Disclaimer - I own Advance Wars! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
(A couple of workers at Nintendo appear and beat up Ascension.)
Ascension: Let me rephrase that... I don't own anything in this fic except Red Sun, its COs, Azazel and several random extras.
*****
CHAPTER 10: DEATH (Part 1)
Jess sat in the command room of the Green Earth HQ. Her nose and head still hurt, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. Tears flowed freely down her face. She had hoped it wouldn't be, but her fears were confirmed. Eagle was dead. For their cause, he had given his life.
Despite their constant squabbles, Jess knew that deep down inside, she and Eagle did care for each other. And now, with his departure, that spark of emotion inside her erupted, taking over her mind and soul. "I could have stopped him, Drake, but..." a new round of tears disrupted her sentence, leaving only a series of uncontrolled sobs.
Drake remained silent. Eagle's death had struck him as hard as it had struck Jess. There was little he could do for both his friends. Eagle's was completely beyond his power to bring back, and he could think of nothing to say to comfort Jess. There was only one thing to do. Seize the opportunity Eagle granted them.
"Pass the command down," he said to a waiting officer. "We set sail in an hour."
*****
By late morning, battle was raging deep into Blue Moon. Jess had calmed down somewhat and was now seeking vengeance. The Red Sun foot soldiers, though numerous, did not stand long against her high-quality tanks infused with her anger. Within a few short hours, the battle had been taken from the shore to inland Blue Moon.
*****
"A suicide run," murmured Yal'Dan thoughtfully. "Over half the fleet lost. Now we don't even have enough ships to tag it back to Red Sun."
"And they call me fanatical," said Kelalith, half to himself. "Looks like we're going to make a final stand here."
"We don't have to," replied Yal'Dan quite calmly. "There's always the backup plan."
Kelalith's face instantly turned white. That was something that didn't happen very often. "No..." he whispered.
"Yes," said Yal'Dan grimly, grabbing a phone. "There is nothing else for it."
His courage returning in a surge, Kelalith knocked the phone out of his companion's hand. "No! Think of the risk it could involve!"
Yal'Dan picked up the phone once more. His eyes flashed once. "It's either destroy or be destroyed now."
"Do we really have to?" snapped Kelalith.
Yal'Dan put down the phone. "Fine, then. We'll just die here without completing our mission. You like it that way?"
The comment stung Kelalith like a dagger through the spine. His face dropped for a moment, and when he looked up again, it was iron-set with determination.
"Let's do it."
*****
Azazel sat at the former Premier's desk in deep meditation. His brother Sturm was always the brash one, overly eager to run off and start invasions without proper planning. Sturm was powerful, always able to shock his enemies with his power to rain down meteors, but he lacked the Azazel's psychic abilities.
Azazel reached out with his mind, projecting his senses far to the east, beyond the ocean. When the phone rang, he was expecting it.
Azazel picked up the phone and spoke in Brin's voice. "Premier Brin here. What do you want?"
"Mr. Premier? This is Kelalith of the invasion force..."
"Yes?"
"... We need your permission to utilize the nuclear missiles."