Uhhhh, been a while huh? I've not been feeling fanfiction for a while but with the coronavirus canceling everything I had the time to just sit down and pound the rest of the chapter out. Almost 5 months without an update. Damn, I even missed the anniversary of this story. I meant to have it done by then but I missed it by almost 3 months. I have no intention of backing out of the rewrite as well. I do not plan on quitting writing, even if updates are slow. It's just that with my passion batteries running a little low, it's hard to keep on keeping on.

Also I kept on getting distracted with other stories. I've got a chapter written out for multiple different stories, RE: Zero, GATE, My Hero Academia, Rising of the Shield Hero, Saga of Tanya the Evil, Another one for RWBY, etc. This is how you can tell I've been binge watching anime.

I also don't like this chapter to be honest. It feels super clunky and bad and rushed even after spending months on this stupid chapter. This is even the last chapter so it's probably a bit of a let down. It's probably college and Starcraft because it seems like I get frustrated at the smallest thing now. I don't know. RL stuff is hard.

….

"You said you knew where this thing was!" Nia growled as the group ran into another dead end.

"I have a general idea of which hangar it's in…" Brandon said sheepishly.

"An idea?!" She angrily smacked the top of his head.

"Ow! Hey!" He exclaimed as he rubbed the afflicted area, "I have the location on my map! It's just hard to navigate an area I didn't even know existed."

She grumbled but conceded the point, "... sorry."

Brandon grinned and pulled her into a kiss. She rolled her eyes but happily accepted it.

"You know," she said, panting slightly as she broke away, "you can't just make out with me any time something goes slightly wrong."

"I'll work to prove you wrong," he said, a cheeky grin splitting his face.

"I don't think that's how it works," she rolled her eyes.

"I'll have you know that pausing for a second and having some form of physical contact with a loved one stops ninety nine percent of arguments and fights."

"Even se-"

"Technically," he interrupted, blushing furiously, "but that's a bit more situational. I was thinking more along the lines of linking hands or something."

"Isn't kissing a form of sexua-"

"You've never opposed it."

"No…" this time it was Nia's turn to blush.

Brandon chuckled, "love you."

Nia pouted.

"Nothing to say?"

"Hmph," she puffed her cheeks out.

"Ae goh! Neh aghee yah!"

"I don't know what that means but I feel like it's an insult."

"Aw, my little baby boo," he grinned.

She pouted, "I'm older than you are."

"Then act your age," he laughed.

She smiled, "believe it or not, my sister was more immature than I am."

"So you inherited her personality too, huh?"

Nia's smile turned sad, "yeah. I got her Gormotti snark as well. Her fieryness, her inability to give up."

Brandon's smile faded, "sorry."

"Don't be. I closed myself off to everyone but Dromarch-" she gave a genuine smile despite the tear sliding down her face, "but now… I have a family. I know where I belong. It hurts and nothing will change that. But I think they'd be happy for me."

"I think so too, wherever they are, they're definitely smiling for you."

She smiled back, "I love you."

Brandon leaned down and kissed the top of her head, "you know, I've never noticed how cute the ribbons make you look."

She flushed a deep red.

"Do you have to do that?"

"What? Compliment you?"

"..."

"So you want me to compliment you?"

Her face turned redder, "yes."

"Hah! At least you're honest about it."

"Jerk," she crossed her arms and turned her head away haughtily.

"Oh come on, don't be like that milady," he nudged her lightly.

"Hmph, save it for later, buckethead."

"Right right, of course."

"You're insufferable."

"Love you too."

"Hey you two idiots!" Rex called, "look out!"

Brandon grabbed Nia and jumped to the side, trusting Rex to not be joking.

A massive metal foot came crashing down onto the area where the pair had just been standing.

"Shit! Colossus! Everyone back up!"

"Aren't we able to fight this thing?" Rex asked, still backing up per Brandon's request.

He grimaced, "I don't know. They were put into combat near the end of the war so I've never seen their power. But if you would expand your tunnel vision."

