Burying the Destructive

Eversor lowered his shield and sword as Roark stepped further into the room, near the table with the hologram of the Hephaisteion. Ajax lowered his weapon as well but looked on wearily as he glanced at Ayla and Cades who were at gunpoint and in worse shape than when he had last seen them, “Roark.” Ajax muttered out.

“Why did you guys leave? Work with this Germanic… betray the empire?” Roark asked as he stood at the console, several feet away from Eversor and Ajax. The table's surface changed from red to green as the console showed its hologram. The console displayed words on the touch screen; Ready to fire. “Did you betray us? Betray Rome?” He asked while looking at Eversor as he gestured towards Ayla by waving his revolver.

“We wanted to sabotage the facility, to kill their War Chief and prevent the slaughter we knew would happen.” Eversor said as he stared at Roark while keeping some distance between them.

“Come closer, we need to talk,” Roark said as he placed Nestor’s helmet down on the table displaying the hologram of the Hephaisteion. Eversor didn’t move and neither did Ajax. Ajax stood in front of Elswyth who looked at Roark over Ajax's shoulder timidly. Roark’s head tilted slightly in confusion as if he hadn’t expected his order to be disobeyed or to see Ajax so close to what he saw as the enemy

“Ayla agreed to help us if we could secure peace between us and her tribe and so she came with us to infiltrate this facility,” Ajax said, trying to ignore the order. He gazed at Roark with a tense expression as he looked over his battered commander.

“And you boys trusted her?” Roark asked with a gravel voice as he looked between them, “She was just doing it for herself…can't you see that?” Roark asked.

“It doesn’t matter why she did it now. She helped us get this far. All that matters is we can destroy this place once and for all. This is bigger than us, bigger than the Germanics. The future of the galaxy is at hand, Rome's fate and course is being decided.” Eversor said as he glanced at the hologram.

Roark looked Eversor over, seeing a very different man than the one he had seen the day before, “This battle is over, the course is decided. We’ll take these atomics, return to Rome and use them to defeat our remaining enemies. Any that stand against us with these weapons will be crushed and they will be made an example of. Rome will be at peace…for some time at least.”

“But Roark we can’t–”

“Ajax…what are you even doing? Do you have a reason for being here? Or were you dragged by Eversor? ” Roark said sharply as he cut Ajax’s sentence off.

“Don’t speak to him like that! Calm down Roark! Like you said this battle is over, let our allies go and let's destroy this place so this power won’t be used to control anybody!” Eversor pleaded as he took a step forward.

“Roman blood was spilled because of them! She defended the beachhead that nearly killed us! This so called ally, Cades was going to kill me! You want to side with them? These people over your comrades? Your fellow Roman?” Roark asked as he raised his demeaning tone.

“They’re our allies! They’ve fought with us to get here and end this battle and it’s over now! We can all go home, let Ayla return to her tribe, let Cades live as a free man, let Elswyth, the scientists, and the rest of the Germanics go. This day can still be known as a victory for the Empire. We will have destroyed this facility and eliminated the biggest threat to Rome.”

Roark sneered beneath his helmet as his brow furrowed, “Have you learned nothing from fighting all these years? Destroying this facility does not eliminate all of our threats, letting them live just means they’ll return someday to continue the fight. Nestor knew that letting just one enemy live could lead to the end of us…and he was right. He was gunned down by a man I let go free. I won’t repeat that mistake!”

Gazing at the hologram Roark looked over the Roman ships hiding behind the wreck and debris field of the battle and the Germanic ships huddled together, “We are going to use these weapons against them. These men may have not been able to use this power correctly but we will. These weapons will be used for our victory.”

“No!” Eversor yelled out as he stepped closer, raising his sword and shield. The legionnaires pointed their weapons at Eversor while Ajax unholstered his guns and pointed them at the legionnaires, “Stand down Roark! We can win this battle without those weapons! Without repeating their mistakes!”

“You raise your weapons against us, Eversor? You have betrayed us! Your comrades! You betray the very idea of Rome and its power!” Roark yelled.

“You think Rome is what it is because of its power? You have twisted its idea into a justification for your hate!” Eversor screamed back.

Roark raised his explosive revolver towards Eversor, “Rome is here because of its power! Because we lived on! If it wasn’t for us humanity would still be groveling on our home planet over meager pieces of land! We have made humanity what it is! Rome has lived on because of its power!”

