2 Days Later

— Mondia, Colyath 29, 8054 —

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey,” Spike greeted back to Twy, offering her a casual wave before stopping and bracing himself for Sky to leap at him in a tackle-hug. He graciously caught her before setting her back on the ground and giving her a disapproving look. “That really necessary?”

“Oh c’mon, I missed you!” Sky declared, her arms still wrapped around Spike’s torso as she looked up at him.

“It ain’t even been a week…”

“Which in itself is concerning…” Phoenix muttered as she, Kestrel, Twy, and Danielle approached Spike — who himself had just entered the public area of Nimaliaka Central’s Gateport alongside Austin, Pierce, Conrad, and Mark. As the two groups came together under the bright Gateport sunlights, Phoenix looked around at each of the Earthians before glancing to the left, where Davídrius and Kaoné had met to exchange a few hushed words. She then turned to look at Pierce and Conrad. “So you guys came back early, too, huh?”

“Is it related to why Christeané isn’t with you?” Twy asked.

“Shit hit the fan,” Conrad remarked.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Austin affirmed. “We were attacked by a Bleeder, apparently. And then had to fight against the fuckin’ Nanocreatures!”

“Christeané stayed behind to help with the evacuation of Nayasis,” Mark explained. “We came back to get the news out about what happened.”

Phoenix sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “So you ran into an infection problem, too? Figures.”

“Hmph. It would figure we weren’t alone,” Pierce replied with a snort. “Let me guess, Rebehka stayed behind on Karania to deal with whatever bullshit you ran into, there?”

“Yup. Except we weren’t attacked by a Bleeder… instead, it was that Chaos Knight who showed up and ruined everything. Nil’kin, I think.”

“What a coincidence,” Conrad drawled. “Did you guys have to fight, too?”

“No…” Twy replied. “We were about to, before Nil’kin stepped in…”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing she showed up,” Austin said.

“Nil’kin ‘stepping in’ involved her activating the self-destruct of a research facility before we even had the chance to rescue the people trapped inside,” Phoenix retorted. “So yeah, it was a bad thing.”

“…Oh.”

“At least we’re all fine, it looks like…” Spike observed.

“Yeah, thanks to you!” Austin remarked as he elbowed Spike in the side. He then glanced toward Sky, saying, “this guy unlocked his Overdrive while we were fighting! Literally saved my life!”

“No way, seriously?!” Sky exclaimed.

“It ain’t that big of a deal…” Spike responded sheepishly.

“Dude, we literally almost died,” Austin countered. “If you hadn’t broken out those indestructible shields, then we wouldn’t be standing here right now!”

“Indestructible? Wow!” Danielle remarked. “I wish my Overdrive was that useful!”

“Yeah yeah, Overdrives are cool, whatever,” Pierce said. “More importantly—“

“Sounds like someone’s sour that their Overdrive sucks,” Phoenix retorted.

“At least I have one,” Pierce shot back. “But that’s beside the point. More importantly…” He turned to look over the rest of the Earthians. “…We both ran into infection problems. I can’t be the only one who thinks this is more than a coincidence, right?”

“It does seem suspect…” Mark admitted.

“Yeah, remember what Davídrius said when we first saw signs of the Nanocreatures?” Austin pointed out. “He said, ‘they really are here?’ You know, like he was expecting them!”

“Karania, where we went, was home to an Infection Research Facility, too,” Twy added. “Kaoné and Rebehka seemed to personally know the woman in charge.”

“She had even heard about us!” Sky remarked, finally separating from Spike to address the group. “Uh, the head researcher lady, I mean. It sounded like Rebehka told her about us before we got there.”

“What…?” Danielle looked doubtfully at the rest of the group. “Are… are you guys saying that they… tricked us, or something?”

“It sure seems like they used us, for whatever reason,” Phoenix said.

“But what I can’t figure out… is why?” Twy questioned. “If we assume that they had heard about infection issues or sightings before our trip, and just didn’t tell us… well, why not? Was the entire purpose of our trip to provide cover for them looking into the infection? And if it was, then why? Who were they hiding from?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Pierce remarked, and then turned toward Davídrius and Kaoné. “Hey! What’s the deal with the Nanocreatures, huh?”

“Oi, quiet down,” Davídrius snapped back as he and Kaoné turned to approach the Earthians.

