Chapter 10: Do Not Regret

The BGC stared out of their ships as they broke through the atmosphere to yet another planet containing the reds and blues. The pilot hovered the ship in the air studying the land far off into the distance. It didn't take long for them to determine where the ship needed to be at. The BGC stood by the Pelican's exit as it slowly descended just out of the battlefield's reach. Just from within the ship, everyone could hear muffled sounds of gun fire and explosions. They all looked at one another worriedly. Sarge reloaded his shotgun ready for a battle if need be. "This one might be harder than the others."

The doors opened, they rushed outside to the hot fumes of a recent explosion and ran through the fields without any fear of pain. But every one of them knew just how hard their heart jumped, and how heavy their chests felt and the fear they felt while not of pain, but one of death. Normally immune to the fear of death, they felt it the most here with each explosion. Caboose however ran through the field with Freckles in hand singing the sound of happiness. "Wheeeee!"

They all ran into cave formations that lead out to the active battlefield on the other side. Washington motioned for the reds to break off. "This time we will go to the blues, you guys go to the reds."

Sarge agreed and led his soldiers to the reds. One red hid behind cover and aimed his weapon at Simmons. Sarge stoodsin between the barrel slowly lowering it with force. "Stand down son. We are with the red army."

"Oh am I glad to see you guys," the soldier called in to his commander. "Sir, break out the good booze for tonight because we have reinforcements!"

The blues on the opposite end of the field felt the same about Washington's group. Tucker stopped the soldier from trying to take the misunderstanding any further. "Chill out dude, we are not here to act as your reinforcements."

"You are not?"

"No," Tucker answered afraid of getting involved in this war. "I like to keep my head on my shoulders you know."

"Whatever," the blue and red soldiers shoved past their respective conversationalists and shouted. "Just stay out of our way!"

Grif looked at the soldier rushing off to the battle and said. "That went well, good job team."

"No need to be such a downer man," Simmons answered crossing his arms. Donut agreed. "If we believe in positivity, I'm sure we can do positive things gang!"

Sarge radioed in to Washington and explained their side of the situation. "You to huh, we will need another approach."

"The only other thing we may be able to do is approach them together as a team," suggested Wash. It was not an ideal solution, but the best one they could conceive right now. The team ran out into the battlefield. Their A.I. partners coordinated their movements to better their chances of reaching the marked area unharmed. They all jumped down onto the ground upon the tremors of the ground beneath their feet. Bombs and missiles fell from the sky launched from the opposing bases. Tucker stood up with his microphone turned on, and in an annoyed voice he spoke. "Hey assholes, stop your fighting for a minute!"

"Who is this douche bag?" shouted one of the red, and then quickly proceeded to fire his gun at him. The others raised their weapons and now focused their fire at the BGC. "We warned you not to get involved!"

"Oh that's it," Simmons radioed the Pelicans for support and announced to the rest of the canyon. "Hey jerks, listen. If you don't stop fighting right now, we will call in our ship to destroy your bases. How long do you think you can continue fighting without your supplies then?"

As the Pelicans hovered over them with the guns and missile launchers aimed at the two bases, the soldiers looked up with contempt and raised their weapons. "Down with the ship!"

"Yeah!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Donut bouncing several grenades in his hands. "Now I may not be the best base ball player, but oh boy do I have a killer throwing arm."

"It's true, he isn't kidding," Tucker added. "You know, I even thought he was a chick the first time we met. The pink armor can be really confusing."

"I don't see why that bit is necessary to the conversation," Simmons argued. Tucker shook his shoulders. "I just felt like adding it in there, just like how I felt like adding in about how I met your mother on the weekend, bow-chicka-b..."

"My dad left when I was little, and my mom is dead."

"Bow...wow…," Tucker simply gazed at the maroon soldier in complete silence. Caboose looked at the others and cleared his throat. "Awkward."

"You guys are idiots!" shouted one of the blues. Grif scoffed back at that soldier. "Oh yea, well…your face is an idiot."

