Author's Note: I'd like to thank all of you for reading and critiquing my story, it means a lot to me. I normally don't like to ask for reviews but they do help me find and fix errors in my chapters so if you have anything to say about the story, just say it, good or bad. You may have also noticed that the frequencies of my updates have slowed which, unfortunately, will continue to be an issue in the foreseeable future as I've almost run out of backlogged chapters to add so they'll now be going up real time unlike the others. Hopefully you can bear with me and keep reading despite these problems. Thanks.
Chapter 11: Changes
"We have to pull out! There's just too many of them to handle down here!" Didact stood in the rear of the war room, partially hidden in the shadows of the towering pillars that arced over the room and connected on the other side. In the center was a large table with a multitude of holographic displays feeding the Demons real time data on the current operation. This was the same room that Didact had first been introduced to the Flood almost two months prior but he was now on the other side of the equation as he watched silently. The basic layout of the floor plan was that of an upper case "T." Rows of terminals were arranged in a grid formation from the entrance to a few feet away from the main table. On the other side of the main holographic projector was a long vaulted hallway, its walls made of floor to ceiling windows that flooded it with the golden light of sunset before leading to a small patio at the end, affording a breathtaking view of the city from one of the tallest buildings. Five Demons were arranged around the table and watched the displays intently. The main view was an enormous sphere representing the planet in question, green triangles moving around serving as markers for the friendly troops. It was an organized mess as ships repositioned themselves to withdraw their troops while still trying to keep themselves safe from the surface. Many smaller screens hovered at eye level which gave much more detailed information on specific areas of the conflict.
"We need more air support over Houin, they're being swarmed," one of the Demons said in the direction of the terminals. A flurry of activity erupted from the technicians manning the stations as they quickly relayed the commands to the fleet. Houin was one of the largest exporters of the Deuterium gas used in the ships' engines and the loss of the city would quickly be felt throughout, mainly by civilians.
"Sir, we've lost contact with C and C." Silence filled the room and Didact looked over at the tech who relayed the information, his face showing the tension and gravity of the news.
"What the fuck happened to it?" one of the Demons responded angrily. He only shook his head and stared back at the Demon. "Kill command. Crack the planet open."
"Sirs…I need you to confirm the command with code verification." Didact slowly got up as he listened to the sudden change in the plan. Bordering on horrified, he stood still as he waited for the other two Demons to input their codes to confirm the order. Two of them immediately entered their codes into the computer and looked up as the third held his hand a few inches from the hologram that had appeared in front of him. Didact didn't know him very well, only occasionally speaking to the man whenever there was downtime during a meeting but they were the same age and had many things in common. His scarred face moved and twitched ever so slightly as he thought over everything, his brown eyes darting back and forth. Looking over, he stared at the other two Demons who were becoming visibly agitated that he hadn't backed up their order. Didact took a few more steps and stopped when their eyes locked. It only took a minute for everyone in the room to be gazing at Didact, dressed in his unimposing uniform sans coat and cover, just his black slacks, dress shirt, and tie on.
"We still have a chance to save the planet. There's no need doom billions more…" What he said was obviously directed at Didact but he couldn't find a response and only stood silently, his lips parted slightly. "For God's sake we still have troops on the ground!" His shout echoed throughout the room but it was again followed by silence as everyone looked at him.
"The battle's lost…" Didact finally said, surprised that he spoke. Nodding slightly to himself, he put his hands on his hips and looked down at the ground before tapping his foot a little bit. "The battle's lost…" In the background he heard the quiet tones of the third code being entered into the computer.
"Core penetration in conjunction with orbital bombardment. I want this thing in a million pieces by the end of the day."
The sun was sitting low on the horizon, a golden orb blazing through the towers and casting long shadows everywhere. Leaning on the railing of the patio outside of the war room, Didact just stared without thinking about anything for more than a few seconds.
"I heard Houin fell earlier." Didact didn't move when Absolve spoke to him, brushing up against the railing.
"Yeah, they blew Toru apart to keep it from falling into the Flood's hands." Didact didn't say anything for a few seconds. "They're dropping left and right. What we're doing isn't working."
"What is it that we're doing?"
