He lowered his hand from his hair and sighed, a long exhale of breath. Then he said, to her shock, “You know about Denarian, don’t you? My son?”

Leta blinked her eyes slowly, as if in a dream. Yes, she knew about Fiearius’ lost son — because Cyrus had let it drunkenly slip months ago. But she’d never once spoken about this with Fiearius. He’d never approached the topic and she had no desire to bring him to face it.

She felt too startled to speak, so Fiearius went on, “Remember a couple weeks ago, when Corra made that joke about the two of us having a litter of children one day? But then said she couldn’t imagine me ever raising a kid?” Leta felt herself nod. “The way you looked at me then…I just assumed you knew. So. Cyrus told you?”

Well, she couldn’t outright lie to him.

“He did tell me. I’m really sorry, Fiear, I should have told you I knew but it didn’t feel right. He told me months ago. When I first came aboard … when I barely knew you.”

Fiearius shook his head. “It’s fine. It’s probably easier this way anyhow. The thought of having to bring it up cold after all this time is…considerably worse.”

He slowly lowered to the edge of the bed, resting his forearms on his thighs. He scrunched his forehead and went on, “But for the record, sorry on my part too. For not telling you myself. It’s–it’s not always that easy to talk about.”

Leta stepped forward and tentatively joined him on the edge of the bed, facing him as he stared at the floor. “I figured you had your reasons,” she said, watching as Fiearius dropped his forehead into his hand.

“I put a lot of effort into not focusing on the day — the day he died. The day that everything went to hell. It comes and goes each year and I don’t let it bog me down. I can’t or…” He swallowed with difficulty. “But this day. Today. Today I just can’t seem to let go.”

Leta felt almost too scared to ask. “Why?”

“He would have been nine today.”

Leta felt her lungs tighten. Then, all at once, a tidal wave of sorrow plunged through her. Grief — that’s what this was. Fiearius was grieving. Over his son. On his birthday. That’s why he’d been so off tonight, quietly unsettled, agitated and distant. He simply missed his child.

Leta opened her mouth, then closed it again, as she slid her hand up his back and held onto his shoulder. He must have read the questioning in her eyes, because he said —

“He was shot,” he said suddenly, looking up at her with a deadened gaze. “That’s what you were wondering right? How he died? I once told you the reason I became the Verdant. Because they gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse?” He looked away. “He was the offer. Him and Aela.” A heavy, shaky sigh passed his lips. “Though in the end it didn’t work out anyway…”

Leta focused on pushing air out of her lungs — it was suddenly very difficult.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, her breath catching hotly in her throat as her eyes dropped to the floor, almost unwilling to look at him for a moment. “I’m so sorry.”

She leaned into him, dropping her lips against his shoulder. Fiearius seemed grateful to bury his face in her hair and when he spoke again, it was quiet, muffled and starting to crack with real, raw pain.

“I don’t deserve ‘sorry.’ It’s my fault.”

“That’s not true,” said Leta in his ear. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened.”

“Can’t I? I brought a child into a dangerous situation, he was my responsibility that I took and I failed to protect him. Because I was overconfident and stubborn. Because I refused to listen. Because I didn’t do what needed to be done until it was too late.”

Leta drew back, her hands on his shoulders. She locked her gaze with him and saw that his eyes were bloodshot and blurring.

“Fiearius, no. How could you have known what would happen? If anyone’s to blame it’s the Society. They used him against you.”

“The Society may have pulled the trigger,” he breathed, “but I loaded the gun.”

Then he dropped his chin to his chest, his voice choking. “He was a good kid. A great kid.” She could hear the tears thickening his voice. “I mean, he was a nightmare. Of course. How could my son not be? But still great.”

Finally he looked up, straight at the ceiling. “I just wanted him to have a normal life, y’know? As normal as he could anyway. He liked swings and spaceships and cake, just regular kid stuff. He may have had my destructive energy, but he had Aela’s charm. And brains. She taught him to read before he even started school. He was smart. Gifted, she said. He could’ve gone on to so many better things.” He was shaking his head and barely holding it together now. “But I fucked it up. She kept telling me we needed to leave, move away from Paradiex, but I didn’t want to. I was too selfish. Too power-hungry. And Denarian paid for my sins.”