“We try not to use the term ‘Nanocreatures’ in public,” Kaoné quietly added. “Not when talking about current events, at least…”

“So you really do try to keep things hush,” Mark replied.

“It doesn’t explain using us, though,” Phoenix said as Davídrius and Kaoné stopped next to the Earthians, joining their large conversational circle at the sides of Nimalia’s expansive Gateport.

“’Using’?” Davídrius echoed with a scowl.

“Don’t play dumb, we’re on to you,” Pierce insisted. “It was weird enough from the start that you Deans all showed up to give us personal lessons on different fucking planets — but now, both our groups ran into the infection. Do you really expect us to believe that’s a mere coincidence?”

The two Deans exchanged a glance before Davídrius released a frustrated sigh. “See, I told ya they’d figure us out,” he muttered, his gaze momentarily directed toward Kaoné.

“And yet you’re the one who wanted to keep all of this a secret,” Kaoné responded, and then bowed her head toward the Earthians. “…We’re sorry for getting you all involved in this, especially like this…”

“So there really was somethin’ going on? Really?” Austin questioned.

“I sure as hell wouldn’t’ve left Tresnon for anythin’ other than the damned infection,” Davídrius replied.

“Why do you care about the infection on a different planet, anyways?” Pierce asked. “You sure don’t seem very fond of ‘outsiders’.”

“My dislike of the NSD and the Union doesn’t mean I hate all outsiders,” Davídrius countered. “But when it comes to the infection, helpin’ the Union is helpin’ myself. After all, if Nimalia falls, it’s takin’ Treséd with it.”

“So our trip really was because of the infection, then?” Phoenix pressed.

“…It was,” Kaoné admitted after a deep sigh. “To be completely upfront with you… we actually received reports of a mild containment breach at the Infection Research Center on Karania about a week ago. And around that time, we also received word of potential infection sightings on Nayasis. When it comes to lower tier worlds, the NSD tends to take the same scorched-earth stance as the Chaos Knights… so, Rebehka, Christeané, Davídrius, and I decided to investigate on our own, to try and resolve the issues before the NSD came in to just annihilate everything.”

“Fuckin’ useless-ass NSD…” Davídrius muttered.

“If you were trying to hide our activities from the NSD, then why did we route through Kandieras, the Primary Fortress World of the NSD?” Mark questioned.

“When dealing with the metallic infection, time is of the essence,” Kaoné replied. “If we had gone through the civilian network, then it would have taken us several days to reach Nayasis or Karania. So we decided that risking some NSD attention would be worth it; by the time they’d be able to look into the problem on their own, we’d have already completed our own investigations, and would be able to argue for a more reasoned response. Besides, it isn’t uncommon for Rebehka, Kevérin, Kevken, or I to use the Fortress World network for our work, so we thought that we wouldn’t raise any suspicion…”

“At this point, I think it would’ve been better if the NSD had caught on,” Conrad remarked.

“Okay… so this explains why we went where we did,” Phoenix said, “but why bring us along? And then tell us jack-shit about anything?”

“Over the past several months, we’ve already established a pattern of taking you Keys on trips around Nimalia and Union space,” Kaoné answered. “We figured that if we disguised our investigation as another one of those trips, then it wouldn’t arouse any suspicion from the NSD, or the Chaos Knights. And since Rebehka has tagged along on a couple of your previous trips, and Christeané is known for often helping out at WCU, them coming along wouldn’t — shouldn’t — have been suspicious.”

“And we chose not to tell y’all to make it less likely that anyone would hear about the infection bullshit,” Davídrius added. “Havin’ y’all leave Tresnon was good cover for me and Kaoné leavin’, too — if the Bleeders had any spies or somethin’, they probably just thought you Earthians were up an’ leavin’ on your own. They wouldn’t know ‘til it’s too late to do anythin’ that Kaoné and I went with y’all.”

“…So basically, the reason we were kept in the dark was because of more political bullshit?” Conrad said.

“I don’t like it any more than you do…” Davídrius grumbled. “I would rather have never left Tresnon in the first place.”

“It sounds like your attempts to have no one notice you failed, anyways,” Phoenix pointed out. “Nil’kin showed up and ruined everything on Karania, and according to Austin, here, you guys were attacked by a Bleeder!”