"Real nice comeback there," Simmons laughed. Grif held up two middle fingers. "Shut up, you know what I meant!"

"If you boys are done being idiots," Sarge interrupted turning back to the two warring sides. "Listen, we need you lug heads to work together to help us out."

"And why would we do that?"

"Because there is a threat that will require each and every one of us to work together," Wash explained. "Said threat has an army, if we ever hope to stop them, then we need an army of our own."

"Hmm, I don't know," one of the red soldiers spoke in an unsure voice. "I mean why would we work together when all of us on the red team are the sworn enemies of the blue team?"

"Yeah, and why would the blue team, the sworn enemy of the dirty reds, work with them?"

"That's bullshit," Tucker heartily laughed much to the confusion of the two sides. "That's all a lie created by the now defunct Freelancer project."

"Wait a minute," one of the reds raised their hand. "You mean I got recruited into an army that's built on a lie?"

"Pretty much dude."

"I left my wife and kids behind thinking I was going to fight a war to create a brighter future for them!"

Donut raised a hand of sympathy for the soldier. "If it makes you feel any better, all the time you spent here is valuable experience that probably taught you many things."

"It doesn't."

"I left my family and friends behind for this bullshit to," many soldier proclaimed in anger. "All this was for a lie. We were just toyed with?!"

"Uh oh," Washington stepped up to center stage. "Okay guys, let's all just calm down. Deep breaths, remember, deep breaths."

After a few breathing exercises, the whole field was calm and thinking with a clearer head. One of the blues asked. "So, how does uniting benefit all of us?"

"Once the mission is over," Simmons started. "You can all either go back home, we can have you all be discharged from the UNSC, or come back here to continue this brainless war."

"Oi!" one of the blue soldiers raised his rifle at Simmons. "This ain't no brainless war! I lost some friends out here you know!"

Grif stepped in between the rifle and Simmons. "Take a chill pill and calm down bro. That was just a joke, also, sorry for your loss."

"Men, listen," Sarge stood atop a large rock, from where he was able to get a great view of everyone now in front of him. "I know that suddenly being told that your military career has been a lie all this time is devastating. In fact, when it happened to me, I quit, but then I got back up on that horse again to go for one of the greatest beat downs of my life. Bad things will always happen, sometimes what we believe in turns out to be completely wrong, or fabricated. But what defines a true soldier is their determination and will to move forward. So, we are not here to order you to go, we won't even force anyone to come along, but as fellow soldiers who were once part of the freelancer program, I ask that you let go of the hatred and fight for the greater good. It's time we wipe the slate clean."

The soldiers looked around in silence. One of the reds sighed and said. "You know what, I'm in."

"Yeah, let's go fuck some shit up!"

The others cheered and agreed with Sarge. The BGC had found themselves another addition to their army. Washington nodded his head in respect towards Sarge. Sometimes I really do forget just how great of a leader he can be amidst the stupidity these guys put me through. He radioed for their Pelicans to land and started taking the soldiers on board. "Say goodbye to your home for now."

"This shithole ain't our home!" shouted one of the blues. The reds agreed in a loud cheer. "Once we are done with this mission, I'm going home to where my rocker girl is!"

"And I'm going to go home to eat my mama's meat pie."

"Yeah, that's cool Jim, you do that."

"What is the meat pie like?" Grif asked and Jim spoke with a watery mouth. "It will be the most delicious thing you will ever put in your body."

"I will be sure to put in an express mail order for it then."

Alex watched as the doctors checked Carolina's condition. Church noticed his presence and rendered himself onto one of the holographic displays. "Oh look, are you here to get us into more of a mess?"

Alex remained quiet listening to Church vent his frustration. It was clear to the young man that he was not welcomed here, but then it was more evident that the same held true coming from Chloe. She walked in on the two and inched her way closer to Alex. "What are you doing over here?"

"Relax. I just wanted to come visit Carolina, to see how she is doing."

"She will be doing a lot better without you here."

"Let's dial down the anger," Alex held up his hands to keep her at a distance. She moved closer forcibly and pointed a finger at his chest. "What can you even do aside from remind her of her bad experiences?"

