Chapter 36:
Trouble in Bogon
It took several hours to arrive into the Bogon galaxy and it was quite nostalgic for Ace to be back in this galaxy after so long. He still remembered times when he and the team visited here to fight and save a few planets here and there. He looked outside the Star Seeker windows, seeing a few planets, moons and large space billboards, advertising ‘Megacorp’ all over the place.
Yeah, typical Bogon alright…
They flew into space further, up towards Planet Endako. The surface was grey in colour, a sign that the whole of the planet was covered in cityscape and skyways. Some seascape was seen from orbit, but not any forest terrain.
They flew in closer to the city of Megapolis, the largest city in the Bogon galaxy with billions of citizens. The Seekers could already notice many civilians fleeing the city in vehicles and spaceships alike; running from the apparent danger down below in the heart of the city.
Much of the city was several kilometres above sea level. Skyways, air traffic and Megacorp advertisements were all over the place up here, as well as many rooftops, shops, buildings and apartments.
Kurt landed the star cruiser on a large, clear patch of sky-road. No traffic was about, so it was the ideal place for the meantime. The team were quick to get to work; Ace rushed to get his arsenal, eagerly picking up his new pair of guns – that he had named the Hardlight Vipers.
He also grabbed his visor and rushed out of his room down into the lower compartment of the cruiser. He was given a jetpack, the same as the ones Kurt and Aster used to rush out into the open and thus, the adventure had begun for the Seekers.
*
Gunfire; screams; blasts and yells echoed all around the city, high above. Ace was quick on his feet, holding out his HL Vipers and running towards a group of Thugs up ahead. They were attacking the local police force and blasting down buildings standing in their way.
He fired rapidly at them and they were rather quick to react to Ace’s actions. Metal bullets shot rapidly against the Thug’s armour and they roared in anger, firing back towards Ace. He simply dodged their slower blasters and continued to fire his Vipers, causing grievous harm as the iron bullets pierced their scales. The group of Thugs tried to fight back until they all fell to the ground, dead from their injuries. Several nearby civilians were saved by Ace’s presence and they all looked up at him, smiling and giving a nod of gratitude before fleeing the scene to safety.
Ace was in full alert now considering this was all a rather thrilling experience. He could see damage all over parts of the city, fires surrounded various sections of the buildings and damaged robots littered the place. It was a mess.
He looked over the edge of a building and saw a few of the Seekers down below in another part of the city skyscrapers.
He looked down and noticed a very steep fall below him; everyone was several kilometres above ground level. It reminded him of the city of Metropolis on planet Kerwan.
Shuddering, he ran and jumped off the ledge of the building, activating his jetpack and flying down, over towards the other lower set of rooftops and skyways. He landed with ease and rushed over towards Aster and Kurt, who were fighting more of the armed Thugs. He pulled out his Vipers again and singled out several Thugs away from Kurt, who was up close and fighting with his Dual-blades. They were in flare mode and gave off a bright orange glow, which became a gracious gradient to nothingness as he delivered deadly blows to those who opposed him up close. Swaying his swords back and forwards, even slashing through some of their armour with ease.
Aster, on the other hand, was fighting with an upgraded Pyrocitor; doing very well in downing his opponents before they could even get up close to him. Ace dashed towards the other group of incoming Thugs from the left, firing rapidly at the crowd armed with many laser guns. Bullets and plasma blasted all over and Ace was struck a few times from the stringing shots, angering him quite a bit.
Yet he was doing well in defeating more of the beasts with his aiming skills, though as more fell down - even more appeared out from the streets, some even inside of tanks. It was quite clear Ace, Aster and Kurt were starting to become overwhelmed, and this gave Ace the perfect chance to activate his hard-light clones.
Triggering his device, he vanished before the Thugs’ very eyes, stopping them in their tracks and scratching their heads in confusion, looking at one another. Until Ace reappeared around the group, with 8 other copies of himself.
The Thugs panicked, roared or cussed in their own language, very confused at what they saw but they fought Ace and his hard-light clones nonetheless. Kurt was nearby too, slashing any foes that came for him, and helping Ace in downing more of the crowd.
