Corso had made it to Sonny and Callie's place. There was no telling how long Sonny would be held up at Shiloh Security. Chissian military was not easily fooled. With Technoid's pardon, Sonny couldn't be touched by them legally. Genesis was out of their jurisdiction. Sonny couldn't be arrested for anything. Corso hoped Sonny wouldn't push things too far. Chissian military were like himself; easily angered. If they figured Sonny had played them, that would be bad wondered why they were here for him now? All these years, the Chissian military never tracked him down. What happened? What was the real motivation behind this? Corso could only think of one thing; Maurice Miller. As a former executive linked with Technoid's military force, he could still have access to the system and be able to pull up his old files and send that information to the Chissian military. But why? Why go after him? Then, it struck him. Maurice Miller did not give a rat's ass about him. This was part of his revenge on Sonny by striking at those he cared for. Either that or getting Sonny to surrender. If Miller captured Sonny again, Corso didn't want to know what would happen. The protection around Callie, Mei,D'Jok and baby Iris Helena,was ironclad. Not for him, though. So if they wanted to get to Sonny… he would be their best bet.
Corso realised he needed to get inside the house and into the Panic Room. As soon as the coast was clear, Sonny would arrive and he had to explain things.

"This is a real mess. I just hope you notice you're in danger. I can't protect you while things are like this. But I will find what I need. Artie, Bennett, you need to keep an eye on him now."

Artie wiped his forehead. It had been hours before Chissian military stopped harassing them. He looked at Bennett.
"Finally, I thought they would hold us up for days." He said. Bennett nodded.
"I don't get it. Why now? They haven't looked for Corso in years. I didn't think Chissian military had any authority here on Genesis." Bennett looked at Sonny, who was looking at what little information he had been able to find.
"I agree. It's very odd timing. Chissian Military has no authority here. This is Technoid territory. That makes me curious why they came for him." Sonny said without looking up from his screen.

"Speaking of which, where's Corso?" Artie said, looking around.
"I ordered him to go into hiding. We need to look at all the available information on this. I suspect Corso knows more than he told us. Mostly because it's classified military information. Corso was part of a Special Forces unit. To find out more, we need access to files above our clearance level. Do any of you have any high ranking military clearance?" Sonny asked, looking at all of his people.
A few hands were raised. Sonny sighed. Not exactly what he hoped for.
"Does any one of you have special operations clearance?" He asked. All the hands went down. Not really a surprise. Sonny remembered a name Corso had mentioned; Aisha. Maybe she knew something or had seen something Corso didn't tell him? Sonny opened a file, showing a raven haired woman. He smiled. He didn't need to ask any of his secret agents for help in years but this time, he needed help to obtain information that would otherwise be impossible to get. Sonny sent the information to his transmitter. Then, he went to his own office to make a call.

The Pirates Council of Elders on Shiloh

"How are things progressing in the Maurice Miller investigation?" Otis, one of the oldest surviving Pirates asked the Council.
"Corso has been sidelined in protecting Sonny for now. A move to strike at Sonny is being prepared. Are there any suggestions how Sonny can be protected?" Raven, a female Pirate, asked.
"Sonny is safe for now. He has his protective teams and also Technoid. It was a risk but Sonny has good instincts. For now, we don't need to worry about him." Otis said. Raven looked at him.
"Corso is Sonny's closest friend and personal bodyguard. I expect Sonny to start digging right away. But Maurice Miller has set an elaborate trap this time. Sonny digging deeper will make him vulnerable. Do we know where Corso is right now? Would surrender to the Chissian Military be advisable?" She asked. Otis shook his head.
"Sonny will never allow Corso's surrender. He will be kept hidden. Corso knows things he has not told Sonny about the explosion that destroyed Ascaron that he hasn't told anyone yet. We have all available information but we need to let Sonny talk with Corso about this." Otis said. Amar, another elder, looked at him.
"There is very little that can be proven. When Ascaron was destroyed, all evidence went with it. We can get Corso's statement but that doesn't mean he can prove anything. Corso was half dead when we found him. A fractured skull. He was found by Aisha. She may have some old files, as she was under Flora's orders to document the site." He said. Raven looked at them.
"We don't know where Flora is at this time. Magnus Blade made sure of that. We may need to call Sonny to the council." She said. Otis nodded.
"Let's make sure that can be done safely. Inform Aaron that we need to speak with Sonny directly. It's time we show who we are, and Sonny may have to prepare for one of the toughest challenges he has ever faced."

