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'Mia Smoke Jaguar, I claim you as a bondsman in the name of...'
Hope rises. After all Cobalt Star has been through. After fighting through waves of fanatical Jaguars thirsting for their blood. After Mia tried her hardest to kill him. His chance to bring her back - to bring Cobalt Star all back together - is finally within his grasp.
'NO! I will never be bound to you. Traitor!'
His heart falls. Naomi was right. He knew Mia would try to kill him. He knew she would never let him take her. But he hoped against hope... even as the edges of his mind danced with final recourses unthinkable. Last resorts unspeakable.
Naomi had warned Jayden it would come to this.
Naomi is a cynic.
Disillusioned by her first commanding officer bidding her Star out of combat at every opportunity. Bitter at the Clan for deriding age, rather than valuing experience. And yet. She still longed for combat. The glory of marching on Terra. She had requested transfer to Beta Galaxy for honour. But in Cobalt Star, she had found family. In Jayden reaching out to her, even as she kept to herself. Yuichi relating to her as fellow outsiders trying to prove themselves to the system. Ezra fostering friendship rather than stoking rivalry. Mia, in whom she saw something of herself as she once was. And now, disregarding her personal belief in the Honour Road, she had chosen her Star over her Clan - and followed Jayden into defection. Even after she laid out the harsh truth about Mia for Jayden, she smiled ruefully at him.
'You are as naive as ever, Jayden.
But I will never tire of your optimism.
Even when it seems impossible.
What are we waiting for?'
Even when she saw Mia's cause as lost, she threw herself into Jayden's.
Knowing she was probably right. Hoping he would be instead.
Naomi is an old soldier.
Mia is a warrior.
A warrior must die with honour.
She attempts to overload her reactor. Flames lick at her face as she punches in the fatal command. In the heat of the moment, her only thought is of immolating herself for her clan.
But... nothing. She releases a breath she never even knew she was holding. Instinct drives her to check her HUD readouts. Amid the blaring warnings and flashing red alarms, one critical item catches her eye. Battle damage has severed the connections (primary and even backups) between her mech's computer and the engine.
So she unholsters her laser pistol. Her fingers nearly fumble the release catch. She squeezes on the grip just a little too tight. Her breath stills involuntarily - momentarily - as she feels the cold steel press against her temple.
'I will end this. One way or the other.' Her proclamation betrays no hint of doubt. Show no weakness - least of all to the enemy. As much as it pains her, Jayden is now the enemy. Cobalt Star became the enemy the moment they turned their backs on the Clan and defected to Wolf's Dragoons.
She knows what she must do. Yet something slows her down. Perhaps overloading her reactor would have been easier. Let her mech do the killing for her (it is a killing machine, after all). Easier than blowing her own brains out by her own hand, feeling the laser slicing through her head and boiling her seat of consciousness in her own skull.
Still, her finger tightens around the trigger. Takes her final sharp breath.
Knowing he may not even have seconds left before Mia is lost to him forever, Jayden plays the only card he has left.
'Liam's ALIVE!'
Overwhelmed by the stress of their confrontation, the heat of battle, the emotional turmoil - he lets a contraction slip. Since losing Liam, he has been less and less vigilant about his speech patterns. Liam never did pass up a chance to flaunt his cultural rebellion in some uppity superior's face - using contractions (however occasionally and perhaps unintentionally) is Cobalt Star's way of honouring his memory. And what is a breach of Clan etiquette next to saving Mia, a light-second away from extinguishing herself?
He does not know for certain that Liam is alive. The Dragoons had only told him they would reach out to the Combine, request that they check their prisoner records for Liam. The last they had heard, Liam had been caught out in the open - outside his mech - by a surprise artillery barrage, having only just enough time to warn Cobalt Star to run. In a toxic atmosphere, his mech too disabled to function as a viable shelter, shells ploughing up the ground all around him. The Star themselves had barely escaped with their lives. Star Colonel Emilie Wimmer had refused to send anyone back for Liam, arguing he was likely dead and a rescue force stood no chance with the DCMS on high alert. And dealt Mia a brutal thrashing for challenging her decision.
Wimmer had always treated Cobalt Star fairly well. By Clan standards - especially Smoke Jaguar standards - she was rational, reasonable, even humane (when this could be justified on grounds of pragmatism and honour). She personally took the fall for failing to stop the Turtle Bay massacre, shielding her entire Cluster at the expense of her own honour. Let SaKhan Sarah Weaver grip her by the throat, wordless, shuddering, gasping - and looking her in the eye all the while.
Yet, even then, Jayden does not believe he can ever forgive her.
For brutally striking down his grieving Starmate. Even when her case against attempting to rescue Liam made perfect tactical sense. Even when her voice quavered and her lips trembled and her breath caught as she drove it home that Liam was almost certainly dead, lost to everyone who ever valued him. Even when she drove home that going back for Liam would almost certainly mean losing more of us, when she rasped out, shaking, 'You think yourself the only one to lose someone?' It does not matter who called that Circle of Equals. That Wimmer tried - in her own way - to talk Mia out of it. What matters is that ultimately, she still chose to strike Mia when she was bereft.
There is only the slimmest glimmer of a hope that Liam is alive.
So Jayden has essentially just lied to Mia.
But if dishonour must fall on anyone, he'll make sure it falls upon him alone.
All his life, honour has meant everything to Jayden. But so has his Star. He never thought he would have to choose between them. But choose he has.
She may never forgive him. He will live with that - so long as she gets to live.
An involuntary gasp escapes Mia's lips. Thankfully, the shock of Jayden's revelation causes her fingers to slacken instead of tighten on the trigger.
Yes, Mia is a warrior. But she is also a child. A child who has lost everything. And now she faces a chance to get at least a part of it back.
A warrior who needs to die. A child who wants to live.
And now... a sibkin who can never bear the thought of leaving her once-lost Starmate in her darkness.
The adrenaline overdose, the migraine from her EI implants, the emotional and physical exhaustion - all finally catch up with her.
Before she can decide, the laser pistol falls uselessly from her fingers.
Her world turns blurs, spins, tilts to black.
The last thing she hears is her cockpit cracking open, the unbearable pressure hissing through its seams. The last thing she feels, strong hands grabbing her by the shoulders, hauling her away... and in her mind's eye, she finally sees Liam, calling to her with outstretched hand.
Jayden gently cradles her. Brushes her hair aside to see her face - to see her. Gaunt, battered - living. Broken, bleeding - breathing.
She will hate him when she wakes up. But at least she will wake up.