Kadance: Another Tale

32

Kadance is with her team, patched into Command and all Intel reports are also routed to them as well as their original location. Her team still has a low regard for legalities when it comes to her and now their families. This is the last battle, the war is almost over. Not a one of them can remove themselves from the room. They stand tense as they wait with baited breath as they receive reports.

This last world has been a joint effort of all the companies. All the last worlds have been. The shifters had been consolidating their forces in an effort to stop the humans from destroying them.

It didn't work.

"This sector is clear." The new commander of Beta reports. All the original or rather all members of Beta that had been on the Dayla fiasco, have since died and returned to Dayla. This is the second commander for Beta since Kellan fell in battle decades earlier.

"Alpha's sector is clear as well." The LC reports. Alpha commander was killed earlier in the fighting.

Charlie, Delta and the other companies all report the all clear. Any shifters that survive are too few to ever rebuild. They will likely starve to death or die of wounds long before they can make any kind of civilization again.

Finally all the companies have reported in save one. The one that is most important to Kadance and her team.

"Other than human, there are no sentient life form readings. All sectors are clear. I repeat, shifters are gone, there are no sentient reading other than human. It is over." Jax's voice comes over the  communicators. There is a slight lessening of tension and sighs of relief are heard, but Kadance and her husbands don't relax yet.

"Kadance, I know that you and the others are listening. I'm sorry, we did our best but Kellan and Terrance were killed. We tried our best to save them..." Jade's voice breaks as he gives this last message. They all can hear his tears as he's unable to hold back the sobs. Terrance was Kadance's grandson he has twins on the way with Jade's daughter.

Jayse pulls Kadance into him as Tommy pulls them both into his arms. This is hard on them all. They nearly lost Kellan before if Sareen hadn't interfered now they lost him during the last battle. He'd been so close to seeing the end of the war.

There isn't one person in that room that hasn't lost a great deal in the war. Even children as well as company members. They all take time to remember the fallen as they all grieve with Kadance, Jayse and Tommy. The loss of Kellan and Terrance is their loss as well.

Jade's mate goes to Kadance and they hold onto each other and just cry. Kelan has already given Terrance's mate a sedative and helped her to bed. Her sister is already at her side and her mother will join them as soon as she finishes her time with Kadance and her husbands.

The young that should be in the creche are there too. They all are aware of the war and what it might bring. They are far from lost as to what Jade's words mean. They too are crying, but silently. They loved Terrance and Kellan.

Maren wipes her tears away as she slips from the room. She's no good with giving comfort through words, but she fixes them food that shows her sympathy. 

All the others, although sad at the loss, are also rather guilty about being happy that their children and grandchildren are now safe. There will be no more fights. No more of the shifter menace, they will be allowed to grow in peace and perhaps never know war.

What they all refuse to think about is, if there is no more war, then what will the warriors that are close to redlining do to not go suicidal? There is no more fighting, how will they get rid of their anger? What do they have to look forward to now?

Tommy and the others haven't been able to find the information they've searched for, for years about Earth. Tommy hasn't ceased his looking, even into the most obscure and remote mentioning of anything from that time. All they've found is interesting notes on life and colonial life from there.

They've compiled the information to give to the civilians once the war finished, but nothing about Earth and where she lies.

Sareen waits for a couple of days before she appears this time. They are all at dinner this time with the exception of those still traveling back to Gaia.

"I am sorry, I know how much you all are hurting right now. There was nothing we could do to save Kellan or Terrance. I wish there had been."

Kadance merely nods her head. She believes Sareen. She and Dayla have helped them all greatly. If there had been anything that Dayla could have done she would have.

Sareen looks at Tommy, "You have done quite well, Information seeker. You have found a great deal of information that needed to be given back to the people. You have prepared it, you and the other information gatherers. That is good. But the information you seek was deliberately destroyed by your forebears so that none would ever go back to the hell Earth had become at that time. There had been a group, a rebellious bunch that didn't like how hard colonial life was compared to the ease of life on Earth. They had forgotten that life was even worse with the restrictions, laws and unending death. Food was far more scarce, epidemics spread like wildfire among the close packed people. Food was more pills than actual food since there was little room for it to be grown. The air was barely breathable, more pollutants than oxygen. Thousands died daily and it just wasn't enough.

"I don't know how wise the man was that destroyed the information, but it kept them from trying to return home. Shortly after that the wars among your people started and all thoughts about going back to Earth was forgotten. The more militant group that colonized the planet you call Camp was disgusted and after time they dealt with those that would destroy whole worlds. After that all records of life before was destroyed. They were too busy just trying to survive under the new rules the newly emerged people, Warriors, imposed on the rest.

"Give Sigma time to heal, but they are the ones to seek out Earth if any are. They will be the ones hardest shifting to a peace time life. They are the ones closest to the anger before going suicidal." Sareen smiles at them all then moves to Tommy and gives him a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you all for all you've done. Had you not sacrificed all the sentient beings in this sector of the universe would have eventually succumbed to the shifter menace. It would have taken them running into one of the other menaces that control other sectors of the universe to stop them, leaving this one without sentient life."

Sareen looks down sad. "It is no consolation knowing that their sacrifice saved countless others, I know that very well. Just know, Dayla and myself thank you and owe you more than we can ever repay you."

As she leaves once more the information she gives Tommy surfaces to his conscious and he gives an oath before running out of the room.

Jayse looks after him with a small smirk and Kadance with a fond look. He has the coordinates of Earth and he is the first. He will be content. They feel their loss ease as well and can tell the others do too. They will still grieve, but it won't be as painful as it was before. Now it is bearable.