"What? Oh…"

Behind the Colossus was the curved wall of the space station, lined with pod after pod of Colossi, and some were starting to light up.

"Everyone! Defensive formation. We don't have any armor piercing weapons or attacks so-"

Pyra lifted a hand and Tora hoisted his shield.

"I stand corrected, we have two armor piercing attacks, defend Rex, pyra, Tora, and Poppi," he said as his helmet clicked into place, "we need to kite that thing, open fire and move back slowly!"

"Right," Rex responded, "Pyra!"

She nodded and changed to Mythra and started blasting the Artifice with bolts of light.

"And fall back!" he cried as he heard the telltale whining of the gravity cannon charging up.

Rex cried out in surprise as the air where he had just been standing distorted and the gravity beam shredded everything in it's direct path.

"What the hell was that?"

"Gravity weapon, not as powerful as they can get but still strong."

"Missiles of Poppi having no effect either," Tora said.

"Figures, that thing was made to combat other Artifices. Mythra's light won't have any effect," he growled in frustration, "switch to Pyra, Poppi and Tora, fall back with me, the rest of you try to hold the thing off."

"Right."

"Tora, you have the blueprints of Poppi with you?" he asked while running through the halls.

"Yes!"

"Toss them here!"

"Right!" Tora fumbled around with his pouch and tossed Brandon a rolled up sheet of paper.

Brandon caught the tube and nodded, turning into a different hall and into a lab. "Get Poppi set up!"

"Right!"

Brandon gathered what resources he could find scattered through the lab.

"Poppi's set right?" he turned around.

"You… I swear to god Tora."

"Tora already had upgrade in mind."

"Yeah but did you have to let your inner pervert shine through?" He sighed, "whatever, what did you add to her?"

"Tora managed to complete light elemental core and new sword!"

"Toss me the sword."

Tora tossed him the new weapon.

"How did you piece this together so quickly?"

"Tora found spare parts in World Tree."

"So you put it together as you climbed?"

"Yes!"

"Damn. For something so hasty, it's put together damn well." He looked over it, turning it around in his hands to inspect it.

He immediately proceeded to take it apart.

"Here, I'm going to install some of my tech." He said before Tora could complain, "it's not much because I don't know enough about your tech to actually modify it properly without risking its integrity. Same thing with Poppi, but I need to install a specific weapon to take out the Artifice."

"And weapon is?"

"The weapon is essentially a big gun."

"That it? Tora was expecting more."

"There is more to it than that," he said, "it's a gauss rifle. A gun that fires projectiles that have been accelerated up to speed by electromagnets."

"Using magnetic force as propulsion mechanism? That pure genius! How did Tora never think of such a thing?"

"Well I didn't come up with it either. I just used knowledge built up by scientists during my time," he chuckled, "I like to talk big about how smart I am and how much I know about the world… but if I'm being honest, almost all of it is based on stuff we've already learned. I never actually made any major contributions to science or technology."

"But friend Brandon made artifice technology… did Brandon not?"

"Well I did… but if I didn't it was likely that someone else would have at some point anyways. All of my tech is built with other's technology. I'm basically a fraud because there's no one left to counter me." He sighed. He really was a fraud wasn't he.

"Tora not see it that way."

"Huh?"

"If this truly true, then why Dadapon be proud of Tora?"

"It's a parent's job?"

"Friend Brandon silly. It because Tora complete Poppi. Tora complete research of Grampypon and Dadapon. Tora did not do all of research because that impossible. Tora built upon research and technology that Dadapon and Grampypon already had. It not that Tora steal idea. Tora build and improve upon existing idea. That what make technology progress, yes?"

"Uh… yeah, I guess," he chuckled, "when you make it out to be so simple."

"Is that not how friend Brandon think?"

He sighed as he continued to adjust the weapon, "well I guess not. Most people seemed to look down upon taking other's ideas, whether you modified them or not. It seemed like you had to come up with something original or it didn't count."

"That so?"

"Yeah…" He shook his head, "ugh, what am I doing? We need to hurry, the others are fighting for their lives right now and here I am giving you a sob story."

