To say that the guilt was crushing him would be a understatement.
Sentus Optimus had half expected the Supreme Commander to snap at him for letting the Templars capture his daughter, to lash out at him, even to punish him for failing to accomplish his task which he had entrusted him with, only for him to fail.
This only made it hurt like a searing hot brand pressed against what little human flesh he still had underneath the armor he wore. He did not dare to meet the eyes of the Supreme Commander even as he was ordered to rise and take his position among the rest of the soldiers of the Grand Armada.
His one human eye closed behind his mask, his fingers curling into fists at his sides.
Never had Optimus felt so much guilt, not since he first woke up in this cyborg form and remembered the chaos he had caused when he was a pirate by the name of Wolf Hawkins. Never had he felt so much shame, shame from promising to do the good he was perfectly capable of, but not keeping to his word.
His gaze was then turned to the figure of the two who had taken Quintia's life, the Templar Grandmaster and the last remaining pirate swashbuckler in perhaps the entire Spiral. How he wished he could sum up the rage within him, the anger he could call upon since he had felt the betrayal of the Resistance, to tear both of them apart right where they stood.
The hollow sensation within him did not go away, and the rage only flickered like a weak flame before it went out completely. After all, was not he the very reason why Quintia had been captured? He, Sentus Optimus, had run away from the battle like a disgusting coward.
Shame on you, shame on you for failing your Commander.
It did not help that he also realized he had not heard of the fate of the secondary leader of the Royal Guards ever since he had returned to Cadiz.
"Atticus Mercilus, we meet again."
The figure Optimus had learned to identify as the Templar Grand Master simply sneered. This was perhaps far more unnerving than if he was cursing the Lord of the Valencian Empire, or if he was struggling against the holds upon his upper arms. Mercilus did none of those; the smirk lingering upon his lips.
Optimus found his eyes turning to the Supreme Commander Ulysses Septimus.
Those others had not realized who was truly seated upon the throne of the Valencian Empire, but he knew maybe a little too well than the others who had known of him only as the Supreme Commander Kane the Second. Optimus allowed those thoughts to run through his mind with a bitter mental laugh: just like how Ulysses himself wore a mask on his face to hide his true nature, he himself too wore a mask to hide what was underneath.
And at this moment, he could not have been more grateful for the mask over his face.
No one would know of the guilt at rushed through him, and that was for the best - for he was, after all, the lieutenant of the Emperor of the Valencian Empire - as each of the memories which now flashed through his processor.
Even with the enhanced processing power of a clockwork thanks to the chip implanted into his head, Optimus had lost track of the days they had spent hiding in Skull Mountain. While indeed it was true that he had been trained in endurance as a buccaneer, the Captain had found himself growing only weaker by the day, his human flesh deteriorating with the lack of nourishment and only barely kept from dragging him down by what he could scrounge from the environment -
Optimus could only mechanically walk along the hallway, like a true clockwork, upon the moment the meeting was dismissed.
He braced a hand against the wall, resting his forehead in his other gauntleted hand.
"God, Quintia I am sorry, I am sorry for this... I should have protected you."
How weak, how pathetic - some part of the former pirate buccaneer did not want to believe that this was his voice.
The Captain's remaining human eye closed behind his mask; his throat burned and as did his eye, tears threatening to spill.
Vividly, he could remember the searing pain that had shot through his entire frame, as he laid there within a pool of his own blood, incapacitated and unable to do anything to defend himself all while his so called comrades fled the scene. Optimus remembered the fear, the rage which so occupied his mind at that time: he was very much certain he was done for all thanks to the pirate Adrian Devereaux.
A growl nearly slipped from his throat at the mere thought of that name.
There was no one Sentus Optimus detested more in the entire Spiral, no one he wanted more to tear apart with his two bare hands, bit by bit and piece by piece so he would know of the pain he had made him suffer on that fateful day which would change his destiny completely -
The marine captain closed the door behind himself, ensuring the lock was on before all strength seemed to drain out of his legs, and he slid to the ground, his back pressed against the wall.
So many things that he could have done, that he could have changed, but he did not. Would it all have been any different, had he stayed behind with the Royal Guard captain to fight off the Templars? Would it have been any different if he was the one who had been captured instead of her?
Sentus Optimus had to force himself to stand back up on trembling legs.
But there is nothing you can do now, can you?
So weak -
There was a part of him that was almost tempted to crawl into the next crack in the earth he found and hide, hide and never come back out: unable to even look into the mirror. Ulysses Septimus had been the one to reach out during his time of need, when he could have left him for dead or simply execute him for what he had done as a pirate.
And he had failed him.
Sentus Optimus braced a hand against the wall for balance when he found enough strength to stand once more. How vividly he remembered the awkwardness of his new limbs when they were first attached, and how sharp the artificial eye was when compared to his remaining human eye. All thanks to Ulysses taking mercy on him -
A sharp knock on the door of his private chambers.
"Who is this?"
Optimus found himself speaking in the same mechanical fashion as the lower ranked clockworks: montone and without emotion within his words.
"Lieutenant Commanders Servius Decimus and Albinus Crassus requesting entrance."
