Morrigan peered outside the window of the dropship as it descended upon the dwarf planet Calimesa, huffing in disappointment as the surface of the world was barren and etched with nothing but ravines of varying degrees.

  “Why would anyone build an outpost out here?” Morrigan asked aloud.

  Henry shrugged as he looked out of the other side of the ship, “Probably a forward outpost of some kind, someone to send a warning of invading forces- then again, we could find nothing more than some creepy old dude in a shack with a closet of severed heads, could go either way.”

  Everyone in Havoc Squad turned to Henry as Morrigan sniggered at his comment, finding the humor refreshing as she tried to identify any sign of life across the desolate planet.

  “I knew a guy like that,” Sigurd stated casually as Morrigan could hear his heavy footsteps approaching from behind, Sigurd peering over her shoulder to see if there was anything interesting to look at.

  “Really?” Henry asked curiously.

  Sigurd didn't look away from the window as he towered over Morrigan, “Aye, the old lad had em everywhere, closet, cupboard even had one sittin’ on his table… though now that I think of it, they were all young lassies.”

  Everyone gave the Berserker look of horror he did not manage to see, “That’s fucked up,” Taylor interjected though, gaining his attention.

  Sigurd shrugged before moving away from Morrigan cautiously as he noticed the dark look out of the corner of her eye, “He was a decent bloke an’ who am I to judge? Anyways, it doesn't matter cos’ I pulled his intestines out with me bare hands. Poor fool had piss for ale.”

  “Yeah anyways, this is just over the edge into Federation territory; it would make sense for there to be a forward outpost but it’s pretty far from, well, everything. The closest habitable planet isn’t even in this system,” Ebony interjected as she considered the fact surrounding the mission all the while ignoring the Berserker entirely.

  Sister, the hyper advanced A.I., confirmed that the signal being broadcast was from the Eskarii, which made it even weirder for the Eskarii to be so far outside of their system in a non-covert fashion, but then again, Ebony considered the possibility of the Eskarii pushing forward to fill the gap left by the demolished CoU.

  “Well, the Federation does like to stake claim to every bit of space they can but something does seem odd about this, we’re going to have to be cautious here,” Morrigan concurred, considering her and Taylor’s recent conversation on top of her own paranoia surrounding the details of the mission.

  Aside from the uncertainty of the location, the distress signal the Archangel had received was far too general giving no details as to why the Eskarii would be in distress. On top of that, aside from a singular compound that was nestled somewhere within one of the canyons, there was no sign of any sort of life Sister could pick up with the ship’s long-range scanners. The final thing that put Morrigan on edge was the lack of response when she tried hailing the surface, only receiving static back along with the distress signal.

  Everyone aboard the bridge found the situation rather suspicious however, Morrigan wouldn't risk the chance that Eskarii needed help. At the same time, she also wouldn't risk a contingent of Inquisition soldiers either, opting to go herself as well as bringing Havoc Squad along given their experience with strange and unusual, potentially dangerous situations.

  “Ma’am, the source of the signal is within sight,” the pilot stated over the comm.

  “Everyone, get prepared,” Morrigan commanded as she moved across the hold and opened the cockpit door to see what the pilot had found.

  The pilot pointed forward towards the top of a group of antennas that slowly flashed lights as the rest if the signal towers ran beneath a ravine. Morrigan watched carefully as the pilot brought them closer to reveal a moderately sized compound built into the side if the ravine, which spread in three directions and hidden beneath nearly enclosed cliff sides; The dimensions in which the ravine was cut told her that however long ago, someone had dug out this section of the planet specifically for the purpose of installing the signal antenna.

  Another thought occurred to her as they passed over head seeing no sign of movement or vehicles for that matter.

  “This makes no sense… aside from us being able to pick up the signal when we got close to the planet, this signal station is damn near useless…” she stated as if fact.

  The pilot looked back at her before looking out his left window, “Well, if you want to investigate, we’re going to need to land; there is no chance my bird will fit in that ravine comfortably.”