"Best to not upset girlfriend, yes?"

Brandon laughed as he got on with the weapon, "yeah. Best to not upset Nia."

"What took you so long you moron?" Nia panted as she leaped back to join Brandon.

"Sorry milady, we were getting that," he gestured back to Tora and Poppi QTPI.

Nia glanced back only to facepalm. "He's made even bigger robot boobs."

"Yes."

"I swear."

"She's got the right weapon now though." He said, Poppi lifted her arm to punctuate.

"Open fire!"

"Roger!" She exclaimed as she fired the magnetically accelerated round, piercing through the robot at the point specified by Brandon earlier, penetrating the armor and slicing through the motherboard of the technological terror.

The group cheered as the mechanical beast froze up and the lights dimmed over its body.

"Poppi, you know what to do," Brandon gestured.

"Poppi got it!" She aimed the railgun at the other mechs and took them out with precision shots.

Brandon flinched with each shot. Nia put a hand on his shoulder, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. Just… memories of the war."

Nia nodded, "it's weird, hearing that from someone under twenty."

"You're probably going to hear a lot of it once we get done with this," he flicked his head over, "Come on, Aion is just over that way."

"Just in time for the final act, boy! I've saved you the best seats in the house!" Malos exclaimed and turned around at the sound of the hangar doors sliding open.

"Hah," he chuckled to himself, "I sounded just like Akhos there for a moment."

"Akhos is dead you bastard," Nia hissed in anger, "and so is everyone else in Torna."

"Figured as much," Malos shrugged.

"Is that it?" Nia stepped forward but stopped when Brandon put a hand on her shoulder.

"What?" Malos mocked, "you want me to weep and deliver a eulogy? They all desired oblivion and now, they've achieved it. The least I can do is send them off with a smile."

"Is this what you want Malos?" Rex stepped forward.

"Huh?"

"Is this what you want?"

"I don't understand the question."

"You have to understand by now, that none of this is your own will. All of this is the will of Amalthus, not your own!"

"And so what if it is?" Malos said, "doesn't much matter to me."

"And you'd just accept that?"

"What?" He laughed, "were you going to give me some weak ass crap about repenting?"

"You son of a-" This time it was Nia who had to hold Brandon back. "Why do you refuse to listen? We can end the violence and bloodshed."

"Why? Because I don't give a rat's ass about what you think. The cycle of life that the Architect created? So you're a product of Morytha? Who really cares? But that man… he had lost everything. He no longer wanted anything. He didn't even want to live anymore. And yet… his life was the only thing he couldn't lose," he paused, "words can be a curse. A curse that kept him tied down. A wretched tale, isn't it? This whole world is a wretched place."

"And you're part of that world," Brandon said, having pieced together that Malos was talking about Jin rather than Amalthus, "he would have lived a much different life if not for you."

"Figured it out huh? I guess you Morythans are a different breed. I'm a wretched being too, a hideous monster, far beyond saving! So… let's end this now."

"Malos!" Pyra cried, "don't you feel anything? Father's sadness, the world he wished for…"

"How could I?" he asked softly, purple light surrounding him, "that's not… my role in this world."

"Malos!" Brandon roared as he heard the hydraulics of the massive machine whirring in front of him.

Malos took no heed of Brandon as he ascended into the cockpit of the Artifice.

"Come at me kid!" he roared, "come at me partner! Give me all you've got… Show me the extent of your will! Show me why you're here in this world!"

"Shit," Brandon exclaimed, "everyone! Out of the way!"

Aion fired plasma beams, strong enough to burn through even the thick metal of Rhadamanthus. Brandon lunged and pulled Nia out of harm's way with him.

"What the hell?" Nia cried.

"That thing," Brandon panted, "is the end all weapon. It never entered into combat, but it was theoretically capable of outputting the energy of a small thermonuclear bomb while its armor could absorb even railgun fire from a battlecruiser from point blank range."