Leta took his hands and held them in her lap. He drew in a shaky breath and lifted his eyes back to hers. “You would’ve liked him, I think. Never met anyone who didn’t. And he would’ve been fascinated by you. Anyone from another planet and he was just full of questions.”

“I’m sure I would’ve liked him,” said Leta, her voice hovering somewhere between fondness and incredible sorrow. “And I know you were a good father.” Even saying the words was enough to make her throat swell for a moment, a knife through her chest.

Fiearius inhaled another trembling breath. “Sorry to dump all this on you.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“I just — miss him. He was everything to me. That life with him that’s so distant and so unfamiliar it hardly even feels like mine anymore…it was everything.”

“Then I think it’s good to talk about him. To remember him. As often as you need to. And when we bite back against the Society … we can do it for him. So what happened to him will never happen again to anyone else.”

“Yeah,” Fiearius agreed, taking in deep breaths and finally managing to get them even.  “Yeah. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, then released. “I’m okay. It’s okay.” He looked down at their hands laced together and gripped hers tighter. “We’ll do it for Denarian.”

Leta bit down on her bottom lip. “And listen, I know nothing can replace him, ever  — ever… But — I still think you should remember, that you’re surrounded by people — Suddenly, she locked on her gaze on his, her eyes shining with vulnerability and honesty, “people who love you.”

The words tumbled out before she could stop them, but she did not take them back. She went still, paralyzed with the realization of what she’d just confessed.

Fiearius blinked his eyes slowly and then — she couldn’t believe it — the smallest of teasing grins flickered past his mouth. “People?” he repeated suspiciously. “Who love me? You mean … Cyrus?”

“Right. Cyrus,” said Leta quietly. “That’s who I meant.”

Fiearius laughed, heavy and feeble, as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Ooh, Leta. You poor thing.” He patted her back affectionately, then pulled her in so she leaned into the plane of his chest.

“It’s rather unfortunate,” she sighed. Then she glanced up at him. “Wait, hang on. You just — you’ve never used my name before.”

“What?” He tilted his head. “Sure I have.”

“No, you haven’t. You never call me by my name.”

“I must’ve.”

“No. It’s only ‘kiddo’ which I hate, or ‘doctor,’ which is weird now, but never my name.”

Fiearius considered this. “Well I guess I should amend that, huh, Leta?” he said, and then he leaned his head against hers. “Don’t you think, Leta?” he said softly in her ear. “I should use your name more often. Leta?”

“I don’t know,” she laughed, shrugging him off. “It’s a little odd to hear it now.”

Fiearius returned the laugh. “Is it, Leta?” Then, his expression shifted from amusement to something else — something closer to mischief.

“You sure about that, Leta?” he said more quietly, as he turned his head to the side, brushing his lips near her ear. “I can stop if you’d like, Leta,” he went on, lowering his lips to the slope of her neck, his voice muffled against her skin. “Leta?” he added once more, before his mouth slid to the hollow of her collarbone. The sensation brought a shiver to her flesh.

“I changed my mind,” said Leta decisively. “I’m fine with it. Call me whatever you want.”

She felt him grin against her collarbone before he slid his hands up her back, holding her against him as he kissed back up to her lips. Leta circled her arm around his shoulders and drew him to her lips for a long, slow kiss. His hand pressed to the small of her back and inch by inch, with each utterance of her name and each following kiss, he lowered her horizontal onto the bed.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

“So he asked her out, but the timing was just kind of sketchy so it didn’t happen,” Corra explained to Alyx. She was seated in the dining hall of the Beacon, which was growing all the more crowded with crew members from both her own ship and the Dionysian. A happy chatter filled the room, punctuated by the sounds of clinking dinnerware.

Corra, however, wasn’t eating. She was amusing herself by observing Cyrus, who was talking with Addy and Nikkolai across the room. It could not have been more obvious, with the way he was throwing her eager looks, that he wanted to be alone with her.

