Author Note: Here it is, Chapter 10...this one has a massive twist, and not one that any of you would expect, I hope. And don't worry, a sequel is in the works...

Disclaimer: Advance Wars, Advance Wars 2, and their content are copyright Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Red Mesa and its CO's are my intellectual property.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advance Wars: Red Mesa – Chapter 10: One For The Many.

By CO Shade.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Location: Heaven's Eye Conference Building, Heaven's Eye Island.

Time: Two months after Black Hole was routed from Orange Star.

"Who called this meting anyway dear Sonja?"

"Shade, the Red Mesan leader. He says they've found something, and it's got even Red Mesa scared."

"Then what is it? We can't just sit here!"

"Eagle, calm down! Shade and the other Red Mesa CO's are arriving soon."

Practically all the CO's in Cosmo Land were seated around the conference table. Blue Moon were keeping quiet, with Gradi meditating silently between Olaf and Colin. Jess and Drake were trying to calm down an agitated Eagle, and Kanbei and Sonja were talking about what Shade had said, Sensei snoozing in the chair next to them. Andy, Sami and Max were looking expectantly at the double doors. "Where's Nell? She should be here..." Sami said, frowning slightly. Bang on cue, Nell pushed open the doors and strode through them, a worried look on her face. "They're here," She announced to the gathered CO's. "And believe me, this conference is well worth it." Everyone's faces turned towards the doors, and even Sensei woke up to see the Red Mesa CO's in person. Everyone waited silently...then Shade strolled through the door, with Swift, Cougar and Diesel behind him. Nell looked surprised. "I thought-"

"I was in a wheelchair. I was, but I managed to take a few steps a month or so ago. The allure of coffee couldn't keep me in that thing forever..." Shade smiled slightly, as Olaf looked at him and the other CO's. "Where's that traitor Grit? I want to know where he is! When I get my hands on-" Olaf was starting to go into 'rant mode', but Cougar's rough, growling voice silenced him. "He's on intel duty, trying to find out more about what we're facing. So I suggest you hold your anger for later, Olaf." Olaf was taken aback. "How dare you speak to me like-"

"He's right Sir, this isn't the time," Said Gradi. "Plus, you broke my concentration. I need to meditate to keep my powers in check." Olaf pouted slightly, huffed, and fell silent. The Red Mesa CO's, minus Shade, walked over to the table and sat down opposite from Yellow Comet. Shade walked over to the podium at the head of the table, and looked over them all with a grim expression. "Well, Black Hole may have been completely driven out of Orange Star, but it may not matter soon, it may have all been for nought." Seeing the overall look of confusion on everyone's faces, he pressed on, and pushed several buttons on the podium. The projector clicked on and showed pictures of what looked like a satellite...apart from the massive tubes located around it's sides. Shade smiled grimly as the CO's expressions changed from confusion to shock. "An orbital missile platform," He said quietly. "Think Sturm's missile platform was bad? This is worse. Think of any target on the planet. This thing can nuke it."

There were cries of shock from some of the CO's, and the others were too horrified to speak. Shade nodded. "Yep...seems you all realise what this means." He pressed a few more buttons, and a picture of a massive satellite dish appeared on the screen behind him. "This is the platform's control centre. It's bang in the centre of Black Hole itself. It controls the platform: it's orientation, launching, security, everything. So to shut that platform down..."