"How are we supposed to fight that thing then?" Nia asked, "isn't that weapon you gave Poppi a railgun? That was essentially the only thing that could pierce the armor of-"

Brandon turned and activated his shield, sheltering Nia from a glancing plasma beam.

"I know, but I'm going to trust Rex and Pyra with this," he conceded, "there isn't anything more I can do without heavier weaponry. The most we can do is make sure they remain standing on their feet and keep Malos at least slightly distracted."

Nia nodded.

"Shit! Move!" Brandon pushed Nia out of the way and scrambled backwards.

He opened fire at the Artifice, hoping to at least ding up the armor a little but to no avail. Any electric, plasma, or even gauss rounds that connected did little but scratch the paint job. The only real damage was being done by Rex and Pyra, though Poppi's more powerful railgun, Zeke and Pandoria, and Morag and Brighid were able to at least draw Malos' attention.

"Fuck," Brandon cursed as a stray laser scraped past his side, cutting through his armor and, by extension, his proesthetic arm. He scrambled to tear the arm off before the metal conducted the heat to his body.

"Are you alright?" Nia ran up to Brandon with concern written on her face.

"I'm fine," Brandon waved his hand, "don't worry about me."

"I can't help but worry," she grabbed his hand with both of hers.

Brandon smiled, "I love you, but you should worry about our friends who don't have arms to lose."

"Well I wouldn't be this concerned for your wellbeing if you cared more about it," she harrumphed, giving his stump a pointed glare.

"I already said sorry for that. I was careless and didn't think too much of it," he sighed before pointing at Zeke, "looks like they need some help there."

Nia glared at him a moment longer, "fine, but we're continuing this discussion later."

Brandon smiled before shooing her away. His smile dropped the moment she turned around and morphed into visible frustration. He was completely useless right now. None of his weaponry or technology could dent or hamper the massive war mech. He was at least able to damage the members of Torna before, but his power never really scaled up like any of his friends' had. His human physical strength was limited compared to a driver or blade and his technology, while gaining slight upgrades, didn't prepare him for this.

He considered his options then swore as he decided to take cover outside of the hangar. The only thing he was doing now was getting in the way of his friends. He wasn't even important enough for Malos to take more than the occasional potshot at him so he couldn't even serve as a distraction.

He needed to figure out how to contribute without getting in the way.

Wait… why hadn't he considered this before? He could take over the systems of the World Tree! He may not be able to hack Aion with it currently being in manual override, but he could take control over the automated troops that weren't currently active.

Yeah, yeah! That was it! Even if they were only about equivalent to him, quantity had a quality of its own. Especially when that quantity was legions of mechanical soldiers with massive firepower output.

It was a simple process working around the firewall of the station. Without anyone left to counter hack him, it was relatively easy.

And… there! The whirring of hundreds, if not thousands, of metal soldiers sounded through even thick metal floors and walls, echoing from a hangar in the distance.

Immediately a plasma beam cut through the wall. Brandon ducked and weaved past the superheated gas.

Looks like that grabbed his attention. He smirked, the more weapons focused on him, the fewer will be trained on his friends.

He kept on moving backwards, kiting the plasma and lasers out and buying time for the automated marine corps to make it to the battlefield. He dodged one last blast before turning tail and running.

He ran until he could hear the sound of metal clanging on metal. The marines had arrived, marching in rows of two. He pulled one to the side to deactivate it's automation and jump in, abandoning his pretty much makeshift gear. He hooked his metal stump up to the arm of the marine armor.

The marines filed into the hangar. Malos seemed to almost panic, firing beams of plasma wildly at the mechanical troops, reducing dozens into little more than molten slag, but for every marine killed, five more took their place. Every marine opened fire, aiming at the joints and other less armored points with Brandon directing them.

The others stopped to stare.

"What are you waiting for?" Brandon yelled, "figure something out!"

"Right!" Rex called.

Brandon kept on firing, dodging plasma beams as best as he could. He may not be able to do any form of real damage but he could at least distract.