"Nothing. That's the problem." Looking over at Absolve he shook his head in disgust and paced a few feet. "And this suspension bullshit has me stuck here while we lose planet after planet."
"I warned you when you left…"
"I understand that!" Didact took a few deep breaths and stared back at Absolve who pushed away from the railing. "But what would've happened had I not shown up? It might've spread all over the frontier worlds before we got a grip on it. At least by doing what we did, it was slowed down."
"That attitude is going to guarantee you're stuck here and not out there fighting!" Absolve clenched his jaw and stared Didact down. The two men were locked together in a battle of the minds as they stood motionless.
"I'm not going to renounce what I did. I won't give them the satisfaction."
"Damn your pride! You have to play their game by their rules! They don't give a shit about you and what you did. There's more than enough Demons to replace you and truth be told, there's a lot who would replace you in a heartbeat and you know it." The Demon Absolve shook his head slightly and pushed his jaw out in what was best described as a gesture of disgust at Didact. No words came to Didact's lips and Absolve scoffed at this and started to walk away from but stopped. Staring into the vaulted hall of the war room, he didn't look at Didact as he spoke, his eyes glued to a spot about thirty or forty feet out from him. "You need to get your priorities in line. You need to decide which is the more important fight." The only sound that Didact could hear was Absolve's armored boots clacking on the thick glass and metal floor of the chambers. The words that Absolve spoke echoed inside of his head as he tried to collect his thoughts and focus on but he couldn't manage to do it, returning to his railing to look out over the city he was content to just let them run rampant.
"Your sins will not be forgiven. Your place in history will be a spot that can never be removed." His eyes snapped open and focused on the dark ceiling above him, a sharp breath cutting through the silent night that surrounded Didact. Wiping his face his hand which was clammy itself, he blinked a few times as sleep quickly floated away from him and his mind and body became alert, the unfortunate side effect of being a soldier his entire life. Despite his best efforts, Tyro had woken up to his nightmare and put her left hand onto his chest and moved it up to his shoulder, slowly rubbing to calm him down. Lying on her stomach, she looked over at him with her head still in the pillow; her blond hair tangled up around her face as it fell across her mouth and almost covered it completely.
"You need to talk about it Didact. Bottling it up inside only makes it worse, and this is the third time this week. I'm starting to lose count of how many times it's kept you awake."
"I don't know what the dream is," he lied, still staring at the ceiling, the sheets uncomfortably moist on his back. Flopping his arm back, he laid it across his forward but didn't say anything.
"After two months you still don't know what it's about? Honey…I understand if you don't want to talk to me about it, but you need to open up to someone." Maintaining his silence, he twirled his tongue inside of his mouth as he contemplated what to do next. Taking a longer than normal blink, he finally made a decision.
"There's two people in my dream, but they're infected by the Flood except I can see their faces perfectly clearly. Well…only one of the faces actually, Lieutenant Hargrove who I met when we were at Temple. He was killed during the evacuation but we couldn't bring the bodies with us so it got left behind for the Flood. But I'm in a city, and there's blood everywhere, puddles of it in craters and holes in the ground. And there's this voice that always speaks to me…but it's in my head, drilling in through my skull and through my brain." Sweat started to form on his body as he began to speak, his right hand fiddling with his fingers over his head as he moved the arm back into a more comfortable position. "I've never heard or felt anything like it before. And every time it speaks it's something different but it's always scolding me in a sense. Always telling me I've done something wrong."
"And it's always the same?" Tyro finally asked after a few moments of silence, her tone different than before, more inquisitive than a caring curiosity.
"Pretty much, the only thing that really changes is the voice." She let out a small sigh and rolled onto her stomach, pulling the sheets up to her shoulder.
"Some of the scientists on the program have reported having these kinds of dreams after coming into contact with the Flood. A voice that speaks to them, but this is the first time that it's 'scolded' someone. We still don't even know what causes it. It's possible there's a hidden predisposition to this sort of nightmare after contact with them, or it's also possible they relayed their dreams to colleagues before reporting it to us which may have planted the seed. Either way…this is disturbing. I wish I could do more for you though. Is there anything else you want to talk about, anything that happened on the mission?" Tyro had long since learned to not ask him about his missions and what happened on them. Early in their relationship, before they had gotten married, she would press for details about what he had done and if she could help him get over the tough things he had seen. After the subsequent arguments and misunderstandings, she learned that it was best for him to tell her when he felt comfortable. This was a different situation though and Didact's lack of an immediate response was proof that this was something he was willing to open up about.
