Tessa Eligah
Tessa stood silently in her father’s office, the images she had just witnessed still reeling like a movie in the theater of her mind.
She had been present during Arther’s confrontation with her father, the fury in his voice as he scolded Arther for his naïve understanding brought back the side of her father she rarely saw.
The stern general, the no-nonsense commander, clashed with the image of the father that grew her, never close but never too far to hold her hand when the need arose.
From the sheer exhaustion her father had displayed after mere words, she knew the time they still shared was growing shorter by the hour.
It was something that made her heart heavy and held down her mood, but there was something that haunted her more; it was what she saw on the security monitors a brief while after said encounter.
It was them.
Silent beings moving with cold, mechanical precision, and uncanny coordination showing her the dark side of what Master Chief Scott had at his beck and call.
When she first asked for Uncle Sam's help, she had expected — no she didn’t know what to expect in the first place.
What she summoned was something far more complex, something far more dangerous than her lab experience could even begin to process.
Ethan had become the commander of an army of ghosts, silent machines that inhabited corpses, all driven by a singular purpose: the one he would determine.
Tessa realized that maybe she had unleashed something way over her head, a force wrapped in a technology able to erase everything in a silent endless swarm.
Ethan’s response to Arther, his rage, the controlled response with which he had used, left her with a weird respect for the man she had once only known as 'Uncle Sam'.
She saw a reflection of a previous version of her father, something in the depths of her memory back in her childhood, someone still romantic and driven by the desire to create something better rather than defending what was.
Master Chief Scott behaved as a man who had been through hell and had come out the other side willing to make decisions that most couldn’t even fathom.
She couldn’t help but wonder: could this be what they needed?
She was so concentrated in her inner world that she missed the entire initial part of Ethan and her father's conversation.
-Tessa, darling? You’re with us?-
Said her father calling her back to reality.
-Sorry yes! I’m here- She felt her cheeks becoming hotter, probably she was reddening.
-I just said we can’t ally ourselves with Master Chief Scott. What we can do is send you …-
-With all due respect, General, I don’t accept.-
A brief moment of chilling silence fell in the office, before her father, shrugging, leaned back on his chair.
-Care to share your reasoning, Master Chief Scott? It felt to me like you cared about having contact with fellow human beings.-
The lumbering amalgamation of machine and flesh that was Ethan chuckled a bit, shaking his weirdly shaped head in an all too natural human gesture.
-Yeah I did. What I wish is to be able to reconnect the dots of the past myself. To understand this present at my own pace.
However, the offer you give is to talk to none besides yourself, General Eligah. There’s even a catch in your offer, I would have to be vetted and approved even to have a fraction of your time.
While I’m led to chase your approval, I would have to provide you with all the means and knowledge needed to kill my companions, me, and all of these mechanical zombies that happen to answer my call.-
Ethan took a deep breath, his altered artificial voice sounding clear but conflicted through the translators as he proceeded.
-I get it, I really do. What I stumbled upon is a weapon of war and a vile one at that. One that, if aimed at you, would put you in the position of having to fire upon former friends and loved ones. The issue is that I already renounced life once, General Eligah. I don’t want to die willingly again. I trust Virgil’s ability to guide me in this world of technologies I can’t fully understand.-
-Would it be all, master chief?- Her father’s sharp blue eyes were fixed upon Etan’s form as he went back to a more formal position.
-No.- Was the sharp answer. -I also understand that politics holds back your hand. My time, if anything, was a mess of these shenanigans. - A deep breath taken by Ethan that, by all accounts of the enhancements he was subjected to, needed not to breathe at all.
- However imperfect, self-appeasing, and misguided it’s principle that guided my actions. I gave life and limbs fighting for freedom, I can’t stand for slavery. I can't remain in silence in front of the horrors of this planet. For the love of God, they got plenty of meat to hunt and yet consume their dead?! Give me a fucking break general! I can’t stand this mess! -
Ethan’s anger and conviction were palpable, and it left an impression on Tessa that she could not easily shake. She, however, fully understood it was a purely human view, what Ethan considered easy to hunt for most of the races that unwillingly inhabited Taboo were deadly predators.
Considering the level of power he had at his disposal there was probably something even the soldiers under her father’s banner would have serious trouble with.
-I see.- her father stated, with cold finality in his tone. -Will you keep in touch?- Ethan nodded. - So you may have a heads-up should I go rogue or insane. - He joked, but it wasn’t fully a joke.
Claye nodded without a smile on his face before announcing something that surprised her, chilling the blood in her veins.
-I may have a little insubordination problem to solve now. See, my daughter called for your help and had not sought my approval. You can’t be our partner, so, while she’s not a soldier, she still has to take responsibility for that. -
-Dad?!- She called out in surprise, trying to get his attention, but all she got was a silent gesture she fully knew meant trust me while looking to be a way to shut her up.