Or… kind of. After Malos discovered that Gauss rounds weren't that effective against ballistic armor, he started ignoring him again and redoubled his efforts on Rex as he and Pyra had started charging up.

"Malos!" Rex yelled, "can you still not see? Stop the Artifice!"

"See what brat?!" Malos' voice echoed out through a set of hidden speakers, "the world's never going to change if that's all you've got!"

"It will change!" Rex yelled, slashing at different sections of Aion, "I will change it! That's the reason, we've come all this way!"

"Gah! Who do you think you're doing this for?"

"I'm doing it, for myself," he said, "if it helps put smiles on people's faces, if it helps them live their lives together, then that's my role in this world!"

He blasted Aion, stunning it and forcing it back.

"Jin asked me to take care of you, in his place, you know. He never wanted to die, he just wanted to connect with you! He did it because you showed him a path!"

"And how many people died because of it? You'd forgive him, just like that?!"

"Forgiving isn't that easy, but that's just the world we live in. We need to find a way forward within that world. Even you used to think like that once."

Malos didn't respond, choosing instead to try to finish Rex off.

He dodged, and with a bounding leap with Pyra, lifted his sword and a beam of energy pierced the ceiling and struck the Third Sword. The sword lit up, expanding as new beams of energy shown through.

"Let's do this!" Rex cried.

"For the future!" Pyra agreed.

The two let out a battle cry as they brought the sword down. Malos moved Aion's arm to intercept but to no avail as the sword sliced through the reinforced armor and into the core of the technological terror.

The machine immediately fell to its knees and spat Malos out.

He groaned in pain and turned himself over.

Brandon ordered his autonomous army to ceasefire and retracted his visor as he rejoined his friends. Malos was clearly on his deathbed, his shattered core crystal barely flickering with light.

Despite this Malos smirked, "it's been fun, kid."

"Malos…" Rex didn't know what to say.

"If only I'd met you sooner. Just think of the worlds I could have seen. But even so… there was only one driver for me…" he struggled to breath, "all in all… it wasn't so bad."

Malos took his last breath as his body disintegrated into black particles.

Brandon felt a tap on his armor and looked to the side to see Nia wrapped around an arm. He disengages the armor and steps out, gripping her hand in his own.

"Bastard found his meaning in life," Brandon commented, "not many are so lucky."

An explosion tore through the complex, cutting his thought off short.

"What the hell was that?" Rex exclaimed.

Pyra brought up a holographic interface in response. "No…"

"What is it?" Brandon asked, his arms wrapped around Nia.

"The Conduit… it's gone."

Brandon swore, "but that was the thing holding the facility together. Without it, there's no power to vital functions."

Pyra nodded, "at this rate, all of Elysium will collapse, destroying Alrest."

"Damn it to hell," Brandon grimaced, "what's the plan."

Pyra was silent.

"Pyra please!" Rex pleaded, "there has to be a way to stop it!"

She didn't say anything but Brandon noticed a glint in her eye, the way her jaw set.

"There's only one way to stop it," she took a deep breath, "five stories down from here, there's a control room for the correctional boosters. If we can make it there and accelerate the World Tree beyond the escape velocity, we can stop the World Tree's collapse."

"Okay, let's go, quickly."

"Right," Brandon said, "come on, no time to lose!"

The group sprinted out the direction they came.

"Brandon! Poppi! Azurda!" A voice beckoned the three back.

Brandon skid to a halt, nodded to Nia, then ran back in.

"Pyra… what is it?" Brandon asked, concern written all over his face.

"You know, the correctional boosters broke off… right?"

Brandon stared for a minute before throwing out as many profanities he knew. Pyra took it in stride.

"There is only one option, I need to guide Aion and self destruct to annihilate the rest of the World Tree," she looked like she was about to cry, "and I need you to not let Rex try to stop me."

"Wha-" He couldn't believe what he was being asked, "I…"

She put on a brave smile, "we're friends, aren't we? It's either just me, or all of Alrest."

"P-poppi could not possibly-"

Pyra raised a hand, "you promised, didn't you?"

