A New Divide
Ascension

Legate Ivan Lennin-Surface of Minerva-

Ivan quickly received a genome shot, and soon the agonizing state he found himself in ceased to be. He tried to remain alerted to his surroundings, as the medics were doing what they could to stop the bleeding. But Arcoh himself had a far different agenda than worrying about his newly disfigured military commander.

Arcoh’s transport had flown onto a large plateau outside the smoldering remains where Rayden One had collided with the earth. The airship stopped near a colossal bunker beneath the ground whose blast doors contained a hangar capable of housing an entire fleet of ships, and Arcoh had used this to his full advantage.

Ivan moved slowly to the exit of the airship and looked over at Arcoh, who had summoned one of his generals over to him.

“I want you to trace the source of the gravity tug! Find out who that bastard was, and retrieve Mr. King immediately!”

“We have traced them, Your Eminence. There is a fleet of Remoran warships seventy thousand kilometers between Rayden and us.”

Arcoh looked at his general in disbelief and began to laugh hysterically.

“Ha! We’re under attack by monks! Those recluses?”

The Remorans were the first colonists to arrive in Eden. Their culture and society were shrouded in mystery; so when Arcoh learned that they had amassed an entire fleet, he could do nothing but scoff and think little of them. However, they were not at all what they seemed.

“Seriously though? The Remorans?”

“Yes, Eminence, well not entirely. They are the protectorate fleet that lives on moons of Remora. Led by a seasoned commander formerly belonging to the GDR.”

“I don’t care who they are, where they are from, or what their intentions are. They are disrupting the kingdom’s operations, and they must be dealt with accordingly! I brought you in for a reason. Take care of it!”

“Sire, their firepower is like nothing I have ever seen before. With our numbers, we cannot stand against them. We need to think of an exit strategy.”

Ivan then broke his silence, infuriated at the decision Arcoh had made. “You sent away 90 percent of our fleet! I warned you of a counterattack, sir.”

“And I warned you about not having a light shield, Ivan! Now, look at you, bleeding over the robes that I have bestowed upon you.”

The general shook Arcoh as he stared up into the blackened sky where the Remoran fleet could barely be spotted through the thick layer of clouds. He gazed on angrily at the massive warships that were raining down artillery on the Salaran-occupied planet.

“Your Eminence, we have nowhere near enough firepower or men to outstand a full-scale invasion. We could stay, sir, and fight, and I would gladly stand by your side in the Hammer.”

Arcoh, being the coward he was had already made his decision. “No, tell the captain of the Hammer to charge shields at 100 percent. We are going to break through their blockade.”

My ears were ringing, and I was still hardly able to walk. My time spent in the suspension cell had significantly affected my motor skills. As a result, I initially found it difficult to perform even the most basic of movements; it was a strange sensation, to say the least.

We were moving so quickly, the surface of Minerva passed by us in mere seconds. Before I realized it, we had entered a chamber aboard a Remoran star carrier. Virgil quickly wanted to head towards the bridge, but before he could, I dropped to my knees and vomited all over the floor. As I coughed up the little food I had in my stomach, he ran over to me and helped me to my feet. “Yeah, I probably should have warned you. Grav tugs take some getting used to, let it all out, kid.”

I coughed and gagged the rest out of my system, and I started to notice my surroundings. I was kneeling over a glimmering panel with a transparent bottom. We were in the gravity room where troops would be directly extracted from the surface in dire situations. The ceiling of the room coated with a silky material that glowed with a strange incandescent light that was fading away, the tractor beam generator.

“What is this place? Where are you taking me,” I asked?

“We’re aboard the Alexandria. The first starcarrier of her kind.”

“You’re with the GDR?”

“No, all of Eden stood idly by and watched in horror as the Salarans purged the Raydenites of life. But there was one man who has been waiting for an excuse to stand against Arcoh the Eminent.”

“Just one man?”

I slung my arm around his shoulder, and he nodded ahead of us.

“Heh, well more than one. He wants to see you right away, so let’s not keep him waiting.”

We had walked out of the room and into a wide white hallway. It was a vast ship filled with a very soothing ambiance. Strange as it might sound, it was like a relaxing mood was surging all throughout the carrier. Purple and red lighting covered the bridge just ahead, as white and green light surged through the hallways. The ship was very sleek and almost alien looking; it was quite a change from Rayden’s industrial atmosphere.