Sonny made sure he wasn't followed by the Chissian military when he left the Shiloh Security offices. The search gave them little information. He needed outside channels for the Pirates. He still found this odd. Why now? Corso hadn't been hunted down for years. He needed to speak to him. As the information, they had someone that could help them. Someone with a wide net of contacts. Sonny knew it would be dangerous but Callie proved, during her time in the bodyguard program, that she could handle herself. He needed her help to delve into matters. Sonny sent a message, asking her to call him as soon as later, he heard a signal from his transmitter.
"Sonny, is something wrong?" Callie asked. Sonny could tell from her voice that she was worried.
"The Chissian military came to our office, looking for Corso. I sent him to the secret room in our house. Until we get to the bottom of things, he stays there. Make sure he has what he needs. I'm on my way home, making sure I'm not followed." He told her. Callie frowned.
"Why would they target Corso?" She asked.
"I'm wondering the same thing. Corso and I will need to have a long talk. Corso is under an oath of silence. This puts him in danger. We need to secure a statement from him fast. The Chissian military aren't fools. I managed to throw them off his trail but that won't last long. The more information I got when they track us, the better the chance for Corso to clear his name." He said. Callie nodded.
"What's he charged with? If it's a serious offense, it is not like Corso has been hiding lately. Why not take him sooner?" She asked. Sonny smiled.
"I was thinking the same. The timing is off. Maurice Miller is on the loose. He has already shown by launching a flux device on Stellar Unix, that he will stop at nothing to obtain power. I've seen his flux mixes. We all could have died in the laboratory that day. Clamp is working on an anti multi flux for this version but we're at a disadvantage. We don't know what fluxes are used. We know The Shadows smog is part of it but there are at least two more unknown strains. I need to attend football matches of other teams to figure it out." Sonny said. Callie smiled.
"You forget what my job is, love. I can get you this information. I can also contact Brim Balarius to have the Flux Society look at what fluxes are activated." Callie informed him. Sonny smiled.
"Thanks. You're taking your role as the future Queen of the Pirates seriously." He smiled. Callie laughed.

"If I'm taking the name Blackbones, I better make sure I earn that right." She said as she hung up. Sonny smiled as he turned the transmitter off. Callie was a great addition to the Blackbones clan, just like Mei.
"Just you wait Bleylock. I'm on to your schemes. Clever but I will be the one that has the last laugh."

There, all he could find, recorded through his cybernetic eye and put on to a disc. He had to speak to Sonny about why he had to surrender. But he couldn't put them all in danger. He had to make sure Maurice Miller couldn't get to Sonny.
So why did doing the right thing, sacrificing himself for his fellow pirates feel wrong? Corso closed his eye for a second. It didn't matter. All that mattered was his friend's safety. He looked at the laptop. The background was of Bennett, Artie, Sonny and him. Corso looked at them. He would miss them. He stood little to no chance of escaping the Chissian military. What little time he had left, he'd spend with them. He would miss them. Most of all, he would miss Sonny. There was still things left unsaid between them. He had to take care of that. He didn't want the humiliation of being led away in handcuffs, seeing the hurt look in their eyes. He looked at Sonny in the picture. Corso knew, he would speak to Sonny last. He had a confession to make to his was a risk things would never be the same again when he told him this. At least, when he would be taken, Sonny would be safe in his new life.
He had seen Sonny change so much during their time together. He'd been part of it but unlike the Pirates, it had been farther back and now, that past caught up with him. Technoid's pardon wouldn't save him from this.
Corso looked up as he heard the door to the secret room open. Sonny looked at him before he pulled Corso to his chest.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I never meant for any of you to have to suffer from my past." Corso stammered, holding Sonny tight.
"I know you didn't do what you're accused of. I'll prove it." Sonny said. Corso nodded.
"I have to surrender, there's no other way." He said. Sonny looked him in the eyes.
"I can't let you do that. I need you here. With the Pirates. With me. We'll clear this mess up. Promise me, drop the idea of surrender." He asked. Corso sighed.
"You think you can outsmart the Chissian Military?" He tried. Sonny nodded.

"I've already started the process of finding all information available. Callie will use her sources to see if she can find something as well. If I have to, I'll even call in help from Duke Maddox and Technoid." He stated. Corso nodded, there might be a chance after all.
"Alright. But I won't put you or any other Pirate at risk for this. Here." Corso handed him a disc and a memory stick.
"I used my clearance to download all the information I could find. This includes anything that the military may try to hide. I encrypted it all to fit to your special access code with the Pirates. This is top-secret military intel from the Chissian army, concerning Ascaron's demise and the Flux wars. If you want, I'll give my statement about what happened. I may not have pulled the trigger, but I have a suspicion to what led to the disaster. I'm not able to prove any of it, all of it is suspicions. But I will give you what I got. If it's my turn to bite it, I will do so knowing I did what I could to make up for the past." Corso said. Sonny nodded.
"Let's sit down. I got a feeling you have a lot to get off your chest." He smiled. Corso nodded. Sonny activated a recording device.
"Corso, tell me what led to Ascaron's demise."

