Chapter 20 – The decision of a lifetime

Seth sat in his comfortable, leather chair in his office spinning slowly in circles. Ever since he came back from the mission, at the mine, two days ago he had been completely distracted. The League of Ruling Companies paid Seth a tidy sum for his job. While they gave him a big bonus because he didn't irradiate the mine with the Primal Armour's Kojima Particles, they deducted a fraction of the bonus due to the collateral damage. Seth wasn't too bothered by this, the cut from the bonus was meagre compared to what he made overall. After the repairs were made to his Next, he would use the remainder of the money to repair Silent Howl. It was a top priority to get the Next moving again and to get the fourth Lynx back into action. While Jonas' arm was still broken, it was healing quickly and Seth reckoned that the time between the Next being fixed and Jonas' arm healing itself would be short.

But all these facts were insignificant compared to what was on his mind. The Captain of the force, in the mine, Syren he called himself, had tried to recruit Seth into Line Ark. Even though he knew he was going to die, he didn't waver or falter and his conviction was nothing short of remarkable. Seth respected this in the highest regard. Just before Seth killed Syren, he promised he would consider joining Line Ark. He couldn't help but think that this was a mistake. Seth could just say that a promise to a dead man meant nothing but his conscience had no intention of letting him think that. And so he considered the proposal, it's all he did.

He grabbed his notebook from which he had jotted down the pros and cons of leaving, starting with the pros. Seth considered many reasons for joining the city state. He wanted to change the order of things for the better. Line Ark would give him that chance, and with their money behind him, his Next would be just as good as White Glint's. The thought of the firepower of his Next coupled with White Glint's complexity, performance and style made him grin with eagerness. In short, he believed that joining Line Ark and invoking their ideals on a dead world was what he considered justice against the Companies for their years of tyranny, and he'd have the power. There were many other insignificant reasons for joining, some of which were petty but Seth wasn't going to let any reason escape him.

Then he glanced over at the cons and grimaced. The cons, whilst fewer were glaringly powerful. If he joined Line Ark, he would leave all he knew in S.H.E.L.L behind. His comrades and his girlfriend, he would leave them all. And whilst he believed that they could handle it on their own, he would miss them. He decided that if he left, he would take nothing but his Next and a drop ship. Everything else would be left to them. He reckoned the only people who might go with him would be Takaru and maybe Jonas. Both of them would need convincing, Jonas more than Takaru. But they might go with him in the end. But Ellysia wouldn't stand for it, she would never join anyone who opposed the Cradle system, even if they meant it no harm. If he left, he was sure she would hate him for it. He also noted that as a member of Line Ark he may have to fight his former comrades. This worried him, he didn't want to fight the people he lived with and loved. The final con was that Line Ark was still establishing its power base, and whilst powerful, the League could still crush it like an ant. There would be some apprehension while he was there, always watching out for the League, but as more people joined, it would get stronger.

Either way, he believed that war would soon be inevitable, another war which would decimate the Earth worse than the Lynx war. He had to pick a side.

Everyone, in the complex they called home, noticed that something seemed 'off' about him. They all noticed how distracted he was and how he couldn't focus, and how he seemed to regret something. The other three Lynx all asked what had happened on the mission but he just kept saying that nothing out of the ordinary occurred and then waved them off. To everyone, it was almost like Seth hated the confrontations and that he was obviously hiding something, but no-one could squeeze it out of him. They tried to get what they could out of him all of the first day since his return, now the second day had hit and they were more reluctant to try because of previous failures. Only Ellysia had the tenacity to keep trying but even she began to give up. It's like they thought he would get over whatever he encountered and that in a few more days he'd be back to himself. People speculated and there were rumours, but none of them hit the mark. Seth came to the conclusion that it would be best for them to say all they'd like, however the truth should be kept until the right moment.