Alyx sat at Corra’s side, similarly entertained. “He could’ve asked her out earlier but I got in the way,” she sighed. “Now I feel terrible.”

“Oh, don’t, he probably wouldn’t have had the guts to ask her again anyhow,” Corra assured her, leaning back in her chair.

Across the dining hall, Nikkolai, apparently distracted by something Javier was doing, flitted away from the pair, leaving Cyrus and Addy alone. Corra was amazed.

“Oh come on, Cy-Cy. Just ask her if she wants to go somewhere else,” she whispered.

“Ask her out for dessert or drinks,” Alyx added.

“I was thinking ask her upstairs,” Corra laughed. And indeed, Cyrus was saying something, but before either one of them made any motion to change location, suddenly Addy was talking to Maya and again, all hope was lost. Slumping backwards, Corra shook her head. “I swear, he will never learn.”

“Pity, they could be cute together,” Alyx mused sadly before pushing herself up from the table and picking up her plate. “Anyway. I’ll be taking my dinner to go if that’s alright by you.”

“Aw, can’t stand to watch anymore?” Corra asked.

“Oh no, I could watch this all night. I just didn’t know my mother was invited.” She nodded towards the table where Quin sat in rather heated discussion with Fiearius, Dez and Leta. “Not really in the mood for a reunion, cap’n.”

“Understood,” said Corra. “Do what ya need, I’ll update you if anything interesting happens.”

Alyx chuckled and waved goodbye as she left Corra sitting all alone at the long table. Her attention shifted toward the unfolding argument on the other side of the room.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except this table. Quin, Fiearius, Leta and Dez were regarding each other angrily, clearly discussing the events of Blackwater.

“I don’t know what you’re so damn worried about, Soliveré,” Quin was saying, slouched confidently in her seat. “We won, didn’t we? And it was easy. You said it yourself, the people manning these things are just people. We did it twice, now, we can do it again.”

“They’re not going to let us do it again,” said Leta, her arms crossed and her expression steely. “Not after this one. There’s no way.”

“We’re going to have to,” said Dez. “We need to act again and act quickly if we want to make this worthwhile. To rally the people to–”

“Rally the people?” Fiearius interrupted, sounding incredulous. “You can’t be fucking serious.” His expression was dark; he looked ready to strike at any moment. But Corra noticed under the table that his hand was holding Leta’s knee.

“I am,” said Dez calmly. “If we want the people of Exymeron and the Society territories to side with us, we need to–”

“This is insane,” Fiearius growled. “You are insane.”

“Well what do you wanna do, eh?” asked Quin, pounding a fist on the table. “Go back to petty thievery?”

“Petty thievery? The only reason you’re even siding with this nonsense is because you want to steal more ships,” Fiearius pointed out.

“And the only reason you’re not is ‘cause you’re a coward,” challenged Quin. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Justice for your Council or whoever?”

Fiearius shook his head. “It’s not cowardice, it’s sense. Sure I’d love to see ‘justice,’ but what I want is different from what’s possible. I would much rather focus on keeping my ship flying and the people on it alive. And after that wonderful stunt back at Blackwater, even that’s gonna be difficult. But actually attacking them head on? With just the Dionysian and a single serving of Society fighters?” He shook his head. “It’s insane, it’s — “

“Real fun party, huh?” said Finn’s voice suddenly in her ear. Corra was glad for the distraction: Finn lowered to the seat beside her, shaking his head at the arguing table.

“If I’d known they’d be at this all night, I wouldn’t have invited them after all,” Corra sighed.

Finn did not look his usual light-hearted, humorous self. He paused and then said, “You heard what happened, right?” in a quiet voice.

“Of course.”

And, Corra thought, Fiearius was right. What they’d done to the Society base was a tremendous, bold, terrifying move. No doubt the Society would be tripling their efforts to take it down. Take her friends down. Suddenly she was hit by a stroke of guilt.

“D’ya think we need to help them?”

Finn swung his eyes back to her. “Eh?”

