Neon lights, Nobel Prize

A leader speaks, that leader dies

You don't have to follow me

Only you can set me free

You gave me fortune

You gave me fame

You gave me power in your own God's name

I'm every person you need me to be

Oh, I'm the cult of personality

Living Colour - "Cult Of Personality"

“...but why won’t he let us go with you?” Taichist demanded.

Tango tried to not roll her eyes. It wasn’t easy. The kid wasn’t whining exactly...but it was getting damn close.

“Because he loves you, that’s why,” she explained. “He doesn’t want to see you get hurt.”

“You said your last mission was a piece of...pie?” Chechla chimed in, after a moment’s thought. “Surely my brother and I coming along wouldn’t be that large of a burden?”

“...a piece of cake,” Tango sighed. Even after all these years, there were still nuances the kids missed. “And just because the last mission was a breeze doesn’t mean the next one will be.”

“But you could talk to him, yes?” Taichist pressed. “You could get him to see our side.”

“Oh, I could talk to him all right,” she snorted, “but there is nothing I could say that would change his mind on this one.” Tango shook her head. The twins were being even more stubborn than usual. “You’ve got to understand why he’s so protective of you two, right?” she asked. “How many times have the three of you sat in front of your mother’s memorial stone?”

“Our mother’s death was a long time ago,” Chechla pointed out.

“...not to him,” she said softly. Tango looked at the two young Saurotaurs and sighed. “Have either of you ever talked with your father about his experiences during the wars?”

The twins looked at each other for a moment before shaking their heads. “He...does not like to speak of it,” Taichist said at last.

“Yeah...no kidding.” The human considered her options for a moment and then shrugged. “You want to know why he’s so protective of you? I’ll tell you why...on the condition you never tell your dad. I want your word on that.” She gave them both a stern look.

The pair nodded their heads. “We promise,” they said in unison.

Tango repressed a shudder. It was downright eerie when they did that. “Your father never wanted to be a soldier...hell, no Saurotaur had even held a weapon in ten millennia, not until the Khonhim came along,” she explained. “He got drafted, like thousands of others, and run through a Basic almost as short as yours...and then they threw him straight into combat.”

The twins listened with rapt attention as she recounted the tale. “He watched half his unit get mowed down in the first five minutes...that was on Uzaunx, where he got his first medal.” She turned to Taichist. “The same one he gave to you.” The lad nodded as she continued. “He distinguished himself though...Lin used to tell me that story, God rest his soul,” she said, as the twins bowed their heads. “Your father single-handedly took out an Anti-Air platform that was knocking friendly shuttles out of the sky. He saved hundreds of lives that day...maybe more.”

She smiled and shook her head. “It wasn’t until later that we met...and truth be told, I barely noticed him. Just another Saurotaur grunt, and given the odds, he’d be dead in a week. That’s how bad it was.” She chuckled at that. “But he’s tougher than he looks, your dad. When the Navy got chased out of the system, they bombarded his unit from orbit.” Tango sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. “It was a goddamn bloodbath. Less than one in ten survived. Your father dragged Lin for kilometers across the blasted landscape until the ropes he’d fashioned cut into his flesh, until he was delirious with dehydration. But he never stopped moving, not until help arrived.”

The children’s eyes grew wider as they pictured the scene, but she wasn’t done with them yet. “He got shot twice on Zaaronq...by the Dhyaksh Jiyazh Ghuuyaz himself...and yet he spared his life, even though he had him in his sights. Doing that ended the war.” Tango shrugged. “The next one though...that was what shattered him. Lin died saving his life, on Ghakh. He’d snuck away from your mother without saying goodbye, afraid she’d disapprove of his latest mad scheme...and they never spoke again. They never got the chance. Chugaz Uydan’s forces blew up your mom’s ship with all hands, and he still blames himself for that.” She sighed and said quietly, “He couldn’t even bury her.”

One could have heard a pin drop, as Tango got a faraway look in her eyes. “After that...I think he wanted to die. His last Op...calling it a Suicide Mission would be charitable. I should know, seeing how I was right there with him. We gunned our way through the flagship, searching for the man responsible for your mother’s death...only to have him slip through our fingers.” She shook her head. “We almost lost your dad right there. I dragged him into an escape pod after his suit breached, pumped him full of drugs and shocked his heart a dozen times before he came back.” She sighed once more and looked back at the twins. “And even now...I’m not sure he’s ever forgiven me for not just letting him die.”