“Wow, 8 hard-light clones this time. Impressive”
Kurt said, as he fought on against the Thugs with his heated blades. He was amazed by his efforts, as he had only seen Ace use up to 7 copies of himself before.
Ace’s true self only smirked - not being able to reply while using his clones at the same time. Only his real self could speak as he used them, and he was concentrated on controlling his other 8 copies; which wasn’t a very easy thing to do. He could only use his HL Launcher at this stage, blasting all over the place and trying his best to attack the Thugs. Even if his aiming was off during hard-light clone use, he was still doing remarkably well. But a tank was coming for them, driven by another Thug soldier.
”I’ll take care of this; make way guys!”
Aster said aloud, running out into the open and placing his Pyrocitor at his side, he produced a sphere-like device from behind him and tossed it towards the large tanker coming towards the crowd.
A huge explosion followed and the Tank was destroyed, Ace could see it from where he fought and he was quite impressed with Aster’s efforts, as was Kurt. Aster picked up his Pyrocitor again to fight against another horde of enemies running towards him for the meantime.
Ace continued to fight on with his hard-light clones. He had only six copies of himself now as some had been eliminated by the Thugs. Despite that though, he was still doing very well and soon Thugs were trying to flee from him and the Seekers, rather than fight back. But then it became apparent that the Thugs were actually making way for their Thug-copters, three of them circled around Ace and his team mates, and he braced himself.
It didn’t take long for the copters to start firing their turrets.
Ace and his remaining clones shot at one of the helicopters with their launchers, while Kurt placed his swords away and grabbed out his Sonic-Snyper, running to avoid gunfire and find shelter for sniping. Aster had to avoid the gunfire too, sprinting after the escaping Thugs. Ace appeared to be struggling against the three copters.
Until something came flying through the sky at high speed, smashing side-on into a copter and causing it to lose control and crash into the second one next to it. Another big explosion followed and Ace was astounded with what he saw.
It was Bettilena.
“That’s what you get for ganging up on my buddies!”
She shouted whist still in mid-air and aiming the end of her Valkyrie javelin at the remaining Thug-copter in front of her - blasting its window with a laser beam and Ace continued to fire Launcher shots at it at the same time. This caused it to malfunction and fall out of the sky all the way down the sides of the tall buildings and into the dark depths below.
Bettilena flew down to Ace’s level and noticed the coast was clear for now. Ace switched off his remaining hard-light clones for the moment. He was also injured slightly from the attacks, giving Betty a worried look.
”Oh dear, I am so sorry for being late! Are you alright Ace? You look hurt!”
”Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. What you did up there was awesome”
”Oh it was nothing!” Betty said, almost as if she were blushing.
”Where’s Jenna, Jake and Leera? Do you know if they’re alright?” asked Ace.
”Oh yes they are fine! I was fighting alongside them on another level of the city, but for now we better hurry!”
Betty replied, looking up as Ace did the same. They could see Kurt on a high part of the building, sniping out enemies on the other side of the skyscrapers. Aster had already run off towards said area and so, Ace and Bettilena followed him.
They were now incredibly close to the city centre and more damage and carnage was seen here, but none of the Thugs were visible yet. Cleaner bots were already activated though, oddly enough. They were trying their best to clean up the mess and debris all around the streets. Ace and Betty looked at one another, shrugging at the strange sight of it.
Then a couple of the robots activated near them, rushing out of a slot and into the open, sweeping up a mess but then they detected Ace’s presence and moved over towards him, seemingly trying to attack with their pincer-like limbs.
”Stupid cleaner-bots! They always try to attack me for no reason!”
”They are mistaking you for… trash, as it seems. How rude of them! I can’t stand racist robots!”
Bettilena said, slapping one of the cleaner-bots across the head.
”Same”
Ace kicked the robots away from him, agitated that Megacorp still hadn’t fixed their cleaner-bots’ major flaw for mistaking organic life forms for garbage or animal pests.
Ace didn’t have time to complain more about that though, he ran over towards the incoming horde of Thugs, and Betty activated her wings like before. She flew over at high speed and held out her javelin, taking aim at the incoming danger. Ace activated his HL clones again, now that it had recharged long enough for use.
