The (probably) more light-themed second chapter is here! Surprises are waiting just below the reviewer replies.
XMarkZX: what kind of 'better death' do you have in mind? It's sad that Prairie had to die though, but I'm doing it for a preeetty good reason... Ahem, for a good reason, trust me.
kingpariah: well, I needed to start the action-packed story with a good starting action! Now here's the second chapter!
End of Era
Chapter 2 – New Age, Old Scars
Aile sat up with a loud gasp and was panting when she looked at her surroundings. She was still in Prairie's old room, which had become hers as she took over. She put her hands on her face while trying to calm herself down before she let out a sigh and turned to the bedside table. There was a framed photo of her holding her newly-born son along with her daughter sitting on Vent's shoulder with Prairie, Grey, and Ashe standing around them.
Aile ignored the two biometals sitting in front of the frame as she took it in her hands, rubbing her finger on Prairie's photo, "I'm sorry… even with the biometals, I still couldn't protect you…"
She had known Prairie for years as she first knew her when she and Vent first joined the Guardians. She was her second boss, slowly turned into a friend, a sister, and lastly, a second teacher to her kids. Oriel was too young to remember her, but Prairie's death had an impact on Estelle as she had spent a lot of time with the previous commander. Her failure to protect her then must have disappointed the other Guardians.
Aile held the photo frame with both of her hands and shut her eyes, 'I don't want to lose another one of my family… but I can't do anything…' her grip tightened for a moment before she put the photo down on the table face down, 'No… I have to do what I can! I will risk everything so it will never happen again!'
Aile pushed herself off her bed and walked out of the room, arriving in the control room with surprised expressions coming from the operators, "Commander Aile! It's late, you should get some rest!"
"I can't rest until I make sure everything is fine," Aile replied flatly, "Are there any reports about Maverick attacks?"
"Currently there are none, Commander," one of the operators replied, "But-"
"Are there any signals about possible Maverick activities?" Aile's question cut off the operator's words.
"There are no anomaly signals detected for the past 24 hours," the other operator replied before she continued with her report, "We've already made contact with Chief Atlas from the Area D Headquarters and her patrols reported that the city is safe from any rampaging Mechaniloids."
"Tell her to check again," Aile commanded, "A complete disappearance of Maverick attacks for the past eight years is not normal. There has to be a small trace of signal coming from them somewhere in this world."
The operators paused for a moment before replying quietly, "Understood, Commander," the operator turned around and faced Aile with a sad smile, "Please, don't worry about the Mavericks for the time being. We will try to track down any signs of Mavericks until our shift is over, so please get some rest."
"I have to suggest the same as well, Commander," the other operator turned to her as well, "We all know you have worked the hardest and the most in the Guardians, so please let us do our part to protect this world as well. You need a lot of rest to make up for all the sleepless nights you had for the past few weeks."
Aile could tell that the operators knew she was too tired to spark another argument about her sleeping time, so the only choice she had was to do as they said. After all, she couldn't do any protecting if she just keeled over and spent another week in bed from overworking herself. She just wished that she could last longer without sleep so she could be ready to lead the other Guardian members anytime the Mavericks attacked.
"Very well," Aile let out a nod as she turned to face the door leading to her bedroom, "Make sure the report is ready tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Ma'am," the operators replied in unison and waited for the door to close before they stopped their work.
"The commander has changed drastically since that day," one of them commented, getting a nod from her partner.
"True, Commander Prairie was killed in that last attack eight years ago," the other operator added, "Even Vice Commander Vent wasn't able to do anything to console her."
The partner simply nodded, before she turned back to the screen in front of her, "We shouldn't be talking about them behind their backs, though. Even if they're not going to punish us for it, it's still not a nice thing to do. After all, we still have a lot of work to do until the morning."
"Daddy!" a boy with short brown hair came running from the door, jumping to the bump on top of the bed, "Daddy! Estelle says Ashe is back! Ashe is back from her fun adventure!"
"Ow…" the bump moved, revealing a tired Vent rubbing his chest, "Yeah… I heard…" Vent pulled the boy closer, "Next time you wake up Daddy, do it nicely, okay Oriel?"
Oriel let out an innocent laugh, "Sorry Daddy!"
"Now this is a case of the child being more responsible than the parent!" a familiar voice was heard before a woman with long silver hair stopped at the door, "Seriously Vent? You're turning your kids into your personal alarm clock?"
"They're early risers, Ashe," Vent let out a yawn before getting off his messy bed and stretching his arms, "Not from my genes, definitely."
"Thanks for the info, Mister Obvious," Ashe replied sarcastically before turning to the approaching Oriel, "Hi Oriel! How are you?"
"I'm fine!" Oriel cheerfully replied, "I don't wet bed again!"
"Now that's Daddy's good boy," Vent left the room to join them as he patted Oriel's head, "And your sister is…?"
"Dad!" a feminine voice echoed in the hallways as a teenage girl with shoulder-length brown hair stomped towards them, "I told you to wake up early! Didn't I mention last night that Ashe is coming?"
Vent let out a laugh, "Sorry, sorry. I can't help but sleep a few minutes more."