He looked at Carolina from the side of his eye and apologized in silence. I know nothing can help fix any traumas that you may have experienced. Alex was then tugged on the arm and dragged away by Chloe. He loosened the grip and jerked her away. "What is up with you?"

"Do you realize the amount of damage she has experienced?" Chloe asked demanding for answers and why he was compelled to act the way he did. Alex shook his head. "I only ever saw her in the bandages. Before I could take a moment to get a good look at her, we had to escape the facility."

"Well for one thing, she is missing her trigger finger."

"Missing?"

"It's been cut off," Chloe stated now louder than before. "Process that for a minute. Then we found a nail stuck in her thigh. On top of that, parts of her body have been skinned. She has a broken bone and damage in areas that weren't even directly touched. Do you see now? This is the type of damage she has experienced under your rash and stupid actions."

Alex remained quiet with head low, and guilt evident in his eyes. Chloe rested her hands on her waist and took in a deep breath. "She is fighting with everything she has right now just to stay alive. Medication and our technology can only do so much."

"Do you think she will be able to…fight again?"

Chloe raised her head angered to hear the question. She walked close and slapped him hard, and slapped him again. "You have some nerve asking that when I just told you about how her condition is. She would be lucky to just walk out in public again without fear of being abducted and tortured!"

Chloe pushed him back against a wall and huffed out some air. "I'm disappointed in your stupidity, and disregard for not just your own, but other people's safety as well."

"Yeah," Alex whispered with a low head and a low voice. "You and Siris both."

He started to apologize, but was quickly stopped by Chloe who raised her hand high up again. But instead of following it through with a slap or a punch, she simply let it fall to her side in frustration. "Apologies won't fix shit now. No amount of 'sorry' can help repair Carolina to how she was before."

"I understand that," he replied trying to look her in the eyes, and yet her anger kept him from doing so. "And that's why I want to start doing better. I did what I had to. It was all to find answers and I did. I know what needs to be done now. I understand that I can't do this alone, and that I am a part of a team."

Alex reached out towards Chloe against her mood. He took her into a warm embrace initially against her will, but soon even her anger disappeared in this affectionate gesture. He rested his head on the side of her face. "I'm sorry for a lot of things in life Chloe. Not having the opportunity to answer your feelings before all this went down is one of them. But thank you for being in my life, and thank you for being angry at me."

"W- What are you saying all of a sudden?!"

"I guess I'm trying to answer your confession from before," he explained with a sober gaze. "To be honest, I don't know my own feelings well enough to know what it means to fall in love, or what that feels like between two people."

Chloe shoved him away with a moderately heavy punch to his arm. "Don't think you can sway me so easily with a few pretty words."

"I wasn't expecting to."

"But," Chloe rubbed the back of her neck and looked to the side of the room nervously. "I guess I will be there by your side as long as you swear to do the right thing this time."

He hardened his gaze at her with great determination and said. "I swear."

Chloe playfully punched him in the same spot saying. "You better go on damage control with Church, and Siris even though he already gave you a stern talking to."

"Yeah," Alex answered rubbing his arm. "That's one hell of a punch you got there by the way. I guess all that time you spent working out is finally beginning to pay off."

Aria caressed the spherical shaped object of great destructive power. She smiled with a sense of victory. You may have destroyed the ground floor of our base Alex, but you still have so much to fear. She eyed the timer window and asked one of the scientists. "The time is customizable, correct?"

"Yes, and you can detonate it remotely ma'am."

"Good," she stood up clapping for the team. "Congratulations on a job well done. This work of art will prove to be very useful in our endeavors."

Aria turned to the generals and a few other soldiers. "Prepare the broadcasting room to record a message. Make sure to have the best security so the location of the recording can never be traced."

The generals nodded their head and left to carry out the orders. Aria motioned for a few of the soldiers to walk towards the objects and ordered. "Carry the bombs to our many Pelicans for safe storage. Be careful with them, they are nuclear in nature."

