Hiigaran Sorrow

[Vay]

He just stood there he his arm against the doorframe he pressed his face into it and his shoulders shook. Soon his deep chuckles resonated in the enclosed. Then he threw his head back an laughed, the laugh of a man with nothing left to lose.

"I didn't decide... I didn't choose any of this." He looked at her, swaying in spite of the arm on the wall to support him. "We're leaving. They hit me on the head and said they don't want to play with me anymore so.. you, me, shuttle..."

The ship shook again and Jido stumbled. "This way.." he stepped from the doorway and where his head had rested a red patch began to run downwards. His arm on the wall he moved towards teh shuttle bar located near the shuttle bay.

The rebellion was charging towards self annihilation. The cause he had believed in, that his sister had died and he had almost dine the same for was now impossible. He had only one thing he cared about left and he was not going to let her get caught in the middle of the bloodbath to come.

"Come on Imala..." he leaned his back against the wall looking back at her, then slid down it as his legs gave out under him. "You father will me mad if we're late again..." he smiled wide at her, his mind slipping into the past.

"Six eight three nine seven."

***​

"Free people of Hiigara."

The ship's intercom blared as the voice from the bridge spoke to everyone aboard.

"This is the darkest hour of our lives and our history. But we will not resort to deals or piracy. We will hold our heads high and march into the jaws of death itself and sing the sings that has carried out hearts this far as he gaze into the bowels of eternity. We fly on Hiigara, no I do not believe victory is a possibility, or that our sacrifice will convince the core to leave our world. But he will die as he have been. Free in spirit, and free of the stain of piracy and surrender. We will not lay down and die quietly, we will not let them keep our world without making them pay for it. Leaving Darmoor was a mistake, and today we correct it."

There was a pause.

"Anyone who wishes to surrender may do so, I an not forcing anyone to fight who does not want to.. but do not expect the core to be merciful."

 

[Iliana]

Dear god...he has finally went insane. Imala flinched at the loud, hacking cuckles that he coughed out before they transformed into thunderous roars of laughter. She did not find any humor in her words, but he was having a ball. The ship was not the cause of his complete swaying so Imala assumed that he was either drugged, or finally giving out. When he mentioned a shuttle, Imala was the one who wanted to burst out in laughter. In fact, she actually did. When Jido regained as much composure as he could, Imala sarcastically guffawed at his statement.

"You have got to be kidding me. Unlike you, Jido Vikal, I do not leave my men in the hand's of the enemy to die. I don't think you and I are on the best of terms, but I am telling you this once and only once: I will not leave this ship without Gunner, Recon, and Mikel. I don't care if you have to DRAG me out. I will not take another step!"she snapped. Unconsciously, her fingers fluttered against the right side of her hip in hopes to find her sword lying in it's hilt, but there was nothing but the bones that made out her hips that made her contact in return. The ship shook and Jido rocked with it like a teetering tower. Not thinking too much about her actions, she sighed and zipped over to him and gave his right arm as much support as she could manage.

Unfortunately, he hadn't heard a word of her speech and started to slowly and sluggishly lead her off to the shuttle. Imala could hear orders being barked behind plated doors. A cold, icy liquid spilled down her spine as thoughts of torture to her men came to her mind. Jido's mumbling brought her back as well as another tremor through Firelance. They neared the shuttle bay, but Jido was giving out before they even reached the exit. He mumbled and smiled, sliding down the wall and leaving a red streak to paint it. Imala reluctantly knelt down and held his face in her hands, even though she was sure she could see him drifing off into another land, mumbling incoherent numbers.

"Dammit, Jido, not now..."she said, turning his head to the side before the speech blared through the speakers. Imala cringed at the words. How noble...With a huff, she hoisted him up on her shoulder, ignoring the pain in her head, and dragged him the way to the shuttle, fitting him inside as best and fast as she could. If they were seriously going to war again with the Core, she wanted to be no where in sight.