Again, lasers shot from all directions as soon as yet another mass of Thugs ran out into the open. The battle was becoming more and more intense.
Ace was having trouble controlling his many clones to avoid being shot at, but it helped keep his true self safe. He and his copies fired continuously with their launchers, while Aster nearby was attacking more of the crowd once again with his flame-thrower styled weapon, though he had sustained a few injuries from the opposing gunfire.
More and more Thugs were dying though, a good sign for the Seekers and the city’s state of emergency. Many more civilians had time to escape, now that the Seekers had cleared the area of the many threats; some even shouting out ‘thank you’ and other sorts of praise on their way to their escape routes. Kurt was still shooting from up above, warning Betty that some more Thug-copters were on their way.
The three copters appeared shortly after his warning, and Ace looked up, though keeping his HL clones focused on the crowd of Thugs coming in for battle. Aster eased to blast his Pyrocitor while standing a few metres away from the holocopies.
Ace also tried shooting up at one of the helicopters coming towards him, trying his best to keep focused on shooting it but also making sure his other remaining 6 clones were doing their job.
Though as his true self looked on up he saw another vehicle flying above, a larger one. It didn’t look like it belonged to the Thugs though, and he started to feel a hint of uncertainty.
Bettilena already had her focus on the 3 surrounding Thug-copters, flying at high speed to avoid their lasers, while retaliating with her own blaster. Aster also pulled out another of his heavy duty grenades, giving Ace and Betty a warning signal with his hand. Ace and his copies ran for cover and even some of the Thugs did as Aster threw the bomb into the sky with everyone watching as it set off a huge explosion up above.
Bettilena cheered at Aster’s efforts as she flew several metres in the air, it had destroyed one of the copters and damaged the second one, leaving only one fully functional copter left in their way. The Thugs were even more frustrated than ever.
But only just moments afterwards, a medium-sized object fell from the sky, landing down into the crowd of Thugs below onto the concrete ground. The surrounding Thugs either ran or stood back from the object, scared that it may be a bomb from Aster, but this object was from somebody else.
Ace also saw the device from a distance as everyone stared at it.
Then the device initiated.
It opened up hastily and let off a brilliant glow, sending out invisible electromagnetic waves. Ace immediately recognized this sort of device.
The Thugs were confused that it had not exploded but they were quick to notice something odd with their weapons. They were no longer functional! The lights turned off, and Ace noticed that his weapon was deactivated as well and his hard-light clone copies disappeared without a trace. Even nearby building lights went black and vehicles flying around stopped working, causing some to crash into buildings or the ground nearby.
It was an EMP-device.
This was bad news. Both Ace and Aster ran out of the way as they noticed the other two copters were affected by it and they came crashing down to the ground, and everybody around the street ran for cover. Some of the Thugs were unlucky and were killed instantly from the impact of the falling aircrafts. Pieces of the helicopters flew all over, and Ace had to duck for cover to avoid the parts somersaulting off the point of impact.
But then he noticed something awful, Bettilena was nowhere to be seen and he shot onto his feet instantly; incredibly concerned for her whereabouts. As well as Aster, who was already running about, calling out her name,
”Bettilena, Bettilena! Where are you!?”
Ace knew what kind of effect an EMP could have on robots and so he ran around the other side of the helicopter wreckage, tense and alert. He also flipped his visor up, due to the fact that they had also stopped working for the time being. He looked all around the wreckage with his own vision, trying to find any sign of her.
Then he saw a few Thugs nearby, prodding something with their boots, and he immediately bared his teeth.
”Get away from her, you freaks!”
He sprinted and one of the Thugs turned around, only to be caught at the delivering end of a devastating punch.
His fist came into contact with the foe and the Thug yelped, falling backwards, before Ace turned around raising his steel-capped boot at the same time and kicking the guy next to him. A disturbing crack followed after his boot came into contact with the Thugs jaw and he fell over onto his back, wailing and kicking the air in agony. The two remaining Thugs stared at Ace; whom was glaring back at them with his canines bared. They both fled the scene in fear, shocked after witnessing such an attack.
