Chapter 7: Leviathan

The walk towards the awaiting transport was completed in dreadful silence. Kate was completely resigned to what must come to pass. Kevin would go into space, he would fight. He would do what he was trained to do, he would lead others into battle, he would protect the Earth from her enemies.

What the hell am I going to do…? I can shout and scream all I want but how the hell am I going to get into space… if the admiral catches wind of my plans he will have me sent back to Earth bound and gagged in no time. The princess, it seemed, had already thought of this, she had planned everything in advance.

Awaiting the somber party in the small private hangar were two identical military transports. Kevin recognized them as V3-Albatross, the standard 'light' troop carriers of the Treize Faction military. Depending on the situation, these transports could carry varying amounts of personnel but they usually carried at least a dozen fully armed soldiers. Slowly, secretly, so the rest of the world wouldn't notice, Treize was beefing up his forces with technology reverse engineered from the grand admiral's fleet. These aircraft utilized repulsor technology and advanced engines that permitted them to achieve atmospheric flight and transition into limited space-flight. One of these craft would take Kate to safety, the other would bring him into space.

It was clear which craft was meant for him. His transport had a dozen Treize Faction Navy personnel lined up next to it, standing at attention in the presence of two lavishly decorated officers. The second craft seemed to only have a crew of five tense soldiers, who were eyeing Kevin and Kate expectantly. These men were here to retrieve them from Treize, they had to be some of the grand admiral's personal soldiers, they looked like killers. Kate stopped and looked at the two craft in a moment of confusion, but as she spun around to face him it was obvious from her grave expression that she knew all too well what was about to happen.

"You're leaving now… aren't you?" Her shoulders were stiff, her hazel eyes looked at him as if he was already lost, already a casualty of the battle that was to come.

"It would… seem so…" He turned to the princess, seeking confirmation, he received a slight nod. As he turned to face Kate once more he felt as if all the light in the universe had been snuffed out. The love of his life wore a brave face but it was obvious that her world was crumbling. Despite the inner turmoil that plagued her, she turned towards the princess and her companions and managed a few soft words.

"A moment alone, please…" Immediately Princess Charlotte snapped her fingers and she and her two companions swiftly made their way towards the still awaiting Treize Faction personnel, causing them to stand even straighter.

One of the grim-faced men that had been sent to retrieve them began to make his way over towards them, but he stopped in his tracks when one of his companions called him back. The man sheepishly retreated back towards his comrades, suddenly keenly aware what he had almost interrupted. Kevin and Kate now stood alone, and he felt as if all eyes were on them even though it certainly seemed as if everyone was doing their best to find interest in anything but them. Not really knowing how to break the painful silence that existed between them, he cowardly avoided the issue at hand. Keenly aware of Kate's pained expression, he slowly moved closer to her and spoke in a hushed voice.

"I wasn't aware that you were such good friends with the princess… honestly I wasn't even aware that we had a princess… or even a Grand Duke of Luxembourg…" Of course, he had known, and Kate knew that he knew, but he was stumbling over his words and trying to mask his uneasiness with self-depreciating humor. His efforts were awarded and a thin, yet pained, smile crept onto Kate's face.

"They… kept you sedated so that you… wouldn't cause them trouble… she broke me out of the room that they locked me away in. Treize… he protested of course… but she ignored him and did her best to make me feel welcomed… even though I was still a prisoner. She was so nice, she gave me clothes, refused to leave me whenever Treize came to talk, she even… prayed with me and gave me strength when I needed it most." Kate's right hand unconsciously crept towards her neckline and touched her golden cross as she spoke, as if feeding off of its strength. He could tell that she was struggling to maintain her composure, but it seemed that talking around the issue at hand was helping so he continued.

"She seems… nice…" Kate nodded slowly in response to his careful words but as she did so something dawned on him. "She's very clever… she treated me like crap so that I would get all riled up… she wanted me to get in her face about-." He cut his words short but it was too late, Kate knew exactly where he had been going and from the knowing look on her face, it seemed that she knew all too well how he had been maneuvered by the princess.

"She wants you to fight… everyone who knows who you are wants you to fight. It doesn't matter that I don't, it doesn't matter that the admiral doesn't… it's not fair…" Her words broke off as she fought back tears and as he instinctively reached out to her she threw herself into his arms. Her arms ensnared him in a vice-grip as she buried her face into his chest. Her words were muffled, broken by sobs but her voice was strong, wavering only slightly.

"Why? Why can't you just stay with me?" Before he could even begin to work his mouth and form a response, she exhumed herself from his chest, her eyes still wet with tears but her face unusually steady for someone who was so wrought with grief. He felt as if he had imagined her crying a few seconds ago because aside from the wetness in her eyes he detected no evidence of such. "I know, I know… you've trained for this and you have… abilities… and you're… you… even if you were as plain and simple as everyone else you would still want to go… but why though? Can you at least tell me that?"

"Kate… if I don't go… and something happens to you-." She shook her head adamantly and cut him off, clearly refusing to accept his response.

"But what if something happens to you? What about me?" He was at a loss for words but she clearly didn't expect an answer. She knew what was going to happen, knew that she had little control over the situation, she knew that he would go because he felt that he had to, she knew that he felt that he had no choice. They stood together for several moments without speaking, holding each other tightly, looking into each other's eyes. Time seemingly froze for that moment and Kevin felt an eerie sensation of déjà vu. For a few moments he panicked, his mind racing, does Max have her powers back? Did time just freeze?

