Mera, Nia, and Orb slowly made their way through Pylon City towards the hidden Resistance base. While the Rigans were in the midst of violent revolt, the Cult of Ios had dug in. At first, they were quite vulnerable and ultimately lost control of several portions of the city. However, they were still well provisioned, well armed, and much more organized than their Rigan adversaries. While there were more Rigans in Pylon City than Cult members, the Cult had the ability to pull resources from other regions of the planet. This couldn’t be done instantly, but with their advanced technology they could accomplish things the Rigans couldn’t in comparatively record time. Meanwhile, the city was on lockdown, preventing the Rigans from even being able to communicate with the rest of the planet.

The Cult began setting up blockades between districts, so as to prevent the Rigans from absorbing more of the city into their sphere of control than they had already taken. This made travel across the city very difficult for Mera and Nia. They had to do their best to sneak past Cult checkpoints without being discovered. On top of that, Mera and Nia were now both on the Cult’s most wanted list. Nia had escaped execution; and Mera had personally attacked Commander Aggravator in front of a massive audience of people. More importantly, the attack had severely damaged his armor. The leader of the Cult’s forces on Rig wanted Mera’s head more than just about anything else.

Thankfully, Mera and Nia had Orb to run reconnaissance for them. The robot was extremely useful in helping them avoid trouble. They could fly into the air to get a bird’s eye view of their location. They could scan buildings to quickly discover the best, most secluded paths forward. Without Orb, the duo almost certainly would have ended up in at least one altercation during their journey across the city. Truth be told, Nia kind of wanted that to happen. She was always happy to dive headfirst into a battle. However, she was not alone; and thus it was not her decision to make trouble. Mera now had her eyes on the prize. She had taken Stavros’ words to heart. They needed to wait for the right moment before they launched their attack. So they slunk through the city, tiptoeing past members of the Cult, whenever they encountered them.

Things seemed to be going well for Mera and her companions. They had almost reached the district where the hidden Resistance base was located. What they were not prepared for was that a major checkpoint would be blocking their way. According to Stavros, the Resistance base was hidden in the Bessemer District. This was where the majority of the city's metal manufacturing took place. The reason for this was that the district was located on top of a major natural deposit of bessemer, the primary ore used for metallurgy on Rig. In fact, this deposit was the reason that Pylon City was located where it was. It would have been a much more sensible decision to build a city near water, but the value of the ore deposit was too important to ignore. While Pylon City relied on resources from the rest of the planet to survive. The rest of the planet relied on Pylon City to meet most of their demand for metal.

The Bessemer District was special in that it was much harder to access than any of the other districts in Pylon City. This wasn't because of anything implemented by the Cult of Ios. The limited access was instituted by Rig's monarchy centuries earlier than the Cult's invasion of the planet. It was a safety measure to prevent children, animals, and any other potential casualties from accidentally wandering into the mining and manufacturing facilities. The entire district was walled off with just three gated entrances. Unless you tunneled underground, which was both difficult and extremely dangerous, there was no way to enter the Bessemer District save by one of these three gates.

While seemingly inconvenient, there were multiple reasons why the Resistance decided to build their secret base in the Bessemer District. For starters, space. As the entire district sat on top of a centuries old mine, there were several excavated areas that were perfect for establishing a secret underground facility. Second, the base was easy to keep hidden. The miles of long underground tunnels were akin to a labyrinth, if one didn't know where they were going. Barring an expedition to map out the entire network of caverns, the Cult would have almost no chance of accidentally discovering the base. Finally, in normal circumstances, Resistance members had access.

Rigans had worked the mines of Pylon City for centuries. They had done so before the Cult arrived on their planet; and they would continue to do so even if the Cult left their home one day. It was as much a part of Rigan society and culture as their food and clothing. The Cult of Ios, being the imperialist leaches that they are, were of course happy to steal metal from Rig. However, like most imperialists, they had no interest in mining it themselves. So they allowed the Rigans to continue mining and manufacturing metal on their own. They just taxed the Rigans a large percentage of the metal they produced. Thankfully, this meant that the Cult wouldn't keep too close an eye on the happenings in the Bessemer District, nor the people who entered and exited it. Or at least that had been the case before the city turned to chaos.

When the execution turned to pandemonium and the Rigans started openly attacking Cultists, Aggravator immediately locked down the city. However, the Cult could not hold control of every individual district. Rigans, many of which were secretly members of the Resistance already, were able to take control of about a third of Pylon City. The Cult maintained control of the rest, with some districts being in contention. The Resistance had managed to take control of the Bessemer District. This makes sense, because their base was located there. It was the first area of the city they took when violence broke out. However, the Resistance had not been able to take control of the three districts that allowed entry into the Bessemer District.

