Chapter 156: Epilogue

Chapter 156: Epilogue

-Six Months Post Battle of the Citadel-

It was over. Izumi, Momo, and Kyoka melted together in relief as they watched the newscast. While none of them had taken the front lines again since the death of the Zilt Emperor, the fighting across Ziltmach and Earth had continued. It had become disorganized, and an increasing number of factions had formed among their enemies, as often fighting each other as the Terran Alliance. Yet, even so, and even with the Guild and Heroes slowly reclaiming Earth from roving bands of monsters, it had still taken six months for the planet of Ziltmach to fall entirely.

Technically, that wasn’t the end of the Empire.

Practically, the war was over, which is what the newscast was explaining to the masses.

Without Ziltmach to act as a hub for the various World Gates, it would be nearly impossible for any one faction of the remaining Empire to assault Earth again. Some, like the Formians, might well pop up again in the future if they figured out how to target rifts on Earth…and they were still launching raids on Ziltmach. Those raids, however, were mostly a problem for the new government of Ziltmach, the Free Republic of Kin. The Republic, which the Terran alliance had been helping build out of the various city states, was slowly taking over ruling of the planet, and had formed its own military out of the various rebel groups.

The Terran Alliance thankfully weren’t idiots, and were intent on continuing to support the new Republic. They would much rather fight incursions from Empire factions on Ziltmach, not Earth. Though it would likely be years yet before they could completely clear every enemy on Earth, if they could ever manage it at all. Too many groups of ‘monsters’ had, when they’d realized that they were losing and the Empire had effectively fallen, done the smart thing and retreated into various mountain ranges or other easy-to-hide in places. It was entirely too likely that there would still be occasional raids to deal with decades or centuries from now.

But it wasn’t their war any longer.

Well, not Izumi and Momo’s anyway. While both of them had been granted honorary status as Heroes and were reserve members of both a city militia and the Terran Defense Forces, the truth was they were now tied up largely in trying to ride the momentum of all the space efforts. The war had broken the centuries long dead period for space exploration. With asteroid mining, a moon base, and numerous orbital foundries in place, they were over the hump of getting a space program really going. As much as both had wanted to be Heroes, the truth was they were tired of fighting, and the idea of bringing a new Age of Exploration to humanity was much more appealing to them than returning to UA and getting properly licensed as Heroes.

Kyoka was a different story, of course. She’d never actually left the Hero Course, and had recently graduated as a fully licensed Pro Hero…who had set up her new Agency on Habitat 3. Which, as it happened, was where they were all now relaxing in the spacious quarters Momo and Izumi had built into the newest orbital station for themselves. Kyoka’s agency, which specialized in equipping Heroes for the unique challenges of Heroing in Space, was one of the first recognized by the Terran Alliance, rather than an individual country. The Alliance had managed to hold together so far, entirely displacing the United Nations, and becoming something close to a true global government.

It was something that a lot of the powers that be were pushing. For reasons that hadn’t existed in the past.

After all, if there were extradimensional alien species…what about ones native to their own home galaxy? The fact that many of the worlds the Empire of Kurrick had captured were determined to not be alternate Earths supported this possibility. Particularly given that all of them were somewhere within the Milky Way. Meaning that alternate versions of the very same species might well exist ‘locally,’ out there among the stars. Call it paranoia if you wanted, but the Terran Alliance had decided it was better to assume they were not alone, and to prepare for that fact. Something that made Izumi and Momo happy, as it meant plenty of continuing support for the growing space infrastructure, even beyond the profits to be had from making things like Aetherite that required Zero Gravity environments.

The world was healing, and so were they, looking forward once more to a future bright with possibilities…

… … …

-One Year After War’s End-

“…And so I pronounce you wife, wife, and wife! May your marriage be as Plus Ultra as your life has been so far!”