He got bored of spinning slowly in his chair, so he thought a walk was in order. Rising out of his chair, the rush of blood to his brain made him stumble slightly so he waited for it to subside, and then made his way to the surface lift next to the gigantic freight elevator. He didn't realise it at first but he was being more cautious than before, taking extra care not to bump into anyone that might start asking questions. The thought of skulking around his own home frustrated him but he didn't want to have to keep working his way out of confrontations until he was ready to spill the news, it was better that he didn't see anyone at all, at least he thought so.

He made it to the surface elevator without bumping into anyone interesting, he passed a couple of people but they simply nodded or just uttered a word of greeting. The elevator rose up into the wide world, when it got to the top, Seth pulled the gates apart and walked out. The view made him gasp in awe. The sun was just setting over the horizon and he could see it perfectly. Surrounding the lowering orange of the sun was a bloody crimson sky, a few clouds dotted here and there only served to make it look like they tried to futilely repel the blood as it spilled over them. Seth wasn't one for sunsets but this was astonishing for him to see. The dreary world he had gotten used to, always having the grey clouds hang over him was suddenly washed away from his memory as the red sky seared his mind. After seeing what he saw, he understood why Jonas liked sunsets so much. He also made him think as to why he never noticed sky like this before, if he had, he didn't remember in the slightest.

He stood there for a while not moving, just watching as the setting sun changing the colour of the sky, settling down his mind. He began to think more clearly, however just when he thought everything was going well, he heard the elevator descend suddenly. He jumped and turned around, startled by the sudden noise. He took a deep breath and took in the prospect that someone would be joining him. He rapidly thought about who it could be. He hoped it wouldn't be Ellysia, the thought of him leaving her to pursue his ideals would make him feel guilty, he wouldn't be able to look her in the eyes if he saw her. He didn't mind if it was Takaru, he was laid back enough to not want to ask questions. And if it was Jonas, he wasn't so sure how to feel about him. At the bottom, he faintly heard the elevator begin to rise again, whoever was in it was approaching.

The elevator had finished its accent and the gates opened, revealing Jonas complete with his arm in the sling, Seth let out a small sigh. Jonas looked at Seth with a puzzled look.

"Oh hey Seth, Why are you up here?"

"Just watching the sunset."

"Since when did you like sunsets?" Jonas' puzzlement grew.

"Since now, apparently." Jonas heard this and approached him, standing by his side.

"Sunsets are cool." Seth just grunted an affirmative. "But why are you here? You didn't come to watch the sunset like I wanted to? You came for a different reason."

"I just came for some fresh air, jeez." Seth grew irritable. This is exactly what he didn't want, questions.

"I know what's wrong with you, you may not realise it but it's obvious to everyone." Just hearing this sent a jolt through Seth's entire being, raising his sense of worry. He tried his best to keep his composure and settled with a hefty sigh.

"Go on then. Let's hear this obvious reason." Jonas turned to him, and Seth was surprised to see some concern in his expression.

"You're worried about Line Ark. You've been worried about them since the beginning, everyone knows it. You told us about this choice we would all have to make, which side we'd have to choose. Then you do a mission to fight them, and you come back all reclusive and secretive. You told us you believe in their ideals. I don't know what happened on your mission, but I think that you're actually considering going to them. And the choice between us" Jonas motioned to everything around him "or them, is tearing you apart." Seth stood there wide eyed at the revelation that he already knew what was wrong. He gathered himself with a couple of deep breaths which Jonas took as a sign that he was right.

"Right, so you all know what's wrong with me. What about you Jonas, who have you picked huh?" It was obvious to Jonas that Seth was annoyed at the fact he had been found out and it occurred to him that this question may have been out of spite, all he did was shrug.

"I haven't, I don't need to. I figured that I'm doing fine right here. Right now, this coming war doesn't affect me, why get involved. Besides, I don't think I could join the same team as the guy that nearly killed me." Jonas clenched his fist tight "And I'll have my payback, I'll have to fight my fear someday."

"I suppose that's understandable."

"There's something you must know though. Ellysia knows the reason as to why you are the way you are. We all discussed it." Seth shuddered at the news.

"And?"

