To fight and prove himself was all he'd ever asked from life and the day offered the chances to him in droves. In part, he had his gesha to thank for that.
"You will die here!" the Fearless howled to him. "The ship will claim your life."
"Nothing is certain," Braen replied, taking the first steps in a charging run. "Only what we gain for ourselves with our own strength and blood. That is the Brion way."
The Fearless had no choice but to stand and fight. So there, overlooking the battle field and the departing fighters and dropships, they decided their fate and that of the galaxy along with it.
They clashed together, three swords and broken arms of the Fearless against the general and his spear.
I will not break, Braen thought with savage glee. And neither will my spear.
The ground beneath their feet turned red from blood as their weapons drained the life from each other. Braen caught the blows of the swords on the shaft of his spear, trying to strike back with the blade before the Fearless recovered.
It was like a trapped animal. The hatred that had fueled it through all its long life was raging now, every bit of the malice aimed at him.
There was no stopping, no mercy, no pause. Braen felt one of the shorter swords stab into his gut, a blow that should never have landed. The Fearless bellowed in delight, twisting the serrated blade in his chest.
The general felt it go through him like a hot knife through snow, but it gave him his chance at the same time. Grabbing a hold of the Fearless' hand with his, Braen refused to let go, knowing that if the short blade came out now, there was nothing to stop him from bleeding to death.#p#分页标题#e#
In surprise, the Fearless roared and the ship started to break inwards beneath their feet. Together, they lost their balance, but between the monster that didn't die and the warrior who had been prepared to meet his end in a violent way since birth, Braen kept a cooler head.
He stabbed the spear into the Fearless’ heart as they fell, sliding on the roof of the ship. The cover had come off from the lifestone in the shaft of his weapon. The white glow emanated from it, shining like a beacon of hope against the red light in the Fearless' furious eyes.
Braen's powerful muscles worked to their breaking point, keeping the spear inside as the enemy clawed at it with its free hands, dropping all the weapons but the one still in the general's chest.
He felt his muscles tearing, but that was nothing. It was all nothing now, so close to the end. All Braen knew was that the Fearless had to die before he did, for Naima's sake. For the sake of his child.
Her image came to him through blood and pain and the wild rocking of the ship. His gesha, his true heart, the love he was willing to die for. Her green eyes smiled at him as Braen tore through the Fearless' body with a mighty roar, cutting it almost in half and ripping his spear free.
"This is not the–" the Fearless gargled, the red of its eyes flickering, but he never finished that thought.
They crashed into a gun turret that stopped their fall into the engine. Braen's fingers around the Fearless' arm were so cramped he had to force them to let go and the enemy fell dead beside him, its eyes glassy.
Breathing heavily, certain that one of his lungs had collapsed, Braen propped himself up to sit against the turret, his vision blurring. He hadn't thought it would be like that. To die, not knowing if he'd succeeded.
To never see Naima again.
Her image was so clear before his eyes. The gorgeous body, her bright red hair with the white strand flowing around her like a wave. The general would have liked the image to smile, but there was a horrified expression on her beautiful face. Through smoke and fire, she came closer and closer until the realization nearly stopped Braen's heart.
She was actually there. His gesha, who he had worked so hard to save, was on top of the overloading plasma engine.
"No," he said, his voice coming out quieter than a whisper.
Naima had to slide the last part of the way, the ground rattling beneath her feet, catching a hold on the long gun so as not to fall into the ship. She knelt down beside him, her beautiful greens filled with tears and despair.
"Braen..." she whispered, "by gods, you – what did the Fearless do to you?"
"Run," Braen managed. "Run, Naima!"
"I will not leave you," she answered, pressing a kiss on his lips.
It hurt to do even something so gentle, but Braen answered it, if only to feel her soft lips against his one last time. He didn't even have the strength left to pull her into his arms now that he knew they would die there together.
"You have to trust me," Naima was saying. "Please, Braen, open the glove. Hurry!"
He could barely hear her, much less understand how she hoped to save them, but even at death's doorstep, he could never deny her anything. The general lifted his bloody arm to press his genetic signature to the glove on Naima's wrist. The slowly emanating lifestone revealed itself, glowing with quiet power.
"I don't know if this will work," Naima said, "but I couldn't leave you. I manage to slow down the plasma core’s destruction a little but I don’t understand Chali that well and the overrides aren’t exactly… Whatever. What I am trying to say is that I can't live without you. I love you and if I only get to love you for another minute, I'm glad I chose this.
Braen wanted to argue. He wanted to say he would have given everything to save her, but in that moment, it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered but the only thing he knew to be the truth.
"I love you, my heart," he said. "We shall go to the darkness together and I will find you and our child there."
Naima kissed him and the general felt her tears on his cheeks.
"We're not dead yet," she whispered then. "Can you get in the turret? Please, Braen, try for me. We have to move and I can't lift you."
The turret was nothing more than a small, cramped space for the shooter to sit in. Braen pulled himself up, shrugging off the remnants of his armor to make sure they both fit in there, but he couldn't believe it would be able to shield them from the engine blast.#p#分页标题#e#
The air was already hot around them as he more fell than climbed into the turret, pulling Naima in after him. She pulled the hatch above them closed.
It was so tight in there that she was sitting on his lap, right next to the sword still lodged in his chest. Braen hardly cared. All he wanted was to cradle her into his arms and hold her for all the time they were given. Naima rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hand around him and pressing the glove against the turret.
"Come what may," she said quietly as the world begun to shake. "Protect us, stone, this one last time."
Braen finally realized what Naima had in mind. He wanted to tell her it was a brilliant plan, but their time was up. He pulled her into his arms, the sweet scent of her hair overpowering even the stench of death around them and the small space around them was bathed in the blue light of his valor squares.
They gave themselves over to fate as the plasma engine exploded.
39
Naima
Time was gone, joining the rest of the world in nothingness.
Naima didn't know how much time had passed or if they were maybe in an afterlife that eerily resembled the one that came before it.
No. That's not it. We're alive.
She didn't even dare to move, out of fear that reality would break into pieces from that simple bit of motion, but then Braen's comm link came to life.
"General?" she could hear Kerven's shocked voice asking. "How are you still alive?"
They must have realized he was still alive because the Benevolent could scan for his signal. Finding it still there after the blast must have been a shock to the crew. Naima herself didn’t entirely buy that it was happening, even.
Her gerion didn't reply at once. His first move was to lift Naima's chin up to gently and kiss her, the most loving one they'd ever shared in the dark, cramped little piece of metal that had saved their lives.
Naima forgot about everything for a long moment, letting the comm link beep, waiting for orders and answers. She kissed the general, her dreams of the future gaining color again when they had all but faded after she saw Braen on the roof of the ship. Happiness, she learned, could taste a little like blood, but she wouldn't have denied herself sharing that moment with the general for anything.
Then, slowly and carefully, she pulled back her hand from the turret wall. Braen closed the glove off again and such relief washed over Naima that she'd never felt before.
The purpose of the tiny compartment was, among other things, to protect and shield the person manning it. She had hoped against all reason that the lifestone would work its magic one more time for them.
Here at last, Naima was willing to give the benefit of doubt to fate. For a second, she believed there was a force in the galaxy that had spared them.
She got up, pushing the hatch open and peeking out.
"Braen," she said, her mouth dropping open. "You won't believe this."
She climbed out and the general followed her, moving with carefulness that spoke of a great pain. Naima couldn't look at the sword poking out of his chest, but she knew how durable the Brions were. If the general hadn't called for aid as the first thing, he believed he would survive until it arrived.
It's still the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Right next to this one.