"We hit that control centre with everything we've got," Sonja said. "But we'll need to fight our way right into the heart of Black Hole just to get at it first." Shade nodded. "Exactly. Or we could hit the platform itself." Sonja snorted. "And how do you suggest we hit it when it's in high orbit?" Shade smiled, and pressed yet another button. This time the screen showed pictures of a large, hemispherical device, with tubes and cables snaking to and from it. "This is Red Mesa's pride and joy, the Event Horizon," Shade said. "You Orange Star CO's might have heard of it during the Capital City battle. You know, when it made all those Black Hole troops disappear." Nell stared at him with wide eyes. "H-How...what-what is that thing?!" Shade smirked. "It's basically a device that can warp space-time. We use this baby, we can warp a team of elite Allied Special Forces up there, set some explosives, and warp them back down just in time to watch the fireworks." Sonja raised an eyebrow. "Smart..." Shade smirked even more. "Damn I'm good." Swift chuckled. "Now is not the time to satisfy your ego, Shade. We need a course of action now." Shade nodded, and ran a hand through his hair, thinking. "We do a two-pronged assault. The bulk of the Allied forces, with support from Red Mesa and the Red Zephyr, make a spearhead assault deep into Black Hole territory and hit the control centre. The Allied Special forces will be warped up to plant explosive charges on the platform itself. If we fail in one way, we can still succeed in the other." The others looked sceptical, and conferred amongst themselves as Shade went and sat down next to Swift. He leaned over to Nell. "What's your opinion?" He said to her. She looked around at the other CO's as they discussed Shade's plan. "Some of them don't look convinced," She said. "Blue Moon looks like they don't trust you." Shade nodded, and stroked his chin. Eventually he stood up, and walked slowly over to the podium again, as the CO's fell silent and looked at him. Shade looked back at them all. "It's come to my attention that some of you obviously don't place any trust in this plan. Perhaps you want a demonstration of the Event Horizon, yes?" Judging from their expressions, Shade knew that was what they wanted. Shade sighed exasperatedly and pulled out a mobile phone. Olaf raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing? Checking your credit?"

"One: Olaf, I get unlimited credit. Two: If you want a demo, stop making sarcastic comments," Shade said angrily, keying in a number. He raised the phone to his ear and waited silently for a few seconds.

"Ah. Dr. Tenille? This is Shade. Where's the Red Zephyr right now? In dock? Good."

Silence.

"Yep, you read my mind. Put it right next to the top floor, so they can see it out of the windows."

Silence.

"Yes, I know it'll brownout half of Mesa 2 warping something that big, but it's gotta be done to get the battle plan accepted."

Silence.

"Okay. Thanks. Bye." Shade pocketed his mobile and turned to the gathered CO's. He gestured to his right, out of the windows. "Now you'll see what the Event Horizon can really do." He smiled and looked out of the windows himself as the others did the same. He watched and waited...then suddenly, a massive flash of light blinded everybody in the room, and everyone minus the Red Mesa CO's jerked their heads away in reaction. As the light faded, they turned their heads back to see a wall of metal, with the words 'Red Zephyr X23" painted on it in white. Shade chuckled. "It just warped the Red Zephyr over here," He said, as the others looked between him and the Red Zephyr itself, completely at a loss for words. "So, any doubts now?" He continued, grinning slightly. Everyone shook their heads. "Well then, I think this conference is over. You guys co-ordinate the ground offensive; send your best Special Forces people to us and we'll handle the rest." Shade stepped down from the podium and left with the other Red Mesa CO's as everyone went his or her separate ways...

Location: The Nexus, Mesa 2, Red Mesa.

Time: 1500 Hours OS time, 5 days later.

Shade paced back and forth, muttering to himself, and once in a while glancing out of the control booth's windows. He was in the Nexus, a large, hemispherical room in the heart of Mesa 2. He was currently within the control booth for the Event Horizon, a smaller room built into the rocky side of the Nexus, separated by a blast shield and crammed full of technology. He was anxiously waiting for a second report from the other Cosmo Land CO's on the status of their offensive drive into Orange Star, which had begun the day before. They had made successful landing on Black Hole's southern shores, but were being bogged down by the enemy on their way to the control centre. Obviously, Hawke knew what they were trying to do. Shade started to run through their side of the plan in his head, walking over to a computer console that wasn't taken by a tech, and typing like a madman. One thing I'm worried about is the range of the EH itself, he thought. We might not be able to get the Special Forces guys up there in the first place... his suspicions were confirmed as he saw the answer given by the computer, and he swore silently. Either we find out how to get something up there, he thought, or we pray that they destroy the control centre in time...