Eversor remained silent as he held his blade up against his enemy, “Rome has not lived on through power but through people...and immortal ideas that have brought humanity to the stars...why have you forgotten that? Why have you forgotten that?” Eversor’s eyes darkened and he took another step forward, “Let them go.” His voice was low but serious as he looked into Roark’s eye’s through the visors in their helmets. For the first time Eversor looked upon Roark and didn’t see his leader.

Roark looked towards the floor as he shakily pointed the gun at Eversor as tears flowed down his eyes, “You two…where did this all go wrong…where? He muttered to himself. The scientists in the room began to move towards the back of it as they knew what was coming. Roark reached to his helmet, putting his hand over his helmet and covering one of his eyes as he thought over what to do next, “Traitors…all of you…our squad didn’t die for this…Nestor didn’t die for this.” His gruff tone didn’t help the tension as his hand continued to shake.

Cades glanced behind at the legionary with a gun to his head, seeing he was distracted and that there was a lull in the standoff he acted. A small click came from his arm before he fired a spray of pellets at the legionary’s foot. The legionary screamed as he tumbled back away before Cades fired a second shot at the man's chest. Cades fired his shotgun at the legionaries around him before he was hit with a round to the chest, sending him to the floor.

Seeing Cades begin to fight back Ayla reached for her gun that had been taken by one of the legionaries. Grabbing it for herself Ayla rammed herself against the nearest guard, tumbling to the ground before aiming the pistol at the nearest legionary. Squeezing the trigger her teeth were gritted beneath the helmet as she fired every shot she had into the small group of legionaries.

Gunfire erupted between the two sides. Ajax’s armor was hit repeatedly, sending him jolting and shaking from the bullets hitting him. As he fell towards the floor he squeezed the trigger of his guns firing off bullets while yelling.

Elswyth screamed out as she watched him fall to the ground after blocking bullets that would have killed her with his own body. Ajax lay on the floor riddled with bullets twitching. In a rush of adrenaline, Elswyth reached for her pistol to defend him. She pointed it at the closet man in front of her and even over the hail of gunfire her singular shot was discernible. The man in front of her dropped dead as the bullet penetrated his helmet.

Roark fired off his revolver, the first bullet’s small explosion threw off Eversor’s shield leaving him open to be shot. The next five shots flew through the air, missing Eversor at point blank range and embedding themselves into the walls behind him before the rounds exploded. Roark's eyes went wide in fear as he saw him miss what should have been easy shots. Looking to the side Roark lunged for the table to press where on the hologram he wanted to send the atomic before he could be stopped.

“Roark, stop it!” Eversor screamed out as he pulled back his arm while clenching his fist. Reaching forward as fast as he could, the mechanism within his arm was triggered and shot out its hook towards Roark. Roark’s vision blurred and he felt a piercing stinging in his neck just as his finger touched the debris field on the hologram. Blood poured from his neck and down towards his chest as he felt himself hanging by something.

Ayla’s gun clicked as the magazine ran dry and the gunshots from Roark’s men ceased making the room go silent. Within just a few seconds the gunfight had ended. Only two men remained standing. Eversor, and Roark. Within his armor, Eversor’s shaky breaths were causing his armor to shake.

“R—Roark.” Eversor’s voice softly stuttered out. His right arm was raised pointing towards the man who just a day ago had been his commander. The grappling hook that was just a tool to grapple with was stained with the blood of Roark as it embedded itself into his neck. The hook had slipped through the neck plating.

“Ev…ersor.” A horrible cough came from Roark's mouth, spitting blood into his helmet. The Revolver he had been holding fell to the floor.

Slowly Ajax sat up with a groan, his armor was torn and riddled with bullets. An audible gasp left his throat as he looked upon his commander standing with a hook in his neck. The silver hook was drenched in the thick red liquid that was his blood.

“Roark!” Ajax wailed out as he struggled to stand up from the ground. Eversor’s shaky breath continued as he retracted the hook, zipping it back into its place. Roark’s blood that coated the hook splattered onto his arm as it returned to its place. Roark's body slumped to the floor, his armor scraping against the console before he landed on the floor, twitching and sputtering for breath. Blood stained the inside of his helmet, dripping down onto the floor and his chest plate.

Lunging forward Ajax dropped to his knees beside his commander, “Roark…why? Why couldn't you just…Why!” The young man screamed out as he grabbed Roark’s shoulder shaking his commander as if it would bring him back.

Behind him, the scientists rushed towards the console that blinked as the second atomic now had its course set, “No! No! No! Try to reverse it!” Hans yelled as the scientists began to attempt to shut it down.

