The Technoid building loomed in front of them. Corso and his team chose the same entrance they had used when they had freed Clamp. It had cameras, but he knew how to disable those. This rescue operation would take more than just that. He had to use more brutal skills, the ones he had picked up in the army, to save Sonnys family from certain death. It still pissed him off that anyone would expose Sonny to this kind of threats. Sonny only went for the bad apples, not the good ones. Bleylock still had the abillity to haunt him, years after his death. At times, he wanted to check, to make sure the bastard really was dead, that he did not just dream it up.
His communicator beeped. It was Sonny.
"Corso, I changed my mind. Aaraya showed me something that makes me take immediate action. Team two will follow yours in two hours. There's a change of plans." Sonny stated. Corso wasn't happy to hear that. Sonny just had to put himself in danger, when he had promised not to.
"I told you I'd handle this. Send the others, but stay on Stellar unix yourself" Corso hissed back. Sonny calmly responded to his upset lover.
"Too late Corso, we're already here on Genesis. We will wait for two hours, getting ready, before we follow. Things will go well, trust me." Sonny said mildly. Corso wasn't buying it.
"Ever taught about how it could not go well? Screw it. I'll get them out before you even get here.I will do anything to keep you out of the dangerzone, and you know perfectly well why" Corso said. "You can help with the clean up, once the danger is over" he muttered grouchily. He heard a soft laugh on the other end.
"You be careful too. I dont want to loose you either" Sonny reminded him. Corso chuckled softly.
"I'll be fine. You know how strong I am.I feel sorry for the kid if I get my hands on him." He reminded him.
"Just be careful Corso. We'll hold off until you let us know you're all safe. If I don't hear back within two hours, we're moving in. Without your consent" Sonny said. Corso sighed.
"You're the boss." He said. Sonny laughed
"Love you too." Was the reply. Corso ended the transmission to the soft chuckle from Sonny.

Team two was getting ready to follow. Sonny kept a close eye on the timer. He pulled out a small laptop from inside his jacket. The map of the air vents of the building would come in handy. He felt Aaraya's hand on his shoulder as his hands started to glow with the Seed, taking form. In a matter of seconds, the glow retracted and Sonny felt himself balanced and still needed to work on how to handle the emotional side of his flux. He checked his gear. All ready. They headed to the entrance Sonny had marked and getting inside the duct. Aaraya looked around. The Pirates found a weakness in Technoid's fort. It was easy to get relevant information and leave no trace. As soon as they were all in, Sonny signalled for them to move. He handed Artie the map and told him to go first. Bennett followed, Aaraya and Sonny went last. They hurried along. Time was of the essence.

Corso and his team arrived at the entrance of the reservoirs. Corso nodded to Stevens to make sure they weren't detected as they entered. As soon as they were in, Corso looked at the containers. They didn't have much time...

Jar'Eel found the building to be too silent. He never liked the quiet. Sonny Blackbones was up to something. He knew the Pirates would go for a sneak attack, but from what direction? He sent out his robots to patrol the reservoir. He could feel there was an attack on the way. He had to be ready. An alarm sounded. Someone was in the reservoirs. And they moved about carefully.
Time to spring the trap.

Inside the reservoir, D'Jok tried to find a weak spot in the tank. He couldn't find any. Mei did her best to comfort Iris. Callie managed to get a signal out from her transmitter so people were probably on their way. She just hoped Sonny was smart enough to stay away. How could they get out? D'Jok smirked. Callie followed his gaze. Through the window in the tank, just behind the corner of a filled reservoir, they saw Corso and Stevens. Corso signalled for them to be silent as he had his team scatter in all directions. As soon as he reached the tank, D'Jok saw him charge his cybernetic eye. Corso signalled for them to stand back. Then, he took aim and shot. It wasn't just producing a blast. There was something mixed in it; Flux. Corso couldn't control it completely as he shook from the shock of seeing it. He waved at them.
"Let's get out of here so Sonny doesn't have to get in. He is too stubborn to stay out of the action" Corso said. Callie looked at him.
"Sonny is here? Tell him to leave Corso. Jar'Eel wants him dead." She said, looking desperately at him.
"I tried telling him to Callie, the stubborn fool wont listen, not when any of us are in danger. But I promise you,He won't die, I'll make sure of that. His team are behind us, best thing I could do with a stubborn guy like him, is to slow him down enough to miss the worst action." Corso said. Stevens started leading them to safety. As they turned a corner, he saw two feet come out the ventilation duct. Team two had arrived just in time. Corso crossed his arms as Sonny made his way out the duct.
"You're impossible Sonny, I tell you that you stay out of the action if your life is on the you choose not to listen as usual. But since you're here, let's take him down together." He sighed. Sonny smirked before he signalled his team to spread out and look for Jar'Eel.