The Resistance had managed to take control of one entrance district to Bessemer; and the Cult had managed to hold control of one entrance district to Bessemer. The third entrance was currently in contention between the two groups. Obviously, it was in the Resistance’s best interest to take all three entrance districts to Bessemer. This would allow them ample ability to move resources throughout the city and expand their realm of control outward from a centralized point, eventually giving them control of most of Pylon City, and by extension, the region. While the Cult wasn’t aware of the Resistance’s hidden underground base, they did understand the strategic value of the Bessemer District and its three entrances as a staging point for taking control of the city, given its size and location. That’s why the Cult also tried to target the Bessemer District early on. It was simply bad luck for them that the Rigans had the same idea. Or at least that’s how the Cult perceived the situation, given their lack of knowledge about the hidden base.

Sadly for Mera and Nia, they were attempting to enter Bessemer via the entrance that the Cult held. They were not aware of this when they first decided to try to reach the base via the entrance they had chosen. It was simply the most direct route from the part of the city they had come from. They had no idea that the Resistance held another entrance. Otherwise, though it would have taken them considerably more time, Mera and company would have travelled around and entered Bessemer through the much safer, Resistance controlled entrance. They assumed that all the entrances were either controlled by the Cult or currently in contention, as they had no information to assume otherwise.

There was no way to sneak into Bessemer unseen. Unless they could fly, which only Orb was able to do, Mera and Nia had to cross into the district via the entrance. They found themselves hidden behind a building within sight of the gate. It was heavily guarded by Cult troops. Both Mera and Nia were fierce warriors that could hold their own against terrible odds, but not this terrible. Not only did the Cult have considerably larger numbers, but they also had heavy weapons as part of their blockade of the entrance. During normal times, such high security for this entrance never would have existed. The Rigans were too peaceful. Too docile and cowardly to warrant such a heavy use of force in this particular location. Now, it was an important strategic staging point. The Cult wasn’t just trying to prevent people from getting into the Bessemer District. They were also trying to keep people from getting out. If the Rigans managed to move a large force through this entrance, they’d be able to take the entire district and then continue spreading from there. This blockade was tasked with preventing that; and Aggravator had not been slack in providing this security detail with resources to hold that gate.

“There’s no way we can fight our way through all that,” Nia said.

Nia was absolutely right. There was no way that the two of them would be able to fight their way through that blockade alone. They could certainly do a lot of damage, but ultimately they’d be killed or captured before managing to break through. Even if by some miracle they did manage to get through the gate, they’d most likely have a platoon of well-armed Cultists on their tale. Meaning they’d end up leading the Cult directly to the Resistance’s secret base. It was a lose-lose situation, no matter how you look at it.

“Any ideas, Orb?” Mera asked.

“Based on my calculations, there is a less than one percent chance that you and Nia could successfully fight your way through the Cult’s blockade,” Orb said. “One or both of you would end up captured or dead.”

“So it’s hopeless,” Nia lamented.

“Negative,” Orb rebutted. “I have determined one course of action that would significantly increase your chances of success.”

Both Mera and Nia perked up at Orb’s statement. Had the robot really managed to find a solution to get them through such terrible circumstances safely? This was exactly why Mera considered Orb such a valuable ally. When all else failed, she could always look to the robot for solutions that her other allies could never hope to deliver. Every step of the way, people had questioned Orb’s value. As an alien technology, many Rigans didn’t trust the ancient machine. The Cult of Ios was made up of aliens. They had invaded and enslaved Rig with foreign technologies. It should be no surprise that Orb often made native inhabitants of Rig uneasy. Yet Orb was directly responsible for Mera having made it this far. Without the robot, she might still be in her tiny apartment crying over the loss of Adara to the Cult.

“Well, spit it out,” Nia demanded.

“What’s the plan, Orb?” Mera asked.

“If I self-destruct in the middle of the blockade, the damage should be devastating enough to distract the Cultists long enough for the both of you to sneak through the gate unseen,” Orb said.

“What?!” Mera screamed. “Absolutely not!”

Orb lacked a sense of humor, but moments like these led those who knew the robot for an extended period to question that fact. While the robot had not intended to be funny, Nia found Orb’s suggestion hilarious. Mera, on the other hand, was not amused. The idea of Orb destroying itself to further Mera’s goals disgusted her. She considered Orb a friend. She would never willingly choose to see it come to harm. Yet it had suggested self-destructing as the solution to a problem more than once during their time together. Mera understood this to mean that the robot cared about her. As much as a robot can care anyway. She just wished that it cared about itself enough to prioritize self-preservation. Mera knew that if anything ever happened to Orb, she would be devastated.

