Subsequent Fall Part 22: The Breaking Point

"Adam, are the monitors chasing us?" Jaimie asked as she still had Valkira's body in her arms as her and Astral raced to the bridge as Adam, Astrid Airsoft, Achilles, Angel, James, Proto and Omaha were waiting, seeing the horror before them they had a mixed reaction.

Adam looked over to Astral then back to Jaimie, then upward. "I don't know how much they know, all they know is that we were the ones behind the incident." Adam turns away from Jaimie as she wraps up Valkira in a blanket.

"I got the weird sense it won't be the last of the gods meddling with us across the universe." Astral looked around. He wanted to move slowly from here on out and bolster their numbers beyond normal means. "Issue a three week break after we hold the funeral for Valkira and her father." Adam looked confused for a second as it clicked for James and Angel who lowered their heads.

"Most of the crew doesn't know either of them outside of the higher end members. Are you sure?" Airsoft asked gently, as Angel clung to James quietly sobbing. Airsoft heard it and nodded.

"It will be who is in this room attending plus Zeta." Astral looked around. "Something small for her will suffice, I imagine us making a shrine for her and placing it here." Astral rested his shoulders as he wound down.

"Everyone follow me to the training room. We are burning the bodies in holy water." Jaimie nodded her head as they all followed her, the quiet sobs of the twins mixed in with footsteps as Astral trailed after them. Heading to the Red Merle and checking on where he left God Emperor's body. All that remained was a small pile of black ash.

"Shit." Astral looked confused and around as he felt defeated. Zeta standing outside of the ramp as Astral walked down. "Good job stopping that big cruiser!" Astral tapped his cabin as Zeta followed Astral to the training room as it was a peaceful meadow at sunset. A pile of wood set aside from everyone else.

Jaimie looked over at Astral expecting to see God Emperor's corpse, seeing just her husband she glared at him as he shrugged. Rolling her eyes she gently laid Valkira down on the wooden pile. "I will start us off, if anyone else wants to say something before we light the pile ablaze, feel free to speak whenever."

Silence and sobs were heard as Angel was still being comforted by her brother. "Every loss hits hard, whether it's a clone or someone close. Every lost soul is one that we cherish and continue to fight for." Jaimie sulked for a second as she took another breath in. "I didn't get much of an opportunity to know her like some of the others here. Being a sweet kind girl. This was no life for her, a fate she accepted. No hesitation in her actions."

"She was much more than just someone who was willing to die for the better of the galaxy." Angel hollered, an outburst as she hovered above everyone else. "She wanted to be normal, and just spend time with friends and family. With her powers she was experimented on and never wished that on anyone, her reason to fight was to stop others from feeling what she has." Tears rained from her eyes below as the rest listened.

"She wanted to finish what evil her dad started. Even then no daughter should have to deal with that." Astral felt like he shrunk one hundred times over. Fear of doing that to them brewed deep inside of him. "She just wanted to be normal and treated as such, when we were training her, she loved being adored for her normal abilities rather than distilled into one mold."

Angel finally landed on the ground. "She was willing to join us on our journey whenever." She sat down as she kept crying. Astral slowly walked over and hugged her as she slowly warmed up once more from her somber tone.

"I feel guilty, we didn't prepare her properly." Adam walked up to the bonfire. "When we made peace negotiations with her the second time, we told her knowledge is half of the battle. She was in a position to fail even if she had counters to her father." Adam struck the match as he tossed it on the pile, lighting it ablaze.

"It is now an issue we have to overcome. We will. For now, tell all of your crews we have three weeks off." Adam spoke with such a dulling voice, it had no impact on any of them as they slowly walked away. Leaving just James, Angel, Astral and Jaimie watching the burning pile.

The four sat down in the grassy meadows as the sun in the background set. James rested his head on Astral's shoulder as Jaimie rested her head on his other side. Angel sat next to Jaimie as she was pulled in by her.

"We won't let anything happen to you two. So far that we will put our lives on the line to protect you." Jaimie pulled the three of them in as the body was burned. "Astral, is the shrine done?"

"Maybe, Hephaen will have it on display when it is. Bringing it to us first." Astral looked over as Jaimie held up her ax's. The fire dwindled down as a flash of light appeared. Hephaen held something in his arms as he walked up to them.

Showing the four of them the shrine. They saw all of the tiny details imprinted on it as Astral gave him a thumbs up. "To the bridge?" Hephaen waddled out of the door as Astral, Jaimie and the twins followed him. Once they arrived the rest of them smiled as James and Angel helped Hephaen set up the shrine to remember their friend.

"Astral, we are adrift in deep space." Jaimie tugged on his jacket gently. "I think it would be best for us to figure that out soon." Astral made one nod slowly as they hopped into the pocket dimension to look at the star map.