Luckily, the odd sensation passed and he chalked it up to mild paranoia and thankfully Kate hadn't noticed his momentary lapse into insanity. She was seemingly working up the courage to ask something but either due to his powers or because he knew her too well, he answered her question before she could ask it.

"Kate… there is something else that I never told you… but it's complicated and it would take me an eternity to explain. Trust me when I say this but you can't tell anyone about this, no one will believe you anyway but the right words to the wrong people… some of these people…" Kate nodded and her face grew deadly serious as she prepared herself for the worst, but as he spoke her expression softened and she seemingly exhaled in relief.

"Max… used to be able to rewind time." Baffled by her muted reaction, he stared at her, struggling to speak. "I mean it Kate! She used to be able to control time and for some reason I was immune to her powers so I kept my memories of everything that happened, crazy shit happened, you wouldn't believe-." Calmly, she hushed him to silence by placing a finger over his mouth, either because his voice was growing too loud or because she simply didn't care at the moment.

"I believe you… I believe you, relax, I'm just glad… that it's not more dreadful stuff about you. I'm already madly in love with a clone who has magical powers and has secretly been leading a double life for years… I don't know if I could take much more… it's okay… I'm sorry… I'm sure that this is all… hard for you too."

"Madly in love with me?" Still confounded by the almost casual way that she spoke about everything he said, he slowly and carefully eased out his words. She smiled warmly at him and the wetness that had been welling up in her eyes broke into tears.

"Of course, silly, why else would I not want you to leave… don't worry I won't talk to anyone about what you just told me… but you and I are going to have a really long talk about everything when you come back to me." She hadn't said 'if' she had said 'when'. Her words were firm and sharp, no argument was to be accepted. He would come back to her, plain and simple. However, even though he knew that he shouldn't say anything to contradict her, he found himself doing so regardless of her warnings.

"Kate… if I don't come back…" She shouted him down before he could get out another word.

"You will! This won't be like your Sabaton songs! This isn't going to be your last stand! You will come back! You've been trained remember? You have powers, I saw them! You'll beat them and you'll… you'll come back to me…" As she shouted, her words slowly lost their power and in the end her voice softened and grew quiet, scarcely above a whisper. As her words became less and less audible he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the princess was slowly approaching them, followed closely by the two Treize Faction officers. Taking a moment to inspect their uniforms it became immediately clear to him that both men were generals, and not just any generals either.

General Dubois, the leader of the Treize Faction's forces from France, was of middle age and his graying black hair was mostly tucked underneath a plain black beret. His features were stern, his simple black uniform was nonetheless lavishly covered with medals. Walking to his left, was his German counterpart, General Vollmer, a massive brute of a man. His shoulders were broad and his near perfect physical condition was easily apparent underneath his own black, equally adorned, uniform. His short white hair was oddly unkempt, making the man seem much younger in spite of his short, well-trimmed mustache. Kevin had never met either man, but he recognized them, and was appalled that he hadn't noticed them for who they were earlier. Equally appalling, these two men were technically subordinates to the likes of 'Master' Treize Kushrenada, even though he was of a technically inferior rank

Feeling Kevin tense Kate broke away from him and furiously made efforts to compose herself. Her heroic labors were wasted however, the two men hardly noticed her presence and had their eyes locked on him. Just ahead and between the two generals stood the princess, and in her hands, she held a small box that was somehow lavish and mundane all at once. Without a word, she unceremoniously opened the box. Almost forcing it into his hands, seemingly afraid that he wouldn't accept its contents, she spoke in an oddly formal tone.

"Congratulations, Commander Anderson." As her words washed over him the two generals behind her stiffened unhappily. He wordlessly accepted the box, and as he peered inside he discovered adornments matching his new rank, I think I skipped a few… Shocked and bewildered, he would have mentioned that he had never officially been given a rank since he had never officially been part of the Treize Faction, but he couldn't find his voice.

The two generals unceremoniously excused themselves without so much as a word as the princess quickly dismissed them. As the two men departed, her two female companions were at her side once more. The princess explained that General Dubois was Jade's father and General Vollmer was Hitomi's father and the odd scene began to make more sense. The two men had only been present because they had been called for. The princess, lacking any official authority in military matters, had needed them to be present and acknowledge his swearing in, so to speak. It didn't matter that they were military and he had just been assigned a naval rank, it had happened and apparently it was official. The woman gets what she wants, she had this all planned out from the start… she wanted me to fight and here I am… Commander Anderson… Commander…

Kevin's thoughts trailed off as he noticed that their luggage was being loaded onto the transport that would take Kate away to safety. The five soldiers around the transport were all looking at him uncertainly now, as if unsure of what to do. But they reacted instantly as he called out to them, his voice crisp and demanding.

"You there, who commands your unit?" The man who had tried to approach them earlier immediately blanched at his tone and folded his arms across his chest.

"I do… commander." Three of the soldiers at his back chuckled at the way the man said 'commander' but went silent when the fifth soldier among them cast her cold disapproving eyes on them.

"And you are?" The question seemed to irritate the man, but after a few moments of hesitation he responded.