Kyoka giggled at All Might’s antics, even as Izumi dipped Momo into a kiss…before both of them captured Kyoka and did the same. It was a very small gathering that was there to witness the triple marriage, something that the Terran Alliance had made legal, even if local laws down on Earth still varied. Japan was a little too conservative still, despite it making major strides in the last year under the firm will of a populace that had adapted during what was now being called the ‘Rift War.’ When the Japanese government had tried to go back to ‘more of the same,’ they’d found an unamused populace…and a Terran Alliance that was willing to stick its thumb on the scale when the alternative was potential rioting. As a result, the old men in charge of Japan had failed to return to the status quo, a new and unknown future still in flux as younger generations bucked tradition and pushed for more freedoms.

Japan was growing out of its stagnation, but it would likely be a while yet before it allowed poly marriages of three women. Thankfully, the Midoriyas, along with Kyoka and Momo, had all shifted their residence to orbit. Momo, Izumi and Kyoka all worked up here full time, after all, and Inko had wanted to be near her children. All of which meant that they could marry legally under Terran Alliance law, keeping to a small ceremony as all of them had grown to somewhat detest the fame Izumi and Momo had gathered during the war. They would and did use it for good, but they didn’t really like the attention and the lack of privacy it brought them.

For now, as everyone gathered to congratulate the trio, they all basked in managing to get this warm moment to themselves, with all of those that mattered most to them gathered around. Thankfully, the Jirous and Yaoyorozus had been entirely supportive of their relationship…even if the Yaoyorozus were already talking about procedures and Quirks that could allow one or more of them to have children!

… … …

Setsuna yawned, covering her mouth with a detached hand, even as she stretched in a way only someone with her Quirk or a rubber spine could manage. She reflected idly on the fact she was still Guild Mistress, of all Japan, as she filed away the day’s paperwork. Honestly, she’d expected after the Rift War was over that the need for the Guild would die out. Instead, the Guild had absorbed part of the militia system, with the rest going to the police. While monster hunting was still a thing, and likely would be for years yet, the Guild was slowly transitioning into a broader organization under her and Mina. One that both acted as a replacement for the old HPSC, tying Hero agencies together, and provided manpower for larger Heroic operations.

That they were also being approached as a sort of temp agency to act as intermediates between people with useful Quirks and jobs that could use them, was admittedly a bit more unexpected. That was Mina’s work, with the pink girl having regained at least some of her zest for life and decided that she wasn’t going to ‘let the Guild die.’ Taking advantage of loosening laws about Quirk Usage, she’d gotten the Guild in on the process of licensing people for public use of various job-related Quirks. Healers, performers, and even those with Quirks that helped build new things. All could now work through the Guild to connect with the people that needed them. With the Guild acting as guarantor for both ends of the contract.

Setsuna didn’t hate it, even if it certainly wasn’t what she’d thought she would be doing with her life. If nothing else, the idea taking on a life of its own seemed to have pulled Mina back from the brink, for which she could only be grateful. Though she still hadn’t managed to get her friend-with-benefits to consider dating again. Oh well, those benefits were nice anyway, even if the two of them didn’t really click romantically. Bakugo had chilled out somewhat since becoming Japan’s number one Raid Team Leader and Toru had been hinting that she wanted to bring someone else into their relationship. Maybe she could push Mina that way? Well, something would work out, sooner or later, she was sure…

… … …

-Ten Years After War’s End-

Chief Administrator Saiko Intelli smiled as she hugged 21O to her. The android-woman blushed but didn’t resist, still not quite used to public displays of affection from her human, despite the fact they’d been married for several years. Intelli’s position as the person in charge of all civilian space going traffic and habitats of the Sol system had gotten them a front row seat in the observation area for Doctors Midoriya and Yaoyorozu’s latest test.

The two women hadn’t been content with their work during the Rift War, going on to push boundaries in a dozen fields. Not just space travel and the science of Quirk Energy, but everything from medicine to agriculture as well. Though, admittedly, almost all of it came back to their understanding and development of the Quirk Energy field. They had, for example, managed to replicate a Quirk that could rewind the state of an organic object in order to develop a near-universal trauma healing device…as well as reverse aging.