  Morrigan wanted to kick herself. Between deploying with a 11-man team, she also erred on the side of caution and requested a heavily armed transport just in case it turned out to be a trap. Though she did not worry about the enemy for herself, but when it came to her team she wanted as much firepower backing them as possible, just in case.

  Morrigan scoffed, “Fine, just find somewhere close but stay near by.”

  “Copy that ma’am, though fire support like you requested will be rather tricky… but I’ll make it work,” the pilot commented before she stepped back into the hold once again.

  Morrigan kicked the toe of her boot against the metal flooring of the ship in agitation as she surveyed her team's preparations. Moments of awaiting combat made her miss Skoll, feeling bad that he had to stay behind on the Archangel due to the limited space within the armored dropship.

  “So, ironic as it is, we may be walking into a trap,” Morrigan sighed.

  Everyone stopped preparing and turned to her, Nora coming up with the first question, “What did you see, love?”

  Morrigan shook her head as she crossed her arms, peering out the window to watch the pilot search for a good landing zone, “Nothing. That's the problem; there are no vehicles, people, only a compound and giant antenna…”

  Everyone in Havoc Squad looked at one another in silent agreement that it was a trap. “Maybe the Eskarii are inside?” Nora asked to the contrary.

  “Aye lass, an I’m the Easter Bunny,” Sigurd snickered as Morrigan watched Stephanie roll her eyes at her own sister.

  Nora too saw Stephanie’s reaction and shrank beside herself, feeling foolish for attempting to justify Morrigan’s hope in saving Eskarii by offering an optimistic view.

  Morrigan bit her tongue, refusing to say anything that would upset Nora via reaming out her sister. “Maybe they are,” Morrigan said sweetly instead, though she did not believe it herself. Morrigan appreciated the effort Nora put in by voicing the unpopular opinion and refused to let her feel bad about it.

  “I’ve seen crazier things, but, won’t find out jus’ standin’ here like a bunch of wankers,” Sigurd shrugged as he hooked up the skull plate face mask he wore into battle, a visor designed to target the enemy for the Berserkers. His words further justified Nora as she looked up bashfully with a smile, silently thanking the two as everyone resumed getting ready.

  “There is truth to that, we’re going to step right into the firing line in order to find out what’s really going on here,” Ebony added to Morrigan’s surprise. Ebony nodded to both women in affirmation though Morrigan could see she too didn’t believe the odds which left only a singular question in the air; who would they find?

  The pilot managed to find a decent landing zone to unload Morrigan and her crew, finding the shortest ravine albeit the steepest, before lifting off to hover over the prospective conflict zone. Aleksei, Taylor and Xol all took point with their shields to create a barrier between them and the rest of the group as well as feeling out the path ahead of them.

  The path was uncomfortably tight as the rocky path carved down at a 40-degree angle, leaving very little room for maneuverability. Most of the team was forced to watch their footing as Henry and Morrigan both kept a look out.

  “Thanks for bringing me along,” Nora stated randomly, which confused Morrigan.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Nora shrugged as she looked up to see the revealed compound before them that was buried within the convergence point of all three ravines, “Honestly, it’s been a while since we got to fight together. Kinda reminds me of Castile, or when we first joined the Inquisition.”

  There was a hint of nostalgia in Nora’s voice that she couldn't quite figure out. In fact, Nora’s behavior and commentary had been weirder than usual recently the more Morrigan thought of it.

  “Babe? Is everything alright?” Morrigan finally asked having no other time recently to bring up the recent changes of behavior.

  Morrigan slowed down slightly as she touched Nora’s arm, slowing Nora as everyone moved ahead.

  “Yeah, everything is fine precious, I'm just excited for a good fight,” Nora said with a bright smile as she coalesced twin ice blades in her hands though Morrigan could tell it a lie, a partial lie at least. The bright smile as only a cover for the sadness in Nora’s eyes.

  You’re not wrong, little goddess. There’s a disgusting amount of sadness in that one, Apollyon interjected as if sickened by what ever sense the deity sensed.

  Speaking of, there is a heavy level of malice up ahead, it looks like we have company, Apollyon added with a hint of dark expectation in its typical switch in gears.

