The End to Come 3D Render, Digital Artwork by emarukk

! REPORT

The End to Come

3D Render by emarukk

Rebel fighters appeared from nowhere with one sole purpose: to hurt the Confederation by shaking its food production. Verdentia Station was a good target but dangerous because it was almost in Syndraka's inner circle. For this reason, Verdantia station was lightly guarded and vulnerable.

Since the attack, Olivia had run through the labyrinthine corridors of Verdantia Station for hours, her small hands raw from gripping tools and hauling equipment to repair crews. The air was thick with the scent of burning insulation, and the station groaned like a wounded beast. Her faithful companion, Lucas, the old Roamer bot she had named after a hero from a story her mother once told, clanked alongside her, his servos whining under the strain. It was a desperate battle, a slow retreat rather than a repair effort. Every minute, another section failed, another passageway sealed off by fire or vacuum. The voices grew fewer, their frantic orders replaced by static or, worse, silence.

And then, the collapse came. One of the main greenhouses gave way in a deafening roar, the blast door sealing just in time to trap Olivia alone in an isolated section. She pounded on the reinforced metal, screaming for her parents, for anyone. But no one answered. The emergency lights flickered, casting long, eerie shadows. She was alone. Truly alone. Then, from the smoke and debris, Lucas emerged. The once-sturdy bot limped forward, one arm sparking and dragging uselessly behind him. He reached out with his remaining hand, opening his battered fingers to reveal a single red flower, miraculously untouched by the chaos.

Olivia's legs buckled, and she sank to the floor for the first time in hours. Her body trembled with exhaustion, her breath hitching in ragged sobs. She could hear the distant, terrible sound of metal tearing apart, the death cries of the station that had been her home. Somewhere beyond the sealed doors, her parents might still be fighting for survival, or they might already be gone. The not knowing was the worst of all. Lucas let out a mechanical whine, his optics dimming. His power core was failing. Soon, he, too, would be gone. The flower in his hand, so fragile and bright, was the last untouched thing in this dying world. Olivia reached for it, fingers brushing against its soft petals. It felt wrong, obscene even, that something so delicate could still exist when everything else was crumbling. She wanted to scream, to throw it away, but instead, she clutched it to her chest. Her life was supposed to be just beginning. She was supposed to grow up, leave Verdantia one day, and see the stars beyond the station's metal shell. Instead, she sat in the dark, holding onto a dying robot and a flower, waiting for the end to come.