Eclipsa didn't remember much after her attack. She recalled Fluttershy walking towards her, then black. The next flash of memory she remembers seeing a metallic grey floor and Shy in a yelling match with someone. Finally she remembered seeing Flutter’s eyes looking into her own with worry.
It was unknown to Eclipsa when it was she awoke again, only that everything was pain. “Pain, lots of pain.” She said with a raspy voice as she looked around. She was on a medical bed, one long enough that her tail fit on it with room. IVs and monitors hooked up along her body. Looking around she was the only one in the room. “Where… am I?” she croaked out before attempting to sit up. “Shy?”
"I don't recommend that." A voice spoke. Shakily she turned. Eyes widening as she saw it was an armored Nexus Soldier. They physically in the armor had a humanoid look.
Eclipsa had to bite back instinct. “Alright…” She said, laying back down as she stared up at the ceiling. “Thanks for indirectly answering a question, by the way.”
"Only reason you aren't in a cell is because General Shy ordered you here. Course she let us take the security measures."
“Am I privy to such measures? If not I understand, Wouldn’t want those at your mercy to know or plan ways around you.” Eclipsa said with a small chuckle before wincing. “Yeah, no laughing.”
"We don't know a lot about your Grey, but we've connected samples. Ran a few tests. Your wombs are made so they can not be broken… from the outside. One microscope bomb strong enough to blow up half a galaxy that is to those tests were made. And placed in your womb; took it like sperm. One wrong move, kiss your unborns bye bye."
Eclipsa went silent, and even though she wasn't moving from her spot on the bed, the guard could feel the pure, refined rage and bloodlust at that. “Very well.” She said as the overpowering feeling faded as quickly as it came.
"The general will be here in an hour. Here." They said, dropping a book on Eclipsa's stomach. "Nothing to do but wait."
“Thanks.” Eclipsa mumbled before picking up the book and reading the title.
The hour passed by, Shy walking in and disbanding the guard. "I take it you were informed about the safety measure?" She asked.
"Yes, though of anything you could do, that was quite possibly the lowest." Eclipsa said, turning a page of the book.
"If I didn't you'd still be bleeding and in a cell. Moral these days is quite low, something of a victory had to happen, less a riot start. As is bringing you here about near started one."
"And what victory did you achieve?" Eclipsa asked, memorizing her page before shutting the book.
"A means to keep you in line while you're here."
Eclipsa sighed and looked over to Shy. "So what happens now? In all but name I am a P.O.W, and one that Nexus has leverage on."
"Well, normally we'd Radio this in, and Vincent would stop by, but thanks to King's measures, Radio is dead. So, we're taking plan B."
"And that is?" Eclipsa asked, her red eyes looking over at shy.
Without missing a beat, Shy tossed a large jumpsuit at Eclipsa. One built for a Naga of her size. "Labor. Lot of work to be done. This base was built to house sixteen thousand soldiers. There's just twenty here."
Eclipsa nodded. "Not what I hoped but better than I feared." Eclipsa stretched. "Half expected to be a lab rat or soldier. But there lies another thing… Shy, what will be come of us?"
"Us? Mind being specific?"
Eclipsa sighed "I want us to be a family again one day. I want to prove to you that I learned my lesson, that I'm better than the idiot I was. I want to gain your trust again… but trust is a fickle thing. So, after I'm all healed… will I just be a laborer to you, Fluttershy the mare? Not the general, but the mare who fell in love with a idiot with good intentions."
"...I can't just forgive and Forget Eclipsa. I won't. But, I will see if what you said has truth. I do want to be able to see my kids again, but I want to make sure you CAN keep them safe. So, work here to see why I left. See how the Nexus I was raised in works, and work to rebuild it. Then, you'll be earning my trust back."
Eclipsa nodded "I won't let you down again… any rules regarding my abilities I should know?"
"Can't use any. Not without my say so, less that bomb in you go off. If any of the others do physically harm you, or try to, first you are free to incapassitate them. Your first job is the engine room with… the C.R.I.P.T…"
Eclipsa nodded before trying to sit up again. "No powers, self defence only, and do my job. Heh, I miss when life was so simple, you?"