The kids could only stare at her, in stunned silence. “So you just think about that. Think about what all that does to someone, especially someone who’s as gentle a soul as your father.” Tango smiled at them, but it was bittersweet. “He loves you both more than anything. But he’s also been through hell...and the very last thing he wants is for either of you to ever experience what he did.”

The trio sat in silence as they considered that until Taichist spoke up. “Thank you for telling us this, Tango,” he said at last. “But...may I ask you a question?”

“Certainly,” she said.

The twins shared another look. She’d never seen actual telepathy in her life, but these two came awful close. “The Tetrarchy...we are all in grave danger, are we not?”

“...yeah...we are,” she agreed. “As bad as I’ve ever seen.”

Chechla picked up the thread without missing a beat. “Then...is it not the duty of every one of us to do all we can, to save what we can?” she asked. “My brother and I have no desire to cause our father any more pain...but neither can we stand by and let others carry the burden. It would be…wrong.”

Tango groaned and cast her eyes heavenward. “Lord, give me strength,” she muttered, before glancing over at Taichist. “I don’t need to ask if you agree with your sister, do I?”

“No, you do not,” he acknowledged.

“Thought so.” Tango sighed, shaking her head. “All right,” she said at last. “I withdraw my objection.” The pair smiled with joy...only to have those feelings dashed. “But...” she continued, raising a finger, “...I won’t intercede on your behalf either. If you want to fight, you must convince him yourself.”

They glanced at one another and then nodded once more. “We understand,” Taichist agreed.

“Just don’t be surprised when he shoots you down,” she countered. “It won’t matter how good your argument is, he’ll still deny your request. Because buried deep in that place of the brain where planning happens...the thought of something happening to either of you flat out terrifies him.”

Admiral Matevosian could only shake his head in disbelief as he looked over the latest reports. “Marshal...I apologize for not getting here sooner but given the condition my fleet was in…” his voice trailed off before he tried once again. “What are your orders, Ma’am?”

“We’ve lost containment,” Fujimoto said. “The infected Ronin are spreading, and we’re using every ship we have to track them down, but we’re fighting an uphill battle. They’re starting to hit the other worlds and at this point?” She sighed, “I’m almost tempted to point you at the nearest planet, Ronin or no...and order you to blast it down to the bedrock.”

“Counterproductive, don’t you think?” he asked.

“Yes, yes...obviously, those aren’t my orders,” she snapped. “There’s too much ground to cover for you to keep your fleet intact, Admiral, so my orders are to break down into individual squadrons...and tell them to go hunting.”

“Yes Ma’am,” he said quietly.

“You, on the other hand,” the Field Marshal continued, “are to take a squadron and head to Θ18. General Nassat is already there, and he has some crazy notion about how to fix the Ronin. I want you to confer with him, assess the situation, and determine if he’s onto something. If so, assist anyway you can. If not?” Her eyes bored into his. “If he cannot break the infected Ronin free from their spell...you are to implement Operation Blackout immediately. Starting with Θ18.”

Admiral Matevosian was quiet for several moments. “So...it’s come down to this then,” he said at last.

“It has,” Fujimoto replied in funereal tones. “The pandemic is out of control, Admiral. I’m uncertain at this point if we can stop it, even with Blackout. Even under the best-case scenario we have to date...we’re projecting losing two-thirds of the Tetrarchy before it burns itself out.”

“...damn it,” he whispered. Staring at the projection, there was one question he needed answered. “And Earth?” he asked.

“So far, Earth has been far enough out of the firing line that it has spared us from the worst of the Ronin plague,” she informed him, “which is why the Prime Minister sent the bulk of Earth Force to assist the Khonhim. Not my idea,” she said somewhat testily. “I wanted to keep those ships close at hand...but she overruled me.”

“I understand,” he nodded. “‘I’ll pass on your orders immediately.”

“Good. The sooner the better.” The Field Marshal looked decades older than when he’d walked in. “Because mark my words, if we don’t stop this now, here...you can kiss Earth goodbye. And if Leandra thinks I’ll sit by and let that happen...”

The look in her eyes grew feral. “...then she doesn’t know me at all.”