  Morrigan's head snapped up at the warning to see how close everyone was to the base of the intersection as it turned out to be a larger space than she imagined before shouting for everyone to hold their positions.

  Hesitantly, everyone obeyed as Morrigan pushed her way to the front of the group to scan the space in front of them however, besides the compound, all she could see were scattered rocks, boulders and a miniscule amount of small desert vegetation that sprouted up randomly around the compound in the direct sunlight.

  There are plenty of dark corners that were overshadowed by the overhanging cliffs, allowing just enough light to reveal 70 percent of the area not that it mattered to Morrigan, but what she didn't see though was any sign of life.

  She could hear how nervous her sudden order made her team, hearing them shuffle their feet and ready their weapons as they waited for her signal.

  “Something isn’t right here…” Morrigan muttered to herself only to see a tiny flash out of the corner of her eye.

  Instinctively, Morrigan raised a shield that covered her entire team as her crimson energy disintegrated a bullet aimed for her. Not even allowing a moment to process, an unholy torrent of gunfire slammed into her shield as by the handful, human marines clad in black became visible before their very eyes as the active camouflage surrounding each marine switched off.

  “Shit! It’s Spec Ops!” Taylor exclaimed as he readied his machine gun against his shield and attempted to return fire, only to realize very quickly that his bullets could not pass through the shield either.

  Everyone in Havoc Squad attempted to fire their weapons only to realize the same thing as they stared at the growling Morrigan who raised her hands in defiance against the relentless onslaught.

  Black clad Federation marines, the same kind that pried her away from her family and attempted to deliver her into the hands of Lt. Colonel Amaranthe, now attempted what was an easy interpretation of an assassination plot.

  She knew deep down that her plan wouldn’t have lasted forever but she couldn’t deny her surprise that a trap had been sprung so soon and yet, part of her felt anxious at the thought of Amaranthe being nearby as he was one to hide behind the special infantry, but on the other hand, the sight of the same marines that were there the moment her life got turned upside down made her anger continue to soar.

  “Mori, we need to do something about this!” Taylor shouted from behind as she struggled with the barrier.

  Despite her energy’s trait of destroying anything that touched it, the pressure of hundreds if not thousands of bullets slamming against her shield made it hard for her to concentrate as she strove to protect her friends.

  Morrigan let out a long low hiss realizing they were trapped before a wave of short-range rockets fell from the sky, though a majority of then never met their targets as they smashed into cliffs above. However, the spent payload did manage to trip up the enemy enough. “Find spread out and find cover!” Morrigan roared as she dropped her barrier. She watched as the Spec Op marines shuffle and move after a small handful had fallen to the barrage from her dropship but was forced to throw up another barrier as she watched as an external garage door on the compound raise up and a large, 20-foot-tall War walker came out stepping out into the open spitting a torrent of cannon fire from the twin linked auto cannons that replaced its right arm.

  Luckily, Aleksei and Taylor managed to slip out from the radius of the barrier and dove for cover as the war machine came out into the open however, everyone else was trapped within as 30mm cannon rounds battered the shield painfully, the pilot’s sole focus being the glowing crimson dome that shielded Morrigan and her team.

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  There was little reprieve as the marines recovered and resumed their onslaught while Aleksei and Taylor hid behind two massive boulders, not risking a counterattack with just the two of them.

  “Thunderbird two, target the War walker!” Morrigan commanded into her comm as she fell to her knee under the crushing weight of fire power.

  The pilot of her dropship confirmed the target before another payload of rockets fell from the sky only to miss completely and slam into the compound behind the war engine. The radio tower groaned as one of the rockets had damaged one of the supporting legs before creaking loudly as it began to fall. However, to Morrigan’s disappointment, the tower fell in the opposite direction and her hopes of the walker being crushed faded.

  As the tower collapsed, brushing the cliffs and guiding itself into a connecting ravine, the War walker continued to try to break through her barrier as it took two massive steps closer, shaking the ground with each step as Morrigan pushed herself to stand against the tide of gun fire.

