͂́̽̃̂̊͐̌̇̄̓̅̈͠ῼ̡̛̱̹͔̜̘̻͔͙̻͋̅͋̍̋͂͛̈̓͒̾͟͠͡Ω̛̛̜͉̙̹̥̭͓͚̘͉̑̉̐͆̃̀̇͘Ω̤̹͓̞̭̙̯͔̠̠͊̔̾̐͑̾͢͡͞͝Ω̡̨̳͉̻̩̰̦͎͈̂̐̇̂͛̚͘̕̚͞͞Ω̨͈͍̺͇̥̲̯̺̟̅̏͗̇͛̓̊́̉̕͢͢͝͠Ω̨̧̰̙͉͙͉̺̻͕̯͚̌́̀̓̀̄̓̉͑̋̕̕͘͟ῼ̛͉̘̬̲̘̯̻͓͓͖̬̱͌̍̾͛̽͛̓̆̒͌͐̚̚͘͟͢͡Ω̢̡̛̺̜̲͈̥͙̮̦̳̋̎̓̋̔͋̔͐̀̋̊̎͜͜͢͞ῼ̘̩͓̝̙͇͈͙̪͍̠͙̂̍̉̋͊̓̊̎̏̐̇̌̓̄́͜͜͜͞ῼ̢̡̡̛̲̲̥͇̰̩͖̪̫̱̘͛̄̇̓͛̏͒͗̍͗͆̄̓̚Ω̨̼̣̮̜̫̞͓̩͙̱̤͉̃͑̇̈́̈̍̊͊̉̀̕͟͠͡ῼ̛͚̘̩̣̘̘̭̮͈̯̬̋̿̇͆̏̈̏̓̉̑̈̀̆͜͢͢͟͝͡Ω̻͖̝̳̪̼̥̮̺̪̪̠̭̘͆̊͋͛̓̐̓̿̅͑̎̍͆̅Ω̢̡̞̤͈̰̫͙̭̬͊̅̓͗̃̀̾̕̕̕͢͟͡Ω̨̞͉̫̮͙̰̺͔͕̐̄͆̒͑̌͗̏̈̋͜͝ῼ̢̱̰̥͚̟̬̮̣̣̞̣͇̈̋̈́͐̿̈̉̆͛̄̎̽̍̂̾Ω̢̺̠͙̱̥̪̟̙̍̑̎̋̔̆́̽̈́̌͜Ω̧̢̢̡̭͙̘̫͕̠̻̝̏̑̇̂̓̋͌̾̅̐̕͝Ω̧̞̟̯͇̜͍̝̹̻͍̟̳̊̏̑̔̈̍̄̽͐̾̋͢͝͞Ώ̨̛̰͉̲͔̙̙̙̱̲̣̜̫̔̐̐̊̋̉̏̓̌̊̓̚͜͡Ω̨̧̮̟̥̭͕̻̻̳͖̠͛͑̋̌̇̑̿̒͐́̊͂̍̕͜Ω̢̝͎̺̝̯͇̠̝̩̼̟̤̪̽̇̄̉͒̃̅̐̓͋̇̔͢͝ῼ̡̛͕̪̝͇̣̣̝̲̻͚͚͑͌̋̅͂͗̇͌͛́̃̕Ω̪̮̳̝̬͕̥̬̤͕͊̏̇̏͛̀̏͆͋̐̓
"...L̢̃ư̳͇̒̀͘͜n͇͈̂͑̕͜a͍̯͉͔̼͛̌̑̈́͐t̺̱͔̒̃͒͂ͅi͖͉̤̰̤̐̾̈́̆͑c̟̙͙̉̊̓̚͜ ͈̝̮͍͂͛͌͛͟͝Pa̬͉̻̍̊̚͟n̝̙̟͕͆̋̆̚͢͠d̪̬͚͂̋̕͟ọ̏r̘̘̪̅̅̚ä̙́..."
Aurelia, however, heard the call of Luna as it is flickering a bright gold overhead.
Following her intuition, she headed toward the Aetheryte at Somnia Square.
The Aetheryte took Aurelia to the moon. She was greeted by a legion of Weapons besieging the Spire. High on walls she never knew the Spire had, unfamiliar figures fought them with strange magic. Despite her proximity, Aurelia could not feel the change in the air. It's a mirage.
"Take the Tower and go! We will hold them off!"
"I'll come back for you, I promise!"
"No Kassandra, DON'T! JUST GO!"
"Understood."
Ryland, LIVE!"
"Cid... Gentiana, can you hear me?"
Aurelia calls out as she searches through the tower.
"Can these armours be made autonomous? The Empire cannot afford to lose more Warriors of Light to our foes."
"Given large enough cores, it is not impossible, Your Radiance. But is it necessary? We have been at peace for decades."
"Our foes lurk every corner. We have only forestalled the eternal doom through the blood of Our kins and subjects. And We will not live forever to safeguard the people. These, Weapons, are needed to secure the prosperity of Our Empire's future!"
"Remember Well, Ser Ingram! Complacency breeds doom. Now go! Remain Vigilant."
"As you wish, Your Radiance. Ever Vigilant."
"Before you make the decision, Tereza, understand that once you become a Warrior of Light, you will no longer be able to have children. You will die young."
"...but Ser Zeliah, Her Radiance is almost 100. Why is she with us?"
"She is the Light's Chosen, and she suffers in silence for our prosperity. We are not so extraordinary... unfortunately."
"Listen to Ser Highwind, you are far too young to become a Warrior of Light. There are many ways you can protect the Empire of Light. Now run along. Stay Vigilant."
"Your Radiance, please reconsider!"
"Our time has come! The Light takes us! And we shall serve the Empire as its eternal guardian, its Altima Weapon. Through us, the Empire of Light shall survive eternally, prosper everlasting, and remain vigilant against its encroaching foe, now and forever! Remain Vigilant!"
"Ever Vigilent, Your Radiance!"
"I call this the Crystal Tower. Once completed, it will be the largest Aether condenser in all our worlds. This is the only way to obtain a core large enough to power a Weapon capable of holding Altima's power."
"This presents a tremendous security risk. If it can truly crystalize Aether to such an extent, wouldn't it be capable of hijacking the entire Aethernet just by its existence? Imagine if an enemy takes control of the tower, with that much Aether in one place, it can reach far beyond our stars. How does the planet sustain the gathering of Aether at this capacity without dying? Are you TRYING to kill us, Ingram?"
"What enemy, Zeliah? Not one of our world has seen a single Warrior of Darkness since before Altima's reign. I fear the dangers this tower presents pale compares to your Empress."
"Come now, both of you. This discussion is moot. Her Radiance has made Her decision and Ingram is only carrying out Her will. No matter the future, we are Warriors of Light, and it is our duty to protect the people of the Empire in the name of Light."
"Don't ever change, Ryland."
"Using a stronger Weapon to fight Altima Weapon. Does any part of this plan strike you as insane? It's an arms race toward destruction."
"No less insane than trying to destroy the Empire by sundering the planet with a city-sized Aetheryte or building an army of living dolls to assassinate the Warriors of Light."
"My plans will work, given enough time. We need books, we need research!"
"I sincerely hope you are happy. Altima will soon destroy this world with us in it. Savor your stupid revenge while we are still alive."
"I will, traitor. Now find us the right books, so much we must learn, so little time."
"Is everything okay, Master Ingram?"
"Of course, I was just talking to myself."