He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred and One - Their Grief

Haellen Krause-Jacobi could not be prosecuted for the assassination of Law and Luck Sarvian of the Sabine. There was no proof beyond circumstantial and though the murder of two sixteen year old boys was deplorable, they were just Pirates. Aldon lost any family feeling for the woman. He made sure to sign over any assets she had earned as part of the Krause household before removing her name from the family register. Haellen thought that her brother was overreacting, what true ties did he have with those children after all? She failed to realise the seriousness of the situation until her husband and brother-in-law were prosecuted for fraud, money laundering and embezzlement. When she turned to her brother for help, she was completely snubbed! What was worse, her husband had lost her own properties and she was left with practically nothing!

Many were lauded as heroes after the short and bloody war. Medals were awarded, either to notable survivors or the families of those who had died defending the Empire. The families of those who lost men and women during the first confrontation was especially noted as without their wit and sacrifice, the loss of life in the second battle would most likely have been higher.

The Admiral of the ninth regiment was kicked out of the military in disgrace and Captain Corsair was promoted in his place.  Her regiment eventually regained much of the glory it had lost under the previous Admiral.

In a more private ceremony, the crew of the Sabine were offered a clean slate and were pardoned for any crimes committed in Empire territories. What they would do afterwards was up to them, they would be considered criminals if they continued their line of work and of course the pardon only covered the Empire. They could still be punished for crimes committed in the League or Alliance space.

The Alliance was in a shambles. Upon the death of the Queen, anyone controlled by a nanochip also experienced brain death. This was because they were effectively this way from the moment the chip invaded their bodies. Only a few, such as Guran, had experienced complete death due to rejection the moment the chip buried its way into their brain, thus escaping becoming puppets. Their government had been infiltrated on many levels and was now just a fraction of its might and the populace was nearly halved.

The League also lost three planets in the end, though this was nothing compared to the Alliance, they sought to fix their own issues before their eyes began to wander across the empty territories in Alliance space. However at the same time, no one wished to invade a graveyard. Well, almost no one.

Maerlon resigned as Captain of the Sabine, the ship held too many memories. He gave the ship to Swab as Sly insisted on following him planetside. The two men set up shop on Fengili, initially selling scrap metal to fund their new lives. Sometime later, they were joined by Jezmi.

Having resigned from the Military as the loss of her nephews had hit her hard, for they had been the centre of her world since she had found out about them that fateful day, she had returned to her ancestral home. However, she only remained there a month. Her father assumed that she had returned home to finally settle down and immediately arranged a marriage for her. She had stuck her middle finger up at her old man and fled the planet in a huff. But her intended, as stupidly besotted with her as he was, thought she was playing hard to get and chased her down. She called in a few favours and escaped to Alliance space and basically told Maerlon that she would be living on Fengili with him now, so he should make an honest woman of her.

Sly contacted Swab telling him that he, Sly, had won the bet.

Swab took to being Captain like a moon takes to orbiting a planet. He terrorised the stars with charm and became known as the Pirate Prince. He robbed the rich and had a bloody good time spending their money. He charmed his way into many beds and probably left behind a few little Princes while he was at it.

After losing the sons he never got the chance to know, Aldon became externally colder than ever. He threw himself into government business, ensuring that all who fought in the war were recognised. He was responsible for commissioning a monument on one of the world's close to the border, which listed the names of every man and woman who lost their lives so that their families had somewhere to pray. He also helped fund many families journeys there for the first anniversary following the battle.

In his spare time, he campaigned for greater recognition for 'imperfect' foetuses. He wanted parents more aware of what they would abort and suggest they recognise the children who surely had the rights of life. This did not make a great change in the vast scope of things, however there were more mothers, who gave birth to non identical twins and children with mild disabilities. When the first woman to give birth to identical twins since the death of his own, he visited her to congratulate her and gifted her cribs and soft toys. But not long after this, he nearly broke down, finally succumbing to his grief of losing Myha and her sons.

It was Meriya Ambraska of the Democrats who helped him back on his feet. He spilled everything to her and she listened with a patient ear. They became close friends, which later would change to lovers. They finally tied the knot in a shotgun wedding as Aldon had impregnated her; unexpectedly the contraception they were using failed. Upon the birth of their daughter, Louise, they both resigned from government to come together as a family. Aldon truly regretted not being able to do this with his first family and did not wish to repeat the mistake now he had this precious second chance.

Jariden successful trapped Zee, not knowing that the boy wished to be trapped. Zee had flown for a while with his adoptive father and new Captain, but he could not regain his enthusiasm for Piracy. It just wasn't the same without the twins. He disembarked on a busy planet one day after saying his goodbyes and waited for Jariden to pick him up. He had already figured out that the earring contained a trace. Now he just needed to wait until Jariden realised that he was waiting.

Upon Aldon's ancestral world, where Myha Krause was buried, two new names were added to her tombstone. As their bodies were unrecoverable, she would find herself in the company of two soft toys their foster father had bought for them when they were young.

*****

Aidan woke in the white space feeling the need to scream. Though the pain had been fleeting, it had been beyond excruciating. He never wished to die like that again!

Yang lay by the side of him, his body still in humanoid form. He was crying softly for various reasons. The pain, the shock of death, of course... but he could no longer feel his connection to his brother and he had been having fun! Yang's body slowly vanished until he was simply a sphere once more. "Master!" He wailed as he floated over to the man, lounging on his throne.

"What happened?" The Master asked and Yang informed him of all his sorrows and woes.

Aidan sighed and admitted it felt strange that his connection to Yang had been severed. He had become used to experiencing the feelings of two bodies in one mind. He glanced to the other side of himself, to notice that Warren was lying there sound asleep. He frowned, the urge to shake him awake and demand an explanation at the forefront of his mind.

"Don't," the black sphere with the white eye said as it floated above Warren's sleeping form. "That experience effected him more than you know. It was not the first time he had to blow himself up! He is slightly traumatised right now."

"Then why did he do it?" Aidan demanded, but kept his voice soft.

"We calculated that this option had 97.8% chance of succeeding," Yin advised. "Our Second best option only had a 67.2% chance. He did not wish to do this, but he did not regret it in the end. He was proud that he could protect you." Seeing as Yin had never spoken so many words in his presence, but spoke so many for Warren, he could only leave it alone.

Instead he got to his feet and lifted the boy's body into his arms. He moved to where the white bed began to rise from the white floor and placed his lover beneath the white sheets. Then he curled about the sleeping boy and fell fast asleep beside him.