[b][I]Raven Rivers[/i][/b]

Raven was the first to arrive, his pace almost frantic as he said to his commanding officer and old friend, "I should have known to keep my mouth shut. And to think these bastards actually think I'd come near ten meters of a Firestarter."

Colonel Wayne and any other observer who looked hard enough could see that Raven was both more composed than he was during the supply raid, yet somehow [i]even angrier[/i]. 

The man's next words were, "I'm taking full responsibility for this, Sir."

He didn't elaborate; he didn't need to. He allowed the enemy to get under his skin and now all of them are going to suffer for it. Nevertheless, he had to ask, "We can't get there in time, can we? All those people, they're going to die not knowing whom to properly curse."

[i]This is our darkest hour,[/i] Raven Rivers thought. [i]There can be no full rising from this, no ending without something we deeply regret. We'll forever be scarred by this, no matter what happens after.[/i]

[i]Even if we kill every last one of the impostors, our enemies, our [b]abusers[/b], we will never rid ourselves of the unclean feeling that they stained us with. Our honor - God, I sound like Ingrid - has been sullied forever.[/i]

Raven sighed and said, "The Prisoners in Fort Tie Shan will further suffer for this. Everyone we loved and cared about, including my Katrina and Andrew, they'll suffer from everyone, including their fellow innmates and the guards." 

He looked at his Colonel, then at Ingrid, and Reya, and Ziska and Tarak and everyone else and said, "What's the plan? We have plans for a turnaround, right? We can't let this be our darkest hour, we can't let this be the edge of the cliff..."

[b][i]Andrew Rivers[/i][/b]

Andrew was trying to gain the FPA's trust by doing menial labor and chores whenever permitted, giving them advice on weapons and motorcycle maintenance and as much information about the Green Knights as he can without outright compromising the latter. He was trying to prove himself useful and he seemed to have gotten a little bit of progress in that. 

Then those [i]impostors[/i] just had to burn down North Nui Awa and now he was trying to clear his name to a bunch of soldiers, some his age, then various officers, continually saying until his voice wore out, "We don't even have a Firestarter - These are Impostors! None of us would never touch a Firestarter with a ten foot pole!"

He needed to make his case clear, he needed to convince his [i]captors[/i] that the Green Knights and him were innocent. He must not sound hysterical as he did so, or else...

A fist came flying at him; he didn't know whether it was a child or adult who hurled it, but he caught the blow with his forearms - Courtesy of his father's lessons - before repeating his assertion, "Those are impostors. We would never do this. Not when the [i]real[/i] enemy is out there..."

He cannot cry. He was sixteen, he cannot cry! He was older than this, he was more capable than most other folk, he was supposed to be - No, no, no, no, he was crying! 

His eyes were wet with tears, tears of grief and rage and sadness. He was not above it all. Nevertheless, he could hear footsteps stepping away from him; did they believe him now, or did they still doubt him?

He collapsed onto his knees, inadvertedly, overcome by emotion. Andrew Rivers knew that no amount of hatred hurled at the enemy will fix what they did. Only clearing their names would. 

But he had to admit, maybe he had no role to play in that?