"Yes ma'am," the soldiers began shifting the bombs out of the room. Aria stared at them with her arms crossed. Now the whole world will know fear, revolution and change most necessary for people to better themselves.

Siris watched over Carolina's medical pod. He hunched forward to check on a few readings, and with satisfaction he leaned backwards. Siris closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He reached into his pocket and hit his fingers against a metal object. He retreated the object which was circular in shape and looked at it with a studious eye. It was the change his daughter had left behind in the park. He gripped it in his hand with an uncertain smile. What am I even hoping for by holding on to this? It's not like things can be fixed all of a sudden even if I have this coin. It's not like this is some magic coin or something…if only things like that actually existed. Siris reached into his back pocket on his slimming suit and stared at a family photo taken when his daughter was very young. He looked at his wife and quickly averted his eyes. Even now, your face brings the happier memories of my life to surface. No matter how hard I try, I just can never seem to move on from you Meghan.

Siris' eyes adjusted focus from the photo to the pod when he saw the subject move. Carolina opened her eyes, and almost panicked being trapped within this case, that was until she saw Siris. "Calm down, you are safe now. You are back at the ATSG base."

Carolina was quickly introduced to the pain all throughout her body. She looked downwards and found that all of her clothes but her underwear were stripped, and every inch of her body was wrapped in bandages like a mummy. Her eyes widened in shock. She lifted her right hand in an effort to touch the bandages, but the missing finger put her further into shock. "W- Where is my finger?"

Siris stood up holding up his hands to try and calm her down. Carolina looked from her hand to Siris desperately. "Where is my finger?!"

"Just calm down Carolina," Siris scratched his forehead. "Um…we couldn't retrieve your finger."

"Couldn't retrieve it?" Carolina then began to remember the things that happened to her during her captivity. The torture she experienced engraved a deep rooted sense of hate towards Aria. Carolina closed her eyes and lied back down. She gritted her teeth still trying to come to terms that a part of her body was now forever lost. "How long have I been here?"

"It has been six days since you were brought here. At that time you were unconscious," Siris explained going into the details of the urgency behind her initial injuries and the threat to her life. Carolina closed the world around her only self absorbed in the thought of how useless she had just become. She gritted her teeth feeling a sharp sting of pain course from her jaw to her brain. Siris' voice was nothing but a dulled violin now where its playing was only heard by deaf ears. Carolina lifted an arm, and moaned in pain as she rested the forearm against her eyes. "This is fucking great…just great. I wanted to do some good, to help the world with my abilities after forced to do some horrible things in the Freelancer project, but this is a bad deal, a real bad fucking deal."

Church remained quiet unsure of what to say that could help console his host. Siris rested a hand on the pod's window and said. "It's not that bad Carolina, you can recover."

"Not that bad?" she asked stunned by his choice of words. "What good is a soldier without their trigger finger?!"

"We can retrain you Carolina. Instead of using your right hand, you will use the left one as the dominant one to hold your guns with."

"It's not that simple. Doing so will take a very long time, and time has never been a luxury we have ever had."

"But I will still try," Siris spoke with a strong resolve. "You are a true fighter Carolina, believe in yourself. The power of the mind is unparalleled."

Carolina closed her eyes and finally smirked. "At least one of us has faith in me. I don't know if it will work out…"

"It will," Siris answered with a stern voice. "If you go in with a defeatist attitude, you are more likely to fail."

Carolina nodded her head in understanding. "You are right, I will try. Thank you Siris."

The older man sat back down and the two stared at one another in an uncomfortable silence. Carolina was desperate for a topic. "So, how have things been going between you and your daughter, any progress?"

Siris quickly averted his eyes with a tired sigh. "Heh, ever since that day at the park, I haven't been able to bring myself to approach her. Sometimes I would see her out and about with her friends after school when I go for the patrol. But even though they are all there in the open, so easily approachable, I still can't seem to find the courage necessary to do so."

"Sometimes courage isn't the first thing to come," Carolina remarked. "But the action to strike up a conversation can be the trigger for courage to follow through with."