Even Arcoh’s crusader Armada had a very dark and industrial feeling to their quarters and ships. This ship was truly a work of art, truly beautiful, and deadly at the same time.

“I see the Remoran insignia all over the place.”

“Collin King, you’re so attentive to detail. This fleet belongs to those who protect and guard Remora against outsiders.”

“A fleet from the moons?”

“Just like your Raydenites. I imagine you’ll get along with them just fine, kid.”

Virgil rushed down the vibrant hallway helping me along the way before we reached a door and walked straight through it—that led us to the bridge. It was almost like the door was an optical illusion.

We phased through the transparent door and entered a large room that contained many soldiers dressed in white and blue jumpsuits. Many of them were sitting idly at their stations quickly relaying orders and typing in commands on their holoscreen displays. In the front of the room below the main section of the bridge stood a large holographic spherical projection. This “Command Sphere” contained the placement of all the Remoran fleet ships on both Rayden and Minerva.

I saw a man with dark green combat armor, wearing four gold stars on his shoulder plates, standing at the helm of this sphere. He was very calmly giving commands to the officers around him while consistently referring to the sphere. Before I could ask Virgil who the man was, a woman dressed in a blue officer’s uniform quickly inquired the nature of my presence. “Captain Virgil! Why is Collin King on my bridge? He needs to be brought to the sickbay immediately.”

“Admiral, my orders were to take him to the Good Commander immediately after we completed the ex-fil op.”

“Look! He has vomit all over this weird jumpsuit he’s got on. Do you need a better reason? You want to carry this kid around, letting him weigh you down?”

I have to admit I did not think much of Fleet Admiral Victoria Andrews the first time I laid my eyes on her. I looked at her as I used to look at all women. With her long red hair, her gleaming blue eyes, and a body so toned and sculpted, I had a hard time believing that this precious flower could control anything; but I would soon learn that she was no precious flower.

Victoria Andrews had a fiery personality and an explosive temper. I still say she always plays hard to get. By that, I meant that she was the kind of woman that would beat the hell out of a man four times her size for thinking he could get a piece of that “sweet ass.” Yeah, she was certainly scary. She was a natural born leader, and after I had tried to hit on her, I began to think twice about my respect towards women, especially Remoran women.

I had pushed Virgil away from me, and my legs shook with instability. I tried to prove to the lady admiral that I was most certainly capable of standing on my own two feet. It was my pride that drove me because it was all I had left.

“Who says he has to carry me anywhere, sweetheart?”

“Don’t fool yourself, you idiot. You’ll collapse at any minute. Now, why don’t you take yourself to the infirmary before you fall on my clean floor? This is a place for commanders and soldiers, not gravball punks.”

I stepped forward and shouted at her angrily.

“Listen here, sweetheart, I don’t know who the hell you think you are! But—”

She had no tolerance for being talked back at and immediately punched me in the face sending me flying back onto the floor, and I laughed as I wiped the blood from my mouth.

“Damn, beautiful and packs a punch. I bet you’re quite a handful in the bedroom.”

She lunged towards me and knocked me to the ground; she then mounted me and pressed her forearm up against my throat. “You listen here, dipshit! If we are going to have the displeasure of your company throughout our expedition, you need to know one thing about me. I have zero tolerance for men too immature to take orders from a woman.”

I smiled at her with blood-covered teeth. She didn’t understand that I hated authority, I always have and I always will, so came to my decision to treat her as an equal rather than a superior.

“Hit me again. I get off on that sort of thing.” She punched me, and Virgil restrained her as the crew around me giggled. Then the man in the green combat armor stepped forward and outstretched his hand to me. I accepted his gesture, and he helped me to my feet as Virgil caught me, shouting out to the crew of the bridge. “All right, y’all, show’s over. Back to your stations.”

“Mr. King, you would do well not to upset Fleet Admiral Andrews here. She has slight temperament problems.” I blew a kiss to her as she shook her head. She forcibly made her way down the stairs of the bridge, pushing others out of her way simply with her brooding presence, and made her way back to the command sphere.

Normally with my smartass attitude, I would have said something clever to this man; but a strange feeling of propriety and respect came over me. I think that I was more curious than anything.