"I'll just put this on auto pilot. Don't worry. I like going down with my ships."she said, buckling him in the pilot's seat and trying to shuffle away from him undetected, after fingering with the keys and coordinates for auto-pilot. ​

 

[Vay]

He turned to look at her, his eyes showing that he knew she was making him leave without her. A moment of clarity as he looked into her pupils his hand coming up to rest on her cheek. "They'll be fine. After the battle the core will have their ship back and your friends will be free. Mine will be dead. You win... just don't make me lose the only think I still care about."

His gaze dropped, so gig his hand leaving a red patch on her cheek. "The valet bill on this is going to be terrible...." he said gesturing at the blood on the seats.

He didn't stop her. She wouldn't forgive him if he did.

 

[Iliana]

Imala laughed at the comment he made. It was a hesitant, half-forced, half-fluent laughter, like her brain was having conflicting thoughts on whether she should find it humorous or not. There was a pause when he touched her cheeks, eyes sliding away from the hatch before her and onto his eyes. The eye contact snapped away quickly when a shutter and alarm blared through Firelance's core.

"They'll all be dead by the time I get over to them, but I might as well go now. I hope you know how to land. Don't worry, you'll land with Kole and he won't kill you...though I can't make any promisies."she said, looking back to him before taking a deep breath and opening her mouth to say some kind of word of goodbye. He had said that he didn't want to lose the last thing he cared about, and Imala had to think deeply before she came to the conclusion that he was indeed talking about her. Wanting to say something sarcastic, she swallowed once and smiled, closing the door to the shuttle and looking at him through the dense glass before him.

She rose to touch her face, feeling a somewhat warm and sticky lquid meet her in return. She never broke eye contact as she placed the palm of her hand on the glass, smearing it with the dark red blood in the imprint of her hand.

"I...--"

A shot rung over her head, causing her to flinch and duck, snapping her head behind her. Rebels, maybe 4 of them, were aiming down their sights, firing at her. Imala ducked and hissed, covering her head and avoiding the fire. It didn't help that she had no weapons, but the Rebels were doing all they could to avoid her from escaping. Imala pounded on the glass but didn't turn to look back at him, trying to side step the fire.

"Stay awake! Go!"she ordered, trying her best to think of a plan through the fire.​

 

[Vay]

Sealed in the shuttle there was nothing he could do as the auto launch sequence shot him into space. There was no way he could stay awake, not all the way until landing. He just watch the firelance getting smaller and smaller behind him. A ship on a suicide mission carrying the woman he loved.. and who couldn't love him back, not after everything.

Whatever happened he had no control over what happened. He'd be lucky to survive.

Aboard the Firelance most were too bust preparing for the attack to worry about an escaped prisoner. There were tears, there was hugging. Some only checked their weapons and made sure they would work. Some kissed their loved ones before they both stood in formation ready to strike. Imala wouldn't be hunted. There was no reason to do so. It was almost time.

 

[Iliana]

The ricochet effect was not helping her odds, but then again, she was at too great of an advantage to be killed. For one, she had years of Core training running through her veins, tactics and strategies flooding through her head as she simply pinpointed which ones she wanted to accomplish. Whether it was to dash to the right, duck, slide her right hand backwards, run over a crate, Imala was a mobile machine in itself. If she had some kind of weapon with her, she would have done a great deal more damage, but, as it turned out, they were all stripped from her from Jido. Imala desperately pushed the thought from her mind and avoided one more bullet, barely this time. There was an occasional shout and alarm, but Imala had more important things on her mind: find Gunner, Recon, and Mikel.

The Rebels were running short of ammo and every dodge only brought Imala closer and closer to her enemies. That was her plan all along. Close quarters combat was her expertise, but she didn't expect them to know that. They were just following orders by random leaders. The first mistake was a Rebel actually running up to her. He was the first one down. A quick underbrush of a kick followed by a stomp to the nose and he was done for. The other three soon fell with him. Imala tried to find some words of respect for Jido's men, but she could barely do that over the shouts of her own, of all the Core trapped on the vessel that was sailing towards a suicide abyss.

