Chapter 10: Resolution From Above.
 
 
Back aboard the Enigma, the Eternal Flame Serpents watched from the bridge with bated breath as the beacon's signal grew stronger, a glimmer of hope amidst the chaos of their instruments.
 
 
Green, the lead Eternal Flame Serpent, felt a surge of relief "They've done it!" it exclaimed, its sleek form shimmering with excitement. "Prepare the weapon!"
 
 
Red, its crimson aura reflecting on the screens, spoke with a tinge of urgency, "But we must wait for Scalie's signal to confirm they are clear!" The others nodded in agreement, the tension in the room palpable. Without that signal, the ship's weapon could consume them all. "We cannot risk firing upon our comrades," it continued, its serpentine neck weaving a worried pattern in the air. The dragon and the unicorn spirit's fate was in their hands now, and the weight of their decision was as heavy as the dragon's hunger had been before his change of heart and all this otherworldly business started.
 
 
After a tense minute, Blue, the most impatient of the Eternal Flame Serpents, spoke up, its azure aura pulsing with urgency. "We can't wait any longer!" it exclaimed. "The Great Unmaker could still adapt to the weapon, or the swarmers could dislodge the beacon!" The others exchanged worried glances, knowing that every second counted. The decision to trust in Scalie and Alicia was fraught with risk, but the potential for failure was too great to ignore. "We must act now!" Blue hissed, its voice a whip-crack in the quiet. The others murmured in reluctant agreement, their forms rustling like a storm-tossed sea. The time for patience had passed; the fate of Aquarius hung by a thread, and they had to cut it swiftly to save this world.
 
 
With heavy hearts, the Eternal Flame Serpents made their decision.
 
 
"Yellow," Green said with a nod, and the serpent's eyes lit up with a fierce determination. "Fire upon the beacon's signal."
 
 
The room grew quiet as Yellow's aura shimmered with conflict. The dragon and unicorn spirit were valiant souls, but the weight of the world rested on their shoulders. "God forgive us," Yellow murmured, its chest eye and tendril's eyes squeezed shut in a silent prayer.
 
 
 "Godspeed, Alicia, Scalie," Red added, its voice thick with emotion.
 
 
Yellow's claws danced over the control panel with a grace that belied their urgency, and in response, a pulsating pillar of black light erupted from the ship's bowels. It shot through the void with the speed of a star's dying breath, a beacon of destruction that made even the most stoic serpents shiver with a mix of awe and dread. The weapon, known as the 'Nightfall Spike', was the ultimate expression of the Eternal Flame Serpents' power, a weapon of such tremendous force that it had only been used once before—to cleave an entire planet in twain. The screen on the bridge flickered with the strain of focusing the energy, the image of the Great Unmaker's obscured as the Spike homed in on the beacon's pulse. The dragon and unicorn spirit duo, still locked in a desperate race against time, had no idea that their lives now hung on the precision of a creature that had never missed its mark.
 
 
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The swarmers' panic grew frenzied as they felt the approach of the Spike, their cries of alarm piercing the air. Scalie, his eyes fixed on the rapidly diminishing gap in the stomach wall, pushed himself to his limits, Alicia clinging tightly to his neck. They had to trust in the Eternal Flame Serpents' timing, their hearts a tumult of hope and fear. The Spike grew closer, a dark spear aimed at the heart of the core, and the unicorn whispered a prayer to the ancient gods of Aquarius, her horn pulsing in rhythm with her racing pulse. The swarmers around the core grew frenzied, their movements chaotic, their loyalty to the Great Unmaker overwhelmed by the instinctual need to survive.
 
 
As the Spike neared, the core made one final, desperate attempt to free itself from the beacon's embrace, its pulse growing erratic once more. The chamber trembled, the walls of flesh distorting and bulging as if the planet itself were in its death throes. Alicia's eyes squeezed shut, her horn's light pulsing in a silent plea, while Scalie roared, a sound that was both a battle cry and a mournful howl. The pillar of black light pierced the stomach's flesh, a silent scream echoing through the chamber. The core's light flared briefly in defiance before it winked out, the swarmers' cries silenced in an instant. The Spike continued its inexorable journey, reaching the heart of the Great Unmaker and unleashing a burst of power that could only be described as the very essence of oblivion. The chamber was consumed by a void so absolute that not even the light of the beacon could pierce it.
 
 
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The Enigma's bridge was bathed in the afterglow of the explosion, the screen flickering with static before the image snapped back to reveal the gaping hole where the core once was. The Eternal Flame Serpents let out a collective sigh of relief, their scales rustling like leaves in the wind. They had done it. The Great Unmaker was no more, its corruption vanquished from the heart of Aquarius. The unicorn spirit and the golden dragon had triumphed, though at what cost? The fate of their friends remained unknown, their hearts heavy with the weight of uncertainty. Yet, as the light of victory grew dimmer, they could not help but feel a glimmer of hope.
 