"Sergeant Sebastian Cote, sir." Sergeant Cote was calm and confident and stood out from the rest of his men due to his unshaven, yet neatly trimmed, facial hair. "And before you ask, no, we don't take orders from you, we're the admiral's men, not yours. Just cause you look like him doesn't mean we have to take shit from you." Before the princess or Kate could react to the man's words Kevin quickly marched right up to the man until the two were face to face, mere inches apart. The man hadn't flinched, hadn't moved, hadn't seemed interested at all, he had just watch him come and waited for him to speak. Kevin spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"So long as you get Kate to where she needs to be safe and sound, I don't care what you do." His tone turned hard and he infused his words with as much power as he could, "but if anything happens to her, anything at all, I will hold you personally responsible." Something changed in the defiant man's eyes, for a moment he sensed the man's fear, but the feeling disappeared just as quickly as it had materialized.

"Don't you worry, we'll get your lady-friend bunkered up safe and sound. You know he's going to be mighty pissed when he finds out that you're not bunkered up with her… but hey, you outrank me so… fuck it, eh?" The man's eyes flicked towards Kate and the princess, his face sheepish for a moment. "Pardon my French, ladies. Whenever you are ready we're all set to ship out." With those words barely out of his mouth he turned around without so much as a second look at him.

Unperturbed Kevin turned back towards Kate and he felt his heart sink, they were quickly running out of time, and he had no idea how he was going to say goodbye to her. He didn't even know where he was going or what he was going to do when he got there. He needed more time, he needed more time alone with Kate. Not so long ago, even though it felt like an eternity, he had been looking forward to his impossibly long vacation with his fiancé. Now, in stark contrast to that distant dream, he had only moments when he needed an eternity. There was still so much to say, but as both of the transports began to spool up their engines words became impossible as the noise in the small hangar intensified.

She moved to him, and he moved to her and for a few moments they were one and the world was perfect again. But the feeling faded as they slowly drew apart, he felt his resolve buckle. Kate kissed him. He kissed her. They kissed each other like they were never going to see each other ever again. A myriad of emotions welled up inside of him as they drew apart but he willed them away, pushed them aside, shoved them deep within his chest. He had to be strong. A vast and numerous enemy was threatening his planet, was threatening Kate, and he was going to stop them. Commander Anderson was going to battle amongst the stars. Boarding his transport, he strapped himself in between two other crewmen. He wondered where they were headed, he had never bothered to ask.

"Holy shit! No way! Amazeballs!" The big arrowhead shaped ship had just completely annihilated the biggest enemy ship in a single shot. One second it was there, the next it was gone, but Chloe was far more excited about the pretty little purple ship. Seven of the enemy ships had maneuvered to intercept it and in a few seconds three of them had simple disappeared. The remaining four ships returned fire with an impressive volley of firepower, but the purple ship was undeterred and seemingly unharmed. In the time it took for the much larger ship to destroy a second ship, again with a single shot, the purple ship had entirely defeated its opponents and was maneuvering towards the remainder of the enemy fleet.

"Does that big ship only have one gun, what gives?" The massive arrowhead shaped ship was slowly moving towards the enemy fleet and away from the smaller triangular shaped ships, why weren't they fighting too?

"It does, just wait until the Night Hammer gets in range, girlie." Call me girlie one more time and see what happens, hell, you look younger than I am kid. Chloe felt Max shift uncomfortably at the young officers' words but she kept a firm grip on her all the same. Max's precautions were quite unnecessary though, Chloe was content to cast the fresh-faced youth a stern glare and he quickly broke eye contact. Smiling to herself she focused on the four identical ships that were not moving towards the fight and she noticed that small, barely visible green blips were quickly moving between them. Three of the ships had positioned themselves between the fourth ship and the advancing enemy fleet.

"Is something wrong with that ship, what's going on over there?" The most senior of the officers frowned at her words and input a few commands and he quickly read through the information that appeared on his side of the projection.

"The Hydra seems to have taken damage… a number of hull breaches… her engines are barely operational… her hyperdrive is down… Christ their abandoning her…" All of the previous enthusiasm that had infected the room was sucked out immediately. The mood was in such a foul state that when the Night Hammer destroyed a third enemy ship no one seemed to care. When Max's soft voice broke the silence Chloe nearly jumped.

"What are all those smaller green dots?" Blinking in surprised Chloe was immediately shocked with herself, how did I not see those before? There are hundreds of them! Leave it to Max to pay attention to every detail.

"Those are the Night Hammer's strike craft… the admiral is probably holding them back to protect the Hydra…" The most senior of the officers responded, but the words were barely out of the man's mouth when several things happened all at once. Chloe could barely keep track of all of the sudden activity. The Night Hammer opened fire with the rest of her guns, lots and lots of guns. Thousands of streaks of green energy sprang forth, causing the enemy fleet to scatter.

The enemy fleet broke off into three seemingly evenly numbered groups, they probably had that maneuver planned out, they aren't scattering at all! One third of them broke off to engage the purple ship and it immediately broke off and began to run while another group charged straight at the Night Hammer. The last group of enemy ships twisted away from the fight, and at first Chloe was confused, were they running away? But it soon became clear to the most senior of the officers. "They're going for the Hydra…"

The man's face turned grim as it became even more certain that this is exactly what the enemy intended. The third enemy fleet, once their wide maneuvers were finished, began to accelerate towards the Hydra. Unfortunately for them, he had also been right about the Night Hammer's fighter squadrons. All at once a swarm of green dots pounced on the flanks of the larger ships. There were hundreds upon hundreds of them, maybe even a thousand, but they were so small! Will they be able to stop the enemy in time, those triangular shaped ships are outnumbered like ten to one!

"Look, look!" One of the younger officers chanted, excitedly pointed towards the Night Hammer.