  She knew she could take out the enemy if she could split her focus enough to summon even a single claw however, all of her focus had to be on the barrier otherwise she and her team would instantly be ripped to shreds.

  “Lass, ye need ta juice me!” Sigurd shouted over the gun fire as he dropped the massive case attached to his back on the ground.

  Morrigan risked a split second look to see Sigurd opening the case that carried the massive power sword she had once fought against before calling back, “Are you fucking insane? You heard Tamina! You can’t!”

  “Me body is feckin’ bullet proof an ye can’t keep this up! Just let me do me job ya stubborn cow!” Sigurd bit out loudly.

  Morrigan growled loudly, knowing full well the extent of Sigurd’ capabilities while hopped up on combat stims however, that couldn’t wash away the fear of what Dr. Tamina told them both; if Sigurd continued to use combat chems he would die, giving no indication on how many uses his body could endure before they destroyed his body.

  “I can’t… I won't lose you Sigurd,” Morrigan forced out as she winced against the force of a heavy impact, the war walker having reached the barrier and slammed its only fist against the protective dome before laying another burst of automatic cannon fire into the barrier.

  “Don’t be daft lass, ye know I can handle me own with the likes of this big bastard! Ye have to trust me an let someone defend ya for a change, ” Sigurd said with strain as he got the massive blade up right to bury into the ground, his cybernetic strength an even match for the weight of the technologically advanced blade.

  Morrigan couldn't keep from whining her displeasure as everyone watched her struggle to keep the shield up, waiting at the ready for her concentration to break any moment as she debated the certainty behind the Berserker’s argument.

  However, Morrigan knew her limit was near and could not find an argument against Sigurd’s argument. If it weren’t for the 20-foot war machine she would be able to hold her own without needing to take such a risk with Sigurd’s life. As much as she hated it, she needed him to be who he was to give them the chance to reposition and retaliate.

  “Nora!” Morrigan called out loud enough for everyone to hear. Sliding up to her, Nora gave her a worried look as she waited for Morrigan to finish fighting herself in her own head. With a final grunt of frustration, Morrigan looked at the icy blue eyed angel, “Do it.”

  Nora didn’t say anything as she looked down at the controller on Morrigan’s hip, gently and cautiously taking the device off her belt and held it tightly. Nora did not want to push the button either; she actually liked Sigurd and his crazy ramblings, and didn’t want to risk Sigurd dying any more than Morrigan did. However, Morrigan couldn't do it, not with holding the barrier or perhaps, because she actually couldn’t bring herself to do it herself.

  Nora then made the decision that she would take the burden upon herself for Morrigan’s sake, the one person that held the galaxy on her shoulders, she would ease the weight by taking the risk.

  Nora looked over at Sigurd who grinned ear to ear, her face holding a solemn expression, “You better not die you damned dog, you're ours,” she said heavily as she thumbed the finger printed release mechanism that unlocked the switch. Morrigan had stored Nora’s thumb print just in case of emergencies though neither woman ever wished to use the device that kept Sigurd from using combat stims.

  Sigurd’s face fell for a moment before he gave her a genuine smile, “Aye, no worries lass, we’ll be back drinkin’ that wine with the ol’ wind bag soon enough.”

  The moment she pushed the button, there was a long hiss of chemical induction before Sigurd’s face plate dropped over his face and six small canisters ejected out of his back, empty of the chemicals they held.

  Sigurd hunched forward as Nora, as well as the remainder of the team within the barrier, watched Sigurd hunch over. His synthetic and real muscles all tightened and swelled to a point of looking painful as the exposed veins of his flesh bulged unnaturally before a faint chuckle came from the Berserker. What followed next was the familiar, hysterical and maddened laughter that only Morrigan and Xol knew as Sigurd stretched out, flexing his body. Grabbing the blade, Sigurd swung it and held it as if it weighed a fraction of what it truly weighed and charged the War walker on the other side of the barrier.