Ethan seemed to reflect, his head lowering as he brought instinctively the still human arm to touch the featureless plate that encased his head.
-Choosing an open battle was that bad of a screw-up?- He muttered, the cameras embedded on the plate pointing upward as a grin appeared on the thin lips of his father.
- That’s beside the point. I still need to punish insubordination. I would need time to send her off-planet. Ultimately it will be her choice. To be held in a cell here ‘till I get a couple of ships to escort her, or to go with you.-
-Not much of a choice if you ask me, but what do you say Miss Tessa?-
Tessa took a deep breath, her thoughts still swirling.
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She had spent her life around soldiers, especially her father, and she knew the weight of the decisions they made. This was something else entirely.
-Dad … no general- she began, her voice steady but with a hint of hesitation - I… I asked for his help because I believed we needed to even the odds we faced, we needed something that could turn the tide. Turn the tide he did, but… what I saw… the data from the scans it’s way more than I expected-
She paused, gathering her thoughts, the space within her chest tightening, her heart felt the heaviest yet.
-I’m not a soldier, and I don’t pretend to understand all the intricacies of war. But I can’t turn my back on the results of Kiëlpšâ. This is the next step of evolution in my field. I need to understand.
I need to see firsthand and learn how it can be used to help.-
She looked at Ethan, her eyes searching for some reassurance, but there was barely any reflection on the matte gray of the plate that encased his head.
-I’m choosing to go with you, Master Chief Scott.-
She turned back to her father, her expression resolute.
-I’ll return when I’ve learned what I need to. I will save you, Dad.-
-Nobody ever told you that the road to hell is paved with good intentions?-
Asked Ethan, but a gesture from her father stopped him from continuing.
Her father, Claye, gave her a long, hard look. - Return? To save me? Ye ‘ve learned to roam the sky far and wide my sparrow, it’s useless to continue to return to an old crumbling branch. If you go, either way, there’s no coming back this time. I’m overdue on my appointment with the ‘ld black damsel. She has to ferry me on yer mom’s side.-
The pressure in her chest only intensified, she knew the reason why he wanted to distance himself from her, but still, it was all the more reason to be as close to him as possible.
-Even if I have to walk through hell itself, I will save you at least.-
Claye shook his head, a sad smirk tensed his thin lips.
-Very well, Tessa- Claye said, his voice calm but firm. -Do what you must, I will make sure you always have a place to return besides the borders. You’re dismissed, I will talk with Master Chief Scott in private.-
Ethan gave her a brief nod, there was no expression to be read, for he had no face to begin with.
Ethan
The door of the office closes as the red-headed daughter of the general leaves. It may take a while before I can resolve all the notifications that Virgil is sending me, but this takes priority.
I need to address the shift in the general’s attitude.
-Sir…-
-Don’t sir me, you’re not under my command, Ethan.-
the general shut me down before I could even begin.-You take care of her, you hear me? Keep her safe.-
-With all due respect…- I try to argue, but again, I’m shut down by a glare.
-Ye’re a Navy SEAL, from the United States of America’s army, are you not?-
-I am.-
-You’re a father, are you not?-
-I… was.-
-Was? There’s no way. One’s nay born a father, but sure as hell as ye become one, you’re one for life, son. I will ask again, are ye a father?-
I chuckle internally.
For all I know, I’m somebody’s great-grandparent, with ‘great’ repeating an awkward number of times. Yet he calls me ‘son’ like he doesn’t care, but the point comes across. I get what the general is driving at.
-Yes, sir.-
-Then keep her safe. My sparrow keeps flying high and tends to forget where the ground is. Make sure she has a safe place to land.-
-I get there will be a counter-offensive after today. I can help.-
The general puffs, shaking his head in the negative. -Please, for the sake of all that’s holy, don’t.-
He leans back in the chair, eyes scanning the many monitors in the room that display the situation inside and outside.
He points at the drone zombies under my control, as they are cleaning up the last bodies from the street.
It’s a scene I can see and feel as clearly as if I were doing it myself.
Each of their actions, every move, and every sensation flows back to me through our shared connection.
-Yours is the kind of army that grows with the dead, is it not? I don’t want it to be overfed if I ever have to take it down a peg or two.-
I can’t argue with that. I simply let out a laugh, hoping it doesn’t sound too creepy or too sure of myself.
-I don’t want to face you, General Eligah- I say. It’s his turn to laugh.
-You’re a good soldier, Ethan. You should know it’s not about wants here. It’s about having to make a stand for what you represent. To say, ‘Here are my values’ true worth, in lead, spit, and blood.’ No one walks away from that. Not you, not me, and sure as hell not my daughter, for how much I’d wish to protect her from that. God forbid the time ever comes.-
-For how you put it, general Eligah, that’s part of one’s life. It doesn’t need to be a battle in the literal sense!-
I protest the grim outlook the conversation is taking.