"Wasn't really simple, but the slow moments, yeah. That I do. Come on then." Shy said, leading Eclipsa out. Exiting that room nearly gave Eclipsa Vertigo. The hall was like a balcony, overseeing a massive what looked like a city going on for litteral countless miles both up and across. "Mind the quietness. Like I said, we're understaffed."
"I can see that. At least it limits potential assassin's like that dick I killed." Eclipsa commented, slithering a respectful distance back so to not piss of the few guards there were.
“That was clearly someone sent by Vincent or other. Given we haven’t had contact with any other uppers, or even the other bases, likely they’ve already cut us off. In the end only Vincent’s little circle were the ones who mattered. The rest of us are all disposable.”
"Hmmm…. What…. Oh king is gonna kill me…. What if during whatever free periods I have I help by fixing your radio? I know you have tried your hardest, I don't want it to go to waste." Eclipsa said, being subtle for any listening ears but Shy understood.
“If you mean to contact the others, sorry but no. Since we’re basically on our own now, lockdown protocols are in place. System detects tampering it fries the hardware.”
"Well that's not productive. Ah well." Eclipsa shrugged. "So, anything specifically you want me to work on?"
“The engine room. You and our resident C.R.I.P.T. will be working on keeping the power up. Engine is meant to be overlooked by a bare minimum of two hundred people. You two will be the only ones there.”
"Damn. King really did a number here." Eclipsa said before following shy into a building.
“King hasn’t been here. This is all that made it to Base Leviathan.”
"Do I want to know?"
"It's just a name."
Eclipsa nodded as they walked into the engine room. "I'm afraid to ask, but is the C.R.I.P.T. another clone of Cript, or do they look different? Also… how has Nexus been treating it's general pre assassination attempt."
"All of the C.R.I.P.T.s look identical. Difference in hair and eyes color mainly, rarely gender or race. And you mean about trying to kill is in the sleeping worlds?"
"Yes, that." Eclipsa said, a slight hiss in her voice as the memory. "Attacking me would have been one thing, but you….hisssss"
"Like I said. Everyone still in these bases and not in Vincent's inner circle are disposable." Shy said, leading us to an elevator and pressing a button. It then began to zoom down.
"I get that. I just hate it. You are anything but disposable, same with the other lives here. Hell even the Cripts deserve a chance to live." Eclipsa said.
"Some do. Depends on their value to Vincent." The elevator stopped. The doors opened, and Shy and Eclipsa headed down this hallway.
"And you, the sole surviving general, have no value to him?" Eclipsa said with a shake of her head.
"Sole surviving? No, there are others, but they are in his inner circle."
".... Wow Psycho Shy is behind in her info." Eclipsa chuckled. "She is doing good by the way, happy with nightmare and Wolf."
"Good. She deserves it."
Eclipsa smiled before they walked in, seeing the Cript in the room, waiting for them. "Here we go."
This Cript was a red head. Green eyes and of course, freckles. "Guid day! th' heel is 'at lassie daein' haur?!” They said, a thick scottish accent in their speech.
"That wasn't expected." Eclipsa said with a smile, pleasantly surprised.
“This is C.R.I.P.T #77KL45P0. But everyone calls them Red.” Shy said. “They’re only abilities relate to engineering and advanced electrical engineering.”
"Helpful for the current problem." Eclipsa admitted. "My name is Eclipsa, and yes, I'll be the one helping you out here."
“Thes is th' help Ah gie efter a year ay workin' aloyn in thes heel?”
"Better than no help." Eclipsa said with a shrug. "Besides, it'd be nice to learn something besides teaching, parenting, and being a Warrior for once."
"Best get to it. Dinner is at seven." Shy said, walking back into the elevator."
“You heard her. What do you need me to do?” Eclipsa said with a stretch.
"Follaw me." They said, leading her through all the large engines and machines.