Ace now focused on Betty, who was trapped underneath a heavy part of the destroyed helicopter. Only her upper body was visible, and it was clear that she was deactivated too. He went to attempt to lift up a heavy chunk of the helicopter wreckage. Using his great strength and with a bit a bit more effort, he grunted and lifted it off. A crash of metal and debris followed as he hefted it aside and he immediately pulled Bettilena out. Aster was quick to notice, leaping over some of the wreckage to Ace’s side.
”Oh god no! Is she alright Ace? What happened!?”
”That was an EMP. Somebody dropped it down here, disrupting and deactivating all electronics around us, including her… I’m sure she’ll be fine though”
“Are you sure? What if she can’t be rebooted and that her sisterboard is damaged? What IF!?” Aster panicked.
”Calm down! We don’t know anything for certain, so don’t just assume that it will turn for the worst! Come on; take her back to the ship. I’ll go help the others and find out what the hell is going on here…”
Aster nodded, walking over behind Betty and Ace lifted her metallic body upwards. Aster turned around, allowing Ace to place her on his back. She was quiet heavy, due to her robotic frame but her held her steadily, and took off down the street.
Ace looked all around him, and noticed more confused Thugs nearby, whacking their blasters against their wrists or the ground, utterly confused by what had just happened. They seemed helpless, without the function of their weapons and the complete destruction of their Thug-copters.
Soon, he saw Kurt come down from the buildings, leaping down platform after platform mainly due to the fact that his jetpack wasn’t working.
Who would have released that EMP…?
Ace became very wary of what was going on. Kurt ran over to Ace, trying to catch his breath as he caught up to stand next to him.
Ace was busy staring at the sky above though, as well as Kurt… as they witnessed a ship of a different kind make its way down towards them.
”…I was about to inform you about this incoming ship, it is the one that released the EMP’s throughout the city” Kurt told him.
”I see. If my memory serves me right, that ship looks like it belongs to the ‘Bogon Brigade’…”
”It is, just saw their logo on the side. Maybe they are here to aid us?”
”I am not so sure about that…”
said Ace, while looking extremely wary.
The airship came to a much lower altitude as Ace and Kurt continued to look on. Even the nearby Thugs were all staring up although most of them had already run off in various directions.
Immediately, the ships lower compartment opened and a horde of robot-police were deployed, all leaping down to the road below and Ace stood his ground. Kurt suddenly had a look of uncertainty as more robots appeared from behind the ship, chasing down the Thugs that were trying to escape. But it wasn’t that which worried him. Several robots stood before Ace and himself now, scanning them both with their receivers…
”Watch out!”
Lasers were fired with no warning. Ace and Kurt both leapt in opposite directions and the robotic police took after them.
”Bioscan-indicates-criminal-profile, all personal must eliminate with extreme prejudice!”
It was difficult to avoid being shot at and Ace clenched his teeth each time he felt a shot on his skin. His protective clothing provided protection though but he desperately needed a weapon to fight back.
Kurt was also having a slight amount of trouble but he was able to use his Dual-blades to fight back, despite them not being in flare-mode. The swords were only good for opponents in close range.
Ace turned around sharply after sidestepping more laser gunfire and he leapt towards the nearest robot, tackling it to the ground and punching it repetitively – until it was so severely damaged that he was able to grab the gun from its grasp. It was a basic blaster, but it would do. He stood up again to fire back in retaliation. His aiming skills were much better than the Bogon Brigade but he was becoming extremely overwhelmed as more and more of the troops came out from the airship above. Both Ace and Kurt were rapidly becoming exhausted, receiving more injuries in the process of fighting back.
Then a large furry mass landed down onto the crowd, crushing multiple robots and letting out a loud roar of fury. Ace smiled at the sight of it, seeing Leera Lashclaw attack the robots, swiping the bots around her and head-butting more that were in her line of sight.
She swiftly turned around to clear the area more and then Ace noticed Jenna and Jake on her back too, who had now jumped off to help fend off the attacks. They both fought fist and boot against the robots, helping clear the area at a quicker rate.