“I mean, if this really does blow up in their faces,” she went on. “If the Society really comes after them. Should we help? Should the Beacon help them?”

“We’ll help ‘em if they’re in need.”

She grew suddenly quiet. “And what if–what if they decide to fight back?” She nodded towards them. “Like they’re saying. If they really want to get justice or…something like that?”

“Well, that’s not really our fight, is it.”

She looked up at him, surprised. “Isn’t it? They’re our friends.”

“Enemy of my friend isn’t necessarily my enemy,” Finn grunted. “I mean, what’s the Society done to you?”

“Well…nothing to me exactly,” she admitted. “But what they’ve done to Leta and Cyrus and Fiearius…”

“Right. So I’ll support ‘em in the best way I can.”

“But you don’t think we should help.”

“I think we have our own jobs to do.” He winced, but went on steadily, “Look, aligning against the Society will put limits on us. It’ll mean there are certain places we can’t go. Certain jobs we can’t take. And for that, we’d probably lose Callahan. And without Callahan, without steady income, we’d lose some of our people too.”

Corra sighed. “S’pose you’re right.”

“Plus we’ll be putting the crew in danger we could otherwise avoid. We’ve only just managed to get Beacon off the Society’s radar entirely. You really want to risk jumping back on it? Knowing what that might mean?”

“No,” Corra said firmly. “The last thing I want is to be hunted.”

“‘Sides, didn’t you say earlier you wanted to help allies? How are you gonna do that with the Society on your tail? Even if we don’t do it now, look at the long term. If they want to take on a lofty fight against injustice, more power to ‘em. But that’s their goal. We need to be thinking about ours.”

Corra looked down at her hand as her fingers tapped the table nervously. “You’re right,” she muttered. “We have a responsibility to this ship and this crew. We need to do what’s best for us, not the Dionysian.” She was sure she didn’t sound entirely convinced because she wasn’t entirely convinced, no matter how right the decision was. And it was clear to her why.

“But if it really comes to that. If they attack the Society and we refuse to help?” she said quietly, her eyes trailing over to Fiearius and Leta. “They’re not gonna be happy.”

Finn wrinkled his forehead, looking troubled. “No,” he agreed, “No, they won’t.”

Finn looked hesitant — he so rarely was hesitant, it made her nervous. “I guess I’m just wondering if it was as bad as I think it was.”

Corra opened her mouth, then closed it again. Despite the vagueness of the question, she knew precisely what he meant. It was something a lot of people wondered. Whether or not they had the guts to ask it was another question.

She traced the rim of her bottle and said at last, “There were some chores less bearable than others. Some days…that were hard to get through.” She took a deep, shaky breath before she added, “But on those days, I had my family. The other allies in the complex. We were there for each other, through everything. We supported each other no matter what.” She smiled. “So…yeah, it was bad. But no. Probably not as bad as you think.”

“So they’re still there, your family? On Kadolyne?”

“Some of them probably, but it’s hard to say,” she admitted. “Goddora’s business was trade, so most allies really didn’t stay on Kadolyne long. Just long enough to be trained and sold to the highest bidder. I can only assume his successor operates the same way.”

“Do you think you’ll ever go back there?”

“I’d like to,” she said quietly. “I’d like to–I don’t know–help somehow. Get them out of there. Set them free.”

Finn’s hand stilled on her back. “Is that, ah, possible?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe? Hopefully? It’s difficult to imagine ever taking down an entire industry, but if I can just help in some way, even if it’s a small way? One day I’d at least like to try.” She sighed and slipped into thoughtful silence before adding quickly, “Not for a while though, of course. I mean, I don’t want to derail the Beacon or anything, I know the work we’re doing for Callahan, smuggling ships and all, is i–” She cut herself off suddenly and seemed to reconsider the statement.

“Important?” said Finn doubtfully.

She chuckled and shook her head. “Not the right word, is it? But hey, credits are important. Keeping our crew happy and fed, that’s important. Personal vendettas? Don’t tend to do that.”

“I don’t know, cap’n.” His voice warmed with sudden interest. “Freeing allies seems like a pretty worthwhile side-project to me.”