"Does any of that really matter when it comes time to act?" he asked looking at the floor contemplatively. "I mean, I have always been petrified by the notion of rejection, so I can't even bring myself to approach her for starters."

"Then ask yourself this," Carolina looked at him with a very serious face. "Just how willing are you to die an old man, filled with regrets, especially the one of letting the chances of fixing your family slip by?"

"When you put it like that, I'm not too keen on the idea."

"Then get out there and show that girl that she still has a father who cares for her. I know you will do fine. You always have in the short time I have known you. Things may not seem fine initially, but in the end they always work out somehow."

Siris stood up scratching the back of his head. "Thanks."

He turned to leave but stopped at the door frame. "Carolina, when you are able bodied, we will begin your training."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah well don't get too excited, I don't plan on going easy on you just because of your recent recovery."

"That will make it all the better," laughed Carolina putting both Siris and Church at ease. It looks like she will be just fine as well.

"What is this?" Washington wondered staring at the shocking image of Carolina's condition. The others felt their worries grow, as well as the anger. Tucker stomped forward and pointed a finger in absolution. "You said you would have her back safe and sound, you promised, we trusted you and this is what happens?!"

Siris looked at his desk in silence letting Tucker slur whatever words came to his mind. Washington moved to his side and placed a firm grip on the aqua soldiers' shoulder. Tucker shifted his head in Wash's direction furious and willing to give Siris more scolding. Wash however forced Tucker back behind him and asked for him to calm down. "I must agree with Tucker however. You do understand that this doesn't help to establish trust between our two parties right Siris?"

"I realize that," the ATSG base leader stared Washington in the visor, as if to try and look beyond the protective helmet and into the eyes of the man that maybe. Siris clenched his right fist in his left hand and bowed his head. "I understand what happened is a colossal failure on our part. But we will do everything we can to help with her recovery."

"Che, yeah I bet you will," Tucker pointed at the screen in sarcasm and threw up his arms in disbelief. Washington held Tucker back and shook his head in absurdness that this situation presented. "What can you even do now considering the damage?"

Siris looked away from the screen again letting out a defeated sigh. "I…I'm not too sure. But Carolina has chosen to train herself again in order to make effective use of her left hand. At this point training is the only thing she can do to build her body again. Of course until she is ready, she will be kept off of field missions."

"She better," Washington raised a sharp finger at the man surprising everyone around him. They had never seen him talk like this after he officially became a part of them. He voice trembled with anger, and his tone spoke in a threatening manner. "Because if anything else should happen to her, and it turns out that you or your people could have prevented it, then I will personally come after all of you."

Washington abruptly ended the call and smashed his hand against one of the panels. Tucker shook his head mumbling to himself. "See, this is what happens when you trust a bunch of strangers to get the serious shit done."

"Looks like you were right," Simmons turned to the orange soldier and conceded. "Kind of surprised that the instinctual feeling you were having turned out to be correct."

"Every damn time."

"Hey gang," Donut gathered the attention of everyone around him and said in a chirpy cheery tone hoping to turn the anger into something positive. "We should throw Carolina a party once we get to Earth and finish our mission. She totally deserves it!"

"Yeah," Caboose clapped his hands in excitement and jumped in his spot like a five year old. "I'm so going to get her the best gift ever of all time!"

Tucker looked back and forth from Donut to Caboose and shook his head. With a tired sigh, having had enough of this drama, he walked away hoping to vent his anger out on a few training dummies. Washington watched the BGC split apart, with all of them going to take care of their own tasks and wondered. Where will the road that we are all on right now take us to, and how will this end? He walked into the elevator that led from the bridge to the other levels of the ship. He pressed a floor button without much thought, as if the layout was now second nature to him. I don't like thinking about this. I want to be more positive, but it could end badly, especially for Carolina. No, I have to be more positive! He walked out of the elevator and into his living quarters. Wash removed is helmet letting his skin freely breathe again. We are going to make it through this, we have to. He lied down on his bed and closed shut his eyes. This is just another trial to overcome. Maybe when all of this is over, we could figure something out, to do something else besides just carry around guns and throw punches beating others to a pulp. He smirked at the image of him and Carolina in their glory days during Project Freelancer. But then he quickly opened his eyes erasing that image from his mind for the moment. That was the past, but now we have to look forward to the future.