  Morrigan watched Sigurd sprint forward in hysterical laughter as he closed the 25-foot gap and take a wide swing. The moment his blade would have connected, Morrigan dropped the shield and dove, dragging Nora with her as a torrent of cannon shells impacted where her feet used to be.

  Xol rushed forward and slide in front of Morrigan, holding his shield above himself to protect both women from incoming small arms fire as Havoc squad scattered. All the while Sigurd’s massive sword cut through the leg of the War walker, toppling it before ramming the entire length of the blade through the cabin where the pilot sat. The mad laughter of the first confirmed kill resonated throughout the hollow ravine junction loud enough to be heard over the staggered gunfire as some of the marines froze in awe over the immediate destruction of their War walker.

  As Sigurd stepped around the fallen machine, Havoc squad and H?’tet opened fire against the 38 Spec Ops forcing them to take cover as the first bullet pinged off Sigurd’s mask. That only served to gain the mad man’s attention as he let out a deep chuckle that turned into the mad laughter, sprinting forward and cleaving the first marine within his reach in half, having stood far to close to the war machine.

  One by one Sigurd hunted down the nearest marine, picking targets at random as gore painted the ground as bullets continued to ping or ricochet off his cybernetic body and pierce what little human flesh remained though he felt no pain.

  Grenades flew across the slowly growing expanse as both sides exchanged gunfire, the enemy slowly target focusing on the psychotic cybernetic that trimmed their numbers down to a mere 22, all the while Nora nor Xol refused to let Morrigan stand seeing as she was the target of the trap.

  “Let me go, damn it!” she complained as she refused to use her power to throw Xol off or push Nora away.

  A thunder crack that echoed throughout the combat zone made Morrigan cease her struggle before Henry called out, “Shit! We got a sniper!”

  Instead of attempting to stand, Morrigan grabbed the small boulder that barely covered her torso and shattered it with her power so she could see however, what she saw sent a shockwave of panic down her spine.

  Havoc squad were clustered together behind two separate boulders while Taylor and Aleksei crouched behind their shields on open ground, H?’tet bravely standing just down the remainder of the slope without any cover as he used one of the newer submachine guns Yekku had built obviously refusing to move far from Morrigan. The most worrying sight though was Sigurd, who simply stood there in the middle of the area looking down. When Morrigan focused on him, she could see the gaping hole that blew out near the center of his back.

  Next thing she saw was Sigurd’s leg disconnect from his body just below the knee as another thunder crack echoed around them followed by a sharp pop from Henry’s rifle above Morrigan’s position.

  “Sniper down, but the Berserker’s down!” he called out to everyone though the only person who didn’t hear was Morrigan.

  Morrigan watched everything happen in slow motion as Sigurd’s missing leg forced him to topple over landing on his back before his massive blade crashed down on him.

  She screeched his name, her voice echoing above the gunfire, as her instincts forced both Nora and Xol off of her, violently throwing them in opposite directions down the slope, or up it, in Nora’s case.

  A blur of red streaked across the new no man’s land between the Federation and Morrigan’s team as a crimson winged Morrigan appeared before the fallen Berserker as a dense dome of energy appeared around them.

  Morrigan dropped to her knees as she panicked over the condition Sigurd was in, his leg missing and a massive hole near where his heart was as his blood pooled around him. “No, no, no, no,” she panicked as she grabbed the handle of the massive blade and shoved it off of him, her power compensating for the immensity of the weapon.

  “Hey lass,” Sigurd rasped as his face mask hissed before automatically rising to reveal his blood stain mouth.

  “Fuck, I'm going to get you out of here just hold still,” Morrigan demanded as she grabbed for his arm only for Sigurd to weakly raise his hand to stop her.

  “There’s no need, lass. It’s fine,” Sigurd said as blood trickled down the side of his mouth.

  Morrigan didn't notice that the Federation turned their guns on her once again, she did not even realize her energy barrier protecting them as Sigurd’s words quickly sank in.

  Mori… keep calm, the faint voice of Apollyon warned from within her mind as she felt the warm sensation of blood blur her vision.