The Firelance was nothing like Ronset. For starters, it was smaller and definitely not fit for war. It was more of a carrier than a war ship. That was an disadvantage, not adding onto the fact that Imala and the others had took a toll on her engines. If they were indeed going to the Core again, she needed someway to get into contact with Kole. Either that, or hope that Jido still had something for her inside him...enough to tell Kole to be lenient in his attack. It was a long shot, but she had to hold onto something. Imala rushed through doors and rooms, searching desperately for her friends.​

 

[Vay]

The firelance continued her course right for the planet she had just left. The bridge running minimal crew. She shook as she entered the outer atmosphere. It was too late, any shuttle leaving now would be torn apart by the force of their entry. In the corridors and loading bays soldiers held onto what they could for stability. Grim faced but determined then waited for the signal. It didn't come as a spoken word or order, thust a jolt as the ship touched down, and the ramps opened.

​

The exited, weapons ready and eyes on Gondole, where they would attack without hope of victory. The price of their loss to make the Core pay for thier victory.

Then from a single person to every man and woman the song spread.

"Náš domov je místo, kde ležel hlavou
Ve věčném spánku, žije v naší krvi
Naše srdce našich myslích našich duší

Nikdo nemůže vzít našeho domu od nás
V životě, ve smrti, v otroctví
To zpívá používat i když věčné tmy"

"Our home is a place where he lay his head
In the eternal sleep, lives in our blood
Our hearts our minds our souls

No one can take from us our home
In life, in death, in bondage
It sings to use even in eternal darkness "

Jido homever was still streaging through the atmosphere. His eyes barely open as the computer did the work.... he would see none of this.

 

[Iliana]

Kole looked out over at the Rebels that were crawling from his ships like ants into a puddle of water. There were Allied Core to all sides of him, standing erect and poised for his command. Dragging on the thin cigarette in between his lips, something he had not partook in for quite some time, he admired the view. How fitting it was to annihilate his enemies in the same place he helped save them. The hand he extended to them was only grabbed and ripped off from it's joint. The Rebel's had slightly crippled them by taking most of their forces and the second largest carrier ship they had, but the Core had something the Rebel's didn't.

A chance.

Kole retracted his fingers from his lips and looked across to him at a Leader who was standing with a laser beam rifle in one hand. A rare thing, the rifle was, the last one from Ronset. His job was to take out the Rebel leader on contact, which he assumed in this case was a one Jido Vikal. Then again, that would be too easy. The Rebels had no chance in hell of defeating the Core, but they were still going to go into debts of hell for a victory that would never come. Kole looked backwards towards the Core, the people who fought for Hiigara, and then looked forward at the people who also foughtfor Hiigara. How different were they really?

Once more, he looked out over the tiny space that was separated between the two forces. No one made a move or sound. The only thing on their mind was their retaliation at the sound of a gunshot. Kole tossed the cigarette to the side, and stood straight, arching his back but not too much to show his authority. He was weak. He was tired. They all were.

" 'With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.' I live by those words, that theory. I am more than what I am needed to be. Perhaps not fully more but more than what I already am. So is Hiigara. It is more than a planet, more than a land, and more than a home. I'd even go as far as to calling it a spirit. Is it not?"he said, voice ringing out to the Rebels and the Core. The power armor was hanging sulkily over their shoulders but none made the first move. Whether they stood by code or by fear, General Kole had them in his words.

"What victory is there if there is no fuse? What death is there if there was never a gun to fire, sword to swing with, or any of that crap armor to shield yourselves with? Where do we get them from? Who has the right to wield them and use them for their own foolish deeds? The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood. Do you all want that? We had a choice in coming to this spot. That makes the decision of this war no different. Decisions will be made, whether by force or remorse."

"Fire with everything you have. Defend with every scrap that covers you. To what end? To have your words for a better Hiigara ring out over the generation to come. Can you all not hear it now?"he asked, waving his hand around him to show all of the Core who had now lowered their weapons gradually. In exhaustion or in compliance, the cross-hairs were down.

"Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. We all were late in that. I am not going to be late for Hiigara's opened arms. Why in damnation should you all be? Go ahead. Fire. Fire 'For Hiigara's Own'. When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice. So, I resign as your opposition. Who will you fight against now?"​

 

[Vay]

Jido would never see the battle, he would never see the end of the war. All he was aware of was the cold blackness of the inside of his skull.

He dreamed too. He was surrounded by fire and a stone was tied around his neck. He could hear voices, Alexander's, Veers', his sister's, his parents', His own... Imala's.

There were faces in the fire, tortured and bleak, the voices screamed his name but with the rock around his neck he couldn't move, and the fire was always getting closer.

He called to her, the only one in his dream still alive, or was this hell and he was with them all. Was he dead?

Then the rebellion had failed.

But he still had what he wanted.

Redemption.

But he knew it wasn't enough. He needed forgiveness, her forgiveness.

But there was still time. He wasn't dead.

 

[Iliana]

The war ended in the same way it began: in a stalemate. In the beginning, before the accidental shot of the Allied Core was fired and before the 'war' between the Hiigaran's ensued, there was a silence while both sides looked to one another, listening to Kole's words. No one spoke out, rose arms, or aimed at all. For once, General Kole got exactly what he wanted: revenge. He was making the rebels break down inside their own minds while they faced the vast army of the Core. They knew that they had zero to no chance of any of them surviving after the battle and he made it very well known that they wouldn't. At the same time, he gave them the option of surrender which was, to the Rebels, just as bad as defeat.

However, in the midst of his next works, a shot zipped out from the barrel of a trembling Allied laser rifle and straight into the armored shoulder of a rebel. Thus, signed the Rebel's defeat. They overreacted and the Core retaliated, even dispatching everything that Kole had told them. Or maybe not. Maybe, even as each spark cracked across the power armor and eventually tearing its way into the actual skin of the rebel, they were still think on what he said. On how they were still Hiigarans whether they are Rebel, Core, or dead. Unfortunately, lasers spoke louder.

General Kole did not fear any of the shots fired above his head, around his body, or by his men. Instead, he marched off of the field, foot crunching over the cigarette that he discarded earlier.

---

For the third time in 2 days, Imala found herself waking up in utter pain. Her head was screaming with a white noise that seemed to never stop. That noise was all she knew for a good amount of time until it swooned into something else. Something that sounded a lot like her name.

"Kepler. Kepler." Imala's response was a groan and a tiny spasm of her entire body which was being dragged through Gondole by two Core soldiers. The voice instantly tugged at her as General Kole's.

"S-sir...?"she cracked out. In her head, she was still seeing herself dodge fire and search desperately for her crew. How she ended up back into Kole's presence, she would not know for quite sometime. Jido was also somewhere on her mind...but when she tried to think about him her head instantly shut down on her.

"You need to be awake for this. The General of the Rebels will be sentenced today." Imala suddenly wished she were unconscious again.​

 

[Vay]

It was dark. Dark and cold.

He could feel the bandages wrapped around him. he had been found, then where was he?

He was sitting and his head was resting on something but when he tried to move there was the all familiar rattle and pulling on his wrists. His hands were bound to the table.

"You're awake."

"You have me bound."

"A necessary measure I'm afraid, couldn't be sure what you would do when you woke up. If you ever did. I'm still deciding if you ever did. "

"Why would I do anything. There nothing left to do. You've won."

"Very defeatist of you, why the sudden change?"

"Theres nothing left to fight for. Nothing left to gain. Nothing left to loose. Kill me if thats what you plan, I can't fight back."

"She will want to see you, what would I tell her?"

"Tell her.. theres nothing left to see. The shuttle crashed. The first part is true anyway."

"You're giving up?"

"Did that even before you put me in this room, just kill me, you won't get anything out of me."

"We will see."

 

[Iliana]

"We found him a smoldering pile of shuttle carcass, right between the mid section of twisted metal and some leaking chemical that smelled dangerous if burned. Funny thing, the guy didn't even budge. We aren't sure if he was conscious enough to know that he was inside a highly flammable shuttle."