Another idea occurred to him, and he looked at his hands silently, techs bustling around him. Could I?...But I might not... his eyes looked dulled. As he thought, and he typed in another calculation. He saw the answer, and shook his head in saddened disbelief. "No..." He whispered. "There has to be another way..." and try to find another way he did. But whatever he tried, it didn't work. Shade sighed, defeated, sat back, and thought about things. His life. His career. Swift. The day he first joined Red Mesa...

"Do you solemnly swear to protect this country, it's interests, it's people, and it's military for as long as you live?!" Barked the commander, a brown-haired, middle-aged man with a moustache too big to be natural. Victor. Quite possibly the greatest CO Red Mesa ever had.

"Yes Sir!" I roared back, left hand over my heart, the right saluting Victor.

"And do you vow to give your life to save this country?!" Victor barked again.

And even as I roared back an affirmative with the other soldiers, I had a strange, foreboding feeling. It felt as if that very vow had sealed my fate...

Shade's mind snapped back to the here and now after he relived that memory. "Victor...he had been like a father to me...." Shade murmured to himself. "And that vow...I knew it would come to that...I guess I knew it all along..." He sighed, resigned to his fate, got up, and left for the Red Mesa capital. He had something to do...something important. A few seconds after Shade had left, Cougar walked into the Nexus. He looked around for a bit, frowned, and left, muttering something about Shade "Never staying in one damn place for longer than five minutes." As he strode down the corridor outside, making his way back to the parking garage, he flipped open a Red Mesa inter-CO communicator. He pressed Shade's button. "Shade? Where are you?" Cougar said to the communicator, but there was no reply. "Great time to turn it off..." He growled, and pocketed the communicator. He walked into the parking garage, vaulted into his black convertible, and drove off. At the same time, Shade had finished recording something, and had emailed it to Swift, with a time delay of two days. He sighed, eyes downcast, and left his house, getting onto his black sports bike, gunning it's engine into life, and roaring off to the Red Mesa capital, several things on his mind...

Location: Cosmo Allies Field HQ, Black Hole.

Time: 2000 Hours OS Time, the same day.

Gradi watched silently over the battle on the countryside of Black Hole. The Allies were making a three-pronged assault; Orange Star was attacking from the south, Blue Moon from the southwest, Yellow Comet from the southeast, and the Green Earth forces had split up to assist the other armies. Eagle had lent his airforce to Orange Star, Drake's ships were assisting Yellow Comet, who had been bogged down during the beach landings, and Jess' ground forces had been helping Blue Moon to smash through the entrenched Black Hole troops. We're the nearest to the control center, Gradi thought, but we won't get there in time at this rate... Gradi closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, trying to find out what the enemy's orders were. Olaf and Colin walked into the room as he began to say things aloud. "Troops...entrench...do your very best to slow the Allies down...protect the flanks...defend the mountain ridge to the east..." Gradi's eyes snapped open as he sensed his fellow CO's enter. "Gradi?" Olaf asked, looking at him. "What were you saying?" Gradi smiled slightly. "I was trying to read Hawke's orders," he said. "Sonja was right, he is just trying to slow us down as he prepares for a counterattack." Colin's eyes were wide. "That's amazing, Commander Gradi!" He cried. Olaf rolled his eyes. "You have too much awe and admiration to be healthy, boy..." Gradi chuckled. "Well, it gives him someone to look up to, doesn't it?" He said. Olaf stroked his beard. "Yes, well, what is your recommended order to our forces?" He asked gruffly. Gradi turned to look out of the windows.