"Is our family safe?" Sonny asked. Corso nodded.
"Stevens will lead them to a portal to Stellar Unix and go with them." He said. Sonny nodded.
"Let's finish this." He said. Corso nodded. He just wanted all of this to get over with and lead a peaceful life for once. They approached an area with a single heat signature.
"That's not a hologram?" Corso asked. Sonny shook his head. They headed to an unfamiliar door and the two of them opened it.
"You sure took your time." Jar'Eel smirked.
"I won't let you get away with hurting people. Your father did enough of that for lifetimes to come" Sonny shot back. Jar'Eel stared at him with his glowing yellow eyes.
"Except people you personally don't like, of course. I bet you turn your back on them too, just like you did my father" He spat.
"I didn't kill him. It was an accident.I had my way, he would be imprisoned, not dead" Sonny said. Corso prepared to lunge at him, but Jar'Eel was armed. Sonny tried to step in but Corso was quicker. He jumped towards Jar'Eel, trying to pin him down and Jar'Eel fired his weapon. The laser blast struck his right shoulder and slammed him into the wall. His arm felt like it was on fire. And Corso yelled in pain, clutching the shoulder. He noticed that Sonny kneeled beside him. He was bleeding out and fast. The injury was an open wound. He would need medical help,and soon. Jar'Eel ran but Sonny didn't care. The others could deal with him. Sonny smiled gently as he saw Corso wince in pain. He took a few deep breaths and placed his right hand over the wound, letting his Flux flow. At the very least, he would intend to close the wound.

Jar'Eel was getting away, feeling very satisfied with shooting Corso. That was not the revenge he wanted, but any sting he could inflict on the more or less untouchable pirate chief, he would take. With any luck, Sonny would loose his right hand man. That would serve him right. He rounded a corner and was stopped by an unknown energy. From three corners. Solaris, Coran and…. Zoltar! He was still alive. And angry.
"Hold him in place. He needs to learn the truth and make a choice." Aaraya said as she stepped forwards, walking towards her furious son.
"As if you know best Mother, you are as soft as Blackbones. Everyone is expendable, I did fine without you in my life" Jar'Eel spat. Aaraya shook her head.
"You're confused son. I'll bring you back to Stellar Unix and explain everything there. For now you need to go to sleep." She commanded, making a gesture with her hand. With that, her son fell into a deep sleep.

Where was he? Corso tried to sit up, but his shoulder felt like it was on fire.
"Finally waking up?" He heard a voice say. Callie. She smiled as she sat at the edge of the bed. He tried to sit up again, but felt a set of strong arms gently pulling him back down.
"Easy there.I got you Corso" Sonny said mildly from where he had placed himself, beside him. Corso rubbed his head with his good hand.
"I hope we at least got the bastard. Better yet, tell me someone shot him." He said. Sonny smirked.
"We did get him Corso. He will stand trial for his involement in all this. We're almost ready to go back to Genesisn now. There's just one thing remaining here to attend." He teased. This made Corso suspicious.
"How long was I out for?Please, clarify" He asked. Callie laughed.
"Seventy Two Hours Corso. Hopefully that gave you enough time to think about the marriage of ours?" She said. Corso smiled.
"I'm in. Do both of you still want this?" He asked. Sonny chuckled.
"Of course we do. If one of us opted out, it wont happen" He said. Callie leaned forward.
"Before we make this official, I want a kiss from both of my husbands to be. And some rings to symbolize this union we are about to enter" She said. Corso looked at Sonny. He was not sure he should kiss her unless Sonny gave the go ahead.
"Go ahead." Sonny chuckled as Callie leaned in to kiss found her. He found that He liked it too. This wouldnt be so bad. The three of them belonged together.
"I want one from Sonny as well." He said. Sonny chuckled as he kissed Callie passionately first. Then, he turned to Corso. Sonny cupped his face gently and pulled him close, then, he kissed Corso deeply and passionately. Corso placed his left arm around Sonny's neck, caressing his hair as they kissed. Callie chuckled as she looked at them. Corso was not up for anything else but the kiss for now, but the passion packed in that kiss between them told volumes of what was to come.
"Today's probably perfect to prepare for the special night we got ahead of us. We need to really dress up for this occasion" She reminded them. Sonny smiled as he let go, slightly short on breath.
"Let's all get cleaned up first. We will need a bigger bathroom though" He said. Corso looked at him.
"What's the occasion for today?" He asked. Callie smiled.
"Arcadia news has been informed of my release for one. They asked me to do two things before tomorrow's news at night tough. Tomorrow, I'll have a sit down with the two of you, talking about all this live. I'll give you the questions one hour prior. to prevent you discussing what to say. This will be a shoot from the hip interview. And the galaxys first real chance to get to know you Corso" Callie said, trying to look stern. Corso grimaced.
"Do we have to? I don't like to do public appearances. Can we do, like a recording of it instead?" He said. Sonny nodded.
"We need to work on that. And no Corso, this is our punishment. You will do fine, I promise, we are both in this together remember" He said. Corso grinned.
"What are we celebrating tonight?" He asked. Callie smirked.
"A royal wedding. Zoltar and Solaris have the blessing of the King and Queen. We'll celebrate their marriage tonight with a special broadcast for Arcadia news." She said. Corso laughed.
"As long as they don't come anywhere near our house with the cameras, I can manage." He said.
"I can't make promises about my colleagues. you two are popular, and the galaxy has a pirates fever, they want to know everything about you" Callie laughed. Corso sighed.
"Then I can't make any promises about their well-being either.I value my private space, free of cameras" He said. Sonny chuckled.
"Let's just all share a shower to relax." He smiled. Corso sighed happily as they both helped him to the bathroom. Then, Sonny helped him avoid getting the bandages wet, before he used the massage function of the shower to Corsos lower back. Corso sighed as he felt Sonny rotate the showed on his lower back, this was like heaven. He was the luckiest man in the Galaxy right now.