”Nice of you guys to drop by, would have been better if it was sooner though” Ace said while smirking.
”Sorry, we had quite a lot of Thugs to deal with but then some kind of EMP-device dropped into our area and caused a lot of trouble for us, even my Plasma-whips aren’t working!”
Jenna told him. Ace was able to breathe more freely now, without being surrounded by so many officers. Kurt also walked over, along with Jake. The Seekers all stood around each other, but were startled to notice that the ship above was sending out even more troops, complete with a loud siren going off and flashing red lights.
”…why the hell are they attacking us, man? What did we ever do to them!?”
”I don’t know Jake, but I think we better leave this planet immediately…”
More of the robots landed nearby, but instead of taking notice of the other Seeker members, they all appeared to have their focus on Ace Hardlight. They fired once again and Ace had to dodge the danger. He was starting to feel extremely agitated, firing back with the blaster he still held in his hand. The other Seekers could see this and they tried to help him, but Kurt stood there, and shouted-
”No, stop! Don’t retaliate! We need to get off this planet now!”
”Why not? These jerks are trying to kill us!” barked Jake.
”Yes I know but if we continue to fight the authorities of this galaxy, we may get into serious trouble; this looks like some sort of misunderstanding!”
Kurt shouted back after Jake responded. Ace meanwhile, was furious. He had no choice but to fight back, or else he could be killed by their forces. He didn’t quite understand why the police were targeting him…
Is this some sort of sick joke?
Kurt shouted.
”Ace come on, we must leave this planet immediately! We can’t keep fighting their forces!”
”I have no choice but to fight back! If they want to attack me, then so be it - I’ll fight back if that’s what they want!”
Ace yelled, shooting down yet another robot and performing a high, swift kick to destroy a couple closest to him. He was becoming more agitated with the situation, causing him to fight even harder. But then again, he was also beginning to feel worn out; continuously strafing, leaping and avoiding as much of the laser fire as he could. He realized that Kurt and the Seekers wanted to leave though, rather than fight back.
This made him feel weak, the thought of turning his back on the opposition, but as he cleared his mind, he sprinted off in a hurry - coming to realize that Kurt was right.
They left Megapolis behind in a chaotic state as the police crowded the city and focused on arresting the Thugs instead, giving the Seekers the needed opportunity to escape.
***
”General of the Bogon Brigade, this has been a major misunderstanding! Didn’t your authorities receive an updated file on his criminal record?”
”Criminal record? BAH! It doesn’t take much brain-cells to know that he is the very same Ace Hardlight I know all too well of!”
”Yes, we do understand that he was once a criminal with the involvement of DreadZone, but that is all in the past, Sir. He has done time in Zordoom Prison, located in the Polaris Galaxy, and he has been successfully rehabilitated since being put on parole”
”Released, rehabilitated? What a joke! That nasty villain should have been locked up forever! After destroying all those superheroes on that HV show. I am appalled to learn that he even has a horde of supporting fans following him around!”
”They are NOT my fans you idiot!”
Ace cut in, stepping out in front of Kurt; becoming more agitated with the Bogon General’s conversation on the holoscreen.
The Bogon galaxy didn’t have a President, it was run by Megacorp – and high ranked Generals & Lieutenant’s had control over the policing and warfare, certainly was a lot different to Phyronix of the Solana Galaxy. This General was a lot more stern, harsh and stubborn. He frowned more as he saw Ace come into his view on the monitor.
”-We’re all part of a team, and we are known as the Seven Seekers!”
”So you finally rear your mug, you vile creature! You should be dead; after daring to step foot into this galaxy and get into the way of our own issues!”
”Is that all you can do; resort to using childish insults against us? You’re pathetic! We came out of our way to come help your people, your planet - and THIS is how you thank us? We saved more lives in Megapolis in only a matter of minutes than your lousy, cheap, mass-produced robots!”
”How dare you speak to me with such a tongue! We had everything under control until you and your vile team wrecked it for my Bogon Brigade!”
”Wrecked what? Your brigade was hours late and civilians were dying. If we didn’t come help, then quite frankly more would have been dead in due time. And your EMP tactic was stupid and reckless. It even affected the citizens nearby in their own ships, and the security systems of the surrounding buildings!”