Stellar Unix. King Aldoor's Castle
Maurice Miller looked through all the rooms in his castle. Good thing he had a robot army ready to run it. Human company was not his thing. He learned from Bleylock and Harris that having an actual thinking individual as your assistant was a risk. They could work behind your back, against your goals. Putting into the contract that Sonny would not be harmed was a mistake.

"We can't break him, Miller. Sonny is a Flux Master. Technoid doesn't have anything that can break one." He remembered professor Montague studied Sonny's use of his flux in during the All Stars Match. Professor Monteague's interest in the Pirate Chief made more sense all of a sudden. Maurice Miller checked his emails. No response from O'Keefe yet. He would give him twenty-four hours to respond, if he was still silent, a Flux device would explode on the Shiloh Nebula.
Miller looked at the last post of his program. He needed to track down the Paladins that hid here. There was one thing that could foil his plans only, and that was Solaris Stellar. If the Paladin Leader managed to make her way back to Stellar Unix and managed to retrieve the armour of the golden paladin, he'd lose. With Duke Maddox siding with the Pirates, he was up against a dangerous army. He needed to seize power as soon as possible. He smiled darkly.
"Soon, no one will be able to stop me."

Genesis Stadium, Sub level 7

Miller would serve as a distraction for now. With the Pirates focused on him, he could operate undetected. Jar'eel Bleylock grinned. He didn't know his father well, thanks to Blackbones. Why his father had loved the other man so deeply was something he couldn't understand. He was engulfed in his hatred towards anyone that hurt his father. Bleylock never loved his mother, Aaraya. She raised him but she never taught him how to fight. His dad had to teach him. Jar'eel looked at the picture of his father's true love; I'Son Danvers, and his wife, Helena. Why had he left his father over someone so ordinary looking? His father could have given him everything.
Jar'eel opened the photo album he found along with his father's diaries. The diaries depicted a side to his father he never saw. I'Son made him see the Galaxy differently. His father had slowly opened to the idea that maybe power wasn't everything. Then,something made I'Son show his true colours. He left his father for someone else. That had shown his father not to trust anyone. Eventually, justice had been served, as his wife was killed. It took sixteen years to find out that I'son changed into the Pirate Chief Sonny Blackbones. Jar'eel clenched his fists as he came across an image of Sonny with his precious son.

"You'll pay for your sins, Sonny Blackbones. Even if it's the last thing I do."

Corso ended his story as he grabbed a bottle and drank from it. Sonny was in deep thought. He always had a feeling Corso knew something about the explosion that destroyed Ascaron. Corso had shown all the information his clearance access allowed him to gather, and he had encrypted it so Sonny was the only one that could access those files.
Sonny studied all the gauges carefully. This wasn't just an explosion. He started reading over the maps of the area where the explosion started. Corso could see Sonny frown. He found something, an abnormality in the activity on the gauges.
"Any luck?" Corso asked. Sonny nodded, not looking up as he was working. Sonny would feel this in the neck and shoulders afterwards.
"Corso, can you bring up studies on Ascaron before it exploded? Send it to Stevens, he and his team will read through them. Bennett and Artie will communicate with Duke Maddox and get as much information as they can from him." Sonny said, reading through a particularly interesting report. "Corso, you'll be translating the coded Chissian military files. I know some of it will be military codes, that's your area. Callie will use her contacts to get whatever information she can." He stated. Corso nodded.
"What about you? Don't you dare tell me you're going to do something dangerous." Corso said. Sonny looked at him with a smile.
"Don't worry. I'll be reading up on the Technoid compound your unit was close to. Something was going on there. My abduction may be linked. Professor Monteague also worked with Bleylock at some point. Bleylock may have played a role in the deaths of millions. I get the feeling your survival was no fluke. You're being scapegoated. Explosives don't cause damage like this. Not even Flux can make a planet explode. We're dealing with some sort of doomsday weapon." Sonny said as he closed the files and the laptop. Corso nodded as they both rose from their seats.
"The Chissian military coming after me after all these years just doesn't make sense." He said. Sonny nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing. If they had the evidence to lock you away, they would have come sooner. It's not like you've tried to hide from them. What are they really after?" Sonny mused. Corso sighed.
"I gave it some thought, want to hear my theory?" He said. Sonny nodded.
"What if this is just a distraction?" He said. Sonny studied his friend. Then, it dawned on him.
"You think this is Maurice Miller's doing?" He asked. Corso nodded.
"It would make sense. He didn't get what he wanted the first time, we know he wants to try again. He knows he can't attack you while you're protected. So he's taking out that protection; me." He said. Sonny nodded. What Corso suggested made sense.
"You're taking the fall, for whatever Technoid was up to on Ascaron. We got work to do. I'll talk to Duke Maddox about this. If research on explosives went on inside that compound, I will need the charts, to replicate what was going on." Sonny said. Corso nodded.
"We know now why he wants to capture me again. My Flux will enhance his mix." Sonny said, deep in thought. Corso nodded.
"We need help with this. It's too big for just us." He said. Sonny could only nod.
"We'll need both the Paladins and Technoid's help. This has to be stopped by any means needed."