"And she doesn't want you to go of course. You can guess why." Seth's head lowered.

"And what about you?"

"I believe that we all have to do what we gotta do. Takaru, thinks the same. I may even respect you more for putting your ideals into action. If you do go though, try not to fight us. I'd hate to have to take you on. We'd decline any mission that has you as a target of course."

"But I'm guessing that White Glint is fair game?" Seth interjected, making Jonas grin.

"White Glint is fair game." Jonas patted Seth on the shoulder, and walked off back towards the elevator. Seth watched him walk off before turning to the now quickly fading sunset. Seth looked back towards the sun which had half disappeared beyond the horizon, now with a better feeling of conviction than ever. To know that at least two of his three comrades had his back, to an extent. Now with a big smile on his face, he decided to just drink in the scenery and let his thoughts drift.

The next day was a slow one at best. The invigoration that swept through the base on account of Seth's mission giving them all work to do had vanished. Now people had gotten back to mulling about trying to keep themselves entertained. Seth had spread the word to the base about him wanting his Next , the Linebreaker completely repainted. While at the time it was a dark green, he wanted all the paint stripped and replaced with a primary light grey coat and a light blue as the secondary colour. No-one quite understood the reason for wanting the colour change but many people in the base were happy to do it as it saved them from a boring day of doing nothing. Luckily, they had plenty of paint about that matched what he wanted, meaning that he planned these colours with what they had available in mind. So everyone loaded the spray guns and got to work.

Seth had also ordered the parts necessary to completely repair Silent Howl. Jonas had personally hand picked the parts he wanted, many being an upgrade on what he previously used. The amount of parts ordered were about half what was needed to build a completely new Next. A new torso and new legs were bought as well as many parts that resided in the Core. A new Generator to power the Next and a new Fire-Control-System to control the targeting systems were also added. It would be a few days before they arrived.

Seth went around the base, there was a lot of work to do. While he wasn't sure which faction to choose, he wanted to be sure he had all of his loose ends tied up just in case he did choose to go with Line Ark. And while he was sure of his reasons for going, the reasons for staying niggled at the back of his mind. He had spoken to all three Lynx earlier that morning, where he tried to indirectly approach the topic of him leaving, being extra careful around Ellysia. The talk with Takaru was easy, whilst he seemed really indifferent, he said that Seth was not pivotal to their survival and they could do just fine without him. This hit his pride slightly but Takaru's confidence made Seth believe that they could function without him all the more. Jonas repeated more of what he said the day before, but added a 'you can always come back' remark that eased Seth. He would always have a home at S.H.E.L.L Central, which he was sure of. However, when Seth presented the idea of them joining him in his possible venture, they both declined.

The talk with Ellysia however, was strained and difficult. She didn't want him to go and she made it plainly obvious. However she didn't shout at him, instead she took a softer approach, which to Seth's annoyance, found that it worked a lot more than her screaming. Her head stayed down, she talked in soft quiet tones and Seth swore that he could see a tear at one point but he put it down to a trick of the mind. He told Ellysia that if he left he would return when he had made a positive change to the world. No matter how little, he would return and let his friends and loved ones reap the benefits he had fought for. He assured her that his possible disappearance would no way be permanent. Ellysia responded with a mumble Seth couldn't make out and then she hugged him and walked away, her head hung low. This hurt him more than any argument they had ever had.

He walked back to the Linebreaker to check on the progress of the new paint scheme and he liked what he saw. The legs was now a light grey with deep azure lines and patches on the smaller details. The grey really made the blue stand out. He needed to think, and he needed a mindless task to help him do it. So he walked up to one of the crewmen who turned and smiled.

"Hey Seth, like the work we've done?"

"It looks awesome, mind if I help? I need a brush." Seth said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Huh? Sure, brushes and guns are over there." The crewmen pointed to a workstation set up on the side of the Linebreaker's foot. Seth nodded and collected a brush and a pot of paint, along with a spray gun. He made his way to the catwalk that ran behind the Nexts where some crewmen were starting on the top half of the Next. As he approached them they all asked if he liked the job, he nodded and extended his thanks. Then he got to work of the back of the Linebreaker's left arm. He loaded the spray gun with paint and begun spraying.