“Nil’kin turned out to be far more nosy than even Rebehka expected,” Kaoné said. “As for the Bleeder, well… even we’re surprised by that.”

“All the more reason to get back to Tresnon as soon as possible,” Davídrius insisted.

“Our transport doesn’t leave for another hour. We’ll be fine.”

“The fact that you can’t trust the NSD to responsibly handle the infection is… concerning, though,” Twy said.

“Assuming that scorched-earth isn’t the correct solution, anyways…” Austin muttered.

“It isn’t — not when we’ve proven that a cure is possible,” Kaoné insisted. “But now that everything is said and done… I really am sorry for keeping you all in the dark. I promise we won’t do it again, and I hope we can make it up to you, somehow.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Pierce retorted.

“Well it won’t be a problem anytime soon, anyways,” Davídrius declared. “Now that we know the Bleeders somehow have a way of getttin’ off-world, we know that they’re a much bigger threat than we thought before — even considerin’ their attempted attack on Tresnon. So until they’re dealt with, I think I’ll be bannin’ any more trips out of Tresnon. All this travel just opens us up more to attack…”

“Can you really do that? Ban people from leaving the entire city?!” Sky questioned.

“Well, no — it ain’t like I’m in charge of the Compound. Tresnon doesn’t really have a leader, in the first place. I guess me or Selind are the closest things to a leader, but we don’t got full control over the place, or anythin’. Most trips out of Tresnon to foreign places are done by WCU, though, and I am in charge of that.”

“So we’ll be stuck in Tresnon for the foreseeable future, then…” Austin mused.

“It isn’t ideal, but I agree with Davídrius,” Kaoné said, briefly passing Davídrius a glance as he turned away, as if distracted by something. “But on the bright side, with fewer trips and such distractions, we should be able to make better progress on your schooling!”

“Yay,” Conrad deadpanned.

“I suppose it gives Danielle and I a chance to help out CSF-1 with their anti-Bleeder efforts, as well,” Mark commented.

“Weren’t they doing something while we were gone, too?” Danielle questioned, and then cocked her head in thought. “I wonder if they found anything…?”

“It sounds like they did, thank the fuckin’ dirt,” Davídrius remarked as he turned back to face the group. “I just got a message from Selind. Your SERRCom pals not only got intel on Strén and the Bleeders’ outside connections, they also rescued a hundred fuckin’ captives — one of ‘em the student that got kidnapped on Hunger’s Bane, Minilas.”

---

Several Hours Later

“Wow. You guys really are dumb.”

“Wha—?!” Obra spluttered, only to wince and hold a hand to his head. Nonetheless, he continued his objection through a pained grimace. “We ain’t dumb…!”

“Really, now,” Minilas drawled, staring blankly over at Obra. Both Chaotics currently laid upon a couple of cots within Compound Tresnon’s medical center, left to recover after returning from the northeastern coast of Treséd. A handful of other cots filled out the rest of the sizable room, each one featuring one of the captives that CSF-1 had freed from the Bleeders, while sitting next to some of the cots were nurses or visitors. Liask herself counted among the visitors, sitting in a small chair in between Minilas and Obra’s cots; while Obra had sustained several bruises and broken bones after their encounter with Strén, Liask had been lucky to escape unscathed. Minilas, on the other hand, had no visible or obvious injuries — her presence in the medical center seemed largely to be due to fatigue.

“Minilas is kinda right…” Liask admitted as she passed Obra a sheepish glance.

“Well, maybe, sorta, but…!” Obra continued to protest.

“As soon as I got kidnapped, you guys rushed off to Rokres to try and find me,” Minilas deadpanned. “Despite the Bleeders havin’ nothin’ to do with Rokres.”

“That was Pierce’s idea!”

“But you still went along with it.”

“W-well… yeah, but…”

“And then, recently, you decided to try followin’ a group of trained soldiers to try and find me.”

“That’s—“

“Trained soldiers and Ralak, who are all way better in a fight than you.”

“I mean—“

“And then you went and got knocked out.”

Obra stared at Minilas for a second, only to sigh and lay back in his cot. “…Yeah…”

“Yep. So, like I said: you guys are really dumb,” Minilas replied, but then shifted in her cot to look at Liask and Obra through the one eye that her long bangs didn’t cover. “…But, thanks. I’m glad you guys didn’t forget about me, and that you tried to save me… even if you really shouldn’t’ve.”