"I suggest we focus on the mountain ridge to the east," Gradi said. "Hawke is ordering his army to defend it...which means it must be vital." Olaf looked at him quizzically. "And what makes you think that?" Gradi closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again. "Ask Sonja," He said, gesturing to the door. Olaf and Colin turned around to the door, and lo and behold, there stood Sonja, smirking. "It must be fun having a psychic for a CO, Olaf," She said as she walked in, a file of reports in her hand. "Gradi's right. That mountain ridge would give us a short cut right round the Black Hole trenches. It's his only weak point." Gradi nodded in agreement. "Spread the word," Olaf said. "Let's not give Hawke any more time to act! Order everything we have to attack the ridge and break through!"

Location: The Nexus, Mesa 2, Red Mesa.

Time: 1600 Hours OS Time, the next day..

The Allied Special Forces had been in a state of awe and shock ever since their transferral to Red Mesa. They had gazed around it's capital (and taken a tour, courtesy of Diesel), been given talks about Red Mesa and it's history, and more. But only now had they been allowed into the Nexus. They hadn't even seen the infamous Commander Shade during their stay...but most of them were adamant that he would make an appearance. Rumours had been circling around that he had had a relapse and was back in a wheelchair, but Cougar had debunked that rumour earlier. Right now they were occupying themselves with taking a look around the Nexus, under Cougar's watchful eyes, just to make sure they didn't break anything. Some were talking to a tech, who was more than happy to explain what was going to happen. "Basically, what happens is that we get you into those spacesuits," he said, gesturing to a row of suits on a rack at the far end off the room, "You all group together, and the Event Horizon will warp you up onto the missile platform itself. You place the bombs, set the timers, and we warp you back down in time to watch the fireworks." The soldiers nodded, then turned around and gasped as the doors to the Nexus opened.

Shade strolled through into the Nexus, trying his best to keep a calm face. His heart was pounding with fear and anxiety. He looked around the room, and his eyes rested on Cougar, who smiled and gave a small salute. Shade managed a smile and nodded back, his eyes trailing around the room and coming to rest on the Special Forces soldiers. Cougar raised an eyebrow, and stared at his superior. Why is his medallion missing? He always wears that thing... Cougar thought as he noticed the absence of a glint of gold round Shade's neck. Weird... Cougar decided to ask Shade about it later. Shade walked over to the group of Allied soldiers and smiled slightly. "I've heard that you've been itching to meet me," He said to the group. Some nodded, the others too busy looking at him. Most of them probably think I'm too young to have such a reputation, he thought to himself. "Well, here I am." One of the braver soldiers spoke up. Shade, sir..." He began uncertainly. "Some of us would like to see your powers. Is it true you took out an entire Blue Moon forces with them alone?" Some of the soldiers nodded. They had heard about this from higher-ups in the Blue Moon Army, but they doubted it was true. To their astonishment, Shade nodded. "Yep. The energy drain damn near killed me," He said, "But I did do that. And as for my powers..." Shade snapped the fingers on his right hand, and electric sparks danced around his hand. "I'm nearly back to full power...a lot of rest does your body good." Shade was careful not to use too much energy – he needed it for later. He turned and bit his lip as he saw Diesel and Swift arrive. Please don't be sad, Swift...I have to do this... Shade managed a tired smile, and Diesel and Swift saluted back. Swift came over to Shade, an anxious smile on her face. "Want me to announce it?" She asked. Shade nodded. "You're better at these things than I am," He said. Swift nodded and walked over to a raised platform, where the Special Forces would assemble for warping. Everyone turned to look at her and fell silent.

"This is it, people!" Swift said, looking at them all. "The main attack on the control centre is faltering, even after a brilliant flank attack by Blue Moon. They won't reach the centre in time to stop the launch, so it's up to us to put the kibosh on that missile platform!" Everyone cheered, minus Shade, who was waiting for the right time to make his move. This is it... he thought sadly.

