November 7th, UC 0072 : 07:43
“Ok, Daddy loves you angel.” He knelt down to give Ariel a hug and kissed her goodbye. She squeezed her arms around his neck, not wanting him to leave her; she was young, but still old enough to know her daddy was off to do something dangerous. Prying her arms away, he held her hands and looked into her teary eyes. “Daddy will be back, I promise…” Xavier kissed her on the cheek and stood up, nodding to one of the wives on the ship.
The Schutzstaffel squad bid their goodbyes and began exiting the civilian transport. Before Xavier could exit the vehicle, his leg suddenly got heavier as he felt a pair of small arms wrap around them. A smile grew across his face as he looked down to see his daughter’s bright blue eyes staring up at him as she clung to his leg.
“Daddy… Take Penny with you…” She released one arm to hand her favorite teddy bear up to her father. Xavier smiled softly as he took Penny and tucked her in his black leather jacket. “I’ll keep her safe… Now you behave and I’ll see you when I get back, baby girl.” Ariel took a few steps back, trying to smile as she waved, watching her dad walk off the ship. Xavier took one last glance back, winking at his little girl, as the doors closed and the transport readied for takeoff.
X turned to the squad of black ops agents and gave out the necessary orders, assigning a few members to each of the military transports. He took point in Gihren’s personal transport, bringing two Schutzstaffel agents as back up. “Ok, let’s get moving…”
~
Everything was going as well as could be on his watch, things were quiet as they passed through his home of Side 3. Xavier stared out window on the bridge from his seat in the back; he smiled slightly as he held Penny in his hands tightly. These escort missions always made him uneasy, and he appreciated Gihren for allowing his little girl to stay with the women, but since losing Anastasia, he’s always been weary of leaving Ariel alone.
“You’ll keep me safe, right Penny?” He looked down at the worn and tattered stuffed animal, smiling at image of Ariel dragging the bear everywhere with her. Needing to focus on his job, he tucked the stuffed animal into his belt, behind his back, before resuming his position behind Gihren’s right side…
10:27
“Enemy contacts detected!” A flustered radar tech looked up at Gihren as several unidentified signatures appeared on his screen. He stood up, emphatically pointing at the screen. “Sir, a squad of unidentified attack craft has flanked us!”
Xavier’s heart dropped as his worst fears came into reality. All of a sudden he felt real sick as he stared blankly at the green blips on the radar screen. Before he could move, the military transports were rocked by an explosion…
Ariel…“Can anyone tell me which ship that was?!” Xavier ran over to the communications tech and grabbed him by the collar, picking him up out of his seat.
“No sir, the blast from whichever ship that was has released too many particles into the area, communications are down…” The frighten tech struggled to get his words out as he stared into the Schutzstaffel agent’s eyes. Realizing he was wasting time, Brennan dropped the useless technician to the ground and tried to call the agents he had aboard the other ships.
ZZZzzZzzz….All he got was static. Furious, he motioned to the two guards aboard their ship to escort Gihren to the escape pods in case things went south real fast. Sweat began to form on his brow, as he anxiously ran through every possible scenario he could. There had to be a way to find out which ship it was, or at least rescue the people on the ship.
Damnit…He looked at the screen one last time, realizing there were only a few, unorganized craft causing all this trouble, he ran to the hangar bay.
10:52
“Get in your fighters and find the ship that was hit!” He began barking orders as he pulled aside a younger pilot. “You, kid… get to the other ships; have them deploy all units… before we take any other losses.”
11:07
It didn’t take long for the fighters of the fleet to take the battle field, and even less time for the trained pilots of the Duchy to suppress the ambush. Xavier paced anxiously around the hangar of the flag ship as he waited patiently for word back that his baby girl was alright. The Schutzstaffel agent slowly began to lose hope…
~
Debris was scattered across the vast expanse of space just outside of side 3; shrapnel creating a blanket behind Gihren’s fleet. The twisted metal of the former space craft floated aimlessly, and in all the charred remains, a single silver necklace floated – the name Ariel engraved in the back of the pendant…
The civilian transport lay in ruins as a rescue teams navigated its wreckage, searching for anyone that might have made it off safely and to collect the bodies for a proper funeral. After about an hour of searching, the bodies collected were loaded in the cargo bay of one of the ships.
~
Xavier came rushing into the cargo bay wildly, looking for the rescue team. One of his men that had been stationed on the current ship approached him, placing his hand on Xavier’s shoulder. The agent’s face said it all as he held his hand out, unfolding his fist to reveal Ariel’s necklace. Xavier stared quietly for a few seconds before tears began to fall freely.
“No… not again… I can’t do this…” Brennan fell to his knees, his mind racing as he tried to grasp the situation. Ariel had been his world, his everything and like that, she was taken away from him – much like Anastasia had been. Xavier punched the cold steel floor as his body began to shake uncontrollably.
Two of his men came over and helped their squad leader to his feet. No one said a word to Xavier, not knowing where to start, as they helped escort him to a different room, away from the mess and the chaos. “Stay here sir, we will take it from here… And for what it’s worth, we’re sorry…”
Xavier just sat in his chair staring blankly at the floor, his face painted with grief as he continued to cry. In what seemed like a flash, his whole world had crumbled around him, nothing he knew would ever be the same for him. He held Penny tightly in one hand and the necklace in the other as he closed his eyes – images of his daughter and her bright smile playing in his mind….
What do I do…
Anastasia, Ariel… I’m sorry…
