Chapter Text
The silence that followed the slaughter was heavier than the battle itself. Above the Epsilon site, the burning wreckage of Dalek saucers streaked the night sky like falling stars, victims of the orbital hammer dropped by the combined might of the Decepticon warship Nemesis and the UNSC Spirit of Fire.
Supergirl touched down amidst the dissipating smoke, her cape snapping in the icy wind. Flanking her were Professor Ellen Anders, shivering slightly despite her heavy parka, and a now more humanoid Brainiac Five, whose green skin seemed to absorb the harsh floodlights of the perimeter.
'The area is secure.' Thel 'Vadamee announced, stepping over the twisted casing of a Special Weapons Dalek. He wiped purple blood from his energy sword before deactivating it. 'But the gate remains active. We must understand what they sought before we seal it.'
'Agreed.' Kara said, her eyes scanning the entrance of the subterranean structure. 'Brainy, stay close to Anders. If there's a localized radiation spike, I want to know before we walk into it.'
'The probability of a trap is ninety-eight percent," Brainiac Five noted dryly, adjusting the interface on his flight ring. "But curiosity is a persistent variable.'
Together, the unlikely coalition—Sangheili, Human, Kryptonian, Cybertronian, Quarian, and Felinoid—descended into the throat of the Forerunner archive. The walls here were not the crude violet of the Covenant or the gray steel of the UNSC, but a pristine, silver-white alloy that hummed with dormant power.
Tali'Zorah ran her three-fingered hand along a console, her omni-tool glowing orange as she initiated a scan. 'The data streams are... chaotic.' she murmured. 'It’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. The encryption algorithms shift every nanosecond.'
Catra walked slightly behind Sergeant Forge, her ears swiveling nervously. The small drone, Light Hope, detached from her shoulder and projected a beam of light onto the geometric patterns etched into the floor.
'Analyzing.' the AI’s voice chimed, echoing in the vast hall. 'Structural composition matches First Ones architecture. Resonance frequency suggests origin: The Old Ones. This place... it is a memory bank.'
'First Ones?' Catra hissed, her tail lashing. 'Great. More magic junk left behind by people who didn't care who found it.'
'We do not have time for archaeology.' Barricade growled, his heavy metallic footsteps shaking the floor. 'Open the vault, or I will blast it open.'
Tali typed furiously on her holographic interface. 'I am trying! But the firewall is kinetic. It requires a specific genetic key or a massive brute-force decryption that could take weeks.'
Professor Anders stepped forward, bypassing the Quarian. "Let me try something," she said softly.
'Professor, be careful.' Forge warned, his hand drifting to his sidearm.
Anders ignored him. She reached out, placing her bare hand onto the central control plinth. Instantly, the silver surface rippled like water. The harsh red warning lights turned a soothing blue, and the massive blast doors groaned, sliding open effortlessly.
Thel 'Vadamee froze, his mandibles flaring in genuine shock. He looked from the human woman to the active console, a lifetime of religious dogma fracturing in his mind. 'The luminaries... they spoke of this.' he whispered, his voice trembling. 'The Gods... they answer to you?'
'Not gods, Thel.' Anders said, her voice steady as the room illuminated. 'Just inheritance.'
The central chamber lit up with a massive holographic display. It did not show star charts initially, but history. Giant, projected figures of ancient humans clad in advanced combat skinsuits waged a desperate war against a sprawling, shifting horror that consumed everything it touched.
Ancestors.' Thel breathed. 'Fighting the Parasite.'
The image flickered, resolving into a galactic map. A single red trajectory line drew itself from Harvest, piercing through the veil of known space, past the Covenant fringe, and into a swirling nebula of unknown energy. A coordinate locked in, flashing with a name translated by Soundwave’s visor HUD.
'Destination identified.' Soundwave broadcasted. 'Runeterra. Designation: Heaven of the Arcane.'
'Runeterra?' Kara asked, stepping closer to the light. 'Is that where the Daleks are coming from? Or is that where we find the weapon to stop them?'
Before anyone could answer, a high-pitched whistle cut the air.