"I see it, calm down Jackson!" Chloe saw it too; the Night Hammer was tilting on its axis. Most of her weaponry seemed to be arrayed along its flanks and on top of the ship. The enemy preparing to attack the Hydra and her guardians now found themselves being pummeled by the larger ship. The three ships guarding the Hydra fired as well and just when Chloe thought she had a handle on what was going on she blinked in confusion as the purple ship suddenly appeared in the midst of the third enemy fleet.

Initially Ryvu had balked at the arbiter's plan, run away from these pathetic creatures? Disgraceful! He had turned to his second who seemed just as shocked and was entirely speechless. However, when the arbiter had further explained the plan, Ryvu had smiled, the arbiter was cunning.

The heretics had dispatched a third of their forces to attack them, the fools should have done that from the beginning, and Ryvu and his crew had led them far away from the ongoing battle. At the arbiter's request, they had engaged their slipspace drive, and now they were amongst the enemy battlegroup that was attacking the arbiter's lesser ships. How did the arbiter put it? 'A wolf amongst sheep'? Ryvu had had his second investigate his words for clarification.

"Leader, the Honored Arbiter praises us, the wolf is a predatory animal and sheep are… food… or… prey? The texts are not clear… but it is high praise to be called a wolf, most certainly!"

"We are wolves!" One of his crew shouted in his best attempt of the human language, which was laudable, yet still sounded terrifyingly foolish. I must take great care, that one will not speak in front of the arbiter, he will make fools of us! Encouraged, the rest of the command crew took up the call, the sound was dreadful. Yet while his crew made fools of themselves, they also made fools of the enemy that surrounded them. The enemy vessels were bulky, slow, and hideous. It was pleasing to watch them burn. No wonder the arbiter's eyes were sore… these infidels are a blight!

"Burn their mongrel hides!" Ryvu called out as yet another enemy vessel was easily blasted to oblivion. I wonder if they even have hides… these infidels. His crew took up the chant in their own language, which was a fairly standard remark his people used when referring to the despicable Jiralhanae. Those filthy creatures did have hides, the smell was quite pleasing when they burned.

"The Arbiter's plan was cunning, leader, the vessels that we led away from the battle will be out of the fight for a great deal of time." Nodding at his seconds' assessment he checked his display. The enemy craft maneuvered so poorly! It would be ages before they could rejoin the battle, the arbiter's plan had indeed been clever. Turning his attention to the force that assailed the arbiter's flagship he noted that they were being mostly ignored at the moment, very few weapons were being directed their way.

"The arbiter mocks them!" He laughed as he motioned towards the enemy ships on his display, "he turns away from them in disgust! They aren't even worth the time to kill!" Ryvu hadn't been sure of what he would think of the 'Honored Arbiter,' but he had made up his mind. He liked the creature.

"All reserve power to shields!" The lights on the bridge flickered again and again as the ship's systems desperately attempted to compensate for the immense amount of punishment that the shields were undergoing. "Captain Stillwell, status?"

"We're evacuating the last of the repair teams now, sir…" The image of Captain Stillwell flickered sporadically in front of him. Both ships were under heavy fire, the connection was abysmal at best.

"Captain, get off that damned ship, that's an order!" Barely discernable from all of the interference, the man's image saluted and turned away as the connection was cut off, don't you dare think about going down with your ship captain, don't you dare. Switching his attention to the three Star Destroyers that were covering the Hydra, Kevin grimaced. All three ships were struggling, their shields wouldn't last much longer. But what else could he do? All of his squadrons were engaged, the majority of his batteries were covering his small fleet and a third of the enemy were out of the fight for the moment. Once those ships returned, the situation would deteriorate, rapidly.

Kevin gloomily forced himself to relax, he couldn't become too distracted with the minor details, he had to focus. His enemy had shown very little evidence of being adaptable, probably because he had obliterated their command ship in the opening phases of the battle. Each of the three enemy squadrons seemed to be intent on completing their own objective. According to his displays, the enemy battlegroup that had been led away from the fight was still angling to intercept and engage the Sangheili Cruiser, even though his own ship was much closer. Even more surprising, the enemies that were assaulting his Star Destroyers were entirely ignoring the Sangheili, even though it was quickly destroying them one or two at a time. Leaderless his enemies seemed to doggedly follow their previous orders, which was certainly something he could use in the future. If we get out of this mess. He cursed himself once again for falling into the trap.

Reaching out with his senses he was first drawn to Natasi, her aura burned brightly and she was determined to defeat her enemy. Her inner thoughts were closed to him, as usual, but he could easily discern that she was worried about him, which considering their situation was quite touching. Shifting towards the rest of the bridge crew he sensed a cocktail of emotions. He found it admirable that not a single man or woman was worried about the possibility of defeat, not yet anyway. Frowning, he noticed that the shields' officer and her small staff had suddenly become quite distraught.

"Forward deflector shields are fluctuating… redirecting power from non-essential systems…" The woman's voice was barely audible from where he sat but he could sense how worried she was, their shields couldn't take much more abuse before one or two of their shield generators were overloaded and collapsed. You want us to pay attention to you, fine, now you've got our attention.

"Admiral, missile barrage authorized." Natasi's aura burned brighter, she was going to enjoy this.

Now we're talking! The Night Hammer had just shown off another trick, missiles! The explosions were delightful. Very few of the enemy ships that were attacking the Night Hammer were destroyed by the barrage, but not one escaped damage. One of the younger officers must have noticed her excitement and, obviously trying to impress her, told her that the Night Hammer had two-hundred and fifty different missile launcher batteries, two-hundred and fifty!