Poppi looked at the ground, "that below belt."

"Please."

Poppi whimpered but nodded.

Pyra then turned to Gramps and touched his core crystal.

"You're a real piece of work…"

Brandon looked furious, unable to do anything, feeling more helpless than before. Without saying anything else, he sprinted out as fast as he could, tears running down his face.

He caught up, along with Poppi, Gramps, and Pyra, his friends having slowed down slightly to allow them to catch up on the stairs.

They finally made it five floors down and booked it across the bridge. Brandon went first, typing away furiously at the control panel and the doors slid open. They ran through, only to stop as soon as they noticed that it wasn't a control room.

"Ships?" Morag took a hesitant step forward, "is this a dock?"

Rex looked confused for a moment before realization struck him like a truck and he ran back out.

Pyra stood on the other side of the bridge.

"Pyra!" Rex exclaimed in disbelief, "what are you doing over there? Where's the control room?"

She wore a rueful smile on her face as she gazed over longingly.

"I'm sorry!" She waved a hand and destroyed the bridge, cutting them off.

"I've never lied to you before," she looked guilt ridden, "but the only option is to use the Last of Aion's power to destroy the World Tree." Her voice was wavering, close to breaking, "I'm sorry, it's the only way, you all need to use one of the vessels to escape, and get as far away as possible."

"Pyra… It'll… it'll be alright… right?" he said, gripping at straws, "you'll deal with the World Tree, then you'll come back, right?!"

The hopeful smile on Rex's face disappeared and his heart sank when Pyra said nothing in return.

"No… no… no… wait! Just wait! I'll come with you!" He took a few steps forward and fired his anchor. It fell short and a metallic clang was heard from below.

"Dammit, there's not enough wire!" He drew the grappling hook back, "I've got it! Poppi!" he turned around only to freeze at Poppi's expression. "Poppi?..."

"It not okay. Poppi can not."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Poppi made promise. Pyra say that Rex for sure ask Poppi," she sniffled, "say not help Rex, no matter what."

"What kind of promise is that?" Rex shouted, "please!" he cried in desperation and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, "I'm begging you, all you've got to do is take me over there!"

Brandon took a step forward, "Rex…"

"Please," Rex begged, his voice growing fainter, "she's right there…"

Poppi was bawling at this point, silent tears of whatever material Tora put in her running down her face.

Brandon put a hand on his shoulder, "Rex, let her go." he said firmly.

"Brandon! Please, you can take me over!" he exclaimed whirling around.

Brandon grimaced but shook his head, "I can't."

Rex's expression changed from desperation to anger as a fist collided with Brandon's face. Painful, but not fully unexpected. Brandon staggered back, it had hurt more than expected even after bracing himself, Rex's strength as a Driver showing itself in full force.

"Why?" he fell to his knees.

"Rex… there's no other options. She's the one you love. You've been by your side and protected her. Let her do something to protect the one she loves in turn."

Rex slammed a fist into the floor but slowly got to his feet. He turned around,"Pyra…" he whispered.

"Rex!" Pyra called as if to answer. She touched her core crystal. The core crystal fragment on Rex's chest shined and popped out, falling to the floor and the armor on Rex dissipated, only leaving his old salvager suit behind.

"You'll be fine... Without me now!"

Another explosion shook the facility.

"Pyra!" Rex sobbed. Debris from the space station fell, obstructing their view. When it cleared, Pyra was nowhere to be seen. Rex knelt to pick up the fallen core crystal.

Rex turned back around and nodded, a new determination in his eyes. He led the group back into the hangar.

"Check the doors!" Brandon ordered, "hit the big button in the center of the control panel!"

They split up, desperately searching for a still functioning ship.

Brandon found one near the end, "over here!" he exclaimed and entered the ship. He ran into the cockpit, throwing himself into a seat and slamming down the controls to prep for takeoff. He turned his head, and hit the launch sequence the moment everyone boarded and sealed the door.

Brandon struggled with the controls to keep the ship in the sky, with no copilot and an ancient spacecraft, it was nearly impossible. The ship shook even harder as the entire World Tree exploded behind them.