The way he spoke, it was as if they could turn the ship around and go set a whole colony of allies free within the day. Corra wasn’t sure whether to be startled, appreciative or annoyed at how easy he made it all sound, but she never got the chance to respond. Just then, the console across the room flashed with a new message.

Quickly swigging her beer, Corra set the bottle on the side table, gathered her sheet around her shoulders and slid her feet to the floor.

She took one look at the screen and felt surprise flash through her.

“What’s the Dionysian doing coming back here so early?”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Hours after Blackwater, hours after watching a Society dreadnought crash into the side of mountain, Cyrus was still in shock. He was convinced he was dreaming as the rest of the day had played out: the Dionysian was on course back to Relara while Fiearius paced around the bridge, shouting at Dez and Quin over the COMM; Leta, quietly stunned, trying to make sense of what would happen next. Cyrus half-expected a Society ship to shoot them out of the sky any second.

It was only when the Dionysian touched ground again that he snapped out of it and took his first real breath. Fiearius continued to shout and argue, but Cyrus had nothing to add to the conversation. Cyrus had no desire to add to the conversation. And when he overheard that the the Beacon was ashore too, he remembered the last conversation he’d had with Addy and suddenly Fiearius and the debate and the threat of the Society was wiped entirely from his mind.

‘So how about that dinner?’ he’d ask when he found her. Casual, that was the key, he told himself as he wandered through the halls of the Beacon, trying to act like he wasn’t simply looking for her. Casual. Totally casual. But when suddenly a voice rang out behind him calling his name, casual was probably the last trait he seemed to possess.

“Cyrus! What’re you doing here?”

He spun around and as soon as he registered the messy blonde hair, the thin black glasses on the top of her head and those piercingly kind blue eyes, he tried his best to pretend she hadn’t made him jump in surprise by leaning calmly against the wall. Instead, he accidentally rammed his arm into it.

If she was phased, she didn’t act it. “I thought the Dionysian was off on an exciting mission,” she went on curiously, smiling.

“It is,” he answered, refraining from rubbing his sore shoulder. “I mean, it was. We were. But it’s over now. So…we came back.”

“Oh! How’d it go?”

Ridiculously, was the first word that jumped into his head, but out of his mouth came a sort of indicative crazed laugh. A crazed laugh that, judging by Addy’s face, only served to confuse her. Hurriedly, he added, “Kind of a long story.” A long story I can tell you over dinner, he said in his head with a charming smile that never made it to his face.

‘So how about  that dinner?’ his brain reminded him. That was the line. Surely he could say that. It was easy. So how about that dinner.

“So how about that engine?” he asked and proceeded to internally kick himself.

Addy’s lips came together in confusion. “Oh, it’s fine? Everything’s running — “

But then Addy was cut off by another shout down the hallway. “Cyrus?”

Hesitant, Cyrus glanced back over his shoulder to see who could possibly be looking for him now. The lanky woman with strikingly bright blue hair he found there was not at all who he was expecting.

“…Alyx?”

“Oh God, Cy, it is you!” Suddenly, Alyx came forward, threw her arms around him and scooped him up in a hug that practically paralyzed him. “What are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same,” Cyrus muttered as she finally released him.

“Ooh, you two know each other?” asked Addy keenly.

“I did a bit of a stint on the Dionysian a while back,” Alyx told her with a wide grin. “And now I’m filling in as the Beacon’s navigator. Small Span after all, huh?” She took Cyrus by the shoulder and gave him a fond shake.

“Y-yeah,” Cyrus muttered. “Guess so.” He glanced at Addy and shrugged as though that meant anything. Usually, he would welcome the sight of an old friend. Particularly an old friend as good as Alyx. But he had been so very close to an evening out with Addy (well, another five to ten minutes of babbling close anyway), that he had to try very hard not to resent her for magically appearing out of nowhere to ruin his plans.

Unfortunately, the sentiment must have been apparent for, after a moment, Alyx’s enthusiasm lessened a bit.

