Heritage

Heritage (Chapter 62)

Chapter 62: Stella

Here I float in the dark void of space, on the precipice of victory. The climax of a war that has raged through multiple generations is finally coming to fruition. And all of it hinges on this attack. It is the first stage of a dual phase assault that will put us at the doorstep of the Sekrid Empire. We arrived only moments before at the half light year mark from planet Hyperion. The squadron of new, state of the art, stealth fighters that Kurosawa has been given command over wait patiently for the order to commence our quiet battle. With only five of these stealth fighters, Kurosawa thought it best to send two to the planet's surface and three in orbit to take out the communications. He also deemed it necessary to personally handle the surface assault himself given the risk.

I didn't much disagree with him on the subject. I would rather handle the hard part myself too.

The inside of the cockpit is unlike anything I've seen before. There's no longer a console between Kurosawa and I, only a simple dividing wall that's comes up to the knees. The display is completely state-of-the-art, resembling the same plasma screen that was introduced on TAPs devices. The screen comes up to face level and is mounted in to an ultra-thin bezel and is the shape of an inverted triangle with rounded corners. On each side of the armrests is a mounting point for a control stick which can be easily detached in a modular fashion so as to accommodate the primary hand use of the end user. All other controls are mounted on the side walls of the fighter, just above the armrests so that you can reach them comfortably.

We were also given new helmets that have a wealth of new technology placed into them, including a HUD that can be fully integrated into the stealth fighter's operating system. It can also measure and display the user's health on top of having more practical advances such as: trauma protection, shock absorption, and a brand new system that, in case of a severe head injury will stabilize head movement so as to prevent further damage. The helmets are also completely backwards compatible with the older operating system that has been installed on the normal fighter jets, making them useful after we transfer from the stealth fighters to our normal attack ships.

In silence I stare out in to the distant stars, they're like little sugar crystals dropped into black ink. After all the time I've spent out in space it still amazes me. One hundred thousand light years of stars are all clustered together to form our galaxy. The sheer size is nearly incomprehensible to imagine.

In the quiet it's hard to keep my mind off of things. As much as I'd like to just sit here and enjoy the stars, my thoughts can't seem to let things go. This is mostly because of the guilt that travels with the thoughts.

Richard was a mistake. I realize that now.

It was one that I made because I was angry at Leon and all the lonelier because he wasn't there to make me not angry at him.

But I had already taken things too far with Richard. Richard is kind and gentle and a wonderful man. I can't quite fault him for anything except...that he didn't tell me no when I kissed him for the first time.

But how exactly can I blame him for that? I knew for a fact that he was attracted to me and took advantage of it...of him.

And the question lingers...how can I ever tell Leon what I did?

It would...break him. I know it would.

I know how much he loves me, adores me even. I can still remember back to the Poseidon how I'd catch him every so often just admiring me from a distance. He'd always look away really quick and blush if I made eye contact with him.

I can't help but smile at those memories and the simplicity of them. At the same time, I can't help but feel the warmth of tears fill my eyes. I just wish I could go back and relive Leon's birthday all over again, just without the bad things.