“Guess I can’t really deny that…” Liask said. “In the end, we really only got in the way, huh? And now, even Ralak…”

She trailed off uneasily, leaving her unfinished thought to linger in the air.

“…She really did fight that Strén bastard, didn’t she?” Obra muttered. “She and those Earthian outsiders, too…”

“Am I about to hear Obra praisin’ outsiders?” Minilas questioned.

“Oh, shut up,” Obra retorted with a scowl. “I can recognize skill when I see it. And also… admit when I may’ve been wrong…”

“Oh?”

“I really thought I’d be able to help, I really did, but… damn. All I ended up doin’ was holdin’ everyone back.”

“You were at least able to cut Strén’s arm off,” Liask pointed out. “That helped.”

“Maybe, but I was tryin’ to kill him, not cut off his arm. He dodged, somehow…” Obra responded. “And the way you tell it, he still kicked everyone’s ass without the arm…”

“What’s this about kicking asses and arms?”

“…Pierce!” Liask’s expression lit up as Pierce and Conrad both stepped into the patient room before approaching Obra and Minilas’s cots.

“…What’re you doin’ here?” Obra questioned.

“We just got back from our trip,” Pierce replied, and then offered a nod toward Minilas. “I heard from Davídrius that you were found, so Conrad and I thought we’d check in on you. But…” He then looked over at Obra. “…What the hell are you in bed, for?”

“If you’re trying to nap, we can leave,” Conrad said.

“Oh, he’s just suffering the consequences of his own actions,” Minilas stated flatly.

“Minilas!” Obra protested.

“What? It’s true.”

“Well, to be more specific…” Liask started, “Obra and I, kinda, uh… tailed those Earthian soldiers and Ralak when they left to look for Bleeder info. And we ended up gettin’ wrapped up in a fight with Strén and Feral…”

“Who?” Conrad questioned cluelessly.

“Dude, do you not pay attention at all?” Pierce replied incredulously. “Strén and Feral are supposed to be two of the most dangerous Bleeders, right?”

“Yeah,” Liask said, and then laughed uneasily. “We sure found that out the hard way…”

“Well, at least you’re fine, now, right?” Pierce said as he glanced between Obra and Liask. He then looked over at Minilas. “…What about you? You feeling okay?”

Minilas turned to look at Pierce, the visible corner of her mouth turning up into a bitter smile. “Would you actually do anythin’ if I said ‘no’?”

“I guess that depends on why you’d be saying ‘no’.”

“Wow,” Conrad deadpanned. “What amazing tact.”

“Heh heh heh…” Minilas chuckled to herself before turning away from Pierce. “…It’s fine. I’m not gonna blame any of you for what the Bleeders did.”

“What the hell did the Bleeders do?” Obra questioned.

“Fuckin’ hell, and you think I’m the one with bad tact?” Pierce interjected. “C’mon, man. She just got back, right? Give her some time.”

“Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t be botherin’ her too much…” Liask said.

“No… this is fine,” Minilas replied. “…I mean, I’m not answerin’ your question, Obra. But you guys bein’ here is fine.”

“Well at least you still have your food-summoning thing, right?” Conrad remarked. “If things get too bad, just conjure up a good meal, I’d say.”

There was a moment of silence as Minilas fixed Conrad with a blank stare, only to then turn away, her eyes closed.

“Ahem… well, then,” Pierce commented, filling the silence with an uneasy interjection. With an uncomfortable smile, he looked over at Liask. “Uh… if you don’t mind, I wanted to talk with you. …In private.”

“Yeah…? Okay,” Liask responded, slowly standing from her seat — only to stop a second later and look at Minilas. “Oh, do you mind if we—?”

“Nah, go ahead,” Minilas replied, her tone as flat as ever, though the corner of her mouth was turned up into a small smile. “Finally did somethin’ while I was gone, huh?”

“’Did something’ is one way of puttin’ it,” Obra said with a scoff. “Liask, seriously? You’re really still gonna talk to that guy?”

“If you’re askin’ that, then you weren’t really listenin’ to me when we talked back on that shuttle,” Liask countered.