“It’s the only plan with a viable probability of a favorable outcome,” Orb said.

“You exploding is not a favorable outcome!” Mera rebutted angrily.

“What’s going on here?” an unknown voice said from behind Nia.

To the trio’s dismay, a Cultist on patrol had been walking nearby when Mera screamed at Orb’s suicidal plan. If they had been anyone else, they might have been able to talk their way out of this situation without violence. However, they weren’t anyone else. Nia was an escaped prisoner that was supposed to have been executed that day; and Mera was a fugitive guilty of both having helped multiple prisoners escape execution and attacking Commander Aggravator in broad daylight. As soon as Nia and Mera made eye contact with the soldier, he instantly recognized them.

“It’s you!” the Cultist screamed.

The Cultist started to raise his rifle. Nia went to draw her sword, but even she was too slow. In a flash, Mera fired a large Ga blast, hitting the solider dead center in his chest. The Cultist was thrown back several feet. Mera had no choice. There was no telling what that Cultist intended to do with that rifle. Aggravator had already killed several of his own troops, yet this solider had remained loyal to the Cult nonetheless. Had Mera believed that the rifle was only a precaution, she might not have used such a forceful attack to subdue him. However, there was no reason to believe that the soldier hadn’t intended to kill them both at that very moment.

“Nice work, Mera,” Nia said.

Sadly, they had been hiding near the blockade when this all happened. Meaning that many armed Cultists were nearby when one of their own suddenly shot across the road and slammed into the side of a building. The Cult was already on edge, given the situation going on across the city. They assumed that they were under attack by the revolting Rigans. Instantly, the entire security detail had their weapons ready.

Mera’s attack hadn’t been lethal. Though it was more powerful than she would have used in a non-reflexive reaction, she still managed to hold back enough not to kill that Cultist. Maybe it would have been better if she hadn’t spared his life. The Cultist had been severely injured. The impact of hitting the wall had done as much or more damage than the Ga blast had. However, he was still able say one last thing before finally losing consciousness.

“It’s her! The girl who attacked the commander and stopped the execution is right behind that building!” the solider yelled.

Without a word, the Cultists guarding the entrance to the Bessemer District began firing at the building Mera, Nia, and Orb were hiding behind. Were the city not already in chaos, it’s very likely that the Cult would not have sanctioned the use of such force in a public area. The potential for uncontrolled destruction and loss of life was simply too great to fire such heavy ordinance at a building of this size. Were it to collapse, the damage would be unjustifiable. However, these were not normal times. So the Cult held nothing back. They fired a continuous barrage at the building, caring not for how that might affect the rest of the neighborhood.

Slowly, the building started to wear away. Pieces of it deteriorated and broke off until there was little left but the remnants of a wall between Mera, Nia, and the large force of Cultists. Even Orb was in danger at this point. Were they to attempt to fly away, there was a good chance that at least one of the Cult’s many guns trained on the building would shoot the robot out of the sky.

“What’s the plan, Mera?” Nia asked.

She didn’t have an answer. There was no way for them to fight their way out of this situation. Mera could form a Ga shield, but it wouldn’t last more than a few seconds against the amount of firepower the Cult was using against them. It certainly wouldn’t hold out long enough for them to escape. Mera hated to admit it, but their only hope was divine intervention. While Mera knew the gods were real, and she believed they had the power to save her, relying on them to intervene was not, in her experience, a winning strategy. Though powerful, the gods rarely seemed to want to get directly involved with the happenings of mortals. That’s why they needed to choose champions. For whatever reason, they seemed to not want to get their own hands dirty. So, Mera couldn’t think of anything useful to say to Nia. She simply stood there, hoping for a miracle and preparing to die.

“I could still make use of my self-destruct sequence,” Orb interjected.

Mera wanted to respond with the same fervor and repugnance at the suggestion as she had just minutes earlier. The idea of Orb committing suicide disgusted her to the core. Nevertheless, she could no longer think of a justification for why the robot’s idea wasn’t a viable option. Was Orb dying so Mera and Nia could escape worse than the three of them dying together? Mera didn’t want to have to answer that question; but she knew she didn’t want to die either.