"The proceedings are as follows: the Special Forces will suit up," Said Swift, gesturing towards a row of spacesuits on the wall, "And assemble here on the platform with their equipment. The Event Horizon will then charge up, lock co-ordinates on the missile platform, and warp them up there-"

"It won't work." Came a quiet voice. Everyone looked around in confusion and saw Shade at the back of the crowd, the usual light in his eyes gone, looking tired and depressed. No turning back now... "The missile platform is in too high an orbit. You'd need more power – a lot more power than we have – to warp one person up there, let alone a whole Special Forces squad." Everyone's shoulder's visibly sagged as this information was processed. "Then...we've lost..." Said Swift quietly, looking at Shade, who shook his head. He paused as he thought. This is the only way...but it's a one-way trip to hell. At least they'll remember... "I said we'd need a lot more power to warp just one person up there," said Shade. "And there's only one person who has that sort of power..." Everyone's eyes bulged. "Shade, no!" cried Swift. "You can't risk it!" Shade smiled sadly. "There's nothing to risk, really," he said sadly. "Once I get up there, I won't be able to come back." Everyone was silent as the enormity of this statement fell on them. "You mean..." Cougar said, eyes wide in disbelief. "Yes," said Shade, nodding, his eyes hard and determined. "Self-sacrifice to save everyone on the planet." Everyone assembled cried out loud at this, and Swift shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes, wanting it not to be true. She ran to Shade and he hugged her, his own emotional walls crumbling as he started to shake. A single tear trickled down his cheek as he began to understand what his actions would do. Swift looked up at him, all hope gone from her face. "Please Matt...you can't...I-" Shade silenced her with a finger on her lips. "Would you rather I didn't go? Sarah, we'd all die. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one." Swift nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Matt..." Swift closed her eyes. "Matt...I just wanted to say...that..." She opened her eyes as Shade kissed her. She returned the kiss, letting herself rest in Shade's warm embrace. They broke apart, and Shade looked straight into Swift's eyes. "I feel the same way...I have for a long time. I was just blind to it...to my own heart..." Swift stared back, and said only one word:

"Go."

Location: Black Hole Main HQ

Time: 2000 Hours BH Time, the same day.

"Sensei's Battle Copters inbound!"

"That old man? Heh heh heh...fire the Missiles!!" Adder was having a good day. The Allies were throwing everything they had at the defences around the control centre, but every time their offensive crumbled. The hard way. With the amount of damage his units were causing, Adder was having a field day, using Snakebite (A/N: It may be Sidewinder for non-European countries. Go figure.) as fast as he could, his units surging forward. He had declined to go to the forward command post built for him, valuing his hide more than the others. However, he was having a hard time fighting off the team of Kanbei and Sonja. The father-daughter combo was ruthless, Sonja doing all the thinking and picking apart every weakness his forces had, and the self-styled samurai handing Adder's hindquarters to him on a plate. Apart from that however, Adder was...Adder. Even the absence of his mirror collection, blown up by a surprise attack on his HQ by Drake in the war, did not deter him. All of his troops knew what this meant; Adder was getting serious. Many were taking it as a sign of the Apocalypse.

"It's Eagle Mistress! Inbound with Lightning Strike activated!"

"That crop duster? Ready the Anti-Airs and Missiles! Scramble the Fighters! Swat them likes flies! Tee hee!!" Lash was having one heck of a time on her flank. She had to deal with both Max and Andy on the ground, as well as Eagle in the air, but her entrenched forces were holding. "Hey...wait...where's that redhead and her puny little men?" Lash wondered aloud. Her question was answered with short bursts of gunfire that echoed around her command post. Lash turned around and stared straight down the barrel of Sami's rifle. "Uh-oh..." Lash looked around. The bodies of her soldiers and techs lay around the room, with Sami's infantry storming the building. "Long time no see, Lash," said Sami, smiling wickedly. Lash's mind spun. How was she going to get out of this one? Her eyes darted around them room as she thought. "Don't even try to escape Lash," Sami growled. "We have the whole building now." To her surprise, Lash grinned happily. "I would like to stay and play, Reddie, but I've got a T Copter waiting for me! Toodles!" Before Sami could react, Lash had rolled to the side, picking up her Super Happy Genius Inventor's Death Remote (TM Lash), and nailing the "Run Away!" Button. She darted into a hidden elevator that had appeared in the wall. "Bye-bye!" Sami growled and gunned the trigger, but her shots bounced harmlessly off of the closing lift doors. "Dang...she got away..."

