The tharsis let Slaine have a glimpse into many different futures. He's seen his demise many times, as well his success. Each time, it's his course of actions here, at the moonbase in the midst of the declaration of the all out attack that determine the course of the war. All eyes are on him so many are depending on him, judging, hoping. She is watching-

The boy without dreams had come so far compelled to fulfill the dreams of those around him. For Harklight an era for those not blessed with noble birth. Who need to sweat blood to just get a life of servitude. For lemrina to be free and bask in the pleasure of hers being taken over by a Terran dog and bastard child they have abandoned. For saazbaum who has tried his hardest to cultivate the dead lands of hers all for naught but to be witness to the corruption of the state of vers and a desire to change it. The moonbase. The counts on earth and in space who believe in earthspace..The boy carried so many dreams and ambitions that sometimes to emptiness disappeared. At some points he dare say he felt like he had meaning. Purpose. A resposibilty to all these people to finish what he started. A responsibility that never in his wildest dreams he would gain.

As he walked through the empty halls of the hallway deep in thought, he happened upon Princess Lemrina. She was studying his features and carefully said,"

.

"What is truly important is the imperial family's blood. So as long as you still have aldnoah activation privileges, can you not make your dream come true?" Slaine faltered for a moment and firmly, she added,

"I'm not going anywhere."

I can't and don't want to, anyway.

It hurt for her to say this, she loathed her blood, she hated being a tool and she hated that still distant look in his eyes. Part of the reason she revealed everything to Asseylum in person was to personally be a part in driving them apart. She wanted him to be rid of her, for her to stop making him waver with a single word. She thought she achieved that when he told her she had no power over him as a citizen not of earth or vers-they were all earthspace now, after all.

But even now when the now empress made her stance clear, he looks so resigned. Too resigned. But for a moment there was a spark. Lemrina wants to find hope in it.

"So please,"

Don't take this away from me, don't leave me.

Slaine had been silent for a few heavy moments and Lemrina looked up at him. What she saw wasn't new to her, having been around the Count for so long, but it was a welcome change from the lost and conflicted expression he wore a few moments before. "Princess Lemrina…." Slaine whispered as looked at her thoughtfully, studying her. Some part of him didn't want to let go either. He couldn't have come this far if it weren't for everyone else. He'd killed a man, his father, someone who also imprinted onto him and whose ideals he'd adopted. Killed him in revenge for her. But he loved him too. And he continued his legacy and lies not only because there was no other way but because some part of him fell into this role and wanted to be here, to make it up to Saazbaum. But there were personal feelings involved too. To gain power, to affect people, to torment the martians who seethe at the thought of a terran coming this far. He remembered Marylcian and how he surprised himself with the hate that welled up inside him as the other count derided him near his final moments.

"Are you," his gaze was drifting from her but he refocused, "proposing a counter announcement"? he looked her straight in the eye and she looked back. "You wish to go against her highness' wishes?"

"Would it be any different from before?" she asked.

Slaine sighed. It was true. There was no going back from where he had come to, after all. Asseylum would never forgive him, he'd decided that since she was shot. But nevertheless

"Such a move would start a civil war on vers...," the count continued, eyes looking down, "we would cause a huge rift."

Lemrina was overjoyed, but she wouldn't show it. He was considering her proposition. To continue with her. To not leave. Both of them were just too similar, bereft with grudges, hate, loneliness and desperation to find solace. She'd let go of most of her grudges with meeting Asseylum. She realized someone like her was to be pitied rather than envied. But she still wanted her solace no matter what.

"Indeed, but that's the price to pay for a revolution, is it not? The imperial faction won't bend to our will anymore. If we leave with Asseylum as the only option, the only activation factor…it's clear how this will go." Lemrina couldn't help but smile at the look on his face now. It was different from all other expressions he'd worn in her company. "Does he look like this in battle?" she thought.

Slaine's countenance was deathly serious but still with a challenging smile. Lemrina would accept everything about him, he had the full support of everyone here and many of the orbital knights would cave to the one who lets them get what they truly want. Slaine didn't want to let all these people down again but most of all….he didn't want to let go.

He began walking toward Lemrina and knelt down before her, blood red coattails on the floor. Lemrina looked down at him as he took her delicate hands hands in his, his hands are soft and warm she thought. They gazed at each other steadily, and he said

"I am sorry for all the wrongs I have done you, princess." the regret was evident in his eyes. "But I mean it when I say this: I will do everything to make it up….to you." he bowed his head, his narrow shoulders shaking, and Lemrina bent down to hold him. She would have him now, she would be his solace.

Before she knew it she was crying too.

"Count Troyard! What is the meaning of this?!" Barouhcruz shouted as Slaine and Lemrina entered the docking area. He was shocked the princess just married someone out of the blue and decried the war in the midst of it, it's was all too strange.

"Milord Slaine…" Harklight looked at him worriedly.

"Lemrina and I-we have an announcement to make," he looked to Harklight, "I want this addressed to all orbital knights, get everything ready."

Barouhcruz mentally prepared himself for another bombshell and looked at the young count tiredly. He likely wasn't getting an answer right now.

The new speech began with Slaine, he noted while looking over at them. There was a determination in his eyes and he remembered what he told Mazuurek "don't challenge an olympian sandstorm. No one can stop Troyard's rise." Perhaps he was right, there was always something different about this terran, something tenacious. "No normal person could stand this scrutiny and backlash and still look so proud, even if it is a facade", he contemplated.

"The empress has abandoned you, she wishes for you to forgo all you have fought for and goes as far as to chastise all your actions, all you have lost. Can peace be obtained so readily in the midst of so much bloodshed? Can you all simply give up and return to the dead red planet? Or will you continue to grasp that at that blue radiance?

I am not abandoning you. Follow me and fight against this rigid, uncaring monarchy, or succumb to their whims."

Slaine looks to the side and Lemrina emerges.

"My name is Lemrina Vers Envers." She extended her hands and a white light emitted from them, evidence of her possessing the factor.

"I am the illegitimate daughter of Gilzeria. Abandoned by this royal family to live in the shadows, but not anymore. For the sake of vers, for the sake of a better future on earth, for the sake of earthspace, let us fight and keep what we have have obtained."

She looked to Slaine and they said in unison,

"Let us fight for a new era!"

Barouhcruz didn't realize his mouth was agape until after the transmission ended.