Brothers in Arms

Eclipse: Not the Same

Spitting anger fills me. It might be called rage, were it less contained. Even so, my hands clench repeatedly, muscles shaking with the desire to destroy, driving me to pace and lash my tail just to keep my body occupied and not attacking.

The humans huddle together, weapons easily thrown aside, and I find myself seething as Shadow surveys them for hidden strategies. I want to fight--I want revenge! But these humans cower, their attack gone so quickly it might as well not have existed.

Shadow can tell I'm roiling with anger, but his iron-clamped emotions don't show themselves in front of our enemies. Instead, his voice is calm and clipped as he singles out the person who appears of highest rank, a scientist of some horrendous manner who was hiding behind the grunt soldiers.

"Where did you get the genetic material to create these?" My blood brother queries with a scary calmness, and the man quails, fumbling with his sweating hands. He doesn't answer, though, and Shadow takes a silent breath. "Let's try that again. Where. Did. You. Get. Those. Genetics?" Shadow's voice reverberates with icy anger now, a sharp contrast to my fiery, shaking rage.

"Samples!" The man squeaks, holding his hands closer to himself as if it will protect him. "Samples! Blood samples! Tissue, too! From your injuries!"

"My injuries?" Shadow questions, jaw tightening. I pause in my compulsory movements, even my cutting tail hovering stilly.

"Yours! Both of yours! Yours were second, after the ones from that." The man looks fearfully at me, and my knuckles crack as my fists tighten.

"'That,' eh?" I growl, words harsh like broken glass. "You think I mean nothing to you? I mean a world to you compared to how little you mean to me, you f--"

"Eclipse," Shadow warns, interjecting, and I gnash my teeth in frustration. "Why did you create these?" He interrogates, returning his attention to the human.

Filth, I finish, glaring such potent daggers at the man that I'm surprised he doesn't express physical pain. Wretch. Animal. Insect. Scum. They call me a monster, but you...!

"It was orders! I don't know why, just that the higher ups wanted as many varieties as possible!" The human says helplessly, and I feel Shadow's anger flare through the hivemind, though his outward appearance does not betray it.

"There's no hiding behind superiors when you're tried for your crimes," he replies gravelly, leaving only me aware how much he loathes the man's cowardice. "Answer the question. What were these creations for?"

"Combat," the man responds shakily, and Shadow's eyes gleam calculatively.

I figured. We can find out more later, when tech gets ahold of the files here, he thinks, including me in the thought.

It would be best if I were not around this man when that happens, I note, and he mentally mimics a sound of grim amusement.

"Looks like you've got some baggage," a familiar voice notes from the doorway, and my eyes dart up to see Andrews appear with a good portion of Spider Troupe. "We'll take it off your hands. Let's go, friends." He gives a clear gesture to the huddle of people, and I can hear in the shortness of his voice that he's about as fed up as he can be. They shuffle towards him, obviously still nervous but eager to escape Shadow and I's potential wrath.

I glare at the last stragglers as they finally leave, but my tenseness lessens somewhat once Shadow and I are alone. We stand in the silence, consciously loosening our muscles and taking a minute to breath. After some time, Shadow moves towards the doorway himself, speaking.

"Spider Troupe is taking care of the prisoners, and Andrews reports the building is clear. The other half of the unit, including Rouge, has joined Topaz as ground support. Now, units will evacuate the prisoners taken and do damage control, so there's not much left for us to do." He pauses, giving me time to absorb the information. I stare at the floor, mind turning over things I'm still unable to deal with, and he seems to understand.