Nia realized that Mera didn’t have anything she wanted to say. It wasn’t fair of Nia to have put that expectation on her. How many times had Mera been forced into positions of leadership against her will? That same day, Nia had suggested that she should take over leadership of the Resistance. However, no one ever really considered Mera’s feelings on the subject. People often seemed to thrust leadership roles on her, but whether or not she wanted them was rarely taken into consideration. Maybe that’s why people always seemed to place her above them. Mera wasn’t hungry for power. She didn’t want to rule over others. She simply fought for what she believed in and did the best she could to contribute. If that meant leading, she’d do it. But that didn’t make it right to expect her to be responsible for providing all the solutions to their problems.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Nia drew her sword. She was not afraid of death. If anything, she was already living on borrowed time. Everything that was currently happening was a result of the fact that she had escaped being executed. If it truly was her time to go, then that’s just the way things were. Nevertheless, she would not go down without a fight. To stand there and wait for the wall to collapse and then be torn apart by a hail of gunfire was not the type of death she would be happy with. Dying in battle was more her style.

“I’ll distract them. You and Orb use the opportunity to escape,” Nia said.

“Nia, no!” Mera replied.

“It’s OK, Mera,” she said with a smile. “I’m good with this.”

“But I’m not.”

“Then don’t let me die in vain. Avenge me after I’m gone. Defeat the Cult of Ios and save Rig.”

Mera couldn’t accept this. To let her friend march towards death alone seemed wrong on so many levels. Was there really no way for them to escape this terrible situation without one of her allies dying? It was an impossible situation, but Mera still held out hope that there was some way out of this without having to lose a friend. Nia knew better than Mera. She had been part of the Resistance for a much longer period. This was war, and it had been for some time. Mera knew what it was to fight the Cult of Ios, but she was new to the ways of war. Sometimes, you lose your friends and allies. It’s a hard lesson, but it’s not an optional one.

“I just wish I could have learned my true name before the end,” Nia said.

Mera’s eyes lit up with excitement. She remembered something that had happened what now seemed like ages ago. Since Nia and Mage had been captured by the Cult of Ios on the same day, she never had time to process all the events that happened during the mission to destroy the Verge Network. Specifically, she forgot about the special item she had discovered in the mainframe room.

“Orb, give me that piece of metal that Nia gave me back in the desert,” Mera said in an eager tone.

A panel on Orb’s side opened. One of the robot’s metallic arms extended out from within the void that was Orb’s body holding the piece of metal. Mera took it from the robot and examined it again. She ran her fingers across the three letters engraved into its broken edge: “NIA.” She was sure that her hunch was correct. She just hadn’t taken the time to verify it before now.

“Now give me that other piece of metal I gave you the day we destroyed the Verge Network,” Mera said.

Now, it was Nia’s eye that lit up with anticipation. Was Mera implying that she had found the other piece of whatever the object was? Orb’s arm retracted for a few seconds and then reemerged with another, similar piece of metal. It looked like the mirror image of the first piece. It was even broken on an edge in the exact same way. Mera took the second piece of metal from Orb in her other hand. Nia put away her sword and placed her hands over her mouth. She was so excited that she wanted to scream and cry at the same time.

Mera examined the second piece of metal. It looked and felt almost exactly the same. It had to be the other piece of the puzzle. She looked at the broken edge, and there it was. Two more letters carved into the metal. They were the same size and style, as if they were meant to be read together. The two new letters read “XE.” She held the two pieces side by side, but she did not put them together. She saw the answer, but it was not her puzzle to solve. Finally, she handed the two pieces to Nia. It was time to return them both to their rightful owner.

“I think these belong to you,” Mera said with a smile.

Tears rolled down Nia’s face as she took the two pieces from Mera. Her hands tingled, as if power was running through them. She couldn’t tell if it was all in her head, as the intensity of the moment was about to push her over the edge, or if her body was actually reacting to the two pieces of metal, now in her hands.

“It’s time to learn the truth,” Mera said. “Your name, I think it’s Xenia.”

Just as Mera spoke the words, Nia put the two pieces of metal together, spelling out the complete word X-E-N-I-A. Suddenly, the two pieces of metal started to glow bright purple in Nia’s hands. Except no longer were they two pieces of metal, for they had merged into one. Nia’s eyes began to glow just as brightly as the metal. Then the glow started to spread. First her head and eventually her entire body. The glow was so bright that Mera had to shield her eyes. It was so bright that the Cult troops could see it from behind the wall. Unsure of what was happening, their captain commanded them to stop firing.