Estelle and Ashe exchanged looks before turning to Vent, "A few hours."
"Fine!" Vent let out a defeated sigh, "Now that Ashe is here, isn't it the time for you two to train?"
"Oh, come on Dad! It's weekend, can't we get a day off?" Estelle complained before turning to her little brother, "Don't you agree with me, Oriel?"
"Day off! Day off!" Oriel simply repeated what Estelle had said, but it wasn't enough to convince the adults otherwise.
"Now kids, let's train a little bit for day, okay?" Ashe gently shoved Estelle away, "Now go on ahead to the training room because your dad and I have something to talk about with the commander."
"With Mom?" Estelle spoke softly before she nodded, "Okay, we'll wait," Estelle took Oriel's hand, "Come on Oriel, let's get to the training room."
Vent stood still as he watched Estelle and Oriel leaving before letting out a sigh. Ashe noticed the sigh coming from him, "Don't worry, those kids are going to be just fine."
"No, that's not what I'm worried about," Vent replied with his eyes still on the hallways Estelle and Oriel had just passed by, "I'm worried that Estelle and Oriel are going to treat Aile as 'someone to talk important things to' rather than their own mother. I want them to spend more time with Aile as a family rather than a boss and her subordinates."
It was Ashe's turn to let out a sigh as she started walking ahead, "And you know that's almost impossible unless a certain someone changed… or has she?"
Vent shook her head as he walked by her side, "She's still the same. She hasn't changed at all since that day."
"Well, this is just going to be another boring report then…" Ashe let out a complaint.
"What about you?" Ashe stopped in her tracks from Vent's question, "You're going all over the world trying to find him, right? And he's the only reason for you to travel pretty much all the time."
"You heard her then, right?" Ashe spoke up as she walked a few more steps and stopped in front of the control room, "She doesn't feel like he's important enough to look for, so I'm going to do it myself. I still have the hunters to help me even when she isn't going to help."
Vent decided not to reply and instead, opened the door, "Come on, let's just get your report in."
"And of course, the Hunter's Camp is safe as always…" Ashe ended her report half-heartedly as she could've ended it a few minutes earlier if Aile hadn't interrupted to ask about any signs of Mavericks.
"So, to conclude your report, there aren't any Maverick attacks?" Aile asked with her seat still turned away from Ashe and Vent.
"Nothing and absolutely nothing. And that's not the main point of the report either," Ashe pointed out in annoyance, "Come on, Aile! If we can find him, we'll have more man power to handle the protection of the people and reploids alike!"
"We don't have time to look for someone who has been missing for over eight years," Aile replied coldly, "It's best to invest our time to look for any signs of danger and prevent any kind of Maverick attack."
The silver-haired hunter had lost her patience. Much to Vent's and Aile's surprise, Ashe forcefully turned Aile's chair to face her, "Grey is our friend. I know that he'll help us if we can just find him and help him from whatever trouble he's in. It's Grey we're talking about, so we aren't going to wander around the world looking for a stranger!"
Aile gave her a blank stare before forcefully removing Ashe's hands of her chair as she stood up, "The lives of those people and reploids are far more important than some old friend who hadn't contacted us for years. I won't stop you if you insist on finding him, but the Guardians and I will not join your silly cause."
"Why is finding an old friend so silly to you?!" Ashe yelled in anger, "Don't you remember our fights back then? How many villains we've taken down together? All four of us, and those four Mega Men too…"
"This conversation is over, Ashe," Aile sat back down on her seat, "I will do anything to protect people and reploids. It's my duty as the commander of Guardians and I'm putting everything at risk in order to do so."
"Aile…" Vent finally spoke up, but he couldn't find the right words to say.
Aile glanced at him for a moment before continuing, "If sacrificing my life means everyone will be safe, I'll do it. I'll take my own life, just to protect my family and friends around the world!"
"You've changed, Aile…" Ashe spoke up softly as she looked at her sadly, "You've changed so much that I don't even know you anymore… Are you really the same Aile I considered my best friend…?" Ashe took a deep breath to calm herself down before turning away from her, "If that's what you think, then this is where we part ways."
Ashe ran towards the door with Vent looking at her in worry as Aile maintained her blank face. Vent saw his wife's expressionless face and put a hand on her shoulder, "That's enough, Aile. You've gone too far… Please, just calm down…"
Aile continued ignoring him as she started at the door in an expressionless face, but nobody was aware of what was in her mind then. No one was completely aware of her pain, her sadness, and her waning confidence in herself and her friends. She only wanted to protect her family, yet no one seemed to understand her and she had to say meaner things to try and make them understand. In the end, more regret was all she could feel.
'I'm sorry…'
Ashe stopped in front of the control room with her eyes still looking at the ground, unaware of other presences in the room. When she could finally start to calm down, the sound of clanging metal got her attention as she noticed two brown-haired kids standing in the corner near the control room. Oriel was looking at her in confusion, but Estelle had a different expression on her face.
"Ashe, was that my mom?" Estelle asked, trying to sound calm.
Ashe closed her eyes and nodded slightly before walking away, "Come, let's begin your routine."