Loyalties

Part 14: Adrian

Gritting my teeth, the ship rocks, and the alarms blare.

"Admiral, our shields are down! We're taking hull damage," Lauren says, trying to get the shields back online. "Breaches on the mid!"

"Don't bother with the shields," I say, and Lauren gives me a look of pure shock. "Colonel Patruzi, intensify deflectors!"

The cannons are barely making a dent in the enemy. Looking at my ship, there are major gashes and holes everywhere, fires raging.

"Admiral," Cindy says, holding onto the console for dear life. "The idiot is calling."

I grimace, and order, "Put him through."

I really didn't want to talk to Commander Kernack again until this mission is over.

"What is it Commander," I ask, glaring at him.

"Admiral, I'm sorry," he says. "I'm going to get out of here."

"You are STAYING!" I yell, pounding my fist on the console. "You are staying to help! It's the Emperor's orders that we fight!"

The line is cut, and I'm left staring at nothing.

"Sir! The Commander's ship is leaving," he says, shocked.

"Stupid bastard," I mutter, gritting my teeth. Then, in a flash of light, Commander Kernack's cruiser is no where to be found. All that's left is debris.

I'm in pure shock. I can't feel anything. I don't care that my ship is under attack. The lurching doesn't affect me. I don't know whether he deserved that or not. As much as I hated him, I pray his death was quick.

"No survivors, Admiral," Cindy says, sadness in her voice. Just like that, 150,000 lives, gone.

"Sir," Denis says, confused. "The enemy has stopped firing."

"We're being contacted," Cindy nervously bites her lip.

I know who it is. "Put it through," I order, waiting for the image to appear.

My guess is correct. Before me, a woman, dressed in black, her black hair tied back, and her green eyes remorseless. And to think I loved her sickens me.

"Hello Jade," I say, sharply, quick. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"No, Adrian," she says, all her love replaced by hate. "I love watching you suffer." Her formerly beautiful smile replaced by pure wickedness. "Also, tell your Emperor and my father that they do not stand a chance." Turning her back, the transmission ends.

"Get us out of here," I say, walking away to my quarters. Feeling the ship move away from Jade is a relief. I hate her for all she is. She betrayed everything and everyone, just to join a rag-tag group? Surely, her and I could've had our own fleets, fighting side by side, back to back. Till the end.

***
Sitting on my bed, I stare at the floor. I feel like shit. I could've easily ordered Denis to plow us into Jade's ship, causing disarray and destruction to the Black Sun. After that, it would've just been a hunt, and everything would be normal. But a lot of these men and women have families, who wouldn't have seen them again.

Then I thought about Kernack. His family wouldn't see him again. His wife wouldn't get a hug, and would wake up lonely. His parents would be at their own child's funeral, with no remains. But his daughter, his seven year old daughter, wouldn't see her daddy coming home. Now, I realize why he wanted to leave. He knew one of us would die. He wanted that to be him.

Beside me, a model of the Dread Armada stands strong. No dents. All perfect. I wonder what it would like now. Probably not as pretty. Huge gashes in the hull, fires everywhere, probably lost an engine.

A buzz snaps me out of my trance.

"Come in," I say, having a pretty good idea who it is. Standing at the doorway, Cindy walks in, and wraps her arms around me.

"Adrian, you're a great admiral," she says, a sparkle in her eye. "The whole bridge crew, even me, are inspired by you. If anyone else were at the helm, we'd all be dead."

I keep staring at the floor. "We're alive because Jade wants me to suffer," I say, letting out my breath and closing my eyes. "She's saving me for last."

I feel Cindy pull me in closer. "Adrian." I look up. "I love you," she says, and for a moment, I see her, way back when she first said it at the Academy.

"You have the ship until we get back," I say, putting my hand on her knee. "I just... need some time alone." With that, my girlfriend leaves.

I go back to looking at the model ship. I shouldn't be died, I thought, moving the ship in my hands. I have no family. My parents don't call me. I don't have a wife. I don't have a daughter.

I shake my head. This is what Jade wants, I slap myself. Try sleeping, maybe that will help.

***
Giant machines trample the battlefield. Mortar holes the size of Motherships litter the ground. Pulses whizz by, either falling to the ground or hitting a soldier.

"Admiral!" someone yells, I cannot recognize the voice. "Incoming!"

Looking up, I see ten shells, all coming down on my position. The sky is shadowed by a large ship, and Black Sun transports cut through. All I can do is wait for the end. I squeeze my eyes shut, prepared to feel my body turn to nothing.

A bright light makes me open my eyes. I see Jade, standing in the same room as I. But something isn't right. Jade holds a child!

"Jade, what's happening? Where's Cindy?" I ask, sounding frantic. "You... You're working for the Black Sun! You're a traitor!"

"Honey," she says, her voice calm, collective, but most of all, loving. "What are you talking about? What is this 'Black Sun' you speak of? And who's Cindy?"

Short of breath, I look around. It's a master bedroom, the walls made of gold, the white curtains closed. It all looks so familiar...

I walk over to the bed, and sit down. What the fuck, I think. This does not feel like a dream!

Jade sits down beside me, and smiles. "Adrian," she says, moving closer. "The Darian rebels have been exterminated, and my father is now living on Earth with the Emperor. He left us in charge with the duchy."

I gulp. "Besides, I would never betray my father," she continues. "All the rules, the actions taken to make the Empire safe, all make sense."

She puts her hand on mine. I can feel a familiar warmth. "I love you," she says, smiling, with that same glimmer in her eye.

Shocked, I push her away, and reach for my rail pistol, but it isn't there!

"You're the traitor!" Jade yells as the whole room goes dark, and her green eyes turn a flaring red.
***
I wake up, screaming, sweat pouring down my body, panting. I look around. I'm still in my quarters, traveling back home to tell the Emperor of the defeat.

The door opens, and Cindy runs in.

"I was just walking by when I heard you screaming," she says, pulling me into a tight hug. "You kept saying no over and over again. What happened?"

My heart still racing, I shake my head. I'm not willing to share with her anything. Not yet. She doesn't know of the past, and she never will.

"Get cleaned up, Adrian, we need you on the bridge," she says, kissing my cheek, and walks away.