*Thwip.*
Kara gasped, stumbling back. A black arrow with a glowing green tip protruded from her shoulder. Her skin, usually impenetrable, sizzled around the wound. Veins of green poison raced up her neck. She collapsed to one knee, her strength evaporating instantly.
'Kara!' Brainiac Five shouted, reaching for her.
'Exterminate!'
The air shimmered as dozens of cloaking fields dropped simultaneously. The upper balconies of the archive were lined with Daleks. In the center stood two corrupted figures: a human archer in green leather with dead, grey skin and cybernetic implants, and a silver Cybertronian scout—Bumblebee—his optics a terrifying crimson, the contradicting purple Autobot insignia branded over his crest.
The Green Arrow nocked another shaft—pure Kryptonite. Beside him, the Daleks purged their standard energy cells, loading translucent green slugs into their gunsticks.
'Target the Kryptonian.' the corrupted Green Arrow stated in a monotone, mechanical voice. 'Priority One.'
'Take cover!' Forge roared, tackling Anders behind a data pillar as the room erupted in green fire.
The group was pinned. Thel’s energy shields flared and popped under the concentrated hail of Kryptonite rounds, which seemed modified to pierce even heavy armor. Soundwave deployed a hard-light shield, but it began to fracture under the sheer volume of fire. Bumblebee transformed his arm into a stinger cannon, blasting Barricade back against the wall.
Kara groaned, trying to stand, but the Kryptonite radiation was overwhelming. 'I... I can't...'
Catra huddled behind the console next to Tali, her eyes wide with panic. The noise, the lights, the sheer hopelessness of it—it was the Horde all over again.
'We're going to die here.' Catra whispered.
'Not today.' Tali shouted over the deafening roar of Dalek weaponry, firing her shotgun blindly over the cover.
Catra looked at Kara, gasping for air on the floor. She looked at her pack—her weird, broken, mismatched pack—about to be slaughtered. A fire, hotter than anger and brighter than fear, ignited in her chest. She grabbed the sword hilt she had carried for days.
She stood up, exposing herself to the fire.
'Catra, get down!' Forge screamed.
She raised the sword. 'For the honor of Grayskull!'
This time, the steel did not remain cold. A blinding golden radiance exploded from her, forcing the Daleks to recoil. The light swirled, armor materialized from pure energy, and Catra grew, her form shifting into the eight-foot warrior of legend. She swung the sword, generating a massive concussive wave of golden magic that intercepted the incoming volley of Kryptonite rounds, disintegrating them in mid-air.
She-Ra planted her feet, projecting a dome of shimmering light around the team. "Get them out of here!" she commanded, her voice echoing with power.
Suddenly, the far wall of the archive exploded inward. Through the debris and dust, a UNSC Scorpion tank roared into the chamber—but it moved with a speed and aggression no human driver could muster. The turret swiveled with impossible precision, blasting the ledge where the Green Arrow stood, sending the corrupted hero flying into the darkness.
The tank shifted, metal grinding on metal, transforming into the towering form of Megatron. Behind him, the hulking mass of Brawl, now rebuilt into a Grizzly tank, rolled in, unleashing a dual-mortar barrage into the cluster of Daleks.
'Decepticons!' Megatron bellowed, his fusion cannon glowing purple. 'Crush them!'
The distraction was absolute. The Daleks turned their fire on the new threat, allowing Brainiac Five to pull the Kryptonite arrow from Kara’s shoulder and inject a solar-stimulant.
'Move! Now!' Megatron ordered, firing a shot into the ceiling support structure.
With She-Ra’s shield protecting their rear and the Decepticons laying down a curtain of suppression fire, the alliance scrambled back up the tunnel. Thel supported a recovering Kara, while Forge dragged a protesting Anders.
As the last of them cleared the exit, Megatron turned back to the entrance. He leveled his fusion cannon at the archive's archway. 'Rest in pieces.'
A single, overpowered blast collapsed the entrance, burying the Daleks, the corrupted heroes, and the map to Runeterra under a thousand tons of rock and ice.
Outside, beneath the cold stars of Harvest, the group collapsed in the snow. The immediate threat was buried, but the war had only just revealed its true scale. Kara sat up, clutching her shoulder, looking from the rubble to the stars.
'Runeterra.' she whispered. 'That's where we finish this.'