-But should that come… should it eventually come down to it… if you ever find yourself standing against what’s left of humanity’s hope, remember this: it’s not up to you to say when it’s over.-
I remained silent, the weight of Claye's words settling in the air between us. I could feel the gravity of the general’s spoken fears—the fear that however well-intentioned, I could one day be the very thing that destroys everything.
It’s a fear I deeply share, yet I can’t let myself be guided by it.
-One of the members of my belt team had a passion for tarots, General.
I never once asked him to make me a spread, despite how stupidly good he was at it.
I didn’t want my future to be limited by what the cards could say.
In the same way, I don’t want to be limited by how you believe things will come down to be.
If one has to make a stand, let it be for ideals they believe in. Let it be on merit, with wits and words. Bullets are better left far away from the proving grounds. They stated their point long before the Stone Age.- I sigh.
-If it comes to it, if we ever find ourselves standing on opposite sides, then I hope we can both remember why we’re fighting and stop the mess together rather than unleash something we can’t contain.-
The general chuckles heartily before saying -Tessa is the best there is in the field. If anything, she’s the only one who can tell you straight how deep is the latrine you find yourself in. She’s got a head good enough to provide you with a containment field or two. She’ll be the one to figure it out, in case it’s needed.-
I nod and offer my back to the general as a signal the conversation is over, I’d like to plea for his help in finding the Xalaxion’s fate but it feels the wrong time all things considered.
As I move to leave, Claye’s voice stops me. -Ethan, one last thing.- I pause, turning back. -Yes, General?-
Claye’s eyes are on the security feeds and don’t leave the screens.
-Keep her away from that edge. She’s got too much of me in her, and I’ve spent a lifetime walking that line. She’s battling the Grim Reaper itself, and that’s a battle I don’t think should be fought, let alone won. Retribution’s enough of a result. I don’t want any more horrors to wander the quadrant.-
–This is the second time you speak of retribution like it’s a thing on its own. Care to explain, General?-
His face darkens slightly.
-Back during the war, when they started to understand they were losing for real, the aliens began glassing our planets. Of course, we responded in kind. Retribution is the result of that back-and-forth. It’s a sentient cloud. They say it’s made of souls, and it’s able to envelop an entire planet and cleanse it of any living being. From bacteria on up.
Weapons we use can’t harm it, though it does change course when we fire at it. It says it’s here to cleanse the galaxy of sins, but I believe it wants to remind everybody that total annihilation isn’t the way since it’s annihilation personified.-
I raise a virtual eyebrow at the information, not much I can do since I was just told there’s a sentient planet-eating cloud of …souls?
I’d pinch myself if I wasn’t pretty sure General Eligah is dead serious. Virgil, of course, checks the information as accurate according to the database, just to add insult to injury.
-Okay, given this context, I may have trouble understanding which edge I should keep her away from… I mean, souls? General… -
The general nods at my statement stopping and turning to look at me he continues interrupting me.
-Well, in the galaxy, there’s this non-scientific thing, and there’s many a genius scientist like Tessa. Human or otherwise. What do you think such scientists do in front of the inexplicable?-
-They try and explain it?- I hazard a guess, receiving a confirming nod for my incredibly short leap of faith in the obvious. - Still, I fail to see the link, my issue is far more explainable than souls I hope….- and again the old general hijacks the conversation from me
-The Ceti Trade Pact, the core of the Galactic Council if you recall, has financed the CTP Institute. It’s the most well-funded and advanced entity in the northern quadrant. It opened to solve such issues. Officially, that is.-
Virgil is kind enough to show me a visual replay of the virtual map of the galaxy I’d seen before, highlighting exactly the part of the expanse of stars the general’s talking about.
I’d had the chance to be involved with NASA back in the day—a couple of survival training sessions and a sea search-and-rescue drill in a pool where they could simulate Category 5 weather.
When talking to NASA personnel during breaks, all the planets felt so far away, all matters of space exploration spanning impossible distances.
Seeing this, highlighted in this futuristic manner, I can’t help but feel it’s dangerously close.
-I get the feeling you’re about to drag me into a big headache of a conversation, General Eligah.-
-Call me Claye.- He said grinning maliciously - I ain’t about to leave my precious daughter to the first unfrozen SEAL I get across. Not without a proper briefing.-
We talked way some more with the general to get a clearer picture outside of what we’ve already discussed.
Only when I get more intel do I leave, managing to sneak a plea for Lemela’s cause.
Things out there seem more complicated than in the most complex conflict areas where the Taliban, ISIS, and all those other trigger-happy fellas were involved.
I don’t feel like he told me everything he knows, but he gave me enough to avoid any newcomer’s blunders, if at all possible.