  “No… no, I can’t lose you, you stupid bastard, you’re supposed to be bulletproof!” Morrigan croaked out as the reality of Sigurd’s condition set in.

  “Aye, didn’t expect anti-material rifles though, they really had it out for ye,” Sigurd mused giving her a lopsided grin.

  Morrigan grabbed for his arm again as she shook her head sniffling, “No. We’re getting you home so Tamina can fix you up…” Morrigan struggled to pull Sigurd up, her strength failing her as the density of the barrier slowly began to condense.

  “I’m already dead, lass! It’s okay,” Sigurd forcibly exclaimed which caused Morrigan to drop his limp arm beside him as she looked down at him with tear filled eyes, the thin trails of blood falling down her cheeks as he gave her a soft, brave smile.

  “Half me heart is gone and I’m bleedin’ at both ends, only the juice is keeping me alive for a spell,” Sigurd added to try and force Morrigan to accept his reality.

  Morrigan couldn’t keep from trembling as she placed her hands on his torso, feeling what remained alive in his body faintly pulsate. A sob escaped her as she slumped down, unable to escape reality as she looked at her dying friend, her best friend.

  “Oi, what's with the creepy water works… ya shouldn't cry over me lass…” Sigurd began but Morrigan's sob filled plead cut him off.

  “I need you, you idiot,” she cried out in pained frustration as she beat her fists against his synthetic torso. “You can’t leave me…”

  Sigurd chuckled weakly as he placed his metallic hand over her fist, “Ye don’t need me Mori. Yer more of a badass than I ever was, besides, ye have this whole leading thin’ down pat. You’ll be fine, plus I get to die as I lived, havin’ a bit o’ fun.” He gave her his famous shit eating grin of blood-stained teeth which, despite the distress she felt, still made her laugh slightly.

  “Don't make me laugh you asshole… but never stop making me laugh… please… don’t let them take you from me,” Morrigan said desperately as her sobs got heavier. She didn’t notice Apollyon’s voice anymore, nor could she hear her team calling out to her as the dome of energy coalesced into dense wall of crimson that hid the two of them. There was no noise, no voices or gun fire as her entire focus was on wishing the coming moment would never pass.

  “Give the lad a scratch fer me, will ya? An’ tell yer lass I’m sorry, guess I really am an asshole, aye?” Sigurd said softly, his breathing far more ragged than before as he looked at Morrigan, “You were always better than me…”

  “No… no, please no…Sigurd!” Morrigan forced out as his head fell limp to the side, the gently pulsation she felt ceasing as the chemicals in his body finally burned out.

  Morrigan’s vision blurred as crimson tears fell freely, her sob slight as she lay her head on Sigurd’s chest as she lost herself to anguish.

  Apollyon, having spent the entire time shouting at her, trying to warn her finally sighed, See you on the other side, kid.

  Ebony froze as she saw the barrier around Morrigan and Sigurd blur into a solid crimson color, the Spec Ops marines continuously unload into it with no avail, before her blood ran cold by the echoing, omnipresent sobbing that surrounded them suddenly. Watching the dome, Ebony could see faint wisps of energy begin to swirl around the barrier and arcs of crimson lightning stretch across the entire area.

  “Oh, fuck! We need to get out of here! Havoc Squad, retreat immediately!” Ebony called out before turning towards the slope they came from.

  “Thunderbird two, we need immediate evac now!” she followed up on the comms as she began sprinting up the slope.

  Jackson, Aleksei and Henry all followed her order however, Taylor, Stephanie and the rest of Morrigan’s retinue looked back at the fleeing members of Havoc Squad before looking back to the barrier.

  “What about Mori?! We can’t just leave her!” Taylor called back.

  Taylor watched Ebony turn around touching her comm, “Did you forget Mars? We’re about to have a fucking repeat!” Ebony shouted over the comms in sheer panic.

  To punctuate her claim, the sobs turned into cries of pure agony as the sound of Morrigan’s crying became louder and the barrier grew more violent.

