The end of a story...

[Xing]

Chapter 3 Uncle Daite

Isabelle threw her uniform on a corner of her room, as she tiredly went to her bed. But there, she couldnt find rest, only her mind being tortured even more by the silence of the night and the howling of the cold California Minor wind.
Computer lightning up to 10%. Dial up number 9384KTY on my private comm. link system.
The automated system did as she ordered and soon enough, the familiar voice of a kusari admiral was on the line
She couldnt stop herself, but burst in tears.

--

On the other side of the sector, Daitetsu Mitsurugi was suddenly pulled out of his sleep by a phone call from as distant as Liberty. But he didnt knew to look at the description pad from his comm. unit to know it was Isa who called, Isa who was also crying incoherently on the line. His face softened up from his irritation at being awaken so early in the morning.
Isa
Isa, dont let your emotions take over you please.
He was somewhat surprised to hear from her again. They didnt see each other much nowadays. He knew with pride that the young girl he used to teach became a high ranking officer among her people, fighting on the front lines. They communicated barely once a month so busy they were by their respective duty, and she already did called him this month.
Finally, the woman calmed down and was able to speak coherently.
Isa, what happened?
There was a long pause, then, in a shaken voice;
Father is gone

And she somehow managed to remain calm and coherent long enough to recall and recount the message she received a few days ago.

Father went away in a typical patrol with a portion of his fleet. There were reports of pirate allied components wrecking havoc in some sectors of the northern independent space. And so, with a division of cruiser vessels and escort fighters, he went on a very ordinary cleansing operation. His long standing experience within fleet command assured him clear victory of course. Against mere pirates armed with big guns, the elderly Kaitlynn had more than one trick in his pocket even with inferior numbers.
And everything would have went right, but the admiral cruiser was sabotaged. By who? No one knew yet.
Reports only indicated no survivor came out of the flagship.


Isabelle closed her eyes, exhausted. She wondered how she managed to keep her emotions bottled up like this for so long, maintaining the appearance for her men. But now that she was finally alone, she could let go of her.
And now that it was all out, she felt so empty
what am I supposed to do now, uncle Daite father was my only guiding light in this hell and now he has extinguished
There was another long moment of silence as Mitsurugi let her calm down somewhat, after which, his only answer, spoken in a soft voice;
Come to Kusari.

--

Even as she sat numbly aboard her automated shuttle craft headed for Kusari, she wondered if she should have told Jimmy about all of this. Probably not for now. She didnt even felt ready to accept the news.
She was going to wait til she was able to digest all of it before bringing it to her love

For the moment, it seemed only uncle Daite could help her
In some way, he was her only parent still in the living world

--

It was a short ride from the New Tokyo starport to admiral Mitsurugi residence. The aging man, whose hairs has now turned completely grey, was awaiting for her at his door. No words were needed; Isabelle fell in his strong arms, hugging the admiral.
Isabelle

They went slowly within the house, as the sky began to rumble and rain began to fall


Heated by the warm fire of the house (it was autumn, and even though conventional electric heating was available, Mitsurugi seemed to prefer a very simple living, relying on technologies that could be considered near-primitive), Isabelle sat down slowly against the old admiral, the man which has raised her for a good portion of her life. The father that taught her the passion of war, the one that taught her discipline and strength. Even though she closed her eyes, she felt the strong arms of uncle Daite seize her gently and put her in a more comfortable position.
I know you dont drink much, but youll probably need some tonight. Here.
The man approached a small bowl of sake next to her lip and she drank from the liquid slightly reluctantly. She wasnt used to the exotic brewage, and didnt really liked it either, but it indeed warmed her a bit. She could at least sense something within her.
Isabelle nodded slowly as she began recounting all the events that happened recently to her old protector


Do you remember?
I enlisted to avenge friends. You disapproved my reason, yet supported my act. You said, if a warrior didnt know a goal in his fight, he has lost the war before it even began.

What was I doing all these years, serving Liberty? Yes, the military life was running strong in my blood, but I had no objective, nothing to guide me. Father didnt managed to see this, he didnt understood this. I didnt either, to be truthful.

I was a warrior, yes, but a blind one. I was dragged in the mud, used by the corrupted, greedy politicians to achieve their power. I was ordered things that went against the principles we were supposed to defend. I created myself an illusion that I was doing the right thing, until I realise now, it was all about lie.

Liberty isnt true to its noble causes. I dont blame them; instead, we should put the blame on human nature itself. There is just no hope anymore, from once a noble people home, to become an incomprehensible arena for power-hungry gods I heard even my own people, who came along with the original Libertonian, were moving toward the Bretonian spaces, some even enlisting to serve the Armed Forces. After all, we cant deny much of our roots are from there as well.

Life has become unsupportable in Liberty. The ever-present menace of a war between the two most powerful nations in Sirius is killing everyone. Funds are being wasted in military power while the people doesnt understand why the pirates keep growing.

As one thing, Liberty isnt a nation anymore. It is merely a ground, an arena where one comes to amass power.
No human entity should be in control of the center of the world, for none of us is a divine god

Father wasnt killed in action. He was assassinated dishonourably by yet another power hungry monster. His factional affiliation isnt even important. It could have been a rogue or an overzealous libertonian officer. Maybe it was the junker syndicate or some rheinland agent. Is it important anymore?

Oh, uncle Daite, my world is crumbling and no one is helping me to keep it coherent.
Ive won so many battles, only to lose the final one
Your words were true, in the end, I lost the war


No.

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