“I’m sorry sir but the override protocol isn’t working! It’s too late, it’ll hit the ships above in just a few minutes!” One of the scientists cried out as they all looked at the hologram in fear.

A tear came from Roark’s right eye as he looked up at the ceiling above him, “Shut up…I'm…tired…so tired…Sophie…Ed…please…you’ll wake up Annabelle.” Suddenly his eyes went wide as he realized who he was speaking to, “Wait…Ajax?” Roark muttered with labored breaths while Eversor approached his commander. Standing above him he fell to his knees on the other side of Roark.

“It’s me…Eversor’s here too.” Ajax said softly wondering why Roark seemed confused at their presence. Eversor's eyes were wide in shock as he realized what the very same thing Ajax had. Eversor realized Roark had a family or at least used to have one. The memory of the first time he had met Nestor and Roark flashed in his mind as he remembered the name of Roark's lover, Annabelle.

“What's with…you? Why’s it so loud?” Roark asked as she heard the blaring sounds of the facility's alarms, the gunshots of the nearby shipyard popping off, and the miscellaneous noises of the battlefield in the distance.

Eversor and Ajax looked between each other sorrowfully as tears began to well up in their eyes, “It’s nothing Roark just…just rest…we're here.” Ajax said softly as he sniffled, doing his best to keep the tears from falling.

“I…ok…just…boys but I need to…tell you something.” The two leaned into what they knew were his last words, “Be...better than me…better than this…world…don’t let it…take…you...make you into...somebody who...lashes out against it...and lets it...win.” He sputtered between words for breath as he raised his shaking hand. Ajax grabbed Roark’s hand and held it as he watched the man slip away. Roark's grip slowly loosened before fully going limp.

“Roark…Roark!” Ajax wailed as he held Roark’s limp hand. Tears began to pour from his eyes onto the inside of his helmet as he both began to cry over the man who he could have called a father. Ajax wailed hysterically while Eversor sobbed over the dead man.

“God dammit.” Eversor muttered out as he clenched his fist and put it to the forehead of his helmet, “Roark.” He spoke softly as the two men continued to cry while their allies watched on. Ayla gazed at Eversor with teary eye’s not for Roark but for him.

The room began to rumble as the sound of the atomic taking off outside filled the room. Outside, the rocket flew from its silo towards the sky above. Breaking through the clouds it disappeared into the atmosphere and towards space.

Above the facility in space the Germanic ships fired at the Roman vessels from a distance before alarms began to blare. On one of the Germanic ships a crewman screamed, “Sir we have a projectile incoming!” The captain gasped as he saw the rocket coming towards them from the planet. The Roman ships that were taking cover behind the debris field caught sight of the incoming rocket.

Admiral Conai watched, squinting to see where the rocket was heading and the moment it flew past the Germanic ships and towards the debris field, the atomic detonated. In the blink of an eye the crewmen of the Roman and German ships were blinded by the explosion. Two Germanic ships were obliterated by the explosion that blinded those who watched the detonation.

“Evasive maneuvers!” Admiral Conai shouted as the explosion tore through the debris field towards them, “All power to reverse thrusters!” He roared out before the explosion was upon them. The debris field that had protected against the Germanics was useless as the Roman ships were crippled or destroyed in the fiery explosion.

The scientists in the room began to input the commands and deactivated the automated canons. The canons on the holographic screen turned from green to red as they were deactivated. “We have to go.” Cades said as he put an arm on Ajax’s shoulder who swatted it away.

“No, we're not leaving him!” Ajax yelled out.

“We have to get to the ship after dealing with these atomics…we can’t carry him all the way to the ship.” Cades pleaded as he put his hand back on his ally’s shoulder.

“Eversor…I’m sorry.” Ayla whispered to him as she kneeled down next to him. Eversor’s quick and sharp breathing slowed down into deep breaths as he tried to compose himself even as the tears flowed.

“It’s better this way…his time finally came…he waited for it for so long..” Eversor slowly stood up as he lowered his hand away from his face. He snapped, retracting his blade but leaving his shield out as he looked at his dead commander in a daze.

“Ajax…we don’t have to leave all of him.” Elswyth said as she kneeled next to him, “The chip in his helmet might be intact.” Slowly she turned Roark’s head to the side before prodding at the round circle on the back of the dead man's helmet. Pushing down on the middle of the circle a small data chip popped out of the helmet, “Hold onto it and later you can…go through it.”

Ajax held the chip between his fingers and tightened his fist around the hip to keep it safe, “Wait…we can use it…if there’s still any Roman ships in the sky we can tell them what's going on and have them destroy this place. The chip may have his signal.” Eversor said as he looked towards the chip in Ajax’s hand.

