~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Everything was wrong.
Alarms were blaring, and fire seemed to be everywhere. Carnelian stood rooted to the spot, unable to comprehend what she had just seen. Her father crushed under a fiery beam right before her eyes. She finally got enough control in her legs to run to him, when she was grabbed by someone and pulled in the opposite direction.
"LET GO OF ME!" she screamed, determined to try and save her father.
"No, Carnelian!" Crystal knew their father was dead. There was nothing they could do. "We have to get out of here!"
"No! Daddy!" Carnelian continued to struggle out of her sister's grasp.
Crystal had no choice. "I'm sorry, sis," she said under her breath, as she pinched a nerve in Carnelian's neck that she knew would knock out her older sister.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Carnelian woke up in a ship too big to be called a shuttle. Crystal must have teleported her to one of the spare spaceships that usually lay in the docking bay of the main ship they had previously been on. She walked up to the nearest window and gazed outside. The main ship was still visible, a bright glowing mass, its fire not yet quite put out by the vacuum of space. That meant there were still parts that hadn't been exposed, parts that were still burning.
She shivered. It had been so hot, and now she felt so cold. Her entire past and future had been built into that ship. She didn't know who else had survived, beyond her and Crystal, and except for Amethyst, she wasn't sure she cared.
General Eclipse was dead, and the army was sure to fall.
She watched the cowards, their ships fleeing in terror. Her father had given his life in battle and had dedicated himself to the army, and they couldn't stick around long enough to avenge him.
Carnelian knew Crystal was smart enough to put them on the biggest of the spare ships, which meant this ship was well equipped. It had more firepower than half of the Army Eclipse's ships out there and more than enough supplies to last them as long as it would take to get to the next friendly system. As she watched her father's ship explode and the last of the surviving ships leave, she vowed to herself that she would finish what he started. Carnelian would continue conquering systems and eventually find the perfect planets for her, Crystal, and Amethyst if she survived, and she would make sure that they got exactly what he dreamed for each of them.
And she wasn't going to put up with anybody who got in her way or didn't do their part to help her reach that dream.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Eclipse.
That's what Carrie had said her last name was.
And that reminded Neko�. "Otou-san, what day is the kaikigesshoku for Eryx?" The lunar eclipse was coming up soon, and she'd known about it for months, but she couldn't remember what day this week it was.
"It's Thursday evening on Eryx. Your people are planning to take pictures and video of the event and send them to us on Friday. Trust me, you'll get a full report on the event."
"Sugoi!" Neko had been excited about the event. Unlike Mi-chan's planet, Neko's had a moon - a moon Tenshi was going to rule someday. The event seemed to her like it was something that connected the two together. Eryx and its moon in harmony for a few moments, before they went on their way in their elliptical orbits, the moon around Eryx, and Eryx around its and Electra's sun. But for a few moments, it would be like she and Tenshi were powerful enough to beat even the sun's power. Just like a testament to their love.