Eclipsa hummed a tune in her head as she followed the Cript through, feeling surprisingly calm despite where she was and what was inside of her.
"Each engine haur powers a different section ay thes place. th' a body that's bin causin' th' most he'll fur me is th' scran an' water replicatur." The Cript called Red said, showing a large machine where water and some sort of other fluid were in tanks.
Eclipsa started to look it over. "What has been the problem with it?"
“Da whole tin keeps leakin hout da grub fluid. dat's wot we use in da processors in da kitchun to make our grub, everythin from meat to veggies.”
Eclipsa circled it before compressing herself impossibly into the machine. "Huh… there's your problem. There is a Micro crack in the casing due to a misaligned gear. Get me some material and tools and I can patch it right up."
With a nod, Red headed off, gathering the tools and materials as Eclipsa repaired the device.
The rest of the work went underway as she and Red continued to fix and repair the other minor issues around.
Untill…
BOOM!!
"Och buck th' devil wi' his ain tale!" Red screamed, smoke and scrap from the section where a generator once stood spread out. Red kicking a price if scrap in anger. "'at was th' feckin' trolley generatur! they'll be pished tae hae tae donner!"
"If I could access my powers I could help, but kinda ordered not to touch them. And I don't want my unborns to explode." Eclipsa sighed after popping her shoulder back into it's socket.
"We'll hae tae build th' hin' frae scart."
Eclipsa sighed before feeling something welling up in her heart. "Well then, we better get started." She said, having a small smile before she started to hum, and that him became music before she began to sing.
"Reach for my hand.
I'll soar away
Into the dawn
Oh I wish I could stay."
Eclipsa sang, her voice reaching across the entire base as a heartsong began, Red watching as she how, Eclipsa was repairing the machine little by little.
"Here in cherished halls,
In peaceful days
I fear the edge of Dawn
Knowing time betrays."
Her voice rang out with a energy of its own, the entire facility gaining power as lights pulsed intime with the music appearing from seemingly nowhere.
Her voice echoed through the vast emptiness of the base. At first the soldiers annoyed by this began listening to the lyrics, the soothing sound of her voice and began to relax, listening with some semblance of entertainment as she worked away. Red, surprised by this, didn’t sing along but simply worked alongside Eclipsa.
Time passed in what felt like ages but was less than an hour, the generator completed and turned on.
Whipping sweat off her brow, Eclipsa turned to see her singing drew a crowd. "Well that's done." She said, whipping her hands on a rag.
“Weel i'll be, that's a brammer sit ay pipes ye got thaur.” Red said, giving Eclipsa a clap of applause.
At this Eclipsa blushed. "Oh it was nothing, really. I just… sang from the heart." She said, her eyes catching fluttershy in the crowd.
Shy gave a nod, heading off as she saw the generator was working.
Over the next few days things went along like that on and off. Eclipsa largely won over most of the bunker with her singing. Popular demand moved her from maintenance to radio, sole job to make and sing songs as all they had in the bunker was already either outdated or in poor taste.
In this time though Eclipsa kept receiving migraines, and ended up in the med bay again. This time they saw the actual doctor. A lady named Heather, long green hair and yellow eyes. “So, migraines yes?” She asked Eclipsa.
"Yeah, and I can't for the life of me figure out why." She said with a sigh. "I haven't had one since, well, forever."
“Hmm. It is unusual.” She said, pulling out a small device. A blue light waved over Eclipsa’s head. “Hmm… Oh, that’s the reason then.”
"Well, don't wait for dramatic pauses doc." Eclipsa said with a warm smile, though still asking for the info.
“You have a mental link to your family, right?” She asked.
"Well, yeah. I haven't used it since I came here but there is that connection." Eclipsa confirmed
“Well it seems largely passive, sharing memories and experiences with one another, but their does appear to be a reference directive. Basically if someone learns something relating to you, then that information is meant to be received by you instantly, but the base is blocking it, so your mind is trying to revive corrupted data. Unable to make sense of it, migraines seem to be a side effect.”