"That's like… eight… or nine missiles per ship, hella' awesome!" It certainly looked like that's exactly what had just happened. None of the enemy ships had been spared, each one was rocked and battered by explosions. But just when Chloe thought that things couldn't get any more awesome, Peter ruined everything.

"Eight point three missiles per ship actually, repeating of course." Max giggled at her expression, she hated being corrected, especially when she was wrong, which she wasn't. She had said 'like eight or nine'. Math is stupid anyway, nerd, explosions are way cooler, I hope we get to see more of those… but not the good guys exploding… that would suck.

"You can't launch point three of a missile at something, that's just stupid." She muttered under her breath only loud enough for Max to hear. When she was younger she wouldn't have showed such restraint, Max had been a good influence on her. Looking down at her partner she noticed that her face was full of worry and uncertainty. True, they were watching a live space battle unfold before their eyes which was crazy enough, but Max, as always, was probably trying to look at the bigger picture. She was probably racking her brain around every little detail trying to figure out what was going on. They still hadn't been told very much.

Apparently, that asshole Treize and some dude called 'The Grand Admiral' had gotten into some big argument and had almost gone to war. The argument was probably about who had the more pompous name… or some stupid shit like that. This 'Grand Admiral' dude was apparently banging the young FBI chick, Kimmy or whatever, so Treize had tried to abduct her. That made sense, grab the dude's woman and tell you to give up, classic bad-guy move. The part that didn't make sense was the fact that this Treize douchebag had tried, and almost succeeded in abducting her and Max. What the hell did he want with them? And why had he arrested Kevin and Kate, Kevin worked for Treize after all, right? But now it looked like all that shit didn't matter anymore, because the earth was in trouble and the two powerful dudes had now joined forces to defend the planet.

On top of all that, Max had once been able to control time, control fucking time! Looking down at Max and her impossibly cute freckled-face, Chloe thought back to what had happened when she had entered into her partner's damaged mind. Reliving the experience in her mind made her shiver slightly, luckily Max didn't seem to notice. They definitely needed to talk about it, about what she had seen, about everything that was going on. But not right now, right now there was a battle on and things were exploding.

Just as Chloe turned her attention back to the battle she was dismayed by what she saw, the battle was over, she had turned back just in time to see the Hydra disappear in a massive explosion and once it was apparent that the ship was no more the Night Hammer and the rest of the good guys apparently jumped away. The hologram of the battle faded to black, and Chloe was left wondering how many of the good guys had died when the Hydra had exploded. Apparently, everyone else in the room was wondering the same thing, or perhaps thinking about even more depressing shit, because the room had grown eerily quiet. Max snuggled up to her even more so than she had before and she hugged her tightly.

She and Max were safe, for now, but for how long? Had that battle been won or lost? Who were the bad guys anyway and why were they trying to invade the earth? And where the hell did all these spaceships come from? Who was this 'Grand Admiral' dude anyway… and those dudes on the purple ship that was hella' awesome, were they really aliens? These questions and so many more plagued her mind. As each new question that she couldn't answer wracked her brain, she became more and more certain of one undeniable fact.

She needed a fucking cigarette.

"Captain Stillwell, you bloody fool!" Kevin screamed as he resisted the overwhelming urge to hit something that was threatening to overtake his self-control. He had just finished a post battle debriefing with Captain Reinhardt, Captain Stillwell had gone down with his ship. Apparently, he had wanted to make sure that the Hydra's power core overloaded properly so that his ship couldn't fall into enemy hands. He had remained aboard and manually triggered the overload and now nothing remained of the damned fool, nor his ship.

"Kevin…" Natasi's tone was soft and her words reached out to him as if they themselves were trying to calm him. They were alone in her stateroom, it wasn't as lavish as his but only just barely. She was reclining on one of her two barely-comfortable leather couches. The damned things infuriated him, why would you design a couch that wasn't comfortable? He had had two just like them in his own stateroom but he had replaced them immediately for furniture that was actually pleasing to sit on. Natasi didn't mind them, she didn't want her visitors sitting and getting comfortable in her presence anyway. However, her own comfort was a completely different matter entirely. Her chair that was behind her desk was more akin to a throne and was perhaps the single most satisfying chair to relax in that had ever been created by any race of beings.

"I ordered him to stay alive, I ordered him to get off that damned ship! But instead he blows himself up like a damned fool!" Again, he had to remind himself that he wasn't in his stateroom, he really wanted to hit something right now. He was furious, his rage was building. Everything inside of him screamed at him to give in, to lash out, to give himself over to the moment, but he resisted. But to resist meant pain, constant, frustrating pain. It only made him angrier.

"He did his duty." Her words were flat and emotionless, but her tone held a hint of iciness. S,he had said her piece and desired no further argument on the subject. He did not take the hint.

"His duty…" Scoffing at her words he continued to rant despite the growing tension in her body language. "His duty was to live! What is it that drives usually rational men to acts of sheer insanity and stupidity?" Clearly meaning the question to be rhetoric, he was shocked when Natasi growled out an answer, her hostile tone sent a piercing chill down his spine.

"You do." Blinking in confusion, he felt his anger slowly bleed away. The pain remained, he felt it dig into him, biting, gnawing, burning somewhere deep inside his soul. The two stared at each other in silence as the tension slowly bled out of the room. When it became clear that he had not understood, she shook her head in exasperation. "Damn you! How can you not see it?"