Or if he even cared...

"But one things for certain, the Core will be damned to see the master mind behind the entire Rebel be killed by a mere explosion. You know the people want more than that, Kepler. They want to see him bleed, would actually prefer to seem him bleed out of his armor, like the Rebel he is." Kole said, making a circular motion of his right finger which allowed the Core who was carrying Imala to make a right turn into a medical bay. Imala was too out of it to tell if it were Gondole Medical or some other place, but it really had no purpose whether she knew or not. She would be treated, dabbed with a napkin, the pushed into the trial of murdering Jido Vikal. Imala was embarrassed when her response to Kole's words was nothing but a whimper. Whimper of pain. Whimper of fear. Regret. It didn't matter. The strong, proud Imala Kepler was now reduced to something she had forgotten she was: a woman.

"Unfortunately, he was too screwed up to even answer any of our questions and blanked out. I would figure that much, crashing down in a shuttle and shit, but just because he's injured doesn't mean he gets any sympathy. He's still the same slithering--"

"Kole....Please. Stop..."Imala said. She didn't try to put on her big girl mask and act superior in front of her General. Her head was hurting, her ears were ringing, and she had lost so much. She needed a break. A break that she would have gotten if a Rebel would've just taken her life on Firelance, but here she was. Alive and ready to kill a man again. Kole said nothing more on the subject while he and the other Core members marched Imala through a narrow hallway. She knew she was inside when a blast of cold hit her body, making the pain more alive and new. She had a bad feeling she knew exactly where she was going.

"Reminding you: he's a dead man."

"He's a man...on trial..."

"The Core is not going to let him get away with all of the murders, Kepler. Even without being a Rebel, he still has a rep!"

"He has a good rep, too..." It was getting hard to debate with him, knowing she was getting closer and closer to his room. For the first time since being awoken by Kole, Imala opened her eyes and looked down at the white, tiled floor. White. Not red. Never red.

"Don't get soft on me."

"He's...he's my..."

"He's a Rebel."

"You know what...? So am I."she said, with finality. Kole did not react to the words one bit. If he did, she would have just shot him down again with her own responses. He never won in an argument with Imala Kepler. She was always right, it seemed. Finally, they had come into a room, the cold air getting even colder. Some words were passed from one mouth to another, But Imala was not focused on those. She just looked down at the floor until the Core member eventually sat her in a sheet next to a hospital bed with straps, before feeling a tall presence next to her.

"You have five minutes." She neither acknowledged him or responded. Kole and the others left the room, shutting the door with a Allied Core and Rebel inside. Imala's eyes stayed on the floor at will this time. Just so she would not have to look up and see him.

"They want me to...they want...they..." She cleared her throat, angry at her pathetic stuttering, and started again. "They want me to kill you. You know that. But...I...is it my decision whether you live or die?"​

 

[Vay]

He had his eyes closed and might have been asleep until he spoke.

"I thought they were going to tell you I was dead." he said finally.

"I'm down for good this time, too many injuries, to much blood loss. I'm going to be in this bed longer than the trial will take. You know they don't see this as a war, you don't either. To them, I'm not a soldier who did his duty, I'm a criminal to be killed and forgotten."

He swallowed hi eyes sliding open finally.

"Why did you come here?"

Maybe not the best thing to say to someone visiting you in hospital. Especially someone you grew up with, but she, just like everything else, was lost to him. He couldn't even walk, he was being fed through a tube in his arm and he didn't even know why they were keeping him alive just to execute him later, it was a exercise in futility.

 

[Iliana]

"To have a conversation. Why else?"

She wanted to interject by saying that she was dragged there by no choice on the matter, but, when she got right down to it, she would've came there anyway, by force or not. To see if the stories were true: if he had really given up all hope on everything; not just the war, but with life and all it entailed with it. It was not necessary to look at him; she could tell just by his voice that he was done. It was dark, cold, and flat. No ringing, no sly remarks, and the pirate smile was long gone. Imala peeked a look at him and instantly wished she hadn't. He looked far worse now than he did the last time she was next to his hospital bed. When he took her hand in some kind of sick, twisted reassurance that everything would be fine. Before he helped sabotage Firelance. Before he kidnapped her fleet.