Mei was happy she and D'Jok finally had some time with their baby. Seeing the interview between D'Jok and Sonny had lifted a burden off her shoulders. Even her mother had to admit the other grandparent was not all bad. To Mei's surprise, her mother had suggested to make the most of the publicity that Sonny came with.
"Your father in law was voted the sexiest man in the Galaxy. It could be good for your career to appear in some kind of photo shoot with him and the baby." She said.
"Despite your discussion when Iris was born?" Mei asked.
"He was right. I wasn't acting like a grandmother should. You're an adult now, I need to get better at being a supportive mother. I failed that." She confessed.
"I still love you." Mei smiled. Her mother smiled back.
"I think I owe Sonny an apology." She said. Mei smiled.
"I hope one day you'll get to know him and appreciate him just as much as I do." Mei said.

D'Jok was pushing the stroller as their little family was taking a walk. It was rare to even have time off and after the rescue mission with the Pirates, D'Jok started to think about how life would be when Football was over. Maybe some further education could be a way, but into what? He had to think more about it. Iris liked to sit up she could see what was going on. She started to make happy sounds.
"Callie!" D'Jok called out. Callie just finished a light jog with her co worker, Zoe on her day off.
"D'Jok! Mei, and little Iris! What a surprise!" Callie smiled as she had a drink from her water bottle.
"I hope you haven't forgotten about Dad's promise to babysit this weekend." D'Jok reminded her. Callie laughed.
"I put it on his calendar, both his and Corso's in fact. I'm sure he'll remember." She said. This made D'Jok frown.
"Why's Corso coming along? Did something happen?" He asked. Callie looked at Zoe.
"Come over later. Bring Mei and Iris too. Sonny's a bit tense with what's going on, having Iris there can ease the tension." She said. Mei nodded.

"I have an idea, I just hope Sonny will play along." She said. Callie laughed.
"Just don't ask him to star in any commercials." Callie laughed. Mei smirked.
"Actually, those commercials I had in mind are for Shiloh Security. He and Corso may both have to wear a suit and tie."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Corso was less than thrilled with the idea.
"You want me to do a commercial?" He asked. "Not a chance in hell." Mei decided to get him out of his grumpy mood.
"To my knowledge, you're kind of in a jam right now and I have connections to help you out. Doing this for your company is a small price to pay, wouldn't you agree?" Mei said. Sonny had to hide his smile, as Corso looked very annoyed. Artie and Bennett were not helping matters with their sniggering.

"We're all going to do it." Sonny finally said.
"I hate ties" Artie complained.
"So not my style." Bennett added. Corso looked at them both.
"Stop whining." He said. Mei laughed and D'Jok decided to take things further.
"You guys would look wonderful in suits." He teased.
"Careful kid. I can convince Sonny to get you in this as well." Corso threatened. Sonny smirked at the idea.
"Not a bad idea. Especially if you want to become a future Pirate Chief." Sonny smirked. D'Jok looked at his father.
"Come again?" He said. Sonny smiled.
"You heard me. Eventually you'll have to decide if you want to pick up my mantle. Things being as they are, there is a threat towards Corso. And when I was abducted by Keiran, I was reminded, even Magnus had a successor. I'm not saying I am going to die but Keiran made me think. I need to train someone to take over. As fate wanted it, I have a grown son who has already shown great skills as a code cracker. Corso showed me your work from when you went to the rescue mission. It was impressive." Sonny said with a small smile. D'Jok was lost for words. This was his calling when Football ended. He would inherit Sonny's mantle.
"Alright. I'll pick up the mantle. I'll take the training as the future leader of the Shiloh Pirates."

A/N: This one's a bit shorter than usual but there's a lot going on right now. This drama is set to go over several chapters, and at the same time, bring the Pirates closer to a solution. And now, there will finally be a future leader for the Pirates.
Once again, a deep thank you to Paranoidgirl for beta reading this fic and making dialogues better. The story just would not be the same without her. I have to stretch this over several chapters, as there is plenty of things that needs to happen simultaneously to bring this fic to where it is meant to go. I got the idea planned, now it just needs to be written. Till then, enjoy the chapter.