Chapter Twenty: "Through The Middle"
A slight artificially-generated breeze was all it took to lull Bill into sleep when he collapsed into his bed before the Cornerians' siege of Bolse. For two days straight he and every other man who knew anything about repairs had been hard at work on the fleet's many battered ships. Captain Anilora himself was on the verge of collapse; as always, he wasn't sleeping much. Again the three Fortunan technicians proved utterly indispensable; using new computer software they were able to pinpoint each spacecraft's problems, and where, and how to fix them, so the process progressed far better than anyone had dared to hope.
Celestra stumbled into her best friends' room, dropping her cloak and kicking her boots into a heap on the floor. "Good idea," she said groggily to the sleeping Katinan, and she shoved him over a bit and crawled under the blankets beside him, snuggling up to his back for added warmth.
The two assassins passed four hours in this manner, oblivious to Anilora entering once and backing out quietly so as not to disturb them. At last Bill awoke, wriggling away gently so Celestra could rest, and left for a few minutes. Although he was quite silent she still stirred when he returned, blinking sleep out of her eyes.
"What are you doing?" she mumbled between yawns.
Bill was carrying a thin square box under his arm, a half-eaten slice of pizza hanging from his mouth. "Food," he grunted simply, and Celestra leap upon the box. "Sleep well?" he asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Starving," Celestra pointed out, devouring a giant slice of the cheese pizza. "Haven't eaten since yesterday."
"Me neefer," Bill admitted through a tremendous mouthful.
A polite knock sounded on the door and Anilora stepped inside, violet eyes instantly settling on the pizza. "Would it be presumptuous of me to drool?" he asked, sitting cross-legged beside his friends and helping himself. "I could smell it in the hallway . . ."
Celestra snorted, a very undignified sound; the Katinans shared a hearty laugh. For the next few minutes the air was filled with the sound of chewing, and when every scrap had been devoured they sat back with contented sighs. Anilora leaned forward, surveying them with a measure of seriousness, and resolved to break the silence. "I assume you know why I'm here."
"I do," Bill admitted, stifling a soft belch. "Ya need help with your speech. Ya never could give decent speeches," he added with a wink.
"What speech?" Celestra pressed, glancing back and forth between the two.
"It is tradition for an important figurehead in the Katinan government to deliver a speech before attacking foreign territories," Anilora explained, and he seemed nervous. "You both know I am anything but spontaneous--we attack in mere hours, and my nerves prevent me from arranging something eloquent or appropriate enough."
Bill settled back against a pillow, stretching his arms. "Can't say I've got any ideas, Cap'n."
"I remember my predecessors' public speaking," Anilora reminisced, referring to the previous Katinan captain, Arial LeValley. "He was absolutely riveting. The men expect me in two hours--what will I say? I cannot let them down; they expect it."
"Don't worry," assured Celestra, patting him on the back comfortingly. "I'll take care of it."
Anilora looked up, eyes shining with gratitude. Almost four years ago Celestra had prepared his election speech while he was running for the position of Katinan captain against Ziek Necro, his rival. The speech was nothing short of perfect when delivered by the passionate Anilora, and he instantly won the hearts of all in attendance. "You'll write the speech for me?" "Of course I will. Bill's right--you never could think up a good speech on your own, but with the right words your speaking affluency could win anybody over."
Captain Anilora bowed his head, at a loss for words. "Thank you."
Naturally when Celestra entered the docking bay two hours later to find Anilora and Bill standing on a raised dias facing one thousand people she nearly kicked herself. It wasn't that she had forgotten the speech, but she had neglected to write it down! She joined Sensenic Morray and Erik and William Nioxin, and as the four qued up to the platform she rapidly berated herself. A wonderful speech she had created, exemplary even by her standards, but she couldn't whisper it all into Anilora's ear and expect him to remember it all or recite it word-for-word. The grave look on her face explained it all as he approached her, and the captain's expression changed to one of horror. "Oh, dear--what shall I do now?"
Celestra's eyes darted over the crowd. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen so many fearful and downtrodden people all gathered together in one place. They needed to hear words of inspiration and consolence, and Anilora would never forgive himself if he let them all down. The assassin turned back to the fretting captain and placed a hand to his cheek.
"Relax," she murmured softly to him, and he calmed at her gentle voice. "I said I'd take care of it, didn't I? So I will." Nodding to Bill she exhaled nervously and turned to the crowd, stepping out in front of her five comrades and motioning for attention. The soldiers gradually fell silent, and Celestra bravely raised her voice for all to hear.