“Anyway,” she said through a vaguely nervous laugh. “Didn’t mean to barge into your conversation. Sure you two have a lot of important…engineery things to talk about. But apparently Corra’s invited the crew of the Dionysian over for dinner. I was just heading down there now if you wanted to come with?”

Dinner with the Dionysian crew? So dinner with his angry brother that he had purposefully come to the Beacon to avoid? He could think of nothing he desired less. And yet —

“That sounds awesome!” said Addy, giving a little bounce on her feet. “Dinner with everybody? Like the whole crew? That’s great, I need to meet Eve — oh yeah, Leta lent a book to me a while ago, I’ve got to give it back — “

Internally, Cyrus sighed in defeat. But Addy must have noticed, because her expression faltered. “Oh — but — we were supposed to get dinner — er, weren’t we, Cy?”

So she’d actually remembered? He almost felt his heart flutter were it not for the painful catch 22. Dinner alone? What he wanted. Or dinner with literally everyone? What Addy wanted. Who was he, though, to deny her what she desired?

“Oh no, it’s okay,” he assured her. “We’ll probably be out of here soon, so if you want to see them, now might be your only chance.” He smiled, though inside he was cursing his own poor timing. “We’ll just get dinner — some other time.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The sight sent Fiearius barreling towards them. Coming up behind her, he grabbed Ophelia’s wrist mid-swipe as Leta fell backwards in order to avoid it. Varisian was fast and small, but in a match of pure strength, she was outnumbered by her predecessor. Fiearius twisted his grip and her hand loosened the blade, which fell on the floor in a clatter.

At once, Leta seized it and took another swipe at the woman’s legs as Fiearius held her in place. She got in one good cut before Varisian managed to wrench her wrist free and slam her elbow into Fiearius’ ribs. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. She spun around in that one half-second of distraction and cracked her fist across his face.

It wasn’t the strongest punch by far, but by the time his own fist came flying back at her, she had the advantage again. She ducked easily out of the way, hitting him again in the torso. He tried to grab her, but she slipped out of his grip. She landed another attack square in his chest, but as she avoided what would have been a magnificent right hook, she stepped back instead right into Leta’s dagger as it swiped viciously and deeply across the back of her ankle.

With another cry, Ophelia fell backwards. Leta rolled out of the way, her hand groping the floor for the gun.

“Fiear!” she called, tossing the weapon into his hand.

In a flash he cocked it and aimed it  at Ophelia’s head. It was only another moment before Leta had righted herself and pulled her own gun. On the ground and unarmed, Varisian, leaning back on her palms and looking up at them with an expression of pure hatred, said nothing. She did nothing. She had made a mistake. And now she was paying for it.

For their part, Fiearius and Leta were still breathing heavily, their lungs and hearts trying to catch up to what had just happened. Fiearius’ mind was even further back. This is how it had to end, right? Varisian was a problem. She was a danger. This was right. But looking at her now, on the floor and defenseless, stubborn and unwavering til the very end, for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger.

He still hadn’t made up his mind when the entire base shook violently. And kept shaking. And suddenly the control room was bathed in natural light and dust and a terrific crash as a quarter of the hangar roof gave way. The base, Fiearius realized in horror. It was coming down.

But he was only able to afford it a moment’s attention before turning his sights back on Ophelia. But if she had intended to use the distraction as her out, she’d failed. She, too, seemed too shocked by the sight of crumbling debris and bright sunlight to make a move. And that was when the COMM kicked in.

“–iear?” it buzzed as it slowly regained reception. “Fiearius?! Can you hear me? Can you–”

“Cy?” Fiearius responded. “Cy, what–”

“Oh geez, finally!” Cyrus interrupted. “What the hell is going on? All your communications cut out when you entered the base! I didn’t know what happened! And then this huge ship showed up and then all these fighters started shooting at it and the mountain is collapsing and what the hell is going on?! Do you even see this?!”

Fiearius shot a quick look at Leta to make sure she’d stay in place watching their captive as he rushed to the window and peered out. Thick dust still filled the air, but he could see the sky through the hole left by the attack. Or rather, he could see what was in the sky. The biggest ship he’d ever seen, a huge monstrous shape, surrounded by tiny fighter ships, Quin’s people, firing at it. His heart stopped in his chest. It was then and only then that Fiearius realized just how out of his depth he was.