”Oh be quiet. You’re just saying that because it interfered with you and your gang! You’re one to speak so loud when you, yourself, are responsible for killing many unaccounted superheroes of the galaxy! And not to mention - destroying the sister planet of Boldan!”
”Is that all you can say to justify your selfish and reckless tactics; by continuously bringing up my past and adding a stupendous lie to top it off? I already am aware of the wrong I did at DreadZone, so there is no need to talk like a scratched up holodisc! This isn’t about me; it is about us lending a helping hand to your people - and then your forces turn against us, threatening my teams lives for no particular reason!”
“You just don’t get it now, do you? Bolden 3. That very planet we had owned in the Solana Galaxy. Much like the capital planet here in Bogon, which happens to be the beloved planet Boldan. But after you and your wretched team destroyed it, we broke ALL ties with Solana and we never wanted anything to do with the Solana Galaxy again! We outlawed Gadgetron, outlawed Solanian authorities… and BANNED you from this galaxy!”
Ace suddenly fell silent at the mention of that. He stood back slightly, and started to lose his temper at the sound of those words. It stung. He was not aware of that information surrounding the ownership of those planets. However, his anger returned and he tried his best not to let it get to him.
”…as I was saying; this is NOT about me! And you have no damn proof that it was me who destroyed the planet, so I would shut that mouth of yours if I were you!”
”Oh but it is! And if we ever catch you in the Bogon Galaxy again, you will be eliminated on sight!”
Kurt then stood near the screen himself, noticing that Ace starting appearing more distressed as their convocation went on. He bared his teeth and clenched both of his fists tightly…
”Alright I have heard enough! Mr General, we can only apologize for coming into your galaxy without any given request. But we will not apologize for sparing our time to save those civilians and help fight off the Thugs-for-Less employees. We have no reason to be sorry for doing so. And from this day on, we will never visit your galaxy again”
”Good, so be it! I never want to see any of you again - especially the wretched Ace Hardlight!”
”Nobody likes a screwed up Bogon like you anyway! Now piss off!”
Jake shouted, standing out in front of the holoscreen and slamming his fist on the panel, cutting off the holovision conversation with the President.
Ace turned around, both fists still clenched tightly, even shaking from the sheer anger he had within. He was pissed off with the talk he had with the President. He could only stand there, staring at the floor, unsure what to say when silence fell upon the team.
”I am… so sorry Ace. I never meant for any of this to happen. I should not have suggested we revisit the Bogon galaxy in the first place…”
”No, you have no reason to be sorry. It is that bastard who should be sorry; sorry for threatening you and the rest of the Seekers! One or more of us could have been killed today, no thanks to that delusional freak!”
“But even then, we were given no request to help them. I am sorry that he also brought up what happened in the distant past. We all know that it wasn’t you; that loon is obviously biased and hasn’t got the slightest clue about what really happened…”
Ace turned away from Kurt and the others to avoid any eye contact. He was still frowning; still angered at what was said about him. But deep down, he was starting to feel a hint of anguish from his past. He still disliked it immensely when Bolden 3 was brought up, it still hurt badly; thinking of that planet and the many inhabitants once living there and the orphans. Even to this day, nobody knew for sure how the planet was destroyed, and many still blame Ace and his team for what had happened.
The Seekers were around the room, all looking over towards him. Bettilena had woken since the EMP blast, but she was still worn out and low on energy. She looked sad at the sight of Ace, as well as Jenna who was sitting near her. She got up to walk closer to her brother Jake, who was standing there, looking almost as angry as Ace did.
”That President is such an ass-wipe. Seriously, I always hated the Bogon galaxy anyway with their stupid Megacorp billboards all over the damn place, computers that charge you 10,000 bolts for information to proceed in an area, and even worse - a douchebag General like that! Phyronix of Solana sure is way better, am I right Ace?”
Ace didn’t respond to Jake. He was staring at the ground, not in the mood to smirk at Jake’s words. Jenna even nudged Jake with her wrist, looking at him in the eyes and giving off a serious glare. Jake took note of her expression, and turned away, exchanging his smug look to a more sombre one.