"See what?" Growling back through clenched teeth he balled his hands into fists, not because he was angry with her, but because the pain was rising again.

"The way the men see you! You gave them a purpose! Most of them were just like me, Imperials fighting to preserve something that maybe we shouldn't have. You showed them a different way, a different path, a path that restored their honor once again. They love you for this, every man and woman aboard this ship, hell in our entire fleet, would follow you anywhere if you asked them to. They aren't fools, they know that this upcoming battle is damned near hopeless, but they believe in you! Captain Stillwell believed in you! His ship was lost so he made damned sure that it didn't fall into your enemies' hands… I would have done the same thing! He deserves to be honored, not cursed for a fool! Your damned lucky that you were smart enough to keep your mouth shut about it until we were alone, if the crew saw you like this…" He must have let something slip, something must have shown on his face because her angry words trailed off and her face lost its ire.

When he had been much younger and really upset about something she had always reacted out of character. Her face would soften but her eyes remained hard and cold, as a child the effect had been somewhat terrifying. This strangely kind expression didn't sit well on her face but he had soon realized what it meant, she cared about him. It had been awkward at first, he had been a vengeful boy filled with hate and sadness but she had been there for him when he had needed it most. His hands were now unclenched, the pain was gone, but it had been suddenly replaced by the emptiness of despair.

"Kiera believed in me too…" He would have said more but he suddenly found his strength wavering. He was entirely unable to speak. She was on her feet now and she embraced him but said nothing as he cried into the shoulder of her dark green uniform. Body rigid and stiff with awkwardness Natasi nonetheless did her best to comfort him, just as she had done when he had been a scared child. As his tears continued to flow he realized that not very much had changed, the fear was still there, the fear of failure. He had failed Captain Stillwell, he had failed the hundreds of pilots who had died in the battle, he was afraid of failing everyone else.

It took time, perhaps several minutes, perhaps longer, for the tears to stop. Once he had recovered from the ordeal he refused to move, refused to hint to Natasi that he wished to be released from her somewhat comforting grasp. He felt empty, overwhelmed by shame. It was easier to keep his face hidden in her shoulder than to look into her eyes. As time crawled by however he slowly realized that he couldn't remain hidden forever, he had to face her eventually. She was right, the men and women under his command looked to him for guidance. He had to pick himself up, he couldn't fail them, not like he had failed Kiera. He hadn't been there for her when Vader's men had come for her, he couldn't make the same mistake again, he had to be there for them.

Slowly he withdrew from her embrace, but he kept his eyes fixed on her black boots. Tenderly, she placed her hands on either side of his shoulders and methodically did her best to straighten out his uniform. The uniform of an Imperial Grand Admiral, he hated it and almost never wore it. But if his enemy were to see him, they would see him in in his full glory, and so would his allies. The uniform was entirely white, save for his black boots, black belt and the annoyingly frilly golden epaulettes. On his left breast were a series of blocky citations that only made sense to former Imperials. One day he would phase out the Imperial uniforms, he hated them, but the men were used to them and his small amount of resources was almost entirely focused on keeping his men armed and his ships running.

Finished with his uniform, Natasi withdrew a pace and began to gently dab a handkerchief on his face, wiping away the remnants of his tears. She tilted his head upwards but seemed entirely unconcerned that he refused to meet her gaze. He felt like a child, he should have kept himself composed and saved his tears for when he was alone, as he usually did. Something inside of him had snapped though, perhaps it was his earlier thoughts of Kiera or the death of Captain Stillwell, perhaps both.

Casting him one last appraising look, Natasi clasped her hands behind her back and patiently waited for him to snap out of his stupor. Her expression was blank, her green eyes were hard and focused once again. If someone walked in at this very moment, not that they would, but if they had nothing would have seemed amiss. Kevin finally met her eyes and desperately searched for words, the right words. Words that would express how thankful he was for her constant support over the years. None came, either his shame still muddled his mind or the correct words simply did not exist.

Natasi's attention snapped towards her intercom on her desk when it buzzed an alert.

"Admiral, it's Treize, he desires to speak with the grand admiral directly… what should I tell him?" Her response was immediate and fierce, it took the stunned crewman a few moments to recover.

"Tell him to go to hell."

"Ma'am?" Sighing heavily Kevin raised his voice and spoke before Natasi had a chance to clarify what she had just said.

"Tell Treize that I'll be with him shortly." The crewman acknowledged and quickly ended the conversation, probably all too happy to be done with his duty. Admiral Natasi Dalla was known to be the type of woman that shot the messenger, she wasn't wastefully careless with her resources but her anger was legendary. Treize had probably been informed about the results of the skirmish, watched it unfold himself, or perhaps had noticed that his forces had returned without the Hydra, either way he was right to be concerned. The fleet protecting the earth was now one Star Destroyer smaller. It was true that they had gained a Sangheili Cruiser, which was incredible, it was simply amazing how quickly they had arrived, but would they be enough?

"Treacherous slime, we should just glass him from orbit…" He smiled at her words but his slightly improved mood was lost on her, she was her old cold and brittle self again.

"I'll mention that you said 'hello'." She scoffed at this, making her way behind her desk, she moodily threw herself into her chair. "And… thanks… by the way…" His words were lame and awkward, feeling even worse when her merciless gaze fell upon him.

"For what, admiral?"

