Spacial Illusions

Epilogue

Two years later...

Deimos stepped into the rusted ship, the last obelisk to the war and his best friend who gave her life and her all for them. He made sure she got a right and proper burial, he placed her where he knew she would feel most at home and gave her the ceremonies of a hero.

He gently brushed his clawed hands over the machinery she had shoved in the far corner of the gutted cargo hold, lightly jumping back in surprise when it whirred to life and the wall lit yellow and the motor of the S.T.A.R. Corps meandered across as well as the pinging notification reading 'Message from Captain's Log'. With shaking fingers and a trembling heart, Deimos pressed the icon to start the playback.

"This is Callisto, last of the Scout Regiment to Praesidium and protector of her people. Hello, Deimos." He couldn't help but laugh at how well she could predict him and his ways. He missed those moments, he missed her.

"I knew it would be you who came here, and I know that if you did then you must be looking for something, for anything at all. So I left this for you, my dear friend. If I'm right, and we both know I always am, then that must mean that the fight is over and that you are safe. And that I am not with you. I just want to tell you some things that may put your heart at ease.

First, don't be mad that I'm gone. It means that the need for fighting and hatred if over and that I have done the only thing I knew: I protected my own with everything I had and I did well in it.

Second, it's okay to be sad. Just be sure to remember that you are not alone anymore. You have Europa and Ursa and Nightlight and all the village around you. They need you and you need them, so take good care of them for me.

Third, please don't end up like Earth. We got too greedy and so entitled that we destroyed ourselves. We poisoned our home but never took the responsibility to heal it, and I implore you to not follow in our footsteps. Keep Praesidium safe for me."

The video ended in her softly smiling face, exhausted and gaunt but beautiful all the same. Clear liquid splotched on the dull floor to make Deimos realize he had been crying. He tried to blink the tears away but the harder he tried the more he dripped until he was weeping and mourning, leaning against the wall before sliding down on his knees.

"It isn't fair, you should be here. You deserve to be here with us." The machine pinged with another message and he tapped the icon, Callisto's face returning to the big screen.

"Also, if I'm dead, you'd better have buried me with my Regiment. They deserve a proper funeral just as much as I do." She stopped for a few seconds, taking the moments to compose herself and find the right words.

"I went to Praesidium hoping to make my mark on history as the soldier who saved the world. And I did, I saved your world. I saved my world. I saved the world that can be better, that will do the right thing instead of the easiest. So even if my name never touches the pages of history and I'm lost to time, it will be worth it. As long as you remember what was fought for, what you and I fought for. Earth had her chance and now you have yours.

Goodbye Deimos, my dear friend.

Be better than we were."