Kurt walked closer to Ace taking note of his stressed mood. He was concerned for his state of mind. He knew all too well what stress could do to him.
“Don’t let it get to you Ace, we will never visit that galaxy again, neither will we go aid any planet in need without a given request”
Ace was in no mood to stand around for longer. He walked out of the main hub of the star cruiser, out of sight and down the stairway into the dim lit hallways.
He was feeling an edge of fury desperately wanting to take his anger out on someone, or something. His fists were still tightly clenched, as well as his jaw. Perhaps some training would take his mind off it and help him vent? He thought. Giving his punch-bag a good walloping probably would go him good. But even better; smashing that General’s face in would be a treat. A nasty thought, but it would be brilliant if he had the chance; to see him bleed and beg for mercy… before killing him off and leaving him to rot.
Yet as he made way close to his doorway - which opened at the presence of his steps - he noticed that he was in a state of solitude from the rest of the team. His tense, angered feelings began to ease; with his dark thoughts exiting his mind. As those emotions slipped away, a feeling of misery overcame him again at remembering those distant events from the past.
It was a lot easier to grieve when nobody was around; at least, that’s what he thought.
He still wished to this day that he could have saved that planet from being destroyed, there was nobody, nothing, no one to blame for what had happened to Bolden 3.
It was hard being reminded of that disaster, even if it happened so long ago. He stood by his doorway for several minutes, leaning against the entrance and staring down at the floor, deep in thought with his eyes closed. The dim light added to his mood, and his ears drooped down more.
Maybe it really was… my fault. Should I just accept that…?
His heart ached at the thought of that. He took in a deep breath and breathed out slowly, trying his best not to become more distressed.
”Don’t you ever let those words get to you Ace…”
He was a little surprised to hear her voice, as he had not suspected anybody nearby in the passing minutes. Ace opened his eyes slightly; although not turning around right at that moment.
”He doesn’t know anything - he wasn’t there to endure what we did. You’re right. And I want you to know that you always have us here by your side to support you, no matter what others may say”
Ace lifted himself slightly from the door, listening closely to Jenna’s words. She wasn’t done yet though, and he allowed her to speak more.
He was even more uplifted when he felt a hand on his shoulder; it didn’t even cause him to flinch.
”What happened to Bolden 3 was not your fault, and it never will be, okay? And I applaud you for standing up for yourself and the rest of us today. It was very noble of you to do that”
His mood eased as the passing moments went by, it was now a pleasant atmosphere, rather than a depressive one. Jenna moved up closer to place her other hand on his arm, in an effort to comfort him. He was almost unsure how to respond to such a gesture. He did admit with himself though, that it was very warm and comforting.
“You are never alone when you’re with us. And if you ever need somebody to talk to, I’m always here to listen”
Ace looked up and turned his head a bit, giving off a slight smile. He didn’t want to appear ungrateful and so, he lifted his hand up to touch her own that was placed on his shoulder; a returning gesture of gratitude. Various emotions shrouded him now, almost fazing him in a sense. It was really quite overwhelming.
Jenna noticed she had been standing there for long and so she moved away slightly, her hands slipping off gently to allow Ace to pace his way into his room without muttering a single word.
The door closed automatically as he made his way inside. He looked over towards his training equipment but by now, he wasn’t in the mood to take his anger out on anything. Because there was no anger to vent off… no violent thoughts. Not anymore.
Ace was feeling tired from such a rough day. He went to lie down on his bed, continuously thinking to himself. It was good to not feel stressed and upset over matters, but instead other thoughts and emotions were troubling him greatly.
He tried to fall asleep; his body was still exhausted from the long day of hard physical work. However, it was not that simple to drift off into a nap. His troubled mind would not settle and he tossed and turned, trying to lie in a comfortable position but it would not last for long.
His tired mind managed to drift into a short snooze now and again, but not for long enough. He kept waking randomly, turning over onto his back, or onto his belly. It really was troublesome trying to stay asleep and his heart also thumped quicker than usual at times, as his feelings continued to trouble him from within;
She deserves better.