“Gah… I can’t believe you.” Obra then released a tired sigh as he allowed his head to plop back onto his cot. “…But Minilas is back, I guess, so I don’t got much to complain about, now…”

“Obra…” Minilas said, her voice carrying the same sort of reprimanding tone that a parent would use on their child, “you used me bein’ gone against Liask, didn’t you?”

“I—!”

“Wow. That’s kind of a dick move,” Conrad remarked.

“Look, I was wrong, okay? I’m sorry,” Obra retorted, a scowl covering his features. “Just… go have your damn ‘talk’, Liask.”

“Gladly,” Liask replied, finally fully standing from her seat and stepping toward the exit of the patient room. Pierce quietly followed her into the hallway beyond, which felt small and cramped — but more importantly, empty.

“…Well, uh…” Pierce started, uneasily scratching the back of his head as he searched for the words to describe his thoughts. “You… okay? After running into Strén, and all that?”

“…I’ve had better days…” Liask responded, her eyes dropping. “Fightin’ him was… …well, he’s definitely way tougher than I am. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given he even gave Davídrius trouble 20 years ago.” She then flashed a forced smile. “But at least Minilas is back, now.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s good. I’m glad to see she’s okay.”

“Yeah… so… what did you wanna talk about?”

Pierce paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as he sorted out his thoughts. Eventually, he said, “it’s… about the last time we talked.”

Liask simply looked back at Pierce, her expression unreadable as she clasped her hands behind her back. “…Yeah?”

“I… wanted to apologize. For leading you on, like I did. That was… pretty dickish of me.”

“…”

“Part of it was just that I refused to believe what was obviously there, but — well, that’s no excuse. I’m sorry, really.”

“Um… thanks, I guess…”

“But that’s not it.” With another exhale, Pierce took on a confident demeanor as he looked Liask straight in the eyes. “…I’ve been thinking, about what you asked me last week. Specifically,  about how I felt about you. After being the dick that I am, I’d fully understand if you don’t want anything to do with me going forward, but… I’d like to give it another shot. You know, our relationship. Except… for real, this time.”

Liask stared back at Pierce for a second, only to glance away and release a bitter chuckle. “Figured that out in less than a week, huh?”

“Hey, it’d be a full week, if we were on Earth,” Pierce replied cheekily. “…But seriously. If you don’t want to, that’s fine, I get it. I tend to fuck these things up a lot, so I’m not going to blame this one on you.”

“’This one’?”

“I meant— I was talking about my other failed relationships. Of which there are… many.”

“Mm. And you aren’t just trying to get back with me for that contest with your friend?”

“No, no, of course not. My contests with Phoenix are usually pretty fucking stupid, anyways.”

“Ha…” Liask briefly smiled before returning to a neutral expression, her gaze wandering across the empty hallway. “Well… I’ve been thinkin’, too. About us, and you. You know, I never really understood why you kept blamin’ yourself for Trenon’s death. I always thought, you know, it was just an accident. But, while you were gone… …well, I told you that Obra and I ended up goin’ against Strén and Feral, right? Well, that’s not the whole story. Ralak and those Earthian soldiers were there, too. And while everyone got out alive, Ralak took a big hit tryin’ to protect me.”

“…How big of a hit?”

“She might not have a workin’ arm, anymore…”

“Ah…” Pierce nodded in understanding.

“She’s at least still alive, but at the same time… if I just wasn’t there, or if I had been a more useful fighter… then she wouldn’t’ve gotten injured like that. And when I think about that, I think I finally understand how you feel about Trenon. About why you might’ve felt guilty towards me.”

“I guess… but it’s still no excuse for leading you on.“

“I’m not sayin’ it is, but I am sayin’ I understand why you were so uneasy with me, before. Knowin’ all of that…” Liask finally looked Pierce in the eyes again as she flashed him a smile. “Well, how could I not give you a second chance?”

“Wait… really?” Pierce stared back at her in disbelief.

“I mean, I’m not gonna say you didn’t hurt me, but I wasn’t really upfront with my own feelings towards you, either. And if you really are sorry about leadin’ me on, and you really wanna try a real relationship, then… yeah. I’d like that, too.”

“Oh… ha ha, wow. I kind of expected you to turn me down and tell me to never talk to you again. That’s how these things usually go…”

“’Usually’?!”