"My fellow Katinans! Yes . . . today I count myself among you. Today, when the darkness that is all around us would presume to take the very heart of me; today, when we stand upon the brink of a new tomorrow the likes of which we have not seen these ten long years; today, when all hope we have ever known would easily give way to despair. Today I call myself a Katinan; today I count myself among you, knowing wholeheartedly that today we are one in the same.
"As I presume to call myself Katinan, I shall also call myself Fortunan. You have come far from the mountainous region that you call home, and today I know how that feels. Similarly I am Aquan, for you have come just as far from the call of the sea.
"Collectively, all three of your proud races have left behind something more than just your homes; maybe you've left behind families, or maybe something else very special to you. Regardless, all of you who stand before me have willingly turned your backs on something you deeply care for. There is no greater sacrifice than that.
"I see so many different emotions as I look at you all; pride, fear, confusion . . . but above all, I see doubt. Understand, my friends, that today will not be our end. I cannot stand here and telll you that no one will die today, but I do understand the sacrifice we have all made. Many of our lives have been leading up to this moment, the moment that will make us or break us, the moment that will save us or enslave us.
"There is no such thing as an individual today, there is only one force. One harmony between all of us gathered upon this grand ship. Should you try to carry the hopes and dreams of others upon you, you will fail. It is not through believing in yourself that we will win today, but believing in all of us. Believing in us as one force, not believing in us as individuals.
"I see in your eyes the need for resolution. Many sacrifices will be made today; I say that with conviction, for I know in my heart that not everyone can be saved. Some lives will be spared, others not; that is the risk we all took, knowing that each life lost brings us closer to our ultimate goal. None of us would be standing here if we did not believe that it can be done. I myself had my doubts, but everything gets a little brighter when I realize that I'm not in it alone. We all had chances to walk away, to give up and leave this opportunity behind, but we never gave up.
"I see in your eyes a fear that would drive us to our deaths, but most importantly of all you are still here, regardless of that fear. And that, my friends, makes all the difference; that is the reason we will not fail this day.
"So today, on that field of battle, when all your hope begins to shrink, when all you believe in seems to fall away, remember what it is that brought you here! Remember what it is you're fighting for! Understand that you are not alone! Understand that this day is not our end! Together as a force we will overcome! Together as one we can prevail!
"Today I am a Katinan, and a Fortunan, and an Aquan. Today I have never been so proud to say that I belong to three races. We will rise and fall; we will triumph and suffer; we will succeed and stumble. But it is not our end that will come today!
"Forth, all of you, to the end of Andross or life itself!"
The docking bay became an uproar of cheers, some spurred by inspiration, by excitement, by nerves, or some other emotion that remained utterly indescribable. Nearly everyone shed tears at Celestra's honest and heartfelt words; some cried openly, others brushed away tears they would rather hide, but the impact remained the same on each person. Bill was grinning broadly, nodding his head at her in praise and frantically wiping a mist from his eyes; Sensenic Morray was sobbing with his face in his hands. Anilora stood alone among the ecstatic tumult, gazing at her blankly, hands hanging limply at his sides.
The captain rushed at her in a crushing hug, whispering, "Thank you--so much," into her ear. Something strong and warm rose up within Celestra as she stood there, secure in Anilora's arms, and she pulled away and fixed him with an intense stare.
"You know what I want to say," she said in a rush, unheard over the crowd by anyone save him. "It's completely at the wrong time, and so inappropriate, but I need to--"
"--I know," Anilora interrupted, shaking his head, laughing as he realized that hearing it would not change what he already knew. "Not today, perhaps, but one day when the war is over--" "--One day," Celestra cut back in, and she twined her slender fingers into his and smiled so brightly that he felt his heart would never again feel despair. "And that day I will never forget."
All around them pilots were boarding their spacecraft and ejecting from open hangars, still crying out phrases such as "We will overcome!", "Not our end!", and "Life itself!". Bill grabbed Celestra by the forearm and attempted to tug her in the direction of Bringer of Chaos and was very surprised when she violently thrashed away from him. "Come on, Celest, you, me, and the Nioxins are leadin' the way!"
Behind them Sensenic Morray called, "Captain! To the helm! We must away at once! The fighting is upon us!", and Anilora glanced deeply into Celestra's eyes again.