“That's a big if but why would they listen to you?” Elswyth asked.

“Because that’s Roark’s chip. It has his data, his recordings of the battle, everything about him on file and if we can input that into the computer and send out a transmission we can tell them what's going on and claim…claim we are him." Eversor’s hopeful tone faded into a softer, more jaded one. "We could advise them to destroy this place.”

“I’ll do it…I’ll impersonate him…if it destroys this place…this place that killed him.” Ajax looked towards Eversor with a new determination in his eyes as he held the data chip in his fist.

Eversor put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Thank you Ajax."

“I can set up the line of communication, give me the chip!” Hans called out as he began typing on the holographic screen. Handing off the chip to Han’s Ajax watched as he typed rapidly before inserting the chip and sending out a signal to the fleet above.

The warships in space floated aimlessly as the atomic bomb decimated both fleets. The engines of one of the Germanic ships sputtered trying to start itself up but to no avail. Onboard the Clypeum Admiral Conai groaned as he pushed himself up on the bridge of his ship. Looking around the bridge of his ship he saw his men at their stations all in a daze.

“Report!” Conai yelled out as he looked at the Germanic ships with burned hulls and crumpled frames.

“Admiral! The ship's thrusters are damaged! Secondary systems are shutting down one after another!” One of the men operating the computer systems yelled out.

“Send a distress signal to any nearby Romans! Damn this covert operation we need reinforcements! On the double Aulus!” The Admiral yelled out as he pointed at the man. The crewman nodded and began working on sending out a distress signal with his fellow crewmen helping him. Suddenly a signal came in on the crewman’s screen.

“Sir, we're getting a signal from the ground! It’s from Colonel Roark Domitian Gabius transmitting from the Hephaisteion!” Aulus yelled out.

“Patch it through!” Conai called out. Aulus nodded and typed in the common to let it through. In front of Conai a hologram appeared. The staticky image was in color showing Ajax and his full Thorakai.

“Admiral Conai. I’m transmitting from the Hephaisteion. Command has fallen apart, organization within the Legions is nonexistent and an atomic decimated our command center. Capturing the Hephaisteion is out of the question. Currently they’re preparing to fire another atomic warhead at the space above the Hephaisteion.” Ajax said as he did his best to impersonate Roark’s more gruff voice in case Admiral Conai had ever met him before.

Admiral Conai’s eyes as he thought over the man's words while looking out at the battlefield behind the hologram. His head hung low and he thought over what words to say next before speaking, “Colonel Roark I’m…distraught…we hadn’t received transmissions from basecamp since we saw the first atomic go off.” Glancing behind the hologram Conai gazed at the large wreck of the Caligula in front of his ship.

“It will be done, if there is truly no chance of salvaging it we will destroy this threat. Our fleet can not sustain another one of those regardless. Evacuate and get as far away as you can...farewell Roark and let the gods guide your journey.” The hologram disappeared and Admiral Conai stepped forward right in front of the glass.

Raising his hand he brushed the glass with the tips of his armored fingers before tightening his fist and turning away to look towards the crewmen. “Divert all power to the stern of the ship! I want you to plot a course to the hull of the Caligula! We are going to ram that ship into the German fleet and crash it into the facility!”

The crewmen looked at the admiral with pure shock and slacked jaws as they heard the order, “Sir that's impossible! The Caligula’s hull will splinter!” Aulus yelled out.

“We won’t be able to maneuver fast enough to not get pulled into the atmosphere!” Another crewman shouted. The sounds of arguing and protests filled the room as the crewmen shouted at their admiral trying to dissuade them from what they saw as a doomed maneuver.

Conai looked around the command deck of his ship as he composed himself to prevent lashing out in anger, “That is an order! This threat must be eliminated! Soon that weapon could be unleashed on the rest of our navy! If they fire another one of those rockets at us we won’t survive regardless! Destroying this threat is of the utmost priority even if it comes at the cost of all our lives! For the sake of our comrades who will have to face this threat, we will destroy it now!”

His men, despite still looking upon him wearily, began to move into action, rushing around to their posts and putting everything they had into executing their order. The Clypeum’s engines began to push it forward towards the wreck of the Caligula. The Clypeum’s bow rammed into the Caligula’s hull, pushing the larger ship forward towards the Germanic fleet.

The Germanic ships watched as the Clypeum pushed the damaged ship forward and towards their line. Disregarding their orders to defend at all cost the two remaining ships with functioning thrusters pushed themselves out of the way to avoid the incoming ships.