"There was a sniper who had been covering us the entire time, and I had made it a point to rescue her before we left. She didn't make it though, the Flood swarmed her position and she was killed…or infected. That moment, as well as watching the Lieutenant die, won't leave my mind and they're the ones I see in my dream every night."
"You've never let deaths keep you up at night; you've always learned from them and made yourself stronger. Don't change that or they'll eat you up inside." Nodding lightly, he felt Tyro nestle up against him and rest her head and left hand on his chest. Still awake, he could feel her breathing slow slightly and her body go slightly limp as she fell back to sleep. Unable to close his eyes, he remained still with his eyes focused on the intricate designs that had been lightly etched into the ceiling.
Standing in the kitchen, Didact sipped on a hot cup of coffee and watched the news report hover in the living room as the enormous holographic display illuminated the room with a soft blue hue.
"The colony Toru was quarantined and cleansed earlier after it was found that the plague that has been spreading across the frontier worlds was discovered there. Government officials have refused to comment on the alleged loss of three ships used during the cleansing; only stating that the entire incident is under investigation. No information has been provided on the nature of the plague although third-parties have stated that the containment protocols being taken are having little effect on its spread. With me now is…" Smirking a little bit at the anchor and her supposed "expert", Didact turn the news off and set his coffee cup into the sink. As he started to walk away, the holographic display chirped at him twice and fell silent. Stopping to make sure he heard it correctly, the display chirped twice again while a small alert popped up and floated in the air. Walking over towards the display he looked at the name on the message and opened it immediately.
"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but I need to see you immediately." Didact was glad to hear Captain Edos' voice over the speakers in his room. It had been weeks since they had lost talked and even longer since they had spoken face to face.
"Absolutely. Wherever you want to meet I'll be there."
"I'm actually nearing your residence now, is it alright if I stop by there?" Didact found it odd that the Captain was so far away from the military and government buildings but didn't feel the need to question him.
"Of course. Unfortunately I'm not too presentable at the moment," he said, looking down at his bare chest and black night pants. "If I'm not ready you can just let yourself in."
Quickly taking a shower, Didact stepped out and dried himself off, pulling the towel across the myriad of scars on his body gingerly. He put on a pair of dark slacks and button down shirt that was free of wrinkles and walked out back out into the kitchen. Standing in the living room was Edos in his uniform, staring out the windows at the impressive view that they had.
"Hello," Didact said and walked into the kitchen. Edos turned around slowly and immediately the Demon saw something different. Replacing the silver wings on his shoulder boards was a single silver star and a thick gold band on his sleeve cuffs. A sword hung low on his waist with an assortment of tassels and ribbons hanging off of the hilt, a dark red sash wrapped around his waist underneath his belt. Holding his white cover, he removed his white gloves and tucked them underneath his armpit. "They promoted you…"
"Aye…sir. I only learned of it this morning and was unable to inform you of the ceremony…well, it was hardly a ceremony. The only people present were a few other officers and councilors."
"It's understandable. They wouldn't have wanted me there anyways." Didact felt a pang of sadness and forced a smile. "Congratulations. It was overdue anyways."
"They're giving me command of my own battle group as well as my own ship, an Aggressor class that was just completed a few weeks ago. A little less ceremonious than it sounds though, she was an orphan without a captain."
"What's her name?" Didact asked quickly.
"The Halcyon," he replied slowly. Neither said anything as they stood motionless. Didact finally broke the awkward silence and barrier that had seemed to have been brought up around each other.
"I'm sure you're going to want to get up there and get everything situated as soon as you can. There's a lot of work involved." Leading him to the door, Didact knew that they would never look at each other the same way again as the teacher-pupil relationship they shared had been broken. Shaking hands firmly, Didact turned away the minute they let go of each other, the three part door locking closing and locking with a dull thud.
