An auburn-haired woman walked up the stairs to her flat. One of the more devastated blocks in the city of Ely on Planet Cambridge was not the most comfortable place to live, but she had nothing to complain. Far away from the front lines, far enough from any internal threats, it was her sanctuary. A place where she could relax and think.
She slid her card through the terminal and opened the door. The familiar smell of dust greeted her, as the flat was rarely cleaned. She closed the door to her bedroom and drew the curtains, blocking off any light coming in. A short 'click' of the lighter broke the silence as she lit a few candles and sat on the mattress. The darkness around helped her ignore the poor condition of her room, as she only focused on watching the fire, dancing to the rhythm of her breath. She blocked off all other thoughts.
Once she could last for hours in that position. Completely forgetting about reality, only looking at the candle. Now, after just over ten minutes, the memories started coming.
The faces of Lara, Darryl and Sean, smiling as they received their first orders, as the 79th.
And their screams, when their ships burned, destroyed by Kusarians. In an attack, which she was the only survivor of.
A lone tear ran down her cheek, as she shook off. Reaching out to her pocket, she took out a small bag with orange powder. She dropped a bit on the back of her hand. In the light of the candle, the Cardamine glowed golden like dawn as she carefully moved her hand closer to her nose.
Inhale.
* * *
"'Pyro', 'Thirteen', 'Darkwater', 'Night'. You are hereby assigned to the 79th Squadron of the Special Interstellar Service. You will now be sworn in and you will receive your first orders upon leaving. Any questions? Good."
Jaya smiled slightly, exhaling as the officer ended. Standing at attention, she could only imagine the reactions of others. The smile brightening the face of Lara Jade, the smile that could not be wiped off even by the harsh, military service. Always focused and cold look of Darryl Kent. And the nervous smug of Sean Reed. They would be brothers in arms now. Behind the enemy lines, they would serve Bretonia. "For the Queen and the country." At least that's what she thought.
"All right," the officer cleared his throat. "Repeat after me..."
* * *
"We did it!" Lara exclaimed, after their cruise engines had charged up and they had set course for the Newcastle jump hole in Tau-31. "Drinks on me after we're h--"
"Teach these dogs a lesson?" Lara asked. "That's what they'll get for getting into my party mood."
"We can't. Too many of them, and the two of us are in bombers." Sean spoke. "W-we should run."
"We can't run from Kusarians, you fool! What an image would that be," Jaya commanded. "Burn. Them. Down."
* * *
"Go! Just... get out! I'll hold them!" Lara screamed. At the same time, a missile hit Sean's ship. His shields were long down. The projectile exploded near the engine. Combustion. Scream. Death came so quickly, he couldn't trigger the escape pod. Darryl attempted a fight, but his Challenger was not fast enough for the small Chimaeras. Soon, his shield was down too, but before that happened, a careful burst from Lara's Paladin blew up one of the Kusarian fighters.
"Yeah! Eat it!" she screamed. "And you, run! I'll manage!"
Jaya kept quiet, as she focused on spraying down second Chimaera. It was too late for Darryl, though, as his ship was taken down with a mine dropped by one of the Kusarians. It was a two on two now, but the Bretonian ships were heavily damaged. There was nothing to save anymore. The two Paladins started charging their cruise engines.
"Cruise disruptors! Dammit! They got me!" Lara screamed into her comms. "Help--"
"I'm sorry." Jaya could only say, as she closed her comms, leaving the blonde-haired girl for the sake of the Kusarians.
* * *
She opened her eyes. As she lay on the mattress, the candles had burned out. Jaya wanted these memories out of her head. They all were her friends. Lara, Darryl, Sean. Thirteen, Darkwater, Night. Now, they were dead. And one of them, she could not help but feel, was killed because of her.
It was so long ago. She tried many times to reason, to stop blaming herself for what happened. She had to.
She rose to her feet, wiped her tears and left her bedroom. She needed to be on the front line, again. She had to forget. And the only way to forget was through fire.