The Clypeum’s thrusters were pushed to full power as the crew gripped onto whatever they could for dear life while Admiral Conai braced himself against the glass of the ship’s command room. Coming ever closer to the planet, the Caligula’s hull began to burn under the heat of the atmosphere making its metal glow red as it entered the atmosphere of Trostolos.

“Divert all power to reverse thrusters!” Conai screamed out. As they entered the atmosphere the heat from entering it began to make the stern of the Clypeum glow red. At his orders, all power was redirected to the reverse thrusters that began to sputter and glow from the strain of fighting the gravity of Trostolos’ atmosphere. The Admiral yelled out as he and the crew braced against the immense pressure that was being exerted across the ship.

All around the ship objects began to slide across rooms, crashing into walls, causing chaos for the crew as the ship struggled to begin pushing itself back and away from the atmosphere. Admiral Conai watched as the wreck of the Caligula began to fall into Trostols’ atmosphere, “Mission accomplished!” He called out with a proud grin as the ship began to pull away from the atmosphere successfully.

The command center was silent as they watched the Caligula fall towards Trostolos. The sounds of panicked breathing calmed as the crew recovered from the rush of emotions that they had been swept up in. If the maneuver had been a few seconds off they would have all perished.

“Hail the Admiral! Hail the Navy! Hail the Emperor! Hail Rome!” Aulus shouted, breaking the long silence as he raised his fist in the air while standing up from his station. The crew shouted in victory as they began to raise their fists in support and began to chant.

“Hail Admiral Conai! Savior of the battle!” They chanted again and again as they beat their fists against their chests,

“Hail to a new Legate!” Aulus yelled out as he looked around the room

“Hail Legate Conai!” They began to chant the phrase as they began to beat their armored fists against the chest plating of their Thorakai making sparks fly from their armor as they chanted on and on as Admiral Conai looked out at his men. With a look of pride, he banged his fist against his chest. Across the ship, the speakers echoed the chant until the entire ship chanted the Admiral’s name.

Down below at the Hesitation Ajax turned away from the hologram and looked towards his allies, “You did it, now let's go before whatever they plan to destroy the facility with gets here.” Ayla said as she turned hastily and began to head towards the door.

Eversor walked up to his brother in arms and embraced him, “I’m proud of you, brother. Now let's go.” Ajax nodded and embraced his friend back before they both let go of each other Eversor followed behind Ayla and Cades followed him. Ajax grabbed Roark’s chip from out of the computer before he and Elswyth moved past the console where Nestor’s helmet rested leaving it behind. The scientists followed behind them as they moved out of the room.

Rushing through the hallway the scientists trailed behind the five as they passed by the observation room where Pankraz still lay. For just a moment Cades stopped and ran to grab Pankraz’s spear before catching up to his allies.

As the group of scientists and Eversor’s alliance made it down the stairwell they heard the sound of footsteps below them. Cades reloaded his arm mounted shotgun with a pullback of his arm, Ayla reloaded her pistol, and Elswyth gripped her gun as she struggled to steady her breathing and Eversor extended his blade.

Hearing the rushing sound of footsteps and shouting, Eversor leaned over the rail and saw several Romans with their weapons, “Let's find Roark and help him! We're not done until we’ve rid this place of all of them!” A guard shouted. Eversor looked towards the scientists and then at his allies before putting his hand on the rail.

“No time to negotiate…there’s no turning back now,” Eversor said as the echoing footsteps got louder. Eversor chuckled darkly as he looked back at his allies, “It’s time to finally be Praetorian and go kill the emperor.” None of them saw the irony of it besides who Cades smirked under his helmet.

Jumping over the rail the Roman landed on one of the stairs below right behind the dozen legionaries that had been running up them. The legionaries turned and raised their weapons before gasping at the sight of the battered and worn Praetorian with a blade and shield covered with blood.

Frozen in fear they looked upon him, not even reacting until he lunged forward, ramming his fist against the closet legionary’s helmet. The blade attached to Eversor’s arm slashed the helmet of the legionary, cutting it open and sending the man over the railing, falling with a yell.

The legionaries began to fire at him and the Praetorian raised his shield to stand firm. The legionaries were fired upon from above, killing several of them. Eversor lunged forward fighting with his blade and shield. With the Praetorian adding pressure to their front they were helpless to the gunfire from above.