Of course, they’d never left off pushing forward with space exploration. In fact, as a ‘cure’ for old age had been found, they’d only emphasized all the more strongly how important it would be in the future. The Earth wasn’t anywhere near capacity…right now. The Quirk Wars and Era of Chaos, then the Rift War just for good measure, had reduced human population to the point that they weren’t exactly running out of room on good old Terra.

Yet, with age no longer being guaranteed to shuffle people off like clockwork, sooner or later, overpopulation would be an issue. Colonization of the moon, as well as fledgling colonies now on Mars, were a partial answer…but Izumi and Momo had never been the type to think so small. Which is what today’s test was all about. Out the viewport everyone could see their latest brainchild, a starship with hard emphasis on ‘star.’ As in, it was meant to travel them on more than a local level.

She was, in fact, here to watch them test a protype FTL drive. One they apparently had high confidence in. Just as she reflected on that, amazed as always with what the two were capable of, Momo stood up from where she’d been hunched over a console with Izumi. She turned to the crowd with a brilliant smile and spoke.

“Thank you all for coming here today! As you all know, today is the remote test of our potential Faster Than Light drive, which uses principles of dimensional transference learned from studying Rifts, to potentially fold space through a higher dimensional, allowing for apparent FTL travel. This has, notably, already succeeded in small scale testing. This test, using the corvette-sized Fleetwing, is to confirm the technology scales.”

There were murmurs in the crowd at that. Apparently, some of those in the observation booth weren’t aware that this had worked at small scale already. Which was fair, given that the pair of geniuses had kept that fact fairly quiet while modifying Fleetwing.

“Without farther ado, the test is to begin in thirty seconds! So I suggest you pay attention.”

That got more startled noises, as everyone abruptly sat up at attention, Momo ignoring them all to turn and face the viewport. The entire test was automated, and a timer had appeared with her announcement, so it was merely a matter of a tense, excited half minute before…something like the Rifts everyone was familiar with was projected before the ship. Yet, its appearance was different, almost mirror or gem like instead of a chaotic spill of light. Fleetwing surged toward it…and vanished. Everyone waited with bated breath.

“Contact! Quantum-comm buoy 12 is reporting arrival of Fleetwing! Total elapsed time…1.37 seconds. Confirmed, effective Faster Than Light transit!”

Intelli’s smile was nearly as huge as Momo and Iuzmi’s were. After all, she understood just how big that simply statment was. The target had been just a bit past the orbit of Mars. Not where the planet was now, but on its orbital track. It had started not too far from Lagrange 3. Meaning a trip that would have taken Light over twelve minutes…had been crossed in 1.37 seconds. That wasn’t just minorly faster than light. It was a major FTL leap.

The two geniuses had done it again, and suddenly the very stars were open to mankind at last. The future tomorrow held was looking brighter than Intelli had ever imagined, and she knew the two she considered responsible for it. Now, she just needed to see if she could get tickets to ride the first ship that went extra-solar to explore the galaxy, current position be damned. She wasn’t going to miss the next great adventure of humanity if she had anything to say about it…

<<The End>>

A/N 1: That's all folks! I admit I'm not entirely happy with the Epilogue and may come back to expand it someday, but otherwise this story is now complete. The second fanfic I've ever gotten all the way to the finish line! If you enjoyed the story, remember I have several more still ongoing! Here at Scribblehub that includes: Stripper with a System, Why Was There No Truck?!, A Very Confused Pokemon Adventure, Harry Potter: Pandora's Box, Can One Displaced Hero Save a Galaxy?, and One Piece: Halfway Broken! The last two of which are nearly the same size as this entire fic...at their halfway points :-p. For those that want the most up-to-date versions of those stories, I do run a P-atreon Page to keep myself in energy drinks, pizza, and a place to sleep. Support is always appreciated and you can find the list to it in my profile!

For now, I hope that all of you enjoyed My Hero Automata! It's been a fun ride!