Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

remember. So many died, on both sides. Much of me died during the war. And I've already said I don't remember your father."
    "But you're my only link to him. To the times that shaped and killed him. Tell me about the Ashrai. What were they like?"
    "Why did I side with them against Humanity?" Carrion looked out across the room with haunted eyes, not seeing what was there, lost in yesterday. "You have to remember; I was raised as an Investigator. Taken from my parents as a small child, raised to be apart from the Humanity I was trained to serve and protect.
    Taught the only good alien was a dead alien. But the Ashrai… were wild and glorious and so free. Like every dream I'd ever had. Not beautiful, not by human standards. But they were pure, uncomplicated: savage and unrestrained. They flew through the air like mighty dragons, and when they sang… they were creatures of awe and wonder. Angels of a different world. So much more than the grubby little humans who threatened to destroy them, just so the Empire could mine some metals from the forests.
    "Captain Silence was my friend then. I tried to explain, to make him understand.
    But he saw only his orders, and his duty. We were both so much younger then."
    "But… he offered the Ashrai reservations. Places they could live freely, away from the machines mining the forests."
    Carrion looked sadly at Barron. "Is that the story they told, to excuse what they did? The Ashrai were linked to the forests. They would have withered and died, restricted to artificial borders, dying inch by inch as the trees died.
    Silence knew that. There was no offer of reservations. And so war became inevitable, and I knew which side I belonged on. I had sung the song of the Ashrai, seen the world anew through their eyes, and I could never go back. Back to being only, merely, human."
    "Tell me about the war."
    Carrion frowned. It wasn't hard to call back the memories. They were never far from him. "The Ashrai were strong and fast and powerful. Their numbers filled the skies. The Empire had explosives and energy weapons. Ashrai blood fell like rain, and the human dead piled up till a man couldn't see over them. Ashrai psistorms fought Empire battle wagons. There seemed no end to the dead, and the suffering. And I was right there in the middle of it, my hands dripping with the blood of those who had once been my fellow crewmen. Sometimes I knew their faces, more often not. I never thought the war would go on for so long. I thought eventually the Empire would get tired of losing men, and go away. I didn't realize how badly they needed those metals.
    "I never thought they'd order Silence to scorch the planet. I never thought he'd do it. I can still hear the Ashrai screaming as the energy beams slammed down from orbit. There was nothing I could do to save them. I dug a deep hole and pulled it in after me, protected by my psionic powers. They seemed to go on screaming forever. Until finally the scorching stopped, and there was only silence. I dug my way out, to find myself the only inhabitant of an empty world.
    But the trees were still alive, in their way, and tied so closely to the Ashrai that not even death could fully separate them. Their ghosts remained, and their song. They forgave me. I never did.
    "Now the forests are gone, and only I remain to tie the Ashrai to the worlds of the living."
    "They were your family," said Barron, after a while.
    Carrion nodded, surprised at the insight. "Of course. The family I'd never known before. I was their adopted son, and I loved them with all my heart. Silence was my friend, but I never felt as close to him as I did to the Ashrai. I don't think he ever really forgave me for that."
    "Are you and he friends now?"
    Carrion smiled slightly for the first time. "We do our best."
    And then Carrion sat up straight and gestured for Barron to wait a moment as new orders came in through his comm implant. He frowned, and rose abruptly to his feet. "I must leave you now. It seems I am to join the Captain's landing party on Zero Zero."
    Barron rose quickly to his feet. "Ask the Captain to take me too. I'm not afraid. I volunteer. I need to prove myself to the Captain. After… what happened before."
    "When you tried to kill me."
    "Yes."
    "No one knows what we'll be facing on Zero Zero. No one knows if any one of us will return."
    "I don't care. I need to do this."
    "Very well," said Carrion. "Come with me to the briefing. I will vouch for you.
    But I can promise