In just a few moments the legionaries had been eliminated and Eversor stood around a pile of their bodies. Looking up at his allies rushing down the stairs he yelled out, “I’ll carve a path forward! Give me covering fire and follow behind me!” The sound of more footsteps rushing up the stairs from below pulled his attention away from them as he saw more legionaries coming up from below.

Putting his hand over the rail his mind flashed back to Pankraz building pressure by holding his arm in place. Clenching his fist the Praetorian pulled his arm back letting gas begin to build pressure in the pipes. He struggled to hold his arm in place as he fought against the strength of his Thorakai and the growing pressure. Holding his shield up he rushed down the stairs, stomping and denting the stairs beneath his feet.

“Who’s that? One of the legionaries at the back of the group yelled out.

“It doesn’t matter!” Another responded.

“He’s got a weapon and he’s coming right for us!” The legionary yelled back.

“Open fire!” The legionary at the head of the group roared out as he fired at Eversor who charged forward toward them. Their bullets pelted the helmet and his armor but it didn’t slow him down. Eversor growled beneath his helmet as he used all of his strength to hold his arm in place and let the pressure build.

Running down the steps Eversor reached the closet legionary just as a bullet grazed the side of his helmet. Eversor began to yell out as he got closer and his roar echoed from the top to the bottom of the stairs as his fist collided with the legionary's chest. Eversor’s blade stabbed into the breastplate of the legionary as his fist crushed the plating and pushed all the way into his chest. The wind left his enemy's chest as the legionary’s ribs cracked under the pressure and he was thrown back.

The legionary died instantly as Eversor’s fist collided with his chest, and his body was flung back into the men behind him. Throwing the dead man over the rail Eversor slashed the throat of the next with his blade before pushing him to the side. Pulling his arm back he fired off his hook and embedded into one of the legionarry's stomachs and pulled him closer before stabbing him in the stomach with his blade.

Slashing at the legionaries ahead of him he threw the fallen to the floor while discarding others over the rails. Sparks flew as armor clashed against armor like an iron forge shaping metal into weapons. Behind him his allies followed as he continued to rush down the stairs, leaving the soldiers he had killed behind. Hearing even more legionnaires approaching he charged forward.

Eversor’s shield protected him from almost every weapon they could use against him and with his blade he could slice through their armor like a sword carving through flesh. His allies fired down at the legionaries below as they kept pace with Eversor. Eversor would charge forward, distracting the legionaries before his allies would pick them off from above and he would dispose of the survivors. Repeating that tactic several times led them to reach the bottom floor in a few minutes.

By the end of the fight, Eversor had blood running down his blade, dripping to the floor while a splash of blood stained the side of his helmet. Beneath the armor, he felt dirty and exhausted. His armor was more damaged than before and so were his weapons, causing his armor to steam as it repaired itself.

Eversor’s allies stood behind him and the scientists hid behind them as they moved into the hallways back to the shipyard. Cades leaned on Ajax as exhaustion was catching up to him. Blood continued to leak down his face as he moved forward, panting for breath. Ajax was tired but not to the point of exhaustion that Cades was. The group began to move through the worn and bullet riddled hallways, past the corpses of the fallen. The fallen that had died fighting even when the battle was already over.

Eversor and his allies, followed by the scientists, ran through the pouring rain that was beating down on the shipyard. As they ran towards the transport ship that had its loading ramp down they heard lightning strike the facility behind them and saw the starships flying around still fighting in the skies above.

Jannik stood on the ramp they were running towards, waving his arm and gesturing for them to hurry. Stopping at the edge of the ramp Elswyth looked up towards the sky to see the wreck of the Caligula falling through the clouds like a fallen behemoth being cast from the skies. Ayla grabbed Elswyth’s hand pulling her up the ramp and into the ship, “Go!” Ayla shouted as she ran towards the front of the transport ship, "Take off!"

The two pilots nodded and began lifting the ship off as lighting struck not far from them. Lifting off they watched as other Germanic ships and starfighters did the same seeing that the ships stopped being fired upon.

Eversor stood on the ramp of the ship as he watched the Calugla fall from the sky as lightning continued to sporadically strike the facility. The Caligula broke through the clouds revealing the majority of the wreck was glowing red from entering the atmosphere. Flying past the wreck were smaller chunks of metal from the debris field that fell like meteors.

The metal from the skies crashed into the Hephaisteion, tearing chunks out of the structure and causing explosions to erupt around the facility. Roman legionaries ran from the Hephaisteion trying to avoid the falling debris and constant lightning strikes while the other escaping Germanic ships flew toward the skies.