"Lord Flak! Gradi's forces incoming! He's nearly got his Super Power charged! Colin and Olaf on either side of his attack as well!"

"Huh? Oh...I gotta smash 'em, ya mean. Who's this Gra...Grab...Grod...Gradi person? What's so special about him?!" Flak was confused. No change there then. He was seeing off the Blue Moon assault, but Hawke was calling all the shots for the entire operation. It was Flak's incompetence, Hawke had said, that had nearly cost them the battle, as he didn't react at all to Blue Moon's assault on the mountain pass until it was nearly too late. Hawke himself was at the control centre for the missile platform, calmly watching the countdown tick by. Flak's mind – yes, he has one - switched back to there here and now as he heard something. "Huh?"

"I said, Sir, that Gradi is a psychic. He's very hard to fool or lead into traps. And his Super Power is called Mind Domination. It can put up to four different units under his control, if they are bunched close together!" Flak growled. "So what? Can he smash things like me? No! So smash 'em into bits!" The soldier groaned slightly. "Yes Sir..."

"Hmm..." Hawke was thinking silently. Not that he did anything too loud, being Hawke, but he was especially silent as he scanned the battle lines. He turned away from the countdown clock for the missile platform on the computer in front of him, and addressed a techie. "Are there ANY Red Mesan forces among the Allied battle lines?" The tech was silent for a few seconds as he typed away. "Only the Red Zephyr, Sir," he said, "But it's safe to say that it's loaded full of troops." Hawke nodded. "You would have thought they'd commit more resources to this assault," He said to himself. Hawke's mind ran through things about Red Mesa, trying to find a reason why they were holding back. Their relatively small numbers. Research. Internal strife. Suddenly, a vivid image flashed across Hawke's mind. The Capital City battle in Orange Star. Lash said Red Mesa used a superweapon to warp spacetime, but that's all she could figure out...oh no. It took a few seconds for Hawke to register the emotion he was feeling.

It was fear.

Location: Black Hole Orbital Missile Platform, in high geosynchronous orbit.

Time: 1630 Hours OS Time, the same day.

The unfurled missile platform hung in space, a dark grey beast of a satellite. The main body was one large cylinder, five hundred metres in length, and halfway down its length two large tubes, one on either side, jutted out. On the ends of these were the missile launchers themselves. Large cylinders, roughly two hundred metres in length, were arranged in a two by six formation, in order to keep the platform's profile as slim as possible. There were no solar panels, for the demented weapons of Lash didn't need them. Her patented fusion reactors powered all of Lash's superweapons. On the top end of the main body, there was a bright flash, dwarfed by the size of the platform. A person in a black and red spacesuit somehow clung to the metallic surface of the platform with no assistance.

Shade's expression was grim. He had to get this over with quickly, not just because magnetically anchoring himself to the platform was slowly draining his energy reserves, but he didn't want to prolong the whole thing. If he had to die, he wanted it to be quick, for Swift's sake. Oh, and the fact that this missile platform will fire if I don't GET MY ASS IN GEAR!! Shade thought to himself. He started to walk down the main body of the platform, his strides determined and resolute. He gazed around as he walked. The missile platform looked dangerous even before you knew what it did. He whispered one thing aloud, knowing that his voice could be heard back down in Red Mesa. "War might be a necessary evil...but Black Hole's evil extends far beyond necessary." He didn't know it, but that quote would live on... Shade arrived at the middle of the main body and looked down at the plate below his feet.. He was supposed to place a detpack here to blow the reactor, but he had other ideas. A plan had already started to form in his mind. Instead of placing the detpack, he threw it away. It might detonate during re-entry, and if it's on me... He then took a few steps back, knelt down, and, with some effort, prised open the plate. He grinned as the reactor's control panel glowed before him. He pressed a few buttons, silently thanking Sonja for getting the access codes, and keyed in a few instructions, setting the containment fields for the fusion reaction to collapse into the reaction itself after a delay of forty-five minutes. The resulting electromagnetic maelstrom, combing with the magnetosphere during re-entry...Shade smiled. It was a hideously long shot, but it might work...