"I can't. What if this is truly the end for one of us? What if one of us must die for a victory? What if--"
Celestra stopped him with an upraised hand and accepted her utility belt from the Katinan assassin, strapping it on rapidly as she said, "Then you or I or both of us will die with the knowledge that in the end, we knew. Nothing has been left unsaid between us--isn't that enough?"
Anilora released her hands and nodded resolutely. "Yes; that is always enough." Morray pulled him away, and they sprinted off for the helm of Whitewater. Before he was out of sight he shouted, "One day!", and then he was gone.
"One day," the female assassin agreed quietly, and she, Bill, William, and Erik fastened themselves into the cockpits of their Arwings. When the way was clear they blasted out of the docking bay, ready to fight the last battle to the end of Andross.
Or life itself.
One well-placed electron detonator from William Nioxin eliminated the first Venomian cruiser in a line of fifty-seven of such craft, in effect starting the battle at Area 6. Bill skirted on ahead, leading the fifty Aquan warriors into the left flank of their enemies and striking hard at the third squadron in line. The Nioxin brothers swept in from below at the head of the two hundred Fortunan pilots, fearlessly attacking the right side and tearing devastating holes in the Venomian cruisers. Last but not least Celestra curved in from above, seven hundred and fifty enraged Katinans streaming along behind her; the lot of them streaked straight through the middle, where the female assassin butted heads with Reivin Frost. She planed away upon seeing his black fighter, leaving a few Katinan lieutenants to lead the charge, and he followed her without hesitation to clash far to the left of the advancing Whitewater.
"I'm going to make you earn your passage through," he snarled at her, taking a few shots that missed the Bringer of Chaos and lanced out of sight.
Celestra snickered. "Careful--if you keep me out here too long I won't feel obliged to kill you quickly later."
A large Fortunan cruiser with the name FrigidFire glided near Whitewater, and Anilora heard Morray's voice: "They are concealing their more valuable fighters in the center of the fleet; we should come in behind the Katinans and hit them from the inside out."
The other cruisers of the allied triad fell into a spiral array behind them, and together they slowly crept forward as Anilora said, "Is that your starship, Sensenic?!"
The arctic fox chuckled, standing behind FrigidFire's pilot at the helm and pointing out their pattern of attack. "Yes, Captain; the first in the series of the Zodiac. I give you the Z-Infinity Aquarius, its own powerhouse out here in battle. You will see its prowess soon."
"I daresay I will."
Ahead and to the right Erik shouted to William, "Doctor Morray has unveiled the Aquarius at last, brother."
"Indeed." The pair began to fall into a routine much akin to th eone they had used in Sector Z, moving from cruiser to cruiser and aiming for its vitals. The Aquans quickly caught on to the familiar game and enthusiastically jumped in as William boasted, "If they were afraid of our little electron detonators, they're in for a real treat next!"
"That's what you think, Fortunans," Reivin growled, breaking away from Celestra just long enough to shout, "Deploy it! Now!"
From somewhere far overhead dropped a single armored battleship, every bit as large as ten regular Venomian cruisers melded together. Enormous oval-shaped cannons sprang from its black and gold decorated sides, vibrating with barely contained firepower; the battleship could easily have been mistaken for a space station, so solid and immense its appearance.
Reivin cackled wickedly to himself. "Allow me to introduce to you the Interstellar Commander One. Contrary to what you may gather from its sheer size it is the most maneuverable Venomian battleship to date, complete with thirty-six plasma cannons. Let us see your Z-Infinity nonsense hold a candle to that."
Folding his hands behind his back nonchalantly, Morray nodded to a cyborg manning the weapons of FrigidFire. It pressed one robotic digit to a large yellow button just below the G-Diffuser screen, letting loose what seemed to be a much larger version of the electron detonators Erik and William had used during the ambush and crashing heavily into the starboard side of the IC-One. No significant damage was wrecked upon the battleship, but Reivin knew it couldn't tolerate a handful of well-placed shots like that. "Electron cannonfire," Morray explained airily. "Three times as strong as their detonator counterparts. The Aquarius can hold forty such blasts."
The Venomian assassin laughed long and hard at that. "What is your name, Fortunan? You are worthy of my awe."
Morray swept into a deep, statuesque bow. "Why, thank you; and it's Sensenic Morray."
"Well, Morray, let us see whose starship is the most impressive, shall we?"