"Yeah, you're right. You are a criminal to be put on trial, but, while we're already stating facts, you might as well through me under that ship too."she said. Some of her natural personality managed to creep back into her mind but it was only short-lived when she thought of the severity of the situation. Jido was going to be trialed and murdered, and the only one who was willing to stand up for him was her. Her word against the words of the Core. His lack of confidence was not helping the tiny sparks of hope she had in an helpless situation. When had Imala Kepler hang onto a prayer?

"You're not dead yet. You can worry about your blood loss when its all gone, or if I let it disappear. I have a lot of good points on why you should be kept alive. Too much, in my opinion. If they want a trial, I'll give them hell. I've got so much dirt against what the Core has done compared to the Rebels hat Kole will have innocent charges sprouting out of his ass. I'm not dead yet either, so don't act like it. A bit of back up would be nice, or is your close...'friend'...asking for too much?"she said, with only a portion of her strength playing back in her ears.​

 

[Vay]

He shook his head. "Don't go down the road of the idealist with me Imala, thats my hat and it doesn't sit as well on your brow." a flicker of a smile played across his lips. "If you want to do some good then change the core, make it into the nation it tries to be, fair and just for all. Don't waste your time on a dying soldier. No not soldier, pirate... I'll be fine, theres no prison thats been able to hold me yet."

He had no intention of trying to escape, he couldn't anyway, not without serious healing. "Hiigara doesn't need people like me anymore, she needs people like you, these in position to make sure shes rebuilt and taken care of. Shes bleeding but not dead.. like me.. but she needs you more than I do. If anything I've done has any meaning, any meaning at all, then Hiiagara must be great."

 

[Iliana]

"You know, its becoming harder and harder for me to side with you when you keep contradicting yourself. I came to give my assistance in the saving of your life, not be your psychiatrist for your depressing ramblings."she said in an icy, cold manner. To be quite blank, Imala had no need to talk to him about his sentencing. He was only walking the road that he partially paved for himself. A road that amiably ended in his death, and he was the one who laid down the cement. She chewed on her words before laying them out there.

"A dying Hiigaran pirate, yes. Your title holds a lot of weight, Jido. In the Core, you're a rebel. In Hiigara, you're an Hiigaran, one who saved other Hiigarans. I hear what you're saying loud and clear but it's bias and I have to say, Jido, that's not a good look for you. When have you ever been bias? I thought you look at both side of the coin before tossing it. Right now, its all about your death, your rep, your bloody hands. The fate of Hiigara is better off if you're gone. Don't mean to burst that beautiful bubble of yours, but what makes you think your death will help anything?" Imala tried desperately tried to tred carefully across those waters, rubbing her right eye before putting her hands placidly in her lap.

"We're not gonna have a full out trial. I just need probable cause to keep that heart of yours beating. Last question before I go through with this: What is it that you want? You want to die and leave Hiigara? In charge of your life or not, I have morals."she finished, casting him a weak glance.​

 

[Vay]

He did nothing but breathe for moment thinking her words over. "I want what I've always wanted, a home, a family, to one day raise children in a world I can be proud of living in." he coughed a small speck of blood appearing in the corner of his mouth that he wiped away with the back of his hand. "Your core isn't forgiving Imala, they want someone to blame for all this, someone to hate and to punish. Veers, Alexander.. both dead I'm all they have left to hate, and if they don't hate me they will hate all of Hiigara. So let them hate me. What I want... sometimes theres more important things."

 

[Iliana]

"Yes. Like this hearing."she said simply. His words were becoming mumbled and mushed, meaning that he was simply talking out of pure defeat and idealism. Typical Jido. Imala ushered the last exhausted sigh from her lips, running her fingers in her hair for the tumpteenth time. For the time being, she had her facts and opinions and he had his. It was time to see which were stronger in the case of his life with the Allied Core. Imala stood on her feet, head still slightly slanted and offset from the previous attack.