“I should thank you for saving my life, mister?” He smiled at me with a look of appreciation. “Commander Mark Wyman, the supreme commanding officer of the Remoran expeditionary unit. And the lovely lady you just met is my second in command, fleet admiral Victoria Andrews.”

Victoria looked to me over from the command sphere and shouted to me.

“That’s ma’am, or Admiral Andrews to you, Collin!”

“Yes, sir!”

I sarcastically saluted the lady admiral as she glared at me from below and continued to observe the command sphere. “Collin, my admiral, raises a good point—you should go to the sick bay immediately. God only knows what they have put you through.”

My smiled ceased, and my mood evolved. That moment may have been the one chance I could have gotten closure for the atrocities Arcoh committed against my people. I wanted to see them destroy Arcoh and his crusade with my own eyes so I responded respectively to Commander Wyman in the hopes that he would understand my pain.

“Commander Wyman, please understand, I have to see this.”

Mark turned to Virgil, and after a short silence between them Virgil spoke out in defense for me. “The kid has been witness to the unimaginable horrors that the Crusaders force upon their captives. That being said, he could provide some valuable insight on the enemy’s position, and the tactics they plan on using against us.”

Mark was a very noble man, in fact, they call him the Good Commander; he earned this name by the fierce loyalty the entire Remoran Protectorate holds for him, the greatest leader of our time. He had dark skin, looked forty years of age, but he took the genome over five hundred years ago, from this came his wisdom. He stood tall with clean posture. It was a stance that truly spoke to his character.

I rarely took a liking to people I had met in a few moments but something about him stood out to me, and I felt obliged. “Very well, Mr. King, join us at the Command Sphere.” Admiral Victoria spoke out as we walked around the circular platform of the bridge down the spiral steps. “Sir, this is ludicrous.”

“Admiral, ordinary people, avoid risks, and extraordinary people use them to their advantage.”

Mark placed his hand on the spherical projection and rotated the display using his hand. He selected Minerva and zoomed in on the extraction point using his fingers. “Where is the research and development facility you were being held at?”

Virgil stepped up and pointed towards the large octagonal building; it, along with its yard, covered more area than almost every other structure other than the planet’s main starport. “Right here, sir.”

“Okay, we’ll send three companies of men, two to clear the perimeter and one to breach. All while we provide sufficient cover fire from here.”

I gave my input to them as the plan was about to be set in motion.

“We don’t have time for that. Arcoh will plan his escape at any second.”

Mark’s eyes opened wide and slowly turned towards Virgil, and Victoria placed her hand on my shoulder. She seemed shocked at what I had just revealed to them. Apparently, they had no idea. “Arcoh is here?” I looked towards Victoria and nodded.

“Yes, and if we don’t do something he will escape.”

“Captain Virgil? Why wasn’t I aware of this vital intel?”

“My apologies, Commander. Arcoh is very hard to get close to; I was unaware until he took the bag off Collin’s head.”

I referred to the command sphere, and I pointed towards the giant open bay doors in the research facility’s concrete yard.

“See those? That’s where all of the remaining ships are about fifty kilometers underground. I would fire everything you have down that rabbit hole.”

Mark nodded to me and began to head back up the stairs to the command center. “All right, battle stations, everyone! We might be able to end this war today. Captain Horace, send relay coordinates of this facility to the fleet and rain down hell on it. Tell our forces on the ground to divide and conquer the remaining crusader territories and to stay far away from the research facility.”

{>-Legate Ivan Lennin-<}

-Below Minerva’s Surface-

Arcoh had entered the bridge of the Hammer, and he was becoming anxious for a quick escape. His soldiers were standing at the helm steadily busy at their stations, abiding by his every command.

“Your Grace! We are ready for launch.” Arcoh flung his cape over his shoulder and took his seat on the throne. He tapped his left hand on the arm of the throne and stared at the giant golden grandfather clock in front of him.

“Sir?”

“Set the clock for 1,500 seconds for the light jump.”

The captain of the Hammer looked back at Arcoh concerned with his decision. “That puts us only three kilometers out of Minerva’s exosphere. It could completely destroy the ship, sir.”

“Do not question your king, Captain. Set the clock.”

The Remoran fleet began its barrage of the facility. Arcoh and his men felt the force of thousands of artillery shells raining down from the sky. Their immense intensity rocked the Hammer and began to decimate the hangar as they poured in. The captain of the Hammer then shouted over the intercom.