Morray leaned to the pilot's side and whispered, "Concentrate all your efforts upon that battleship, else I fear it may obliterate our ranks." Then to Reivin he said, "That is a challenge I will accept. Keep your eyes on me, respectable Mr. Frost--you shall soon see the difference between size and skill."
"Nicely played, Doc Morray," Bill muttered under his breath. The new Venomian battleship could cause mass chaos if unleashed upon the allied triad, so it was all the better for everyone to concentrate on the many crafts around them while clever Sensenic Morray dealt with the IC-One on his own. Even as he watched FrigidFire disengaged from the congregation of cruisers and ambled east to do battle with the Interstellar Commander, and Anilora pressed forward into the bulk of the Venomian fleet. Calling out to his Aquan followers Bill swept around in a semicircle, doubling back behind Whitewater as if making to flee; the Venomians pursued, aiming for the kill, and their surprise was complete when the assassin led one great U-turn right back at them, presenting them with not only fifty Arwings but a Katinan warship as well. The shock strike offered them a gaping hole through which they eagerly slipped through, coming up the middle, passing the two battling assassins, and joining the Katinans in the front.
As well as the siege was going, though, something didn't feel quite right. They were still outnumbered by a considerable amount, but to a veteran fighter pilot like Bill everything seemed too easy. Off to one side the Nioxins brought down another cruiser; Morray was trading shots with the battleship now, and the Fortunan fleet, sensing weakness, dove into the fray with the others and dashed ahead.
Three Venomian starships, secluded in a tight triangle formation, parted as the advance strengthened; a knot formed in Bill's stomach, and he shouted, "Fall back!" as loudly as he could before plasma cannons went off in the center of the group. A second battleship melted through the gap in the cruisers, bearing the name Interstellar Commander Two.
"Forgot to mention," Reivin Frost cackled over the radio. "There's two of those IC's. Enjoy, Gilraen."
Anilora gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the back of his pilot's chair. "I shouldn't be so cocky, Reivin; this battle is far from over."
"Yes, I see that, but where are your ships?"
The Katinan captain peered into the wreckage and gasped, thoroughly dismayed; all the Arwings unfortunate enough to be in the circle of fire had been obliterated by the blasts.
"At least two hundred downed!" called one of the Aquan tacticians. "Nearly all of them Katinan! What is your course of action, Captain?"
In answer, Erik and William Nioxin spiraled down toward the IC-Two, paralleling the roof of the battleship and loosing their electron detonators. As the enormous cruiser swiveled its cannons to target the pair of Fortunans Bill swept in, also firing with the detonators and taking the immediate attention away from his two friends.
"We will do all we can to bring this one down!" shouted Erik, backlashing behind Bill and firing again to give the assassin an opening. "Don't worry for us, Captain--continue about your efforts!"
"Aquans!" shouted Anilora, expertly perusing the combat layout. "Form up around the cruisers and provide a defense! Fortunans, around the the left! Katinans, away to the right! All cruisers, exert pressure on the center!"
Again the battle escalated in full, the allied triad rushing in from their appointed directions and assaulting the Venomians again at their full strength. To their credit, the Venomians squeezed together into a decent defense, but with the Aquans taking all the heavy blows the cruisers fired upon the opposing fleet at their leisure. With the two IC's occupied and away from the weaker spots Anilora was able to maneuver his men into more suitable formations, but they were still being overwhelmed and losing badly.
FrigidFire was giving Interstellar Commander One an excellent fight, proving that speed mattered more than raw power as it dodged the majority of the plasma cannons, snuck in through openings, and lanced away with cannonballs of highly-charged electrons. Morray could tell the instant Bakura Staletto, the commander of IC-One, unseated his licensed pilot and took up the controls himself, for the flying style drastically changed and two expertly-fired plasma cannons rocked the Fortunan starship and discarded Morray to the floor.
"That won't do at all," Sensenic Morray said as he calmly rose to his feet and dusted off the seat of his pants. "Let me have a go; I did build this thing, you know."
This last was aimed at his own pilot; with a nod the Fortunan rose, and Morray rubbed his hands together and gleefully took command.
"About time you decided to get serious, Morray," Bakura quipped at him.
Morray chuckled, not bothered in the least. "My pilot was doing an admirable job hitherto; why would I step in when I felt certain he could kill you without my help?"
Bakura cursed at the Fortunan. "He did nothing of the sort," he fired back.
"My dear Bakura, that matters not at all, for I will."