Slowly, Nia’s body lifted into the air. She was levitating so high off the ground that what remained of the wall no longer shielded her. Her arms fell to her sides, but the piece of metal continued floating in front of her. Mera realized that it was actually a crown. It floated up above Nia and then rotated in a circle, finally resting upon her head. Nia’s body finally stopped glowing; but her form was greatly changed. Her hair was no longer tied in the long braided ponytail that it once had been. Now it was much longer and straighter. Her cloak was gone and her clothing was entirely different. Now, she wore battle armor. It was all similar to the metallic boots she had worn since Mera and her first met. Extending out from the back of her armor were two purple wings of light. Her form was divine. She reminded Mera of Gaia and Prime. Not only in her form, but also the energy Mera felt coming from her. This was no longer the Nia she had known. This was someone completely different.

“I’m a Xenia, Goddess of Justice,” the majestic figure said.

Her voice was stifling. One could feel the power reverberating from it in the air. The Cultists were terrified of what they were seeing. So much so that they couldn’t even muster the will to open fire on the deity. She looked at Mera. Though she did not smile, Mera could tell that she was happy with how things had turned out. Maybe even thankful, if that were not too presumptuous a statement for a mortal to make about a god.

“Well done, Mera,” Xenia said. “You have freed me from my prison.”

“What are you waiting for? Fire!” the Cult captain yelled.

After a few seconds of regaining their faculties, the Cultists trained their guns on Xenia and began firing with the full force of their arsenal. The hail of fire was so intense that Xenia disappeared in the dust, smoke, and light of the barrage.  After several seconds, the captain commanded the Cultists to stop firing, for nothing could have survived such an onslaught. When the smoke cleared, Xenia was still there floating in the air, unscathed.

“My turn,” Xenia said.

The goddess drew her sword of light. It seemed to glow brighter now. So much so that Mera could feel the energy emanating from it. In a flash, Xenia was gone. Mera didn’t see her moving. She had simply disappeared without a trace. Suddenly, Xenia was standing in front of Mera. She screamed at the unexpected appearance of the goddess standing within arm’s reach of her. Without warning, a Cultist screamed. It was an ear-splitting cry of pain. Then another screamed. Then another, and several more after that. Curious, Mera peaked out from behind what remained of the wall. To her surprise, all the Cultists were dead. Not injured, but dead. Every single one of them had been cut down. Even their guns, large and small, had been cut clean through. The sight of such carnage filled Mera with great fear. Such power should not exist in the hands of mortals, she thought to herself; and she was quite right. Thankfully, Xenia was no mortal. She was a goddess.

“Nia?” Mera asked in a nervous tone.

“The one you knew as Nia is no more,” the goddess replied. “She was never real to begin with. Merely a cage used to keep me from accessing my true power.”

Mera was a bit sad at the goddess’ response. She was happy to have freed the deity from her prison; but she had lost a good friend in the process. It was clear to Mera that Xenia was not her friend. Not in the way Nia had been anyway. Her prayers had not been answered. She wanted to get out of this terrible situation without losing a friend. Nevertheless, such is war. Sometimes, you lose friends and allies.

Xenia could see that Mera was unhappy to have lost Nia. However, she would not apologize for reclaiming her divinity. She had been trapped for what seemed like an eternity without her power. For a god, just one second without access to their divine essence might as well be an eternity. While she could not, and would not, bring Nia back, the goddess could still offer Mera something for having freed her.

“I shall grant you one request, Mera of Rig,” Xenia said. “Name your reward. If it is in my power, you shall have it without question.”

Mera contemplated Xenia’s offer. There were several things she wanted, but if her past experiences with gods were any indication, Xenia wouldn’t be able to grant them. She needed to think more practically. She couldn’t expect the goddess to win the war for her; but she could get the help the Resistance so desperately needed . . . hopefully anyway.

“Can you get word to the rest of the Resistance outside of Pylon City?” Mera asked.

“Consider it done,” Xenia replied.

With that, the goddess disappeared again. Mera did not like how Xenia conducted herself. Abruptly disappearing and reappearing was frightening. Truth be told, she didn’t really like how any of the gods conducted themselves during their interactions. However, she was thankful that she had managed to get Stavros’ message to their allies around the planet. She knew that Xenia would keep her word.

“We should take this opportunity to enter the Bessemer District,” Orb said. “Xenia cleared the way for us.”

Orb was right. Mera could now easily pass through the barrier to the mining district and find the Resistance’s hidden base. She hoped that Mage and Summoner were there. She didn’t want to lose any more friends that day.

Mera took one last look around the area to make sure that the coast was clear. Then she and Orb made their way to the Bessemer District entrance.

“Xenia, Goddess of Justice”