The job should have taken days, but lots of people joined to help, only to leave after an hour or two and be replaced by more people, this caused the job to only take hours, it began in the morning and ended in the evening. He stood in front of the Linebreaker, now a bright shade of grey and deep azure. Some black detailing had been added too. The crew who had helped with the work were present as well, all of them taking in their accomplishment. An eerie silence was present, engulfing the room. The slightest noise reverberated across the entire docking bay. Seth thrusted his left arm into the air and shouted, causing the entire work force to jump and cheer. The mashed up echo of each cheer was deafening. When they began to quieten down, Seth turned around to face them.

"Thanks so much guys, I really appreciate your hard work." Everyone replied at the same time with their individual remarks, some said it was fine, some said that it was no problem, others just nodded. Seth once again threw his arm into the air.

"For S.H.E.L.L!" And once again the bay erupted into cheer. When it all died down, the people began to disperse, off to go and do their own things, Seth didn't move however. He stood in front of the Linebreaker and muttered.

"I'm going to miss you all, but once this world is a better place. I'll return. I'll return to live with you in the new world I help create." With that said, he turned around and walked off. He trudged through the base looking for the few people he needed to talk to. He walked up a door and knocked. A muffled female voice responded.

"Come in." Seth slid the door open and walked in, closing the door behind him. "Hey Seth, what's up?" Seth looked at the girl much younger than him. She had short ginger and a couple of freckles dotted her face.

"Hey Selina, I have a favour to ask you."

"You know you can ask me anything." Seth smiled at this response.

"Good, I need you to be at the docking hanger at three tomorrow morning. I need you to come alone." Selina eyed him curiously, there was an awkward silence before she nodded slowly. "Thanks Selina." He turned around and left the room. There was one other person to find, he wasn't sure where to find him. He had to check the register, on his computer in his office, after he found out what room he needed he trotted off towards it.

He got to the room and knocked on the door but there was no answer. He knocked again when someone snuck up behind him.

"Seth? What are you doing here?" Seth almost jumped of his skin at the surprise and turned to face the male voice. The man he looked at was older than him, in his late thirties at least.

"Ahh Barry, just the man I was looking for." The man looked at him strangely. "I'll cut to the chase, I require your piloting expertise. I need you to come to the docking bay at o three hundred hours tomorrow morning. Bring your most trusted co-pilot."

"Umm, okay."

"Thanks Barry." Seth slapped him on the shoulder and walked off leaving the bewildered drop ship pilot behind.

There were just a couple of things Seth believed he needed to do next, he walked toward his office and entered, shutting the doors behind him and locking them. He approached his deck, sat down and grabbed some paper and a pen and began writing.

The time quickly past, Seth got up from his bed and checked the time on the clock. With just half an hour before he was supposed to be at the docking bay, he had one last trip to make. He picked up his large bag carrying all his worldly possessions and made of for Ellysia's room. When he got there, he placed the bag on the floor and tested the door handle. It turned and the door gave way, allowing Seth to open it slightly. He poked his head in through the crack and saw that she was asleep. He entered as quietly as he could, being careful not to make a single sound. He took the letter from his pocket and placed it next to her on the small bedside table. He wanted so much to kiss her right now, but he didn't, as he was afraid he would wake her. After taking one more look at the woman he loved, he exited the room, closing it as quietly as he could. An almost silent click emanated from the door as he closed it shut. He left for his next destination, taking his bag with him.

Walking through the base, he was surprised to find it so quiet. He didn't pass a single soul on the way to the docking bay, which pleased him immensely. After getting there, he saw Selina who was early. He walked up to her and waved, where she waved in return. A look of confusion was etched all over her face.

"Seth, what's all this about?"