“Incoming! Brace for impact!”

The artillery shells continued to collide with the Hammer’s armor, bouncing off its mighty hull, onto the other crusader ships—ripping them to pieces. “Their weapons are powerful, sir! We need shields now!”

Arcoh adjusted his seat on the throne and began giving commands with a calm and collected manner.

“Get us out of this hangar now, Captain. Divert half of our engine power to our shields. I want them at 500 percent.”

The Hammer began its ascent through the hangar bay. It rose through immense amounts of artillery fire and protected the remaining ships that followed behind it. “Shields are at 500 percent, Your Grace.”

“They won’t last, sir! The computer says that our armor will only last twenty seconds after the light shields lose their integrity.”

“Victory favors the bold, Captain, Do it.”

We gazed through the magnifying windshield of the bridge at the triumphant rise of the Hammer, pushing through the relentless barrage of three hundred Remoran starships. Victoria looked towards Mark with concern, and she began to pace around the upper deck of the bridge, gazing out at the windshield below. “All right, ladies! We need to focus all of our fire on that ship! We are going to bring him down today!”

I urged Virgil to carry me down to the lower deck of the bridge to the widespread windshield of the Remoran flagship. He willingly helped me down the stairs and past the command sphere to the windshield of the bridge overlooking the star carrier’s very sleek hull and the outer atmosphere of Minerva. It was there that I, along with the entire Remoran fleet, would witness the true purpose of the Hammer, Arcoh’s mobile palace. I then spoke out to Commander Wyman, who made his way down the stairs to us.

“Commander! Do you have anything stronger than artillery?”

“Nothing that won’t put our soldiers at risk, Collin. We must wait until the ship breaks the exosphere.”

{>-Legate Ivan Lennin-<}

-Minerva’s Stratosphere-

The Hammer began slowing its descent as it broke through the dark and furious storm clouds. “Your Eminence! The Hammer is slowing down! The fleets’ firepower is preventing our ascent! We are not going to make the light jump!”

Ivan watched as Arcoh tapped his hand on the throne trying to contemplate a way to make it out of the fire alive with his remaining forces.

“Divert all power to rear thrusters. Once we breach the exosphere, redirect the power back to the shields. We are going to glide to our mark, gentlemen.”

The Hammer then shot through the clouds—rocking and shaking almost uncontrollably—as the artillery collided against the ship’s extremely fortified armor. Hulls began to breach, and segments of the Hammer began to fall to the earth. Metal and iron began raining down upon the surface of Minerva. The soldiers grasped onto their stations, as the Hammer made its rise past the exosphere. Arcoh shouted over the noise of constantly impacting artillery to his captain.

“Shields now, Captain!”

The shields came back online, and the artillery began to bounce away from the smoldering Hammer. The Remoran fleet showed no remorse as their mighty fleet started dumping entire payloads of missiles, rockets, gunfire, and artillery at the smoking bulk of the Hammer. They brought out their big guns—far too dangerous to unleash near the earth—enough to tear a planet asunder.

The soldiers on the elegant and decorated bridge of the Hammer looked on as the swarm of firepower was nearing them. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Umm, sir?”

“FIRE EVERYTHING! GO!”

The Hammer’s surface lit up in a marvelous display of light as almost every remaining orifice on the ship began releasing their salvos to combat the incoming swarm of artillery. Missiles, artillery, and gunfire collided with the tidal wave of weaponry that approached them.

The victorious soldiers on the Rayden and Minerva gazed up at the incredible display of firepower. General Wright looked on at what he called a firestorm in the sky.

I jumped up at the glass, and it was extremely hard to tell what was happening due to the massive cloud that was forming by the millions of impacting units. Explosions halted in place by the Hammer’s incredible firepower. The cloud began to clear, and we saw that the Hammer had disappeared in the smoke. Arcoh had made the light jump, and due to the incredible speed at which they were now traveling, there was no possible way to catch them before they entered Salaran space.

Victoria looked on in fury and slammed her fists down on the railing above the lower deck of the bridge, where we gazed on at the incredible spectacle that had unfolded.

“No! The coward son of a bitch!”

I stared into the shallow depths of space. I was distraught at the fact that the monster had escaped. Virgil placed his hands on my shoulder expressing the disappointment we all had felt.

“There are only so many more places where he can hide, kid.”