"Pyra," Rex clutched her Core Crystal to his chest.

"Everyone! Brace yourselves!" Brandon yelled as the ship crumbled beneath their feet, flinging them out into open atmosphere. Everyone screamed in shock and fear as they started plummeting down to Earth.

Each pair instinctively grabbed onto the one they were closest to.

Brandon closed his eyes, bracing for death.

Until, "REX!" a voice shouted through the deafening wind as Gramps lit up and started transforming, until he stood tall as a massive titan once more.

He swooped down, allowing everyone to make their way over and grab on. He leveled his decent gradually, allowing everyone to stabilize.

Gramps chuckled, "you know, I think this form really does suit me best."

The cloud sea started fading.

"The titans are… gone." Rex said.

"Where are they?" Nia muttered, "is everyone dead?"

"So…" Zeke said, "there's nothing left but ruins?"

"Hold on!" Gramps said, "we're crossing that rift."

A bright light engulfed them. The group started blinking once it cleared up. Brandon's jaw dropped at the sight of a massive landmass ahead of them.

"Look!" Nia's voice exclaimed.

Everyone looked in the direction she pointed to see the titans in the distance slowly landing in the ocean and joining up with the landmass.

"I think…" Morag said, "I understand what Klaus meant by restoring the world."

"So Elysium was here… all along," Rex breathed.

"You know Rex," Gramps said, "I think you're right."

Rex pulled Pyra's core to his chest, "you hear that Pyra? We're finally here."

….

Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me through this journey. For those of you who actually care, it's not actually quite over yet. A full rewrite is currently in progress as well as some… alterations to plot and lore. (Also sequels are planned, as well as maybe a prequel.)

The reason why I'm going to be changing a lot more than I initially thought I would is because I'm a fucking dumbass. I went and learned a bunch of the lore and Jesus there was a lot that I was making up that is actually explained or is canon in the lore. For example: the Artifices were developed and mass produced as weapons created by the Trinity Processor, which is the organic AI created by the Aegis collective. Ontos, Logos, and Pneuma were raised in virtual reality in order to develop personalities required to control the Conduit, which is a perpetual motion machine, which is why everything connected to it bends the laws of physics, or at least our understanding of physics. Also apparently the Conduit (aka the Gate in the direct translation) is confirmed to be the Zohar as it is named the Zohar in the game files. The Artifices were developed as a defense mechanism by the Trinity Processor, which is why the Aegises are able to control them.

And as the name implies, it is a gate that connects multiple universes. (It says dimensions but as a physicist, I'm going to say universes because that's probably what they actually meant).

This was a project put together by Aoidos, an organization founded to study the Conduit. Aoidos was founded by the Collective World Government, directly translated as the Coalition, the same world government found in Xenoblade X. Also the United States either took over the world or had a big presence in the new world government, so I had that correct at least. The thing is with a lot of this lore, it does make some interesting connections so I'm super excited to see what Monolith does in the future. (Stuff like how the Conduit and the Zohar origins are identical, stuff like how Artifices are literally Gears, etc.)

But this info dump on me means, either rewrite the story with my lore, or with the game's lore. Either way would mean massive alterations as I try to make the thing better.

Either way, Brandon is going to have a lot less of a hand, as in none at all, in building the Artifices. The next time around, I'm probably going to give him more of an Oppenheimer feel. Probably going to make him a physicist and engineer (still) but he had a hand in developing other weapons and not the Artifices. Also I'm intending on keeping some of the stuff I made up like how the government was authoritarian and created a dystopian society, leading to the creation of a rebellion that saw a great many things done by the Coalition to be wrong. I will change the stupid "Solar Empire" thing I made up to the Coalition.

I would like some thoughts and/or opinions on this. Also I would like it if you guys told me whether you would like me to put the revised version up as a completely new story and just leave this one up, or if I should replace the entire thing. This shouldn't break ToS because technically the rewrite would be an entirely different story, just one with the same characters.