"Well shit. What can we do about it, it's not like I'll be allowed to access it, and frankly the migraines have been getting worse." Eclipsa said with a frown.
“I’ll have to talk to General Shy about it. Til then, in your case, this should lessen them.” She said, placing a headband looking thing on me. I could sense some magic, an enchantment on it, and thankfully they did lessen, but were there as more of an annoyance than an inconvenience.
"Thanks doc. I hope shy is open to the idea, if even for a few minutes a day." Eclipsa said thing a sigh. "Wonder what it is they learned."
“Wait here while I call her.”
A quick call brought Shy to the medbay. Shy was informed about the cause of my migraines. She sighed. “Well, alright.” She then used her wing, bringing out a control device and clicking it. “Your womb bomb is deactivated. Once you connect, learn this information, it goes back on.” She said simply.
"I understand, thank you shy." Eclipsa said with a nod and a smile before letting her mind connect to her family's, trying to get the unfiltered info ASAP.
Eclipsa connected. Instantly, the information entering her mind… And dread filled her. The doctor and Fluttershy seeing this. “What’s wrong?” The doctor asked.
"I… what…." Eclipsa said, not wanting to believe it. "No…. That… I'm not…"
“Eclipsa?” Fluttershy asked.
"The truth of grey…. Vincent created it, and it created me. All this time, all these wars, resets, death, all of it a distraction while grey and I grow stronger and large enough to do one final true reset, an end to everything." Eclipsa said, sitting down. "I am the Omega. The end."
The doctor looked at Eclipsa. Fluttershy walking up to her, holding up a hoof. “Show me.” She said.
Eclipsa took a shaky breath, the memories long suppressed by her own power coming to her as she pressed her forehead to Shy's, showing her both Eclipsa's long lost memories, as well as the conversation King had with a certain mushroom.
When it was over, Shy took a step back for a moment, taking a deep breath. “So, that is Vincent’s true goal then. All this, just killing time and playing. I knew we were disposable… but this. I’ll be back.”
Eclipsa watched her go before curling up into a ball and crying, not even noticing that shy never rearmed the bomb.
After a moment, the speakers came on, Shy’s voice filling them.
”Attention fellow Nexus members. We have been abandoned, we have been written off. We have known this for some time now, but kept out loyalties to our home. But recent information has shown me, our home, our loyalties, all a lie. This information informed me that our once great leader Vincent not only writ us off like dirt under the shoe, but also that we are not his first Nexus, not his first organization. We are playthings to him, time killers and fillers to cause chaos while his true plan, Grey Itself, fills our reality to the point we can never come back. We have been betrayed by the very man, the very monster we swore loyalty too. If you still honor your loyalties to this demon, I command you, take your gun and shoot yourself! But for those who still desire life, for those who still want, need purpose, for those who want Payback, meet me in the medbay. That is all.”
Eclipsa whipped her eyes as she saw one by one, every single soldier walk into the medbay, every single person who had heard Eclipsa sing, some who in these past few weeks had even become friends with the Naga prisoner. Even Red walked through the doors, hanging in the back of the room. "Everyone… You are all willing to leave, even if it possibly means fighting your old comrades?"
“If it means Ah dornt hae tae wark fur these losers anymair, coont me in.” Red said, earning a few playful hits from the others.
“If we’re trash to him, let’s make him regret tossing us.” The very guard Eclipsa first woke up to seeing said.
“Looks like you just have a talent for winning people over.” Shy said, walking back into the room and up to Eclipsa. “Even people who hate you.”
"I just be me. Funny how being me is what could end up ending everything." Eclipsa chuckled, remembering her promise to shy, heart and the others to not hide her emotions anymore. She slithered over and hugged shy, tears still streaming down her face.
“Hey, this doesn’t fix EVERYTHING, but it at least earns you a date.” Shy said with a laugh.
"Thank you, all of you." Eclipsa said turning to the rest of them. "Do I open a portal to home, or how do we do this?"
“First lets get that bomb out.”
In the background, a rubber glove snapping as it was placed on echoed. Eclipsa gulped.