With the time limit he had set as an incentive, he set to work placeing the detpacks around weak points in the body of the platform...

Location: Black Hole Missile Platform Control Centre.

Time: 2100 Hours BH Time, the same day.

Hawke sighed in defeat as he realised what Red Mesa had done. He had already called Lash and asked her about the missile platform's defences...

"Defences? What for?"

"Hmm...well, let's see. How about Red Mesa WARPING SOMEONE UP THERE TO RIGHT ROYALLY (expletive deleted) UP THE MISSILE PLATFORM?!" Hawke was starting to lose his cool a little bit, it seemed. Everyone minus Lash dove for cover as an aura of black energy started to form around Hawke, signifying his rapidly increasing anger.

"Ah...well...err...you said you wanted it ready a fast as possible, but I wanted to install some cool stuff, like a self-destruct system..."

"And the defences."

"Yeah. But to get it in orbit by your deadline, we had to cut out all that fun stuff..."

"I see. Everyone. Out. Now." Hawke's voice was eerily calm as he eyed everyone dangerously, daring them to stay. No-one did, much preferring to be sipping smoothies in the bar than be trapped in the control centre with a very, very, VERY angry Hawke. As the techs and Lash ran, the sound of an explosion made them look back. Red energy was streaming out of the blown-out windows of the control centre as Hawke released his anger in the only way a male knows how: smashing things.

He called up the other Black Hole CO's via radio, realising that everything was as good as lost. "Flak, Lash, Adder. Tell your troops to keep on fighting. Take several regiments of units, however, and meet me in the main hanger of our HQ. We're leaving."

Location: Black Hole Orbital Missile Platform, in high geosynchronous orbit.

Time: 1710 Hours OS Time, the same day.

Shade's heart was pounding as he set the last charge and ran slowly up the main body of the missile platform. Three minutes later, he skidded to a stop on the top of the cylinder and tried to catch his breath. Swift's voice came through the comm system, lined with sadness. "I guess...this is it then..." Shade nodded. "Sarah..."

"Yes?"

"I'll always love you." Shade closed his eyes as he felt the missile platform shake. The detpacks were silently exploding, their sound never reaching anyone's ears. At exactly the same time, the reactor's containment fields imploded. The whole satellite shook violently as it began to sink downwards, towards the planet below it. Shade gritted his teeth. His plan was in action. He started to charge up electromagnetic energy, drawing up as much power as he could from the very depths of his being. His fields started to interact with the electromagnetic maelstrom of the remains of the reactor, and both fields became a storm on energy as they sped downwards through the magnetic fields of the planet. Shade was praying silently the whole time, praying that his plan would work, because the other alternative involved pearly white gates. He switched his comlink off – is he did die, he didn't want everyone to hear his anguished scream. As soon as the link was cut he cried out, his voice drained as he tried to keep his energy in check. He was now on all fours, magnetically glued to the platform. "Any...second...now..." The platform started to crumble, electricity lancing around its body, mixing with the red-hot glow of re-entry into the atmosphere.

Shade's world shook.

There was a brilliant flash as the heat of re-entry reached him.

He saw no more.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of Chapter 10

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author Note: Well that's that. No reason to be getting too sad.

Swift: In tears What?! Shade died after saving Wars World and confessing his love for me! Of course there's a reason to be sad!

Did you even look at the Author Note? Points

Swift: ...Reads, sniffles A sequel? But what about – mmmph! Is duct-taped

Don't worry, it'll all work out. I hope...Anyways, this is the end-

Hawke: That's my line!!

-Of the fic. But stay tuned, I have a depressing epilogue planned!