Chapter 14 What Was Left of Us

Aria listened in silence as he continued.

“Counting the damage from the safe point, we lost 42 Combelt III mechs - 42. That’s 84 pilots killed in action, all in a matter of hours. And that is not counting foot soldiers, supplies, tech, maintenance, and command personnel. As for our situation now…”

He looked at her directly, his eyes dark with the reality of it.

“We’re stretched thin, Aria. If another wave comes, there’s a good chance we won’t hold the line. The Beehive would turn into a battlefield. I won’t lie to you… it was devastating. But there was one glimmer of hope. We managed to kill every last one of the mutants from that wave. It bought us time - a small mercy. It’s been a bit over two weeks now since that attack, and things have been… quiet. The activity’s been low, lower than usual. But make no mistake, Aria, we’re still in a dangerous place.”

“Then let me go on missions. Send me out there. Like always, I won’t disappoint you, sir.”

She leaned forward, her hand clenching into a fist.

“I’ll kill every last one of them, Major. Every mutant that comes close to Beehive, every monster that threatens to tear down what’s left of us. I won’t stop until they’re gone. All of them, especially that bastard Raptor 01. I will kill him with my own hands even if it's the last thing I do.”

Dyar leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. 

"I'm afraid you won’t be going on missions, Aria. Look… you've been out there since you were twelve, teamed up with Elias, and you’ve been in one fight after another ever since. Your record is unmatched. You have the most hours on the battlefield. You’re the top pilot we’ve ever had. But all that fighting... it’s cost you, more than you ever owed us. You fought so hard you pushed your own body past its limit.”

He paused, his gaze fixed on her.

“No one would blame you if you stepped down, Aria. You could go on early retirement, live a normal life... well, as normal as it gets here in Beehive. You could take time to experience the life most people live - without combat and risk, doing the things people your age get to do.”

A faint smile crossed his face.

“And with all the missions you've completed, you've more than earned it. Your credit account alone would allow you to live comfortably for a long while. I want to give you a choice here - a real choice. You don't have to fight anymore, Aria. You could find some peace. Just… think about it.”

He waited, letting his offer sink in.

Aria sat in the chair, her fingers gripping polished steel armrests. She stayed silent for a minute, her gaze fixed somewhere far away while she was thinking. When she finally spoke, her voice was calm.

"Early retirement... early retirement for me? Do you think I can walk away? That I did enough? I don't need to fight anymore? I can live a normal, easy life? You’re telling me I don’t have to fight anymore? Major Dyar, sir," she echoed, a bitter smile twisting her lips.

She clenched the armrests even tighter.

"Well, I’m sorry... I apologize for what I’m about to say..."

Her voice rose, trembling.

"Fuck the early retirement! I don’t need a damn peaceful life! And the hell with doing stupid things people my age do! My only goal is to hunt down every last one of those disgusting mutants and wipe them from existence! I won’t rest until they’re all dead! To finish them off, all of them, every damn one!"

She stood, her body vibrating with fury.

"I’ll fight without rest until they’re dead! I won't stop! If my mech gets torn apart, I’ll shoot them. If I run out of ammo, I’ll tear them apart with my bare hands. If my arms are torn off, I’ll kick them. If my legs go, I’ll bite. If they crush my head, I’ll bleed on them. And even if they destroy my whole body? I’ll curse them from the depths of hell!"

Her voice wavered, but not from fear.

"I’m not scared to die. I’m scared to do nothing while they still roam free. How many more will die while I'm sitting doing nothing?! Send me out there, like always. I don’t need anything else. I don’t want anything else."

She took a step forward, meeting his gaze.

"Please, Major. Let me do what I was made to do."

Dyar’s gaze lowered, his voice softening just a little as he spoke.

"I understand where your hatred comes from, Aria. I want them gone just as much as you do. But things aren’t as simple as you think."

He paused, nodding to the armrest.

"Look down."

Aria glanced at her hand, gripping the armrest. The polished steel was mangled, her grip having crushed it with ease, and she hadn’t even noticed.

Dyar continued.

"There’s something you need to know. You’re not… entirely human anymore. You’re something else, something that no longer fits in a single category. The science division sent me the reports. You’re 39% mutant, 38% machine, and only 23% human, well, at least that's what's written on the paper. If you want details you will need to speak with the head of the Science division."

Aria knew she was different; her mutated limbs were evidence enough. But hearing it spelled out like that, delivered as a cold statistic, felt like a hammer blow. She swallowed hard, but her eyes stayed on Dyar, waiting for him to go on.

Dyar took a deep breath, his shoulders slumped, and he looked away as if trying to gather the courage to say what came next. 

"Aria," he began quietly, "you’re not… considered human anymore. That’s why we can’t let you continue your duty. That’s the cold truth of it."

He paused, struggling with the words.

"In fact, while you were in a coma, the high council - those old fools, all of them - were already voting to ‘pull the plug.’ To ‘dispose of the threat,’ as they called it. Before she completely turns into a mutant and starts killing people in Beehive. It was too great of a risk."

He exhaled sharply, his face twisting with anger.

"And to tell you the truth? When I saw you that day, half-buried in that smoking wreck of a mech… the mutation that had ravaged your body... I thought about putting a bullet in your head myself. I thought maybe it would be a mercy, to spare you from waking up and seeing that you’d become the very thing you’d fought against your entire life."

He looked down, his voice cracking slightly.

"But then I saw Ewan, clinging to life only because of you. You saved him, Aria. And in that moment, I knew… I knew there was still humanity left in you. The Aria I knew was still fighting in there. That's why I stood up to the council. Told them that if they made a single move against you, I’d resign on the spot and let them sort out this whole damn mess without me."

He smiled faintly, though his eyes stayed sad.

"That shut them up, at least for now."