When she opened the roof door, she saw the ship closing its door. Sotark was already inside and she could see the man that shot Rayzer.
He should be 25 years old. His skin was black and his dark hair in dreadlockswas tied back like a ponytail. His red jacket was long, passing the height of his knees. He was moving the handle on the sword on his back when the two exchanged glances. It was only a few seconds while the ship's door closed, however she felt an intensity in his brown eyes.
It was then that she noticed Pardalis' body lying on the ground. The ship took off away and the girl ran to her general.
She saw three holes in his chest, and realized he was already dead, with his eyes open in an expression of surprise.
The girl started crying with a confusion of feelings. Until everything turned black.
Funeral
Her next memory was waking up in the base infirmary.
The medical ward was more crowded than usual. Sitting next to her was Aiden, who looked very tired. He opened a faint smile when he saw her waking up.
She, on the other hand, wasn't happy to see Aiden at all.
Evelin tried to get out of bed in a hurry, yet her colleague stopped her.
“You need to rest more.”
“Listen here, kid!” Evelin spoke by putting her hand on his chest aggressively. “You were pathetic on the mission! And nothing matters because Pardalis died and I don't have time to talk to you.”
She left the infirmary, following the windows that led to the hallway, where she could curious people trying to find out what happened.
“Yes, he died.”Aiden continued, accompanying her.“Itis a tragedy, but you still need to rest.”
The girl didn't hold back her anger and yelled at Aiden.
“Are you stupid? He died without having fulfilled his destiny! This should be impossible, even done by a chaotic! Now leave me alone!”
Aiden stopped and saw her walking in the direction of the elevator. She was furious and needed to understand what was going on. Even when her friends showed up in the hallway asking how she was, she was evasive and got in the elevator alone, going to the top floor.
The control bridge was without any guards at the door and she entered unceremoniously. There she saw Marshal Laserfield sitting in his chair with no spirit as the other people worked on their computers with much excitement.
“What was that, Laserfield?”
The marshal had not seen her coming in and tried to regain his posture, but his tired eyes showed that he was shaken.
“Miss Simeht, I'm busy with the funeral at the moment. Can we talk later?”
“We're going to talk now!” She replied regardless of the consequences.“Pardalis died without becoming marshal! His fate hasn't been completed; how do you explain it to me?”
The marshal looked at everyone in the room, who were too busy with their work to hear them. Still, he pulled her aside.
“Officially he will have a funeral as marshal. The world will know that he died having reached his destiny.”
“That's a lie! Fates must be fulfilled during a person's life, you know this! How did a chaotic stop it? It was supposed to be impossible! Or are destinies themselves nonsense? If I go down now and shoot Aiden, will the chosen one die before he saves the world?”
“Of course not, Evelin. There's no way to stop someone's fate, no matter what they do, nor the chaotic should be able to do it.”
“But he did! I saw that man. He clearly killed Pardalis.”
“Listen to me, Evelin.” Said the marshal, not knowing how to get out of this situation. “I'm having to explain myself to General Sorom, to Pharaoh Tess, and even to the politician Garreth. Journalists don't get off my back, with Rinna being especially complicated and I have no answer for any of them. Now, please, Evelin, go take care of your problems because I already have too much here.”
The girl wasn't satisfied but realized she couldn't get more information from him and then remembered one more thing to worry about.
She ran back to the infirmary floor. Aiden was still there; however, the girl passed straight and went to the head nurse.
“What about Dom?” She asked worried. “Is he alive?”
The woman looked with a heavy expression. She took her to a remote room, where emergency surgeries took place and then began to speak.
“He survived, but he is in critical condition. Captain Rayzer passed away on the spot, Dom still has a chance, let's hope for the best.”
The girl lost her strength and fell to the ground. Her mind was exploding, and she felt inside a hurricane. She walked staggering to her room, lay down on her bed and began to cry.
She didn't know how long it's been, she wasn't sure if she ended up sleeping, or just cried all the time, until she heard Laserfield's voice on the base communicators.
“Tomorrow, as soon as the sun rises it will be the funeral of Marshal Pardalis and the others who lost their lives during yesterday's mission. Presence is mandatory.”
...
The funeral was full of military personnel. The marshal made some speech that Evelin couldn't pay attention to. In front of everyone was a transparent sign on the ground written "Marshal Roy Pardalis". Other new tombstones surrounded the sign: that of Captain Omara Rayzer, a pair of men killed by Golbert and another member of the air battalion that was shot down by the red ship.
Next to the marshal was General Sorom, with his stern expression. The general gave a great speech praising the fate of people and stating that everyone should respect the God-Computer.
Next to Evelin was Aiden. They haven't talked since the event and he seemed upset, however she had her own crisis to deal with.
After shots were fired into the sky, the soldiers returned to their to-do. Evelin and Aiden saw suitcases at the