The captain of the ship ran up to Mark with a cheery disposition.

“Sir! Our forces report a sector-wide surrender of the remaining crusader fleet scattered across the two planets.”

Mark laughed, relieved at last along with the other soldiers on the bridge. He saw how angry and consumed I was, and I suppose out of compassion he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Come, Collin. There is something I want to show you.”

“Hope you don’t mind lending me a shoulder to lean on. I can’t stand right now.”

“No problem at all, my new friend. Here, let me lend you that shoulder.”

I slung my arm over Mark’s shoulders as I had with Virgil and he began to lead me up the stairs past the crew of the bridge. They were scurrying to attend with the battle-damage assessments. We made our way through the bridge and down the white corridor. The corridor winded around in an elongated quarter circle. I looked at the many soldiers dressed in white as they scurried around the halls saluting Mark as we passed them.

“Why are you here? Remorans haven’t been seen in half a millennia. Why now?”

He was puzzled by my question; perhaps he had expected gratitude for putting such a swift end to the Crusaders’ campaign. “We are to embark on a great expedition here very shortly, Collin, and we decided to make these worlds our first stop.”

“You plan on liberating Eden?”

“Not exactly, Mr. King, we strive to change Eden, and its people.”

“A savior for the human race? Is that how you see yourself?”

Mark laughed as we had reached the elevator. He pressed the button, and the horizontal doors spread open. “No, not at all. We are only here to guide Eden in the right direction, for these people have become lost, Collin. As for its savior, well, that is what we had rescued you for, my friend.”

We entered the elevator, and Command Wyman spoke his desired destination. He relayed his command to the carrier’s computer ALI (Autonomic Logical Intelligence).

“ALI, bring us to the observation deck.”

“Yes, Commander.”

The elevator began to rise through the ship quickly, and shades of white and green light suddenly flashed over our bodies. During our ascent through the carrier’s hull, I could not help but think about what Mark had said. I mean, being the savior of humanity did not exactly appeal to me. Believe me, I loved praise and adoration as much as the next, but as a protector, or a leader, it seemed like too heavy of a burden to bear. Not just that though, all I truly wanted at that moment was for things to return to the way that they were before. I did not care how impossible of a request it was.

“Commander, I am no savior. I don’t even know who I am.”

Mark looked towards me, concern filled his consciousness, and he spoke words of wisdom to me when the elevator came to a halt. “We never truly know ourselves until fate tests us. It’s that moment we can never predict, it’s the choice that presents itself to us—and when you took Virgil’s hand, you were eager to know more. The question you must ask yourself is, how far are you willing to go to learn where your origins lie?”

The elevator doors opened to a square observatory room at the very peak of the ship. The walls around the room began to descend into the hull, and my jaw dropped as I was overwhelmed by what lay before me. Glass surrounded the entire perimeter. I could see the GDR core worlds as well as the Outlander worlds.

I gazed on in amazement at the great Celerian Nebula that coated the entire sky. I had always seen the great nebula from the surface of Minerva, but I was only able to see but a portion of this piece of artwork created by the magnificent wonders of the universe. I had never seen it in this clarity. It was a backdrop for all of Eden, though it was seen most clearly in the Outlander worlds and the Kingdom of Salaras.

Off past my smoldering home world of Minerva, a bright and robust object illuminated the sky. It was a shining star lying in the middle of the nebula. I jumped as Mark activated his transmitter.

“Admiral Andrews, power down the gravity weapon and pull back the clouds; we’re heading home.”

The bright light began to cease. I looked closer and saw that it was a giant cylinder, but it moved almost like it was alive. Seven colossal half-planet-sized wings swirled around it; it almost looked like an angelic octopus in the sky. The wings were like tentacles reaching out into space. I did not see them at first because they were emitting a beautiful rainbow of light, blending in with the planetary nebula. Upon closer observation, I noticed that a large harness around the core of this strange object. The harness contained many thrusters and even a half-light reactor at its stern.

I thought if this weapon could indeed manipulate the atmosphere of an entire planet, then these Remorans were capable of things far beyond the reach of any human in Eden. Unless of course it was not made by people, so I had to ask the Good Commander.

“What the hell is that thing?”

“We call it the gravity weapon.”

“What? What in the world is it?”

“Whatever it is, we only know the basic operations of it, even after five hundred years of study. We found it in the depths of the Remoran oceans.”