  Stephanie’s eyes widened as Taylor turned to her. “We need to leave,” she signed before grabbing ahold of his arm and dragging Taylor to his feet. Against every feeling Taylor had about abandoning Morrigan, he could see the coming threat and chose to flee beside Stephanie. Taylor could see the two Marmuro’k standing next to a stun locked Nora who just stood their staring at the barrier, mouth agape as she tried to process what had happened.

  “Nora! Move your ass, we need to get to the ship! Mori’s about to go nuclear!” Taylor shouted as they passed, not stopping.

  Xol took one look at the dome of crimson energy that grew more and more violent before nodding his concurrence, grabbing Nora and hoisting her over his shoulder before barking an order at H?’tet to retreat.

  The moment Nora was moved, she snapped out of her stupor as panic raced through her, as she saw everyone retreating and leaving Morrigan behind. “Stop! Let me go, we can’t leave her! Mori!” Nora screamed as she flailed.

  Nora tried to escape Xol’s grasp and rush to Morrigan as her wails of despair grew ever louder, each one breaking Nora’s heart more and more as panic evolved into desperation.

  Coalescing an ice knife, Nora stabbed into Xol’ meaty shoulder causing him to roar in pain however, her plan did not work as Xol flipped her and slammed her into the ground knocking the wind out of her as pain resonated across her back and the back of her skull.

  To say Xol was pissed was an understatement and if it weren’t for Morrigan’s bond to the annoying blonde, he would have left her there. Instead, Xol wrapped his hand around her throat and dragged her along unwillingly as everyone made a break for the surface.

  Nora kicked and thrashed against Xol’s grip however, the crushing power of his fingers made it extremely difficult to focus before she was unceremoniously thrown into the hold of the awaiting dropship.

  As soon as the door closed the pilot took off like a rocket as Nora forced herself to painfully breath, everyone staring at her as she struggled to stand, “I’m going back!” Nora croaked through a bruised throat.

  Xol however, crossed his arms defiantly as he bared his teeth. Everyone else sat back and stayed out of the dispute between the Marmuro’k and Stephanie’s sister.

  “We’re not leaving her, now move or I’ll make you move,” she growled as two new blades of ice formed in her hands, fully ready to get through anyone she needed to, to get to Morrigan.

  Xol, to everyone’s surprise, attempted to console Nora, “We will go back. Chieftain Clarke must rage, first.”

  “No, I’m getting Mori, get out of my way you stupid lizard!” Nora screeched as she stepped forward to throw her blades only for something solid to smash into the back of her head.

  Nora collapsed on the floor as Stephanie held the guard to her chain blade balanced above where Nora’s head once was before holstering the weapon, giving everyone a shrug.

  Xol gave the older sibling a nod of approval before he turned to H?’tet, “Must not anger chieftain,” he stated before nodding towards Nora’s limp body. H?’tet nodded in agreement, setting his weapon down and moving to pick Nora up, gently caressing the blonde woman in his arms like a child as the dropship reached higher altitudes.

  Morrigan could not bear the pain. She knew loss with the loss of her father, but even then, that moment in her life couldn’t hold a candle to the pain she felt now. Her best friend, the psychotic yet homely Irishman that did his damnedest to make her smile, lay dead beneath her. He fully accepted his fate for what he was; a technological marvel made into a killing tool just to become one of the very few people she could truly trust. The man died doing what he loved, in a fashion he could be proud of and Morrigan knew she should find solace in that, that she should be proud of Sigurd for being genuine to the core and leaving existence the way he saw fit.

  That couldn’t erase the hole in her heart though, the gap in her life he now left and the intense pain she could not describe as the world around her turned red.

  Sigurd was a brother to Morrigan, the only sibling she could possibly come to know and now, the Federation took something else from her again… and it was her fault.

  That fault, the reality of her actions, wanted nothing more than to rip her apart as she cried over his body, her wails echoing around her a thousand-fold as the guilt and anguish seeded themselves within her core. Morrigan forced herself to look up in a silent, uncontrollable sob, a desperate plea; a plea for the cosmos to return to her that which she destroyed once again, before the pain of reality became far too great and her howl of anguish reached across the planet before her world went black.