"For everything." She nodded curtly at this, her expression still hard and unrelenting but she had accepted his words and turned towards her work without a second glance. Feeling much better that he had finally said something, he turned and marched out of her stateroom and headed for his command suite on the bridge to discover what 'Master' Treize wanted. It was exactly what he had expected.

"My condolences concerning Captain Stillwell, I understand he had been with since the beginning?" That was unexpected, Treize's silver tongue was hard at work buttering him up, he kept his guard up though, but thanked him nonetheless.

"Admiral Dalla sends her regards." Treize's holographic likeness smiled at this and bowed slightly as if he had just been offered great praise.

"Indeed? I wish to congratulate her on her crew's performance during the battle, Captain Reinhardt as well, considerable damage was done to our enemy, despite the desperate situation that they found themselves in." That was indeed more like Treize, yes Kevin had lost a ship and a few hundred pilots but the enemy had lost dozens of combat ships and almost an equal number of transports. Their losses continued as many more of their ships had been grievously damaged and hundreds of their strike craft had been destroyed, hundreds more were stranded without carriers to support them.

Thousands of their soldiers were probably still floating in space awaiting rescue, except for the two dozen captives that were currently undergoing interrogation in his ship's brig. The Sangheili had expressed interest in the 'heathens' and a delegation was currently aboard 'observing' the interrogations. Once Kevin was done with Treize he would head down to see for himself how things were progressing, perhaps even lend a hand, so to speak, if the situation called for it.

"I will pass along your praise, I have duties to attend to 'Master' Treize, I however have noticed that the planetary shield generator is not fully operational yet, what's the status on that project?" The man smiled at his thinly veiled annoyance and once again ignored his taunts.

"Your engineers and mine are hard at work, they, as is custom for people of their field, are hesitant to give me a specific time when their task will be completed." That was, of course, all too true. Engineers, techs, grease monkeys, whatever you called them, always did their best to avoid informing their superiors of how long any given task would take. They had long ago learned that if they gave a specific estimation that they would be told to get the job done in half the time. If they gave a time, at all, it would most certainly be a gross overestimation of how long their task would take. That way if they were told to 'get it done faster,' their odds of success were much more favorable.

"We need that shield generator online, Treize, if there's anything that can be done to speed up their progress, I need it done." The hologram spread its hands out in a gesture of futility, but it kept smiling.

"Everything in my power will be done to assist, I assure you. Believe it or not I too do not wish to see our beautiful planet bombarded from orbit, or wish to suffer the horrors of a planetary invasion. Am I correct in my understanding that our enemies are indeed human?" How the hell did he find that out, his agents must be leaking him information now that we're not trying to kill each other anymore…

"Indeed. As usual you are well informed, your rats still squeak it seems. At least I know that these rats of yours are mostly harmless… and don't bite." Smiling ever broader, Treize refused to be baited, even though Kevin was boasting on how his men had refused to follow through with their assassination attempts.

"It was with a heavy heart that I gave that order, I am glad that my orders were ignored, as they should have been. We would certainly be lost without you in these dark times, even though you are failing to live up to your admittedly suffocating reputation." You slimy, rat-faced, sithspawn!

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Treize's composure finally broke and he became deadly serious.

"You fell for their trap, granted they foolishly baited it with their own men and they suffered for it, but you fell for it and lost a valuable military asset, and Captain Stillwell. It is very much unlike you. My faith in your ability to lead us through this dark time is unshaken, but I am concerned nonetheless." Kevin would have been furious at the man if he didn't heartily agree with him. However, their agreement didn't soften his response.

"Just get that damned shield generator online, don't contact me again until you do. Consider yourself fortunate that I didn't sink to your level during our… disagreement. If I had, you'd be dead 'Master' Treize." Before the man could respond, Kevin broke the connection and immediately noticed that he must have raised his voice higher than he had meant to, the bridge was eerily silent. When it became clear that he had ended the transmission the bridge crew hurriedly returned to their work. Silently cursing himself he swiftly left the bridge and hoped that their prisoners needed further encouragement, he really felt like hurting someone.

Commander Anderson, I think I could get used to this… However, it seemed that the rest of the occupants of the incredibly loud, ridiculously uncomfortable transport weren't as keen as he was on his promotion. Or perhaps it was something else, either way they kept staring, it was beginning to irritate him. Reaching out with his senses he found that the soldiers didn't seem to hold any ire towards him, it soon became quite clear that they were shocked that he looked just like someone else they knew. God damnit, everywhere I go people look at me like I'm a damned ghost… Luckily, he didn't have to suffer the experience for very long because the ship entered into a stomach wrenching landing cycle. He would have become overwhelmed with confusion if he had time to think, weren't they heading for space?

The craft landed, hard. The rear doors burst open and as the crewmen were ushered out by screaming crew-chiefs Kevin almost stumbled, the deck was unsteady. To his shock, he was greeted to wide open blue skies as he stepped out onto the deck of a strange air-craft carrier of some sort. Dozens of other Albatross transports were landing and taking off all over the chaotically busy deck. Even though it was obvious at what the ship's basic role and function was, Kevin was still caught off-guard. He had never seen a ship quite like this one, he had thought he was familiar with every vessel of war on earth. It was big too, impossibly big, far bigger than it needed to be, the deck went on and on. Probably another secret Treize Faction project, his thoughts were confirmed when it became apparent that he was the only one among the new arrivals to be taken aback by their surroundings.