“Agh, sorry, sorry, I’ll stop talking about that stuff,” Pierce quickly backpedaled. “But, man… wow, that’s a relief.”

“So now we’re boyfriend and girlfriend… right?” Liask questioned hopefully.

“Of course,” Pierce replied with a smirk. “And while we’re at it, why don’t you show me how Tresédian couples do things? You didn’t seem too fond of the kind of shows of affection that are common on Earth.”

“Ah, ha ha…” Liask responded with a sheepish laugh. “Well, uh, I guess I’ll see what I can do…”

“Great!” Pierce remarked. “Alright, then. Let’s get back to your friends.”

“Yeah, of course!” Liask readily replied, smiling to herself as she and Pierce returned to their friends in the patient room.

---

*

“So it really was the SFC? Those sand-eating motherfuckers…”

“Do we really know for sure, though…?” Kaoné questioned, glancing uneasily between Davídrius — who was seated behind his desk in his office at the WCU campus — and Colonel Saito, who stood across the desk from Davídrius.

“All I can tell you is the evidence we found,” Saito replied, and then nodded towards Selind, who leaned against the side wall of the office. “We turned the two captured soldiers over to the Defense Force as soon as we got back, so you should be able to verify.”

“And I got in touch with your old pal, Kevken,” Selind remarked, passing Davídrius a quick glance before looking back to Saito. “Accordin’ to him, most of the gear the Colonel here confiscated from the captives is actual SFC gear. The captives even have SFC ID implants. Seems as ironclad as it gets.”

“Kevken’s already told me that he’s bringin’ this information to the authorities in Riverana,” Davídrius reported. “Hopefully, they’ll listen to him and do somethin’ about all this, but I’m not holdin’ my breath.”

“You think Riverana won’t care that their contracted military is meddling in another nation’s affairs?” Saito questioned.

“Treséd ain’t even a nation, in the eyes of other Nimalians. No one cares what happens here.” Davídrius sat back in his chair and released a frustrated sigh. “Well, at least there’s that incident a few months back where a Bleeder broke into the Ayas research lab. That actually happened in Riverana, so maybe they’ll care enough about that to sack the SFC. We’ll have to see.”

“Either way, we’re on to them, now,” Selind said. “And even if Riverana doesn’t do anything, Kevken already told me that he’ll keep us updated on the SFC’s activities as much as he can. So we finally have a leg up on the bastards.”

“Aren’t the two of you on speaking terms with Riverana’s Archoné?” Saito questioned while glancing between Davídrius and Kaoné.

“We are,” Kaoné replied. “But the Archoné of Riverana doesn’t have a lot of actual authority. The country is mostly ruled by the elected Liépen, and they’re the ones who decide what PMCs their government contracts with. I’m not sure if Pallan can actually do anything…”

“I see…” Saito muttered. “This isn’t quite the slam-dunk I was hoping for, but at least it’s progress.”

“As Selind said, at least we got actual intel, now,” Davídrius stated, and then gave Saito a serious look. “But what the hell else happened out there? I get back today, and I find that Ralak’s injured from a fight with Strén?”

“That’s right. Most importantly, Ralak’s contact in Compound Falnon informed us that the Bleeders are preparing for another attack on Compound Tresnon.”

“Another?!” Kaoné responded incredulously.

“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” Selind remarked. “The Bleeders clearly have it out for us, for a number of reasons.”

“It’s a pain, but havin’ confirmation is still good,” Davídrius grumbled. “Now that we know they’re after us, we can maybe use that to lay traps or somethin’.” He then looked up at Saito. “Anyways, that can’t be it. You still ain’t explained what happened to Ralak. What the hell else happened out there?”

“A lot,” Saito replied. “Ralak’s contact sent us to a Bleeder base to the north. We cleared the base, and found info that led us to the northeast coast of Treséd, where we ran into Strén, Feral, and a handful of other Bleeders. Along the way, we ran into two of your students, who got themselves into trouble trying to follow us.”

“It was Liask Rakos and Obra Rivas,” Selind reported to Davídrius.

“For fuck’s sake…” Davídrius muttered. “Looks like we need to do a better job of teachin’ these kids some fuckin’ restraint.”

