All of camp paused. They were raw and injured, and in this moment it might not matter that these colonists were their family. They would fight if Sledge asked it of them. But Sledge only shook his head, answering in a voice that carried without shouting.

“We did not do this.”

“Didn’t do this?!” the man answered. “You show up, a conscription ship is destroyed in our bay, and now this? Nothing like this ever happened before you arrived. And it will never happen again.”

Sledge drew a deep breath, quelling his answer and considering his response. “Good father, I promise you my people are not the reason for this.”

Pine’s eyes cut toward the ground. Anger simmered across his shoulders, and Caledonia knew he was thinking of her. The Blades had been here for eleven moons without incident. She was the thing that had changed. She was the reason for this attack. Sledge was protecting her.

“It doesn’t matter. That conscription ship is still in the bay, a holo counting down to tomorrow morning when they expect our children. It doesn’t matter that they’ve just murdered a dozen of our boys and girls, they want more. Those twelve only died because something changed here. I believe that was you,” the man stated, cold fury vibrating on his lips. “Leave or we tell them you’re here.”

This was how Aric maintained his rule. This was his power in action. He had bent the colonists to his will so perfectly that even when he attacked them, they would not blame him. Violence from Aric didn’t create resentment against him, but against those who opposed him.

She strode forward. Pine glowered at her approach, Sledge shifted uncomfortably, but neither moved to intercept her. The man’s anger was a weapon and that was something she knew how to face.

“I am Caledonia Styx,” she announced, raising her voice so that all might hear her. “My brother was taken by the Father many turns ago, and you have been attacked today because I tried to get him back. I am the one who challenged Electra. I am what has changed here. Not these people.” She glanced at Sledge, finding his eyes wide with alarm. “They are peaceful and do not deserve your anger. Don’t turn them over. Don’t do Aric’s work for him.”

The man turned to her. He pulled one hand down a bearded chin and answered her, “We all do Aric’s work whether we want to or not. This is his world.”

“Only if we let it happen,” Caledonia argued. “Stop letting it happen.”

Now he laughed, and it was a tired sound. He raised an arm, gesturing to the destruction surrounding them. “My girl, if I had the power to stop this from happening, don’t you think I’d have done it?”