The marine opened the door and stepped back: his right arm automatically snapping into the Armada salute in face of his fellow officers.
"It is good to see you return unharmed, Captain."
It was barely possible for him to pay attention to the words spoken by Servius: his gaze on Albinus, the younger of the two. To an outside observer, the elite sniper appeared nothing unusual, simply standing there straight and silent like any other clockwork soldier of the Armada would. Optimus saw something else.
His pale and slender fingers seemed to curl around his weapon tighter than usual, and then there were the tremors, the way his frame seemed to tremble and had to just ever so slightly lean against his twin for support now they were away from the public eye.
"H-however, I do regret to inform you that the Captain of the Royal Guard Quintia Presidos had perished in the hands of the Templars."
It was as though Servius' words had became daggers, daggers which drove themselves into his frame and twisted hard. Everything fell into place like some sort of dreadful puzzle: all of this would serve to explain the Supreme Commander Ulysses' rage that he had seen just moments ago.
"How...?"
Optimus could only utter this word, before his throat clamped shut. And a million different possibilities had exploded within his brain in the very second of the statement -
God, what will become of the Supreme Commander? What will become of the Armada now that what's left of his stability has been so brutally ripped away?
"The Supreme Commander's condition only worsened with this."
By the end of his sentence, Servius' voice cracked, further confirming the dread within Optimus.
"God... It was all my fault..."
Optimus did not know if he muttered the words out loud or if they were all within his mind. What he did know was his strength had once more failed him and he had all but collapsed against the wall -
"Captain! The Supreme Commander is already falling apart, and now you as well?!"
The marine captain tensed at the sharp snap of the sniper's voice, meeting the voids in the mask - face of Servius Decimus. No one, not even his trainers, not even Adrian Devereaux, had dared to snap out at him, save for Ulysses Septimus during the war between the now vessel world Marleybone and Valencia.
But he is right, isn't he?
Remembering the state the Supreme Commander was in shortly before he left the world of Valencia drove yet another dagger into the lieutenant's chest. He remembered all too vividly how the Supreme Commander's uniform seemed to be looser around his frame, the light within his eyes that was the madness barely held back by what little remained of his sanity.
Silence hung in the air for several seconds before Servius' voice finally spoke again, breaking the rather uncomfortable silence.
"I do apologize for my outburst, Captain, it's just... Seeing our Supreme Commander in this state truly unnerves me."
Toward the end of his sentence, Servius' voice went quiet.
"And he isn't the only one who had felt the pain of her passing."
Sentus Optimus closed his single remaining human eye. How could he not remember that Quintia Presidos was also the sister of the two elite snipers? It only made the boulder of guilt pressing down on his chest larger, heavier.
"Have… Her remains been laid to rest?"
This was the least he could do, to pay her the final respects that she deserved, after saving his life from the Templars by offering up her own function in place of his.
Servius' red painted lips thinned into a line, though the sniper managed a weak nod.
Captain Optimus was then suddenly not so sure of his next words, taking quite some effort to force out of his own lips.
"Where is she now...?"
"In the cemetery with the rest of the heroes from the age of the Great War."
Albinus drew in a trembling breath.
"The Supreme Commander would not have it any other way, and he refused to lay his eyes upon her bloodied remains for a second time. I truly cannot blame him... The sight still burns even now in my memory."
Was it right to ask them to show me the location of her grave, after all that they've been through?
In the end, Optimus - although still with a great degree of uncertainty - came to the conclusion with the same reason as before, that it was only right he show at least some sign of respect to the second clockwork who had saved him from a fate more horrible than death itself.
"Lead the way."
As the twin snipers lead the way through the halls of Cadiz once more, the marine realized with some sense of bitterness of just how heavy the atmosphere seemed now that he realized the true fate of the first and only female Royal Guard and Praetorian. A solemn, heavy air which seemed to hang over the heads of the common clockwork soldiers, a darkness which Optimus could only dare to fathom how much it hung over the Lord of the Valencian Empire.
Even the civilians had not been spared of sensing this darkness, it seemed when they finally made it out into the streets of the capitol city of the Empire: there was no laughter in the air, no children frolicking in the streets, only a solemn silence.
The twins stopped before a gate of wrought black steel, which swung open on its own accord.
Once more, Sentus Optimus found himself half stumbling, half walking mechanically into the graveyard, toward the newest grave erected: a brilliant mausoleum far too similar to the sepulcher built by Ulysses for the first Supreme Commander Kane himself.
Only vaguely did he notice the twin snipers moving to stand next to him as he stood before the grave, both of them silent in a way not so different from the rest of the clockworks serving the Armada's Lord Kane II.
Optimus' fists clenched together at his side, trembling with every breath he took.
Rest in peace, Quintia Presidos.
Hello everyone! I hope you had a happy holiday and got lots of presents :) now that Xmas has passed, time to return to my original uploading schedule. Poor Optimus, knowing Ulysses the longest and yet this had to happen, and then facing the pain endured by the sniper twins... And this is not the end of the storm either.
Until next time :D and reviews are much appreciated, my dear readers!
-Hades