 
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Alicia and Scalie dove through the hole in the stomach wall just as the Spike's power obliterated the core, the void's edge kissing the tip of Scalie's tail. They emerged into a chamber of ruin, the once-mighty Great Unmaker now a lifeless, deflating corpse around them. The swarmers had vanished, their purpose lost with the death of their progenitor. The dragon's wings beat hard to escape the collapsing innards, the unicorn's grip tight around his neck, her eyes still squeezed shut in silent prayer. The stench of death and decay filled the air, a stark contrast to the purity of the night sky they had left behind. The core's destruction had triggered a chain reaction, and the planet-sized creature's body began to crumble around them, its very essence dissolving into the fabric of space. They knew they had to move quickly, or be crushed by the deteriorating organs and muscles. With grim determination, Scalie soared upward, Alicia's horn guiding them through the caverns of the creature's insides, towards the light of Aquarius's moon that shone through a rent in the flesh above.
 
 
The chamber's walls convulsed as the Great Unmaker's lifeblood drained away, the floor buckling and rising to meet them in a gruesome dance of destruction. Scalie's wings strained, desperation lending him an impossible burst of speed as he flew upward, Alicia's wisps digging into his scales for purchase. But fate proved a fickle ally, for as they reached for the dwindling shaft of moonlight, the rent above clenched shut with a sickening finality, entombing them within the dark embrace of the collapsing beast. The air grew thick with dust and the stench of decay, the only sounds their panicked breaths and the thunderous groan of the Great Unmaker's death throes. They were trapped, the weight of imposing doom crushing down on their hearts as surely as the walls closed in around them, leaving them in a tomb of living nightmare.
 
 
"I'm scared, Scalie," Alicia whispered, her voice trembling as she buried her face in his neck. The dragon's heart ached at her fear, his own fears mirrored in her emerald eyes. He wrapped his massive arms around her, enveloping her in a warm embrace that seemed to chase away some of the cold dread that had seeped into their hearts.
 
 
"If I die here," Scalie said, his synthetic voice deep and filled with a gentle reassurance, "I will join you as a fellow spirit, watching over the lands we fought to save." His words were a promise, a vow that no matter what fate had in store for them, they would not face it alone. The unicorn clung to him, her body shaking with relief.
 
 
The dragon took a deep breath, the scent of her ethereal mane a comfort in the oppressive darkness.
 
 
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Back on the Enigma, the Eternal Flame Serpents watched the monitors intently, searching for any sign of their comrades. The screens flickered with the aftermath of the Nightfall Spike's impact, displaying a tumult of shifting flesh and collapsing organic structures. Amidst the chaos, a faint flicker of life pierced the dark, a single point of light amongst the lifeless darkness. "Scalie's alive!" exclaimed Blue, its eyes widening in shock and relief. "We must find them and extract them immediately!" The serpents' auras flared in unison, their focus sharp as they honed in on the signal. The dragon and unicorn's vitality was like a beacon in the abyss, a glimmer of hope that guided the serpents to the exact location of their trapped friends.
 
 
"Red, prepare an extraction pod," ordered Green, its tone firm and urgent. "We must not let them perish in this tomb we sent them to."
 
 
The crimson serpent sprang into action, its nimble form a blur as it raced to the pod's control station. The pod, similar to the one they used to transport Scalie and Alicia to the planet to begin with, was a sleek metallic capsule designed for precision maneuvers, was launched into the void, homing in on the single life sign emanating from the Great Unmaker's corpse. The serpents held their collective breath as the pod streaked through the atmosphere, dodging debris and the flailing limbs of the dead creature. The pod's sensors were locked onto Scalie as him and Alicia lay trapped in the massive corpse. "Scalie, Alicia, hold on!" Red's voice boomed on the Enigma's bridge. "We're coming to get you!"
 
 
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In the bowels of the Great Unmaker, the pod's approach brought a new surge of hope to the duo. The walls continued to close in, but the light grew brighter as the pod plowed through the flesh, the promise of rescue a beacon that spurred them on. Scalie tightened his grip on Alicia, his wings straining to keep them aloft as the pod's lights pierced the gloom. The pod's doors slammed open, revealing the welcoming embrace of their comrades' technology. Without hesitation, the dragon leaped into the pod, his spectral companion in tow, their hearts racing with the thrill of survival. The doors slammed shut, sealing them inside just as the chamber's walls met in a final, crushing embrace.
 
 
With a roar of technology, the pod transported free from the Great Unmaker's collapsing corpse in a flash of light, transitioning back to the Enigma. The Eternal Flame Serpents watched from the bridge, their black forms shimmering with a mix of relief and triumph as their friends were delivered back to them. The battle was won, but the cost had been high. The Great Unmaker's destruction had left scars not just on the land of Aquarius, but on their hearts as well. Yet, as they watched the pod materialize, they knew that together, they had forged a bond that not even the jaws of oblivion could shatter.