As you can imagine, it took some time to climb 15 floors worth of staircases. We were so close to our goal now, so close to saving the world, but still we could hear the sounds of our friends fighting and dying below. If we could just destroy the scout ship though, time would reset and they would be alive again. We had to keep advancing. Susan and I kept talking in the vain hopes of drowning out the sounds from beneath us.
"So, assuming this all works out, time will revert to how everything was just before the invasion, yeah?" Sue asked.
"Mostly..." I said, hesitantly.
"I don't like when you use that tone. What are you leaving out?"
"Well, it's just that for us, on the roof, at the centre of it all, time will change around us." I tried to explain.
"But what does that mean exactly?"
"Think of us as standing in the eye of a storm. At the very centre, there are no winds. We will retain this timeline."
"So, we'll keep our memories if the invasion? Good. We need to remember this, someone has to be ready for the next time we're in danger."
"You mean, you actually want to keep fighting?" Her eagerness surprised me, while also worrying me. I wasn't sure I wanted my friends fighting with me, how would I cope if anything happened to them? The deaths I'd seen so far were bad enough, and those ones I had a chance at reversing. I couldn't risk their lives battling evils from the Rift. I certainly couldn't bear to lose Susan.
"Someone has to keep fighting. Someone has to be ready." She replied.
"Well, let's just focus about stopping the Vakarians before we worry about code names." I said, postponing my doubts.
"True. But Arven, I just want you to know, I'm glad we won't forget this. We've finally admitted our feelings for each other, and I'd hate to lose that."
"Same. I can't fathom having to start all over again."
By the time we'd reached the too of the stairs, the battle below had all but ended. Even now, Vakarians thundered up after us, hot on our heels. We burst through the emergency doors onto the roof, and scanned for something with which we could barricade it with. Susan spotted a large wheeled skip, filled with peanuts of metal, broken masonry and excess concrete. With some effort we managed to push it in front of the doors and locked the wheels in place. There was no way anyone was getting through there in a hurry.
Sharing a sigh of relief, we turned to survey the roof itself. It was a wide, open space with a three foot wall along the perimeter. A railing to increase the high of the barrier was installed in patches, but not yet completed. The floor was littered with construction site clutter. In the centre of the roof stood what looked vaguely like a cone, pointed side up. It's surface was covered in angles and grooves, like something drawn in the margins by a young H. R. Geiger. A panel on the aide facing us had retracted. It was large enough to allow a large man, or a standard Vakarian, entry into the capsule. Inside it was loaded with computers, screens, displays and wires, much like the environment Osgood had been it. This was what we had to destroy, or at least prevent from sending a signal to the mothership. I realised that this was the first time I'd actually considered how we would actually destroy a spacecraft. A bit of an oversight, but I was young and inexperienced back then.
Before I could think of ways to damage the capsule, there was the small matter of its occupant to deal with. A particularly well built Vakarian was prowling around his scout craft. His horns had been filled down to sharp pointed stubs, his face a mural of warpaint. This was a Vakarian elite. The best of their warriors, set to defend the moat crucial asset of their army. I turned my head towards Susan, as my eyebrows narrowed. Without a word we both drew our swords and readied our shields. It was time.
Even two on one it was a desperate struggle to survive. The Vakarian was quicker and stronger than any other we had faced, and Susan and I were both on the defensive from the start. Despite two avenues of attack he just didn't leave an opening for either of us. I was painfully aware of our second enemy here too, time. All the Vakarian had to do was delay us until it was time for the signal to send.
I knew I was fighting for every victim of the Vakarians. For every friend, for every human that had died in this war, I had the chance to save them all. I must not lose, I urged myself. But then... with a mighty kick to my chest, the Vakarian sent me flying towards the edge of the roof. Luckily I hit a section were the railing had already been installed, so I didn't fall to my death. Instead, I sunk to the ground, wind knocked out of my lungs, and my head walloped against the concrete wall. My vision swam for a few moments as I fought to stay awake. I could only sit there, waiting for my body to catch up to my mind, as Susan struggled on alone against the creature. I could only watch, as he ran her through with his sword. As he removed the blade, Susan sunk to her knees, gasping for breath as her life ebbed away.
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