Siris stood by the exit, prepared to leave just as he finished the sign out procedure. The door to the unwelcoming cold opened and the mist entered the base before quickly dissipating in the face of the heat. He stepped outside and stared towards the city. This is it, here I come. He took in a deep breath, with a quick retrieval of one of their cars, he was off to the city. A few minutes later of driving, he was into the city and quickly found a spot to park the car. Without break, he hurried to the building he so longingly watched over all this time. Siris stopped at the steps of the apartment complex where his ex-wife Meghan and his daughter reside. He checked the time on his watch with growing anxiety and decided to sit down granted he was early.

He retrieved the coin in his pocket and anxiously played with it. He flipped it in between his fingers feeling the metal object slither its way down and up almost like a snake. Upon a very audible laughter however, Siris was broken out of his concentration and looked at the familiar voice. It was her, she was here. Siris watched her wave to her friends as they parted ways. Okay, he took deep breaths. This is it, show time. The girl approached the steps and lowered her head nearly passing Siris. That was until he stopped her. The girl backed away with her arms close to her body. She is scared? Siris wondered slightly hurt by the gesture. But to her I guess I would be just another stranger. Siris held up the coin, the girl approached it curiously and looked for a response. "This is the change you had left a couple of days ago at the park when you visited with your friends."

He came all this way for some small amount of change? She asked of herself quickly taking it and turning to leave. But before she took another step, he stopped her with another question. "Do you recognize me?"

The girl shook her head visibly saddening Siris. He looked at his feet quickly finding that the courage that once took so long to build up, was now dwindling. "Um, would you like to know who your father is?"

"You know my dad?"

"Yes, and I also know where he is. Would you like to know more about him?"

The girl took a moment to contemplate this to herself. "I don't know, I mean I'm angry at him for leaving my mom and me, but at the same time I am curious. I want to know what it is like to have a father."

Siris stopped his foot from inching closer to the girl. I can't do anything that would surprise her too much or make her any more suspicious of me. He kept his hands firmly behind his back, and the temptation to embrace her at bay. He bent down to her level with a warm smile and said. "I know where your father is."

"Where is he?"

"He is off somewhere fighting a very important war. He is doing it to protect you and your mother."

The girl then tilted her head in a realization which she shared. "But mommy never talks about him, why is that?"

Siris was pinned up against the wall here. He looked at the ground wondering how to best answer this and said. "You see, some bad things happened between those two. Those bad things have left your mother never wanting to speak to your father again."

"Then why hasn't daddy ever tried to visit us to make the bad things all better?"

I have tried. Believe me, I have. Siris lowered his head in a bigger frown than before. The girl was not blind to this change in mood in the older man. She leaned closer and looked him in the eyes asking. "Why are you sad?"

"I'm sad because your father can't come visit you," Siris balled his hand into a fist atop his knee and gritted his teeth. "He can't come because he promised your mother that he won't show himself in front of you two ever again."

"Why?"

"It's because of the bad things that happened between them."

"But if dad were to come back from the war again," the girl fidgeted in one spot both curious and scared to ask this. "Do you think he would want to see us again?"

"You have no idea how much he would love that," Siris stated with severe desperation in his voice. "Your daddy misses you so much that he wishes to see you every day."

The girl thought about the man's words for a moment and clapped her hands deciding on something very important. "Then, do you think you could pass on a message for me sir?"

Siris was a little surprised to hear of this, but he quickly grew to appreciate and be happy from it. "I would be happy to."

"Please tell him that I want to see him again. Even if I will be angry, I just want to know what having a father is like, and what a whole family is like."

