Fate Breakers

Chapter 25

Decades Ago

Adriana Guerrero didn't sign up for this. It was one thing, fighting the Aracelians. They came from somewhere else. At times, if she tried really, really hard enough, she could pretend that they were something else. She could pretend like there was a way they could justify what the Elders wanted them to do.

But now, watching blood ooze from the cooling body of the dragon before her. Her stomach turned.

"Scared, girl?"

Tallan.

"This isn't right."

"Excuse me?"

She ground her teeth. "This isn't right, Sir. Osmund didn't just belong to Halius, that was his baby. Halius raised Osmund from an egg! Hailus is already dead!"

Tallan's eyes darkened. "And? It's not him I'm hurting."

"Hurting his family is hurting him."

Halius Alessia was not someone Adriana had been particularly close with, but he had been kind to her. He didn't deserve this fate, and neither did his poor dragon. Adriana couldn't bear to watch it any longer. She wouldn't just stand by and watch as Tallan endorsed the mutilation of innocent beings by people who are their parents.

↻

Tallan lunged across the table for her. Adriana did nothing to stop it. Her throat could fit in one of his hands, to coil both around it was overkill. Her spine ached as he slammed her back against the wall.

"You sly fucking bitch," he roared. "You reported me!? I'll have your head on a fucking spike, Guerrero!"

Adriana slammed her boot into his belt, Tallan letting out a whoosh of air as he crashed to the ground. The world spun, the edges of Adriana's vision going black. She was practically hacking her lungs out, clinging to the table in the commons.

"I'd like to see you try," she choked out, gasping for breath. Her vision was blurred by tears. She blinked them, and the darkness away, rubbing her throat. "Thanks for the free promotion, by the way."

"You're a cunt," Tallan grunted, eyes blazing with anger. "You're a fox, a filthy fucking bitch! You think this did something?!"

Silence stretched between them. Fox gave a smug smile. Tallan's heart dropped. She spat on the ground, going to stagger away. "You're never gonna be a general now."

Present

Tallan is a petty, sorry little bitch. Fox always knew he had a personal grudge against her. She rode the high of destroying his career for decades. Now, she'd finally come down from that high, and what remained was a scalding anger.

Destroying Captain Ireno's life wasn't enough for Tallan. Fox had kept her memories of Mauricio Ireno and Unit F-021 close to her heart for the past few decades. She'd realized a long while ago her fondness for Gannon and Aviva was due in part to her fondness for Ireno's crew. Aviva and Gannon reminded her of the best of the old unit. She felt foolish, knowing Tallan would set out to destroy them, and doing so little to protect them all.

Gannon had no business thanking her, and she told him as much. "Don't thank me yet, Ramirez."

I can still fail you.

She didn't say the quiet part aloud. Gannon Ramirez astounded her. Makatza had broken so many good people over the years, destroyed so many wonderful lives. Gannon is a miracle. He walks around with a pep in his step, laughter in his heart, and a sparkle in his eyes. Makatza came through like a firestorm, but life grew back within Gannon.

He cares, not just for himself, but for others. Fox doesn't like how much of her old self she sees in Gannon. She loves him for it, but will always resent herself for not valuing that side more. It's too late now. Decades of war, anger, bitterness, and strife. There's no room for anything new to grow within her. Her own garden is bare, but just because it can no longer sustain that life, does not mean she cannot kindle it in someone else.

Quarx gave her a plethora of files to look over. More soldiers in need of places to go. Fox sorted through the names.

Guzman, Kellas, Sousa, Leda, Calixto, Arco, Callasas, Nirav, another Sousa, a Dalthus, Falke, Magnus, Cirila... another fucking Sousa? How many members of this family are enlisted? Doesn't matter now. What matters is the names who wound up on Fox's desk. She starts to approve them all for transfer. One by one, she sorts them between Units 13 and 14. The others are large enough, and besides, this was going to be the start of Fox's experiment.

She could see what Tallan saw in Units 13 and 14, but instead of smoldering the fire, Fox wanted to fan the flames.

Adriana Guerrero signed up for this. She joined the Balor because she wanted to have a shot at changing history. The world had seen enough ruin since the first Great War. It's time to make something. Maybe it's stupid of her, to put so much hope in these kids. After all, most just see them as idiots. But these are her idiots, Gods dammit, and she was going to see this whole shit through even if it kills her.

Especially if it kills her, because if this all goes to shit, she doesn't wanna stick around for the consequences.