In reply the Venomian commander roared an expletive and changed tactics, unveiling a double-barreled cannon at the battleship's head and firing. Morray was quite unprepared for the brutal onslaught and therefore had little time to dodge, settling for diving right and taking one of the blasts in the lower left wing. Bakura howled in victory; Morray firmed his jaw and righted himself at the helm.
"What's the matter, Morray?" he spat at his enemy, laughing with glee. "Reached the bottom of your seemingly endless bag of tricks?"
"Why, yes," Morray admitted calmly, already typing a new command into the weapons' console at high speed. "I'm afraid you've got me in checkmate."
There was a slight pause in the battle in which Bakura felt certain that he had indeed bested the brilliant Fortunan, then a faint whirring sound filled the silence and his thoughts of victory were quenched. The front of FrigidFire blossomed and opened like some many-petaled flower, and a six-barreled apparatus sprouted and elongated from the center. Morray pressed another button and sat back to watch, and at his command the blaster went off, rotating barrels all the while and devastating the left flank of the Venomian battleship. Many heads turned to discern the great spectacle of Morray's masterpiece; Bakura was jolted form his seat, mouth agape in shock.
"I proudly introduce my latest creation," Morray continued, surveying the damage with satisfaction. "I call it MOEC--Machine-gun Operated Electron Cannons. It features a six-barreled mechanism that rotates on a circular basis, firing forty rounds in fifteen seconds. And if you're thinking that you can rupture the barrels with a few professionally-fired plasma cannons, think again--the shafts are made of adamantite, a flashy addition from our very own Erik and William Nioxin."
"Thank you for the recognition, Doctor!" acknowledged Erik from the other side of the battlefield.
"Truly we couldn't have done it without you!" added William.
Bakura didn't know what to do next. A weapon like that could wipe out the lot of them if given the opportunity, much less his battleship alone; seeing hesitation Morray laughed and said, "Cheer up, admirable Mr. Staletto! I can only use it nine times more!" That brought a look of purest horror to the Venomian's face, prompting Morray grin and add a self-admiring "Damn; I'm good."
Celestra was winning; she could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins like an addiction as she handled Reivin like he was her inferior. All that was saving Anilora's fleet from outward annihilation was better technology, something the Fortunans were responsible for; they had produced the Bringer of Chaos, FrigidFire, and the elecrton detonators all in the nick of time, offering their allies the chance to cling to life. They were all struggling--she with Reivin, the fleet with the defense about the station, and Morray, Bill, Erik, and William with the battleships--but they weren't defeated yet and refused to go down without fighting their best fight first. Celestra was now darting absentmindedly about, searching for an opening that she might flee for the surface of Venom, but the ranks were tight and Reivin was not forfeiting aerial combat. By now she saw him merely as an irritation; this wasn't the fight she wanted at all, but a hand-to-hand contest of physical strength, as they had already agreed. So she let Reivin have his way, biding her time until the opportune moment when she might make with all speed to the home of Andross.
The pilot of Interstellar Commander Two was becoming thoroughly frustrated with the continuing antics of Bill, William, and Erik. The three Arwins had set to collaborating in a perfect tag-team, letting one of them bombard the battleship with the detonators while the other two drew the attention away from the attacker. It was an excellent offensive maneuver, one that never left any one man open for retaliation, and the pilot thought himself beaten very early on.
Bill rushed in from the right, completely unseen as Erik and William passed in front of the cockpit and looped around to the left. As expected the pilot swiveled left, trying in vain to track down the two pesky Fortunans as Bill opened fire, inciting pockmarks all down the starboard side, and the pilot cursed as all three again escaped unscathed.
"That was great!" William congratulated, sharing a victorious laugh with his comrades as they watched smoke rise from a few of the battleship's vulnerable spots. "Can I have another go?" "No way! It's my turn and you know it!" Erik protested.
William pouted to his brother. "Please, brother?"
Erik sighed and rubbed his sapphire eyes briskly. "Oh . . . I suppose. But when you're done, I get to fire on it twice."
"Deal." William snickered excitedly and swept around to the right again, motioning for the other two to take the opposite direction and distract the pilot. "This time I'll at least get something to catch fire."
The IC-Two pilot was enraged at the trio, was so overcome with rage that he became consumed by the thought of puncturing their laughter with tragedy. When Erik and Bill lazily came into view, therefore, he grinned wickedly and ignored them completely, singling out an unsuspecting, defenseless William. The first plasma cannon blew away the craft's right wing; William cried out, and the second bomb incinerated all that remained of his Arwing.