“Yeah,” he muttered weakly into the COMM. “Yeah, I see it…”

The building around them shuddered violently again. “Fiear, we need to get out of here,” Leta called.

She was right. But as he tore his eyes from the behemoth above and scanned the rubble below, an even more worrisome realization hit him: the only remaining ships had been directly under the now gaping hole. They were covered in rubble. Well there went the exit strategy.

With no other ideas in sight, Fiearius hit the COMM again. “Cyrus,” he began calmly. “I need you to come get us.”

The line was silent. Until —

“Wait. What?!”

“I need you to take the Dionysian. And fly it over here. And get us.”

“Take the Dionysian, fly it over there? There, with the massive heavily armed warship? You want me to fly this ship, this ship I can hardly fly on a good day, over there to the center of hell and chaos and pick you up?!”

Fiearius took a deep breath. “Yes, Cyrus. That’s what I want you to do.”

“Are you fucking crazy?! I can’t do that!”

“Well you kinda have to, Cy!” Fiearius snapped, losing patience. “Put her down outside the hangar, we’ll be there.”

“Put her down?! Fiearius, you can’t seriously think I can–”

“Just do it, Cy! Get my ship here now or pretty soon it’s gonna be your ship!”

Cyrus didn’t respond. Fiearius could only hope it was because he was doing as he was asked. Which left them about eight minutes to get down there themselves. He turned back to Leta, but she had her own concern.

“What about–” she began, nodding towards Ophelia, still patiently awaiting judgment on the floor.

Shit. There wasn’t time for this. He marched towards her, raising his gun again to her forehead. He just had to do it. He just had to end this so they could leave. He just had to pull the trigger and walk away.

But his finger wouldn’t budge.

“Fiearius–” Leta prompted and he glanced at her as though only just remembering she was there. But as he looked at her, something past her caught his eye. Something on the wall. He tucked the gun behind his back and marched over to retrieve it.

“I’m probably going to regret this,” he muttered.”

He felt Leta’s curious eyes on him as he brought the cord back and kneeled down beside Ophelia. He made quick work of it, but the binds around her wrists tying her to a nearby pipe were strong and solid enough to hold her in place.

When he was finished, he stood up and looked down at her. “Know that this is my one act of mercy. You won’t get another.” He seized Leta’s hand. “Let’s go.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The hangar was in shambles. Concrete crumbled to the ground, dust clouded the air and every second was filled with booms that shook the ground beneath their feet as Leta and Fiearius ran across the huge expanse of the hangar towards the open door looking out into the jungle.

At his side, Leta, whose hand he was still grasping for dear life, looked up as the huge shadow of the Legacy passed over them. “Gods…” she whispered. “Is Quin gonna be okay?”

A hundred fighters against the Legacy? It was hard to imagine a positive outcome. But yet again, Fiearius replied, “Fuckin’ hope so.”

They kept on, pounding the ground beneath them, dodging rubble that had settled and avoiding debris still falling. They were almost out. But the space just beyond was empty. Tentatively, Fiearius hit his COMM.

“Cy?” he called hopefully. “We’re almost there. How’re you doing?”

He could feel Leta’s eyes on him, expecting, waiting, probably praying just as hard as he was that the Dionysian hadn’t already gone down either by the Legacy’s fire or Cyrus’ sheer incompetence at flying her.

But there was no reply. No counter to the fear that the worst had happened. No relief that they were not just going to run out of this base and be faced with no way off this planet.

It was getting ever closer. And closer. And still their trajectory was nothing but trees. “Cy?” Fiearius called into the COMM again. “Cy, can you hear me?”

“Fiear, what if he’s–” cried Leta as another blast shook the base.

“He’ll be there!” Fiearius called back to her. “He has to be!” He better be, he thought.

Another shot hit and the shudder was so intense, Fiearius almost lost his footing, but Leta’s decisive pull on his arm was enough to keep him upright.