The Roman and Germanic starfighters that had been clashing began to disengage and fly into the distance or the sky above, abandoning the fight. The main building of the Hephaisteion began to crumble as the Caligula collided with the facility, crushing it under its immense weight. Roark’s body inside of the control room was crushed under the rubble and Pankraz's corpse was buried in the collapse.

As they were some distance from the facility the wreck of the Caligula exploded, taking all of the atomic bombs with it as every warhead was crushed under thousands of tons of metal. The explosion reached all the way into the clouds above as the Hephaisteion was destroyed.

Eversor breathed a sigh of relief as they flew off into the distance, the rain pelted the ship and lightning struck in the distance but in the moment he felt calm. That was until a Roman starfighter in the distance began to close in on the ship. At first just a dot in his vision it got larger and larger as it approached

“Get down!” Ayla yelled as the Roman starfighter fired its ammunition at the transport ship, hitting it several times directly into the area containing the passengers. Ayla tackled Eversor to the floor just before a bullet from the starfighter collided with the wall right behind where he had been standing. Eversor held up his shield as he put an arm around Ayla while the starfighter continued to fire.

Cades ran towards the back of the hull and grabbed the largest metal box he could see before tossing it open. From the case he pulled a large missile launcher, its pristine frame let him know it had never been fired before. Moments later after loading the missile launcher, he tossed it, “Ajax catch!” He yelled out. Ajax caught the missile launcher and kneeled down prepping it to fire just as the Roman starfighter passed by.

“Wait for it to circle back!” Cades yelled as the starfighter circled the transport ship that was beginning to gain altitude. The starfighter circled around slowly as it waited for the perfect moment to attempt another strike. As it circled the transport ship lighting struck around the areas. Eversor crawled backward up the ramp as he kept an arm securely around Ayla who didn't move from his grasp.

The starfighter finished its full arc and began to fly towards the back of the transport ship. The pilot flicked a switch on his dashboard and began to fire its ammunition. Cades stood behind Ajax as Ajax looked down the scope that displayed the screen and the distance between the starfighter and the transport ship. “Hold!” Cades said as starfighter approached within 100 meters. "Hold! The starfighter moved within 50 meters. "Hold!" The starfighter was within 25 meters as it fired off every last bullet within its guns. "Fire!"

Ajax pulled the trigger on command, firing off the missile, and barely flinching as he did so. The missile flew through the air before colliding with the starfighter, exploding it in a blaze of plasma, sending it falling from the sky. Nobody had been harmed but the ship now had several more bullet marks across it.

Ajax grunted as he dropped the missile launcher to the side before standing up and moving to the nearest seat to sit down. Elswyth moved over to sit next to him and Cades went to the seat across from him to sit down. Eversor and Ayla watched from the floor of the cargo hold as the starship fell to the ground before exploding

The two breathed quick, short breaths from the rush of adrenaline but their hearts were beginning to slow. Ayla looked up to gaze into Eversor’s eyes through their visors. His arm was still securely around her and the shield was still up to protect them both. Under the mask, she blushed red and so did Eversor. Their helmets hid the blushing but with the way they looked into each other's eyes, they both knew it and felt it.

“Eversor,” She whispered as her hand went to the arm around her waist. The woman blushed and gazed down at his chest, “Your arm.” Her soft mutter made Eversor's cheeks burn from how red they were as he pulled his arm away.

“Sorry.” Eversor looked away waiting for Ayla to move but she didn’t. She was in no rush to pull away as she caught her breath, “We did it.” He muttered in disbelief.

“We did…even if this isn’t over we’ve come far…thank you for saving me and Cades. I lost track of how many times I’ve had to save you and you had to save me…so you better not die on me now Ranius.” She finally sat up before looking down at him with a serious glare.

“I won’t.” His voice was rough, and tired as he looked out at the view ahead of him as the ramp began to close. As the two sat on the floor next to each other Ayla sat next to him as the exhaustion was slowly setting in now that they had a moment of reprieve.

Cades groaned as he leaned the side and fell back, laying down and taking up three seats. Elswyth sat next to Ajax while looking over his armor for any injuries she could tend to but his armor hid the wounds he did have. Ajax simply let her look over his armor as he laid his head back against the seat, “Ajax…that…rematch is going to have to wait.” Cades laughed, wheezing out between breaths as if he was running out of air.

Elswyth cringed at Cades' childish laugh and Ajax simply began to chuckle. The two men's laughter mixed together as the scientists and other soldiers watched on confused. Eversor glanced back at his allies and simply shook his head and smirked.

Ayla scoffed, “That laugh creeps me out."