"WILLIAM!!" shrieked Erik, flipping a hasty U-turn and speeding toward the cloud of smoke that remained. "WILLIAM!!!"
"NO, ERIK!!!" Bill shouted after him, taking off in pursuit, but the Fortunan acted as though he hadn't even heard. Quite the contrary he was speeding toward the very head of Interstellar Commander Two as though he was contemplating suicide. "STOP! DON'T DO THIS!!" Boosting his thrusters to maximum Bill rolled in front of Erik and did the only thing he could think to do--he fired, crippling one of Erik's wings and sending him off-balance. The shot was so precise, so expectly fired, that it caused only enough damage to abort all systems but leave Erik himself unharmed at the same time. Erik fixed Bill with a murderous glare through the G-Diffuser screen, but the intimidating effect was ruined by the twin diamond tears shining in his eyes.
"Why?!" Erik pleaded of him, and the sight broke Bill's heart. "How could you stop me when he . . . when my brother just . . . " His voice trailed helplessly away as he caved completely into grief.
"Listen, Erik, I completely believe in vengeance," Bill told him evenly, surveying him with respect and pity. "But if ya do this now, you'll kill yourself."
Sobbing, Erik Nioxin spun away from the assassin and sped off into the melee.
It all happened in an instant; Celestra blinked, and there before her gaped an opening through the Venomian defenses, creating an almost perfect straight path to the enemy planet. With a triumphant smirk on her lips Celestra fired Bringer of Chaos' engines, leaving Reivin behind her.
Coolly the evil assassin established a communications link between his spacecraft and the distant Wolf O'Donnel's. "Come in, Wolf. This is Reivin Frost."
After a moment the mercenary's relieved voice could be heard. "I hear you. Is it time?"
Reivin could not suppress a sadistic grin. "Yes, it is time. Meet me on Venom, outside the Altar of Fallen Star. Oh, and Wolf . . . " Here the assassin suddenly turned maniacal, seriously businesslike. "Bring your A-game, won't you? It is high time the tables turned in our favor."
"Affirmative. Bolse has long been overrun."
"That was anticipated, but in a few hours it will cease to matter." Reivin couldn't hide a touch of malice in his voice at the news; he had hoped the Cornerians wouldn't win outright, and it sounded as though they already had. "Frost, over and out." Terminating the link Reivin sped off after his nemesis, preparing himself for the task ahead. The Altar of Fallen Star had been no random choice of his; it was rumored that James McCloud, Fox's father, had been murdered there.
What a fitting place for Celestra's humiliating demise.
Sensenic Morray jumped in surprise when the door to the control room banged open; he had just gotten tired of toying with Bakura Staletto and was contemplating the best way to eliminate the Interstellar Commander One. Swiveling in his chair he quickly let go of his momentary irritation; there stood Erik Nioxin, balled fists trembling at his sides, angry tears welling in his eyes. He opened his mouth to spit some curse, some evil condemnation, but all that came out was a quiet and helpless "Doctor Morray . . . it's William . . . he . . ."
The older Fortunan rose slowly, knees quaking from the realization of what must have happened to Erik's twin brother. They gazed back at one another for some time, shaking with sorrow, fighting tears, and then Morray swept Erik into a crushing hug and they sobbed against each other for the longest time. After a few minutes Erik pulled back, sapphire pupils wide with hatred, and his gaze darted out the window to the mess that was the first Venomian warship.
Morray guided him to the helm and sat him in the commanders' chair, murmuring, "As a son you are to me, and your brother was as well. Even though you are no relation of mine, still I love you dearly, as I would my own child, had I one."
"Why?" Erik asked tonelessly. "Why him and not me? I gave in almost instantly when he begged me to let him attack; if I had just been more firm--"
"This was not of your doing," Morray assured honestly, placing his hands on the younger Fortunan's shoulders.
Erik blinked; another tear trailed away through the white fur of his face. "Damn them," he growled, infuriated again. "Damn them all for stealing my brother from me!" With that he issued the command for MOEC to fire, downing the fire battleship at last.
The sight of the wreckage filled Erik's heart with a dark satisfaction, momentarily slaking his need for the destruction. But the need proved insatiable, and he turned his eyes upon the IC-Two.
His broken heart demanded he claim the life of his brothers' killer. "For you, William," he promised as he set his sights firmly on it. "For you, brother."