"I want a family too, the 9 months of torture, life of another Hiigaran, husband, peace, all that jazz. I think the Core can forgive one of the strong to show a slight moment of weakness, don't you think?"

"When we grow up, we're always gonna be together! Right, Jido?"

"Hey! I am way better at shooting than you are!

"Put the gun down, old man. You'll hurt someone important."

"Will you...come back?"
​

It was happening again. Recollections of her feelings for him and reality were playing a tug of war in her head.

"And here I am talking about being bias..."she murmured with a shaking smile, giving him a last, lost glance. He was always so clever when he said something. If she ever uttered a word that had any other emotion than anger in it, he would strip it bare and leave the carcass open for him to dwell in. It terrified to think he didn't care.

"Rest up. I need you alive for this."she said, simply in protocol, turning away. Imala Kepler, Core Leader. That's all he saw regardless, right?​

 

[Vay]

His hand dropped hos his side. He hated not being able to move, not being able to sit up and... no he'd sit up regardless, or try to.

With a grunt of effort he pulled himself up and the slow steady beeping of the oscilloscope became a steady wine as he tore the sensor from his chest. He hated wires... and tubes. That was next to go, the intravenous drip that kept his nourished and the blood pack the was replacing that which he had lost.

"Don't talk time that." he said "You make is sound like I'm going to die." there was the slight tone of a tease to his voice as the peeled the blanket from himself and turned dangling his legs over the side and then dropping onto his feet, almost collapsing as he did so.

Gripping the bed for support he swayed bet remained upright. "If theres one thing I've learned fate isn't that kind. What do you plan to do with me.. Imala."

 

[Iliana]

How was she supposed to respond to his curiosity? She had nothing to tell him; not one little string of hope or anything. All of the other times, she had retorts and comebacks to fight him with, but there was no more fight in him, and so, none within her as well. She looked back at him and started to say something but if she did, it would mean nothing in the long run. He'd be there for a long time.

And she as well.

The trial had came and went exactly the way she envisioned it would. The entire Core wanted him dead and started to check off all he had done. Murdered, stolen, sabotaged, kidnapped, and much more that Imala did not attempt to look into. She stood before the entire Core Leaders on his behalf and was already gathering dark looks. Face painted with scars and no sleep, she looked blankly at everyone's disgusted faces when she stood before Kole who was throwing the sentences at her in every fashion. He never looked her in the eyes while he said all of it and Imala did not make a sound. She knew Kole was not going to believe a bunch of reports over her judgement.

"Imala Kepler, you stand here on behalf of Jido Vikal, an enemy of Azriel, Gondole, Darmoor, and other parts of Hiigara. You stand on reasonable ground that he deserves to live as opposed to die for his crimes. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, and so do you." Imala glared at Kole and said nothing for the remainder of the entire meeting. There was no need. The rest was never heard anyway. Jido lived through the healing process not on will power but on Allied medicinal services. It took months, may more, before he was back on his feet again, healthy as an ox. An ox prisoner, at that. The Core understood her words and concerns and they feared, more than anything, that she'd spit the "we murdered people too" book at them, so they bent to her whim. It was a sad and depressing whim, probably worse for him than it was for her. He had to survive. All she had to do was wait.

And wait she did.

Standing at the prison gates of the now rebuilt city of Darmoor, Imala leaned against the gate, her back facing the entrance. This is pathetic. Why am I here? And early at that? August 17th, his release date, and she was standing in the beating sun wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a blue tank, an attire completely unfit for General Imala Kepler. The creek of the gates behind her had her snapping straight, eyes widening just a bit, before she heard the guard.

"And you're outta here. Make some use of the rest of it, will ya?" She didn't hear his response but knew he said something sarcastic, problem flashing his pirate smile at him. Her lips curved a bit, waiting for the same from him in a few seconds, and probably, the rest of her life.​