January 20, 2112
Catharine Darcrose
Kaizerious was dead! Before Cathy's eyes, playing over the screen of the living quarters of the starship, Cathy watched the final blow end the life of Kaizerious. Cathy saw this, and something inside her gave her a surprise. Was this sadness she felt? Kaizerious had a hand in starting a war that had claimed the lives of millions, the lives of her brother and sister, and yet she felt sad he had died. Was it because she saw him as a friend? After all, she had spent a significant amount of time with him in her search for the Brotherhood of Relics. Which, in light of all this, now made sense to her; it made sense why he was interested in the brotherhood in the first place.
Kaizerious even saved her once from a bullet. But why save her? She was a part of the ARW, an enemy to him. He knew that. His duty was to his alliance, yet she lived that day because of him. Even now, she couldn't figure out what he had to gain by saving her, if anything at all.
Why?! she shouted in her mind.
She hadn't realized the frustration she felt had forced her up from the couch. She turned back to see James Stone still sitting there. His eyes weren't engaged with the video of Kaizerious and Sunfire's fight that had been going on. He was looking at his cyberwatch.
She turned away. Why would she care what he was doing? He failed in his duty as a captain when he didn't bring her sister, Beverly, back alive. And she still held him partly to blame. At first, the pain was deep, and she wanted him dead. But she realized she herself had lost her entire unit, too. That's the realization it took to place her into his shoes. She couldn't imagine staring into the face of their loved ones and telling them she failed those under her. That was what James faced when she showed up. Yet he let her wail away on his face. Part of her might never forgive him, hate him even, and yet part of her admired him for what he did for her.
At least she would be home soon. Brotherhood of Relic starships are much faster than ARW starships, roughly eight times or more from what she heard. They would be back in an ARW controlled star systems well before the day was over.
A sudden shock from the video shook her right out of her thoughts. Kaizerious was alive and walking right towards those brotherhood knights. She watched, trapped by her own icy muscles. Her eyes couldn't leave the screen.
The knights then disappeared, leaving Kaizerious alone. The screen turned off, and Cathy was left with her mouth to the ground. She was sure she had watched him die. And everything that dies is supposed to stay that way. It's just the natural order of things. No one, save Jesus Christ, has ever come back, ever. And yet it happened. By some fluke in the galaxy, it happened. No, there had to be some reason. There always is.
⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕
After being dropped off at an ARW outpost on a moon called Baurtenson, Cathy and James waited as an Order of Aegis starship landed. It was there to pick them up, and none other than Kalvin Keefe was the first to step out of the starship. It had been some time since Cathy had seen this man. It was almost surreal to see such an important man grace them with his presence, like seeing a celebrity in real life.
Kalvin walked up to meet James. "How are you feeling?"
"You seem to always make an appearance at the right times, don't you?" James ignored the question.
"I will always be here when you need me most."
"Touching." James pulled out two objects Cathy had never seen before. "Take these two keys, and make sure you don't lose any this time, Kalvin."
Kalvin was overzealous. "You never cease to astonish me. This is incredible. Actually, this is beyond incredible. You have no knowledge of this, but you just provided us an enormous victory, James. Day-Bringer has fashioned a plan - a plan involving these keys that may prove to save us." James gave a nod that was hardly noticeable and started past Kalvin. He headed for the ship. "Wait, what are you doing?" Kalvin asked.
"Take me back to my squad. I need to say my goodbyes."
Kalvin held his head in confusion. "Goodbyes? I do not understand."
James turned for a moment. "I plan on taking a leave of duty. And they deserve to know why." He then went into the ship.
Kalvin stared as Cathy did. After composing himself, he came over to Cathy. "You were with him for a substantial amount of time. Do you know what brought that on?"
Ever since that brotherhood bishop dropped them off on this outpost, she had kept her distance from James. So lately, she had no idea what he was up to. "He seemed off after Ghost gave him something." That was the only thing that crossed her mind.
"Ghost?"
"A knight of the Brotherhood of Relics," Cathy clarified.
Kalvin's eyes jumped at the name, and he seemed distraught. "Please, follow me aboard. I want to know everything that you have learned."
Cathy nodded and followed him aboard, where she started to tell him everything from her mission to finding the brotherhood to Kaizerious. Every single detail she recalled.