Eternity's War

Book 1: Chapter 36

The van stopped outside the warehouse. Sierra shut the engine off. She grabbed Juliet from the back, who still slept, and took her inside. Skye and Romeo followed not far behind, along with Tango and Echo, who had since woken up. The sombre group opened the front door and slowly marched in, their morale evidently low.

Ren was waiting for them inside. She stared at Sierra with fierce eyes. "What have you done?"

Sierra ignored the question and carried Juliet to her bed.

Skye thought it best to speak first in an attempt to diffuse the already tense situation. "The Tianzu attacked. She didn't have a choice," he admitted.

Ren cocked her head with surprise. "Don't defend her actions, Skye. She has just single-handedly killed us all!"

"No, she hasn't. It's obvious—the Tianzu want us dead. They attacked us three months ago, and they attacked us again tonight. It's time we start defending ourselves."

"He's right, Ren," Tango chimed in, siding with Skye for the first time in quite a while. "I know you're trying to prevent a war with the Tianzu, but I think you're actually just postponing the inevitable."

"Irrelevant," Ren dismissed. "Your priority was killing the president. Instead, you were distracted by Daye, and you wasted enough time to allow them to attack you."

"I had to defend myself," Sierra muttered as she returned to the room.

"No, you didn't!" Ren screamed back with fury. "You don't have to attack them! We all know you're the strongest one here, and you could have easily exercised restraint."

Skye clenched his jaw. "You're wrong, Ren. The Tianzu are clearly instigating war. You should stop kidding yourself."

Ren stared at him condescendingly. "The only one kidding themselves is you, Skye."

Tango walked in between the pair and held his hands up. "That's enough, Ren. Skye and Sierra aren't to blame. Echo and I abandoned them."

Skye stared at his teammate, dumbfounded. The confession took him completely by surprise.

"We left to find the Tianzu," Tango continued. "And we did find them, but we didn't stand a chance against them. We're lucky to be alive."

Ren rolled her eyes and buried her head in her hands. "You're only just realising that now?" she groaned. "I've been telling you that for months!"

"I know," he agreed. "I know. And I'm sorry. It's just that ..." he paused and read Echo's face, knowing that he was thinking the same thing. "Since Foxtrot was killed, I just ..." Tears welled in his eyes as the admission came out. "I don't know what I'm doing."

Ren frowned and stood with her hands on her hips, curious to see where his speech was going.

Tango was unable to hold on to his emotions any longer. He lowered himself to his knees and sobbed loudly. "I'm so sorry," he cried. "Foxtrot was our brother ... and now he's gone. We let our brother down."

Echo came to his aid and knelt beside him. Skye and Ren exchanged shocked glances. Since Foxtrot's death, none of them had ever once opened up about their true feelings. They simply moved on to the mission of trying to locate Archie, and never allowed themselves time to grieve.

"It's okay," Skye said. "I'm sorry too." He lowered his hand and helped Tango to his feet.

Ren looked into Tango's tearful eyes and saw the pain that he felt. It was pain that she felt too, but she had decided months ago to accept that she couldn't bring their comrade back. All she could do was stop Archibald to ensure Athenia's safety.