“It’s a weapon?”

“Not necessarily. It’s a tool. It uses its giant wings to utilize the hidden dark energy that holds this universe together. Its capabilities are, unequivocally, boundless. In this instance, we used this alien artifact to create an interplanetary storm.”

“Wow . . .”

“It’s quite a sight to behold, isn’t it?”

I tried to comprehend the power of this artifact. I wish I would have had more time to bask in its glory, but then Commander Wyman’s transmitter alerted us. “Commander Wyman, sir? General Zachary Wright has boarded the ship, and he requests your presence.”

“Copy that. Well, Collin, shall we?”

We made our way back to the elevator and into the carrier’s main hallway. General Wright awaited Commander Wyman on the bridge. He was shocked, to say the least when he saw me with Commander Wyman. I was glad to see I was not the only one who had made it out of Rayden One before it fell to the earth.

“Collin, you’re alive?”

“Mr. Wright!”

I saw after he made his way up the ramp that he was in a hovering wheelchair. He had lost both of his legs. Apparently, his departure from Rayden One went horribly wrong; he was one of the few survivors from the drop ship they picked up back in the hangar. Nonetheless, he was ecstatic to see not just a fellow Outlander, but a Raydenite. We had learned that Minerva had suffered the greatest losses of any world, and Remorans predicted that only less than 5 percent of its former citizens were still alive. I ran up to Zach, and he proceeded to shake my hand. “I’m glad to see at least one of us escaped the capital in one piece. It’s good to see you alive and well. What about your teammate Mickey?”

My smile faded as I remembered how Arcoh had murdered him in cold blood right before my eyes. I shook my head in disappointment.

“What about the president, or the cabinet?”

He gave me the same look as we had both realized how much we had lost over this month’s devastating events. Mark stepped up and shook Zachary’s hand in an attempt to break our somewhat somber reunion.

“What will you do now, General?”

“Well, it won’t be ‘General’ for much longer. The survivors of our race are to appoint me as their leader. Seeing as I am the last remaining cabinet member, and I wouldn’t be much use on the battlefield without my legs.”

Zachary looked up towards Mark and cracked a smile.

“Commander Wyman, on behalf of our people I would like to extend my eternal gratitude for what you Remorans have done for us on this day.”

“Peace and equality should belong to all, my fellow comrade.”

Zach nodded his head, and he diverted his eyes over to me.

“Well, I must attend to my people. We have a lot of rebuilding to do.”

Mark placed his hand on Zachary’s shoulder and showed his compassionate nature. “We will help you in due time; I give you my word.”

Zach responded as he continued to stare at me with his constant smile. I always wondered why he was able to smile all the damn time. “I have already told your lady admiral many times, but you have forged an alliance whether you accept us or not. We will always be ready to assist you in any endeavors you decide to partake in.”

Mark smiled as he made his way towards the command center with General Wright, but the general moved towards me in his chair as Mark passed by him.

“Oh. Hey, Collin!”

Wright approached me and reached into his pocket.

“I may never get another chance to do this.” He pulled out a set of first edition gravball cards and handed a pen to me. I smiled at the irony of this gesture, for the first time in a long while I felt a great comfort in my heart. “Could you do me the honor, Mr. Iceman? The greatest player the Rayden Comets have ever seen.”

“Of course, Zach.”

I signed the cards and handed them back to Zach. We felt a mutual relief between us. Even though Arcoh had not been captured on this day, at least that little moment gave me the closure I needed to try and put it behind me. “Our people will be happy to know that you’re alive, Collin.”

“Give them my regards, General.”

“I shall, and hey, if you ever feel like going back to gravball we could sure use you. Rayden will always be your home, Collin, and you know we will always treat you like family.”

His offer was tempting, and telling the truth, I probably would have happily considered it, had I not been so curious to travel to Remora. I felt a strange sense of wonder in myself and these Remorans, so I declined.

“In due time I might take you up on that, General, but for now I need time away from all that has happened here.” We stood in silence for a minute basking in the moment of closure I felt we had both gained, and then Zachary saluted me.

“Long live Rayden!”

A single tear streamed down my face as I repeated his gesture and spoke from my heart.

“Long live Rayden. And never forget—some things are always worth fighting for.”

“Wise words from a great man. Good luck, Mr. King.”

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