Her last few words hit him like a semi-truck of feelings. He nearly gasped as a small tear nearly exited his eye. He closed his eyes hardening his will, and locked the tears away for the moment. He did his best to keep on smiling and nodded in agreement. "I promise to get your message to him."

The girl smiled ecstatically, she happily waved goodbye to him as she entered the apartment complex. He watched with a little wave, he felt helpless as a parent. What a cruel world it is we live in, a parent unable to embrace their own child. That tear he held back before could no longer be kept hidden away, the body's will took over his emotions and it slowly dripped down his cheek. What a cruel world indeed, he pondered walking back to the car.

As Siris pulled up to one of the many city squares, he watched the large monitor broadcasting news 24/7 go on breaking news alert. The newscaster hesitated to say what was the news, her hands were visibly shaking. "Ladies and Gentlemen…, we just have a breaking news alert. This just in, we recently received a message from the group claiming responsibility for all the terrorist bombings across the nation an hour ago."

Siris' eyes opened wide at the news as if he had been shaken out of a sleepy trance. He parked the vehicle at the nearest parking spot and watched the woman on the screen with intrigue. She looked at the desk taking a deep breath. "We will now play the clip as per their instructions."

"Good evening, people of the United States of America," the woman that appeared in the message, standing behind a podium appeared familiar. That's Aria, Siris thought recalling her picture from the stolen data. Back at the ATSG base, Chloe ran for Alex and dragged him into the main room of the base, where they all watched carefully. Alex hardened his gaze at his sister, ignoring everything else around her. "We are the 'Cradle of Hope', or as you better know us through the media slandering, the local gang of petty terrorists. I speak here as the message bearer for your nation, and the world as what we do here will determine the fate of the world and humanity. I ask the various political government officials to stand down, and cease all control over to us."

"Cease all control?" laughed one of the civilians passing by Siris' car. "Like that will ever happen, dumb terrorists."

"This is insane," Alex whispered leaning forward towards the monitor. Aria looked directly into the lens and made her ultimatum. "If you do not comply with our demands, we will be forced to do this through other, more forceful means. We will march the streets of this nation, take it by force for starters and let the world know of the impeding change that humanity has been long overdue for."

Chloe stood by Alex's side taking his hand into hers. He looked at her thankful for her support. She nodded in return with a smile. The two of them knew what this message was going to bring forth in the near future.

"You have one month to decide. We believe that you should be given a chance even though we have some bad past between us. You destroyed my organization once, but we have arisen again and now are in control of the cards. Simply put, comply or be dominated," Aria glared at the camera lens. "Make your choice."

"The video recording stops there," the newscaster announced as the video went black. She cleared her throat talking about how their analyst had studied the tape in-depth and have come to the conclusion that it is genuine. The threat is very real. Alex's mouth fell open as well as Siris'. They both thought the same thing. This is madness. Even for her, making this public move is practically inviting the military at their doorsteps. Chloe tightens her grip around his hand and stated. "We can make it through this."

"I know we can," Alex responded slowly lowering his head still in disbelief. "But I am afraid for my sister even after declaring her an enemy."

I should have been more attentive as to how broken our family really was. Alex cursed his own naivety and ignorance as a child. Chloe leaned him back from the monitor, keeping him from watching the rest of the news and guided him back to his room. "What has happened could not be helped. We never knew what your sister was really planning. But now what we can do is combat it with every breath in our body."

"That's still no excuse for being so blind to the suffering my sister endured in her life so far," argued the young assassin as he sat on the bed and punched the wall behind him. Chloe sat down beside him, and gently rubbed his shoulder soothingly. "Alex, reality is always going to be harsh, that is a fact of life. But how we affect it can help alter the various outcomes to the problems we face. Alex, I need you to be determined and make the choices that only the strong can make, to do the right thing."

He eyed her from the side and nodded his head. "I know, I know…"

A/N: Another chapter down, and the war approaches even closer now with Aria's publically made ultimatum and choice. What did you think about this chapter?

Constructive feedback is always welcomed!

Thank you for reading and support :).

~ Monty