“I don’t think this base can stand much more of this!” she shouted over the racket of concrete crumbling.

It couldn’t. It wouldn’t. They were practically outside now. The dirt ground of the jungle was a mere two hundred feet away. The hangar was on the verge of collapsing. And Fiearius tried one last time. “Cyrus, please, please, please, just don’t be–”

But his message was interrupted. Just as their feet crossed the threshold of the door, they were met by a blast of wind that nearly knocked them back. A blast of wind caused, it seemed, by the clunky descent of a ship filling the clearing. A familiar old rusty ship. The Dionysian.

“I-I’m here!” cried Cyrus over the COMM. “I’m here, get on!”

Allowing himself only one breath of relief, Fiearius powered on as the ship hovered some twenty feet in the air haphazardly before them, the ramp slowly opening.

“Get her lower, Cy!” Fiearius called as they approached.

The ship dropped suddenly, only barely missing the ground, for just enough time for the two of  them to leap onto the ramp. They clambered up it as the ship wavered to and fro, unhappy to be held in this kind of stasis. As soon as he hit the top, Fiearius slammed the ramp controls to closed and kept running. Leta was on his heels.

“We’re aboard, go! Now!” he ordered into the COMM and the ship jolted. Leta grabbed Fiearius’ arm to keep herself steady. He grabbed a railing. And as the ship started to rise, they continued to climb through the ship, passing its confused and shaken crew who were holding on to anything they could get their hands on. They didn’t stop until they pounded into the bridge.

“I-I did it,” Cyrus muttered as soon as he felt Fiearius’ hand hit the back of his chair. “I d-did it. I did it,” he said again, as though he still couldn’t quite believe what was happening himself.

“You did, now keep doing it,” Fiearius told him.

“What about Quin?” Leta asked. “Dez? The Legacy, what about –”

As if answering her question, the ship was suddenly pushed forward in a burst of air followed by the sound of a distant explosion.

Cyrus gripped the controls tighter. “W-what was that?!”

“I don’t know, turn her around so we can get a better look!” Fiearius yelled. Shakily, Cyrus followed the order.

The skyline outside shifted as the ship made an about face. Fiearius was prepared to see the worst, but he could have never been prepared for what they found on that horizon.

Filling in the air like birds, near a hundred fighter ships hovered above the base. The two Satieran frigates Quin had brought along had joined them in the battle. And the Legacy, that great ship thrice the size of the frigates combined, was shrouded in fire and smoke. In truth, Fiearius was only able to catch a small glimpse of it as it plummeted into the ground. No, into the mountain. The mountain which gave way to its size and crumbled beneath its impact in an explosion of dust so great, it was impossible to see where it ended and the clouds began.

Fiearius could find no words. Leta and Cyrus were agape. The base. Blackwater. It was…gone. The Legacy. Gone. Any agents still inside, likely dead. They had gone into this attempting only to dismantle the place. Cause a bit of trouble and steal some ships. It was meant to be more annoyance than harm.

But they had destroyed a Society dreadnought. Worse, they’d destroyed a Society stronghold.

Finally, the crackle of the COMM speaker broke the heavy silence.

“Soliveré, you still alive?!” It was Quin. In the background behind her voice were joyous cries of victory. “Did you fuckin’ see that? Did you see that?” Her voice was muffled as she apparently spoke to someone else. “Hey Cordova. How’s that for a message, huh?” She let out a raucous laugh. “Let’s head back to Relara, eh, Soliveré? I’m buyin’ you a drink. Two drinks. I’ll buy your whole damn crew a drink. So long Blackwater! So fuckin’ long!”

The COMM clicked off and the Dionysian’s bridge was plunged back into silence. Fiearius could not believe what he was seeing. Though they had all made it out alive, the mission had technically been a success, but Fiearius didn’t share in Quin’s feeling of victory. He didn’t feel relieved. What had once been a small act of defiance was now so much more than that and somewhere inside him, he knew that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

Finally, at long last, he looked over at Leta and said the only two words his racing brain could form. “Well shit.”