“Let him have it…this is the first time he's been free for who knows how long,” Eversor said as he shrugged.

"Whatever you say.” Ayla sighed and shook her head before standing up and holding her hand out for Eversor to take which he did. Moving towards the head of the ship the two stood inside of the cockpit as they watched the ship break through the atmosphere into space above. The ship turned towards the wrecked fleets of the Germanic and Roman ships.

Eversor shook his head in disappointment as he saw only three ships somewhat intact floating away from each other, “Are we in range of the Germanic ships?" Ayla asked.

"We aren't Colonel." The pilot responded as he flicked a few switches on his dash.

"How are we going to explain what happened?" Eversor asked, "Your high command was clearly in on this as well."

"Who said we were working with high command?" Ayla smirked beneath her helmet, "Good, stay out of range. Does this ship have the ability to skip through space?" She asked as she looked towards the other pilot.

"Yes, ma'am." The pilot said before adjusting the controls preparing for whatever was coming their way.

"So where do you want us to go? I was thinking of somewhere out of the Emperor's reach for a time." Eversor said.

Ayla looked towards Eversor, "I was thinking of going to the Thracian controlled territory controlled area led by a man named Sparticus. For the past eight years they’ve been fighting against the empire in the Multa region. They’ve made a name for themselves thanks to their open defiance and how much territory they've taken on the outskirts of the empire. Some call them terrorists while others call them rebels...maybe they could be allies. The enemy of my enemy is what?"

"A friend," Eversor said, finishing her sentence.

"Exactly...now plot a course for the Multa region."

"Yes, ma'am." The two pilots sounded off and began to prepare to begin the route towards the region.

"Thracia? Where's that?" Cades asked as he sat up.

"Outskirts of the Empire, and where we're heading next I guess." Ajax pointed out as he stood up to exit his Thorakai. Moving to the back of the cargo hold he exited from the Thorakai, a rush of steam ruffling his hair. Cades did the same, for the first time the group got a good look of him in the light. Elswyth followed suit leaving all three of them out of their armor.

"Sounds interesting...I've never been exploring much so I'm excited for something other than white facility halls." Elswyth giggled as she looked between her allies and sat down next to Ajax who was sitting with Cades to his right.

"For the first time in a long time, I have the freedom to go wherever...but I'll be staying with this...whatever this is." Cades said as he waved his hand.

"Alliance?" Eversor asked as he came back to the cargo hold standing next to Ayla. The two moved to the back of the Cargo hold to exit their Thorakai and leave them next to their allies' suits. Eversor exited his suit looking like a mess covered in dirt and with blood coating his shirts and pants from where he had been shot.

Cades chuckled, "For now it's that...but...I'd like to be able to call you all friends as well."

"After what we've been through friends...works." Elswyth pointed out.

Ayla laughed and put her arm over Elswyth's shoulder, "Friends? A few hours ago we we were all trying to either kill or get away from each other. Well except you Elswyth you seemed enchanted by this Roman ruffian." Her words caused Elswyth to blush as she looked away from Ajax.

"But still we're all working together now, right? For Eversor's goal, I mean." Elswyth pointed out quickly, trying to change the subject.

"We are, and I'll die for that goal because if Eversor fails I do too. Same with you, Ajax, and Ayla. We all go down together." Cades said as he gestured towards Elswyth with a wave of his arm.

Ajax said as he shook his head, "I can't believe he dragged us all into this,"

"Dragged? All of you are here because of me. I promise you all that when this is over and I've had my revenge you'll all be able to go off and live peaceful lives." Eversor said as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "House Ranius will lead the way for all of you to better lives."

Ayla scoffed tiredly, "Stop with your talks of Houses. I'm tired of them."

Eversor shook his head and smirked, "Just you wait." He said with a hopeful but sorrowful smile.

"Setting course for the region of Malta." The pilot sounded off from the cockpit as he began to flick switches and grab the large lever to activate the hyperspeed first jump towards the region.

"Eversor while we are on the way there how about we talk about this plan of yours to kill the Emperor. How are you going to kill Ioannis Komnenos himself?" Ajax asked seriously, "Roark died because of what we did, because of all of this. It needs to mean something.

Eversor clenched his fist as he looked away from his friends and towards his bloodied Thorakai and the Chi Ro crest upon the shield, "Perhaps a God will take pity on me and bring me to his throne room."

The ship's engines began to shake before in a burst of speed so fast that it appeared to have disappeared in less than a second it was gone, leaving only a faint green streak of energy as any sign that it had been there.