"I'll tell you in a moment. I'm just waiting on one more person." About five more minutes passed while they waited. As they waited, they saw a shadow emerge from one of the corridors. Seth saw Barry walk into the docking bay with a much younger, blonde haired man following him. They walked up to Seth and he saw that the two pilots were clearly annoyed.

"What's all this about Seth. This secrecy isn't good." Seth looked at all three people and took a deep breath.

"Basically, I'm joining Line Ark for a bit and I need you three to come with me." The three companions stood in shock as the news hit them square in the face. Selina shook her head.

"But why Seth, you built all this, why leave it behind you?"

"It's not permanent, but I need to do this. I want to change the world for the better, they can let me do it." The young man accompanying Barry spoke up.

"You're going to Line Ark, that's funny because I want to go there too." Barry glared at the young co-pilot. Seth nodded at the young man.

"I need you all to come with me. I'm only taking my Next and a drop ship. All the preparations are set, we just need to load up the Linebreaker and take off." Selina walked up to Seth and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"I can't do this Seth, leaving our home. I just can't do it, I can't follow you. I'm really, really sorry." Seth flung his arms around his operator and hugged her tightly.

"It's okay. I won't force you to come, I wanted to give you the option. I trust you with my life after all." Tears began to dribble down Selina's cheeks as she began to cry into his chest. "I'll be back real soon, when I have made a better world for all of you." Seth pushed her away as lightly as he could and turned to Barry. "What about you?" The pilot scowled at Seth.

"I'll do it but I don't like it. I won't be able to stop Josh from following you but he's not ready to pilot a drop ship on his own yet." Seth nodded.

"Thank you, all of you. Now we best get going before people come to find out what we're up to. I'll jump in the Linebreaker and you two prep the drop ship for launch." Seth gave Selina another hug. "And you take care of yourself." She just nodded.

"Yeah, you too."

On the other side of the base, Jonas was walking around. He was sweating which was always a symptom brought on by his White Glint nightmare. The nightmares had been affecting him the same as they always did. As he was walking down the hallway, to walk off the effects, when he passed someone he didn't know too well, however this man turned to him."

"Hey Jonas. Do you know what Seth is up to?"

"Uhh no. Why do you ask?"

"He's in the docking bay talking to a couple of people, all secret like."

"Hmm, I have no idea."

"Oh, no worries then." The man walked on passed him as he went about his business, leaving Jonas to ponder the conversation for a couple of seconds. Then a notion hit him and he ran off in the direction of the docking bay. As he was on the other side of the underground base, it would take him five minutes to get there.

He ran, perspiration glistening on his face, and with only one hand for balance, he made doubly sure of his footing which slowed him down. It occurred to Jonas that there were only one reason for a secret meeting, he was leaving.

He saw it, the last stretch of corridor before the docking bay. He picked up the pace and sprinted towards the end. When he made it into the docking bay he saw nothing. As he looked around he saw a big empty space where the Linebreaker used to stand, Jonas swore under his breath and ran towards the lift the rose up beside the freight elevator. He wasted no time jumping in when it opened.

Jonas tapped his foot impatiently as the lift ascended. As he got higher he could hear jet engines emanating from above him causing him to tap his foot faster.

Finally, he made it to the top, he swung the gates aside with his free hand and jumped out of the lift. Looking around he saw a drop ship taking off at the end of the runway. He was too late. He looked around and saw Seth's operator crying close to the freight elevator. He walked forwards, staring at the drop ship as it got smaller and smaller.

"Goodbye Seth. Good luck."

Later on that morning, Ellysia woke up and stretched. She and Seth sometimes slept in separate rooms. To be cooped up in an underground base everyday with the same people could get arduous after a while, so they had separate rooms so they could both have their own space. Ellysia swung her legs round and sat on the side of her bed, rubbing one hand down her face she saw a piece of paper in the corner of her eye. She eyed it curiously and reluctantly picked it up. Her heart rate tripled, and she feared that she knew what was coming. Slowly, she unfolded the letter and began reading. She didn't make it past the first line before she started to cry.