Solaris was beautiful in her wedding dress. Mei smiled as she looked at her. Simple, but elegant. She looked at D'Jok, who held her hand, and looked at her with a smile. There was a lot of reasons to smile lately. She also heard about Sonny, Corso and Callie. She was so happy for them. The music sounded as the King himself would lead Solaris to the altar. Zoltar looked kind of nervous as he was flanked by Zarind and Hawk who was his Best Man. Aaraya was the maid of honor for Solaris. It became a beautiful ceremony. The celebration did not last too long, as they all needed their sleep.

After the celebration, the Pirates returned to The Black Manta and a new celebration took place. Everyone was gathered in the Command Center, where Sonny, Corso and Callie announced their marriage plans and their now engangement. The wedding would be held as soon as it was possible. Corso felt nervous about how the crew would respond to the news,they might judge him over this. But there was no one judging him. There was only celebration.
"I'm so happy for you Corso. You finally got him after all this time, you finally got him" A slightly tipsy Artie told him.
"Yeah. Finally. Long overdue, but finally, I am truly with him" Corso smiled. He looked at his new ring. An S and a C on each side. On his side for the rest of his life.

The following morning, the Pirates parted with the Paladins, assuring they would send out an invitation for the wedding to come. Corso was looking out of a porthole when he felt a tiny hand touch his leg. He looked down into two equally tiny eyes. Iris was exploring all on her own. and no mom or dad was in sight.
"Did you run away from your parents again Iris? You are going to give your parents grey hairs much too early" He said as he lifted the little girl into his arms. She was so trusting, looking at him with a such innocence in her eyes, as she made happy sounds. It took him back. Another set of eyes came to his mind. His own daughter, her blue eyes, first, so lively, and happy, and then, almost without life, in a hospital bed, with all the tubes attached to her tiny body. Corso felt his normal eye fill with tears. He never allowed himself to grieve the loss of his only child, he just kept going. He sat down, making sure she wouldn't fall. This was where Callie and Sonny found them a little while later. Callie took the little child back to Mei and D'Jok. Sonny carefully sat down next to Corso.
"If you want, we can go to their graves and have them relocated. I know you want them both to rest peacefully." He said. Corso nodded.
"Little Iris...She reminded me so much of times I wish I had more of. I'm not even sure how to rebuild from that. But I know I want to try." He said. Sonny nodded.
"You're wondering where Callie and I stand about having children, arent you?" He asked. Corso nodded.
"Iris reminds me of Kimberly at that age. A part of me is still scared. Maybe I always will be. I want to try again but I need you and Callie to be on board with it." He said. Sonny smiled.
"Callie and I had that talk already. I also want to try both missed so much, maybe a second child will allow us to be there through it all. Let's talk to Callie about it after the wedding." He said. Corso nodded as he looked out into space.
"For now, let's find Kimberly and Noomi. I might know a place for them to rest." He said. Sonny nodded.
"Where?" He asked. Corso smiled.
"Next to Helena, on Akillian."

We are close to the end of this story. Just a few more chapters to go.
There's still some loose threads.
In the next chronicle, I will deal with how the mole in the Flux Society and other players fit into their roles and how this contributed to the Flux wars.
All this and more will be explored in other stories.
As always, thank you Paranoidgirl, for your Beta Reading.
Please leave a review.