Clutching the box that contained his new rank medallions he was waved over and directed to a friendly looking young-woman, probably no older than himself. She was dressed similarly to the rest of the crewman, except her uniformed jacket was dark green instead of a deep blue. Her jacket was also modestly decorated with golden epaulettes. Large black boots, seemingly similar to riding boots, came up nearly to her knees and her spotless white pants were tucked into them. Her short blue-black hair was being assaulted by the fierce wind that worried him immensely but she seemed to be entirely ignoring the gale. Because she wasn't dressed as gaudily as most of the officers within the Treize Faction he assumed she was of a lesser rank, he was wrong.

"Welcome to the Leviathan, Commander Anderson. I'm Captain, Lucretzia Noin." He returned her crisp and well-practiced salute and made a fool of himself as he nearly dropped his precious box. She laughed lightly as he paled in embarrassment, but there was no malice in her, her attitude was warm and friendly, genuinely so. "Relax, I'll have someone lead you to your quarters where you can slap those onto a uniform, wouldn't want them to get blown overboard, now would we?" In fact, he was more worried about ending up in the rough sea himself, it wasn't that he couldn't swim, he swam well enough. But the thought of being tossed overboard in the open ocean, surrounded by the seemingly endless depths beneath him, that bothered him.

He was forced to steady himself as the deck beneath him buckled and slowly began to descend. All around him he noticed several more of the elevators begin to descend as well, all crowded with a mixture of crewmen and heavily armored soldiers. As the massive elevator that was clearly meant for launching air-craft descended into the ship he found himself staring in awe at his surroundings. The massive hangar seemed to be an endless maw of space, but it wasn't empty.

"Is that… a spaceship?" Captain Noin nodded and her smile broadened when she saw the look on his face. The Leviathan wasn't a massive air-craft carrier, it was a spaceship. And deep within its belly, hidden in its massive hangar, were more spaceships. Not fighters either, big ships, warships. The strange thing was, even though the ships seemed completely alien to him, he recognized them.

"That's a Mantis Class Heavy Cruiser… and those two are Revenant Class Destroyers… those war games… those were all based off of real simulations?"

"Indeed, no need to bring you up to speed on how everything works that way. Did you think we'd teach you a bunch of nonsense that wouldn't matter in the end?" Kevin continued to stare and found himself speechless. All of the wargames that he had been training on, those impossibly hard and frustrating battle exercises had mostly been space battles. He knew that the grand admiral had a fleet of ships but that was about all he knew. He had figured that all of the various ships in the simulations had been made up. But now he was staring at supposed fictional starships and he began to wonder what fantastical ships made up earth's standing fleet. I hope we have an Executor-Class Super Star Destroyer, please let us have one of those… or at least one Star-Destroyer… or maybe a Mon-Cal Cruiser…

This was clearly a Treize Faction ship though, which probably meant it wasn't part of the earth's regular standing forces. The man he was cloned from, probably had no idea that this ship existed. Even worse, this was a Amarakk Carrier, he recognized it now, this ship was less of a warship and more of a mobile construction platform. Given time and the correct amount of resources it could produce warships, nothing bigger than a destroyer class ship which made the presence of the heavy cruiser all the more surprising, the damned thing barely fit inside!

"So… that's a heavy cruiser… which you guys didn't make with this… where the hell did that come from? And the resources to build all this… to maintain it…" he would have continued asking questions until the end of time but his words broke off as the elevator came to a rest at the bottom of the seemingly endless hangar. Turning back to the young, and fairly attractive captain he held his tongue when she waved a white gloved hand to end his questions.

"You'll get your answers later, I promise, I know this is probably quite a shock to you but the ensign here will show you to your quarters. I will see you on the bridge once you're in uniform." He was quickly dismissed and a young ensign, who seemed entirely too nervous around him, led him deeper into the bowels of the Leviathan, a tremendously fitting name. The ensign did not speak a single word during their journey through the maze of tight corridors but the dizzying journey through the decks eventually came to an end. He was directed into a cramped room that barely existed, he had been in changing rooms more spacious. Far less impressed by his uniform he noted that it was an entirely different style from the gaudy Treize Faction uniforms, which he had been secretly hoping for.

The uniform that had been lain out on his bed was olive, boring and simple olive. No flair, no spectacle, simply olive. The cap was olive, the pants were olive, the jacket was, no surprise, olive. The boots and the belt were black, thank God, but everything else was olive. Once dressed in the dreary uniform, which was a difficult task considering the lack of space in the room, Kevin exhaled loudly and exited the room. The ensign was patiently waiting for him and seemed to be just as unimpressed with his uniform as he was.

"Guess you're not one of us then…" The ensign grumbled but paled when he caught a flash of anger on Kevin's face. "I meant no offense, commander, sir… it's just I was hoping that…" The man stumbled over his words, clearly embarrassed. Forcing his voice to stay as calm and steady as possible Kevin tried to coax the words out of the stuttering man.

"Hoping what, exactly, ensign…?"

"Ensign Haratio, sir." The man went to attention and saluted sloppily, which was fine because as Kevin returned the gesture he assumed that his was just as horrid. "I was just hoping that they'd have given you a Treize Faction uniform, sir… not an Imperial Navy one…" Suppressing a sigh he wondered what the difference meant, this seemed to be a Treize Faction ship after all, did this mean he was part of a different chain of command?

"Yeah… me too, the Treize Faction one's are certainly much flashier… for fuck's sake Haratio, olive?" The man laughed, quickly forgetting his nervousness and together the pair made their way to the bridge, talking easily as they went.