“To be perfectly frank, their foolhardiness nearly jeopardized the mission,” Saito said. “They attacked the Bleeder base in the middle of my team silently taking out the guards, and almost got captured because of it. Then, when we discovered Strén and Feral, they rushed headfirst into a confrontation despite multiple urgings not to.”

Davídrius’s expression hardened. “Are they to blame for what happened to Ralak?”

Saito remained silent for a moment, contemplating the question. “…On one hand, it’s clear that they were out of their depth in that fight,” the Colonel replied. “And if they hadn’t charged in without a plan, then my team should have been able to conduct a proper surprise attack. Their actions put both them and us in incredible danger. However… objectively speaking, we severely underestimated both Strén and Feral. I can’t confidently say that we would have escaped from a head-on fight unscathed if Ralak was the only Chaotic with us. Those kids of yours may have gotten us into that mess, but they’re also, arguably, the only reason we were able to escape with the hostages.”

“How’s that?”

“Strén and Feral both have cybernetic prosthetics with integrated energy shielding and weaponry. That means my team, practically speaking, wouldn’t have been able to do anything to stop them. Ralak and that Liask girl were ultimately on their own fighting the Bleeders, and as skilled as Ralak seems, I really don’t think she would have been able to face both Strén and Feral on her own.”

“I see…” Davídrius muttered. “…Damn. The woman lost her arm, and you’re sayin’ things could’ve been worse?”

“So she really did lose the arm?” Saito questioned. “I feared as much…”

“Was it really unrecoverable?” Kaoné asked. “I heard from the hospital staff that her arm was still intact when she arrived…”

“You didn’t see the wound, Kaoné,” Selind remarked. “It was nasty. Looked like somethin’ took a huge bite outta her shoulder. Almost like her arm was hangin’ by a thread. As far as I could tell, the only reason she didn’t bleed to death was ‘cause she used her Imperator powers on her own blood to keep it from spillin’ out.”

“Will she be okay?” Saito asked.

“I mean, aside from havin’ to get her arm amputated? Yeah, I think so,” Selind replied. “Now we just need to convince her to get one of them shiny prosthetics.”

“I offered to make one for her, but she declined,” Kaoné said. “I had to convince her just to consider taking a standard, non-mechanical prosthetic…”

“With someone of her Chaotic ability and skill, a regular-ass prosthetic might just be as good as a normal arm,” Davídrius remarked. “All that aside… I’ll have to talk to Liask and Obra later about their stupidity, but was there anythin’ else you found, Colonel?”

“A little more, yes,” Saito replied. “We didn’t learn anything new about Feral, compared to her appearance during the attack on Tresnon — aside from the fact that she had a new arm, I suppose.”

“It would figure. You learn anythin’ about Strén, though?”

“A couple of things. For starters, his body is heavily augmented. At least one of his arms was cybernetic; that Obra kid cut it off at the start of the fight.”

“Were you able to recover it?” Kaoné questioned.

“Unfortunately, no,” Saito replied. “Strén made sure to destroy it. But despite losing his arm and not having any visible armor, he still had energy shielding, meaning the generator had to be embedded elsewhere in his body. On top of that, he has a laser cannon embedded in his chest.”

“A chest laser?” Davídrius echoed incredulously, “fuckin’, seriously?”

“Heavy chest augments, like laser cannons, are usually reserved for when someone has already replaced all of their limbs with cybernetics,” Kaoné declared. “If he really has a chest laser, then there might not be much left of his original organic body. What’s more…” A doubtful look crossed her face. “That kind of extensive modification is usually something you only see from the Black Suns…”

“Hold up, I thought we already decided it was the SFC behind things,” Davídrius interjected. “They got motive, too. They’ve been fuckin’ around in Treséd for years now, tryin’ to get the land around the Compounds for some reason. The Suns, though? I’m no fan of them, but Gavon is the only Black Sun I’ve ever seen in Treséd. And I really don’t see what they’d want with this fucking wasteland, when they have entire actual planets to themselves.”

“Is it possible that the SFC gave Strén these augments to try and make it look like the Black Suns are funding him?” Saito questioned.

“I suppose it’s possible…” Kaoné mused. “As with most Black Suns tech, you can buy their cybernetics on the market. Hidden chest-mounted weaponry is technically banned in CSA space, as well as most of the Nimalian Union, but the governments tend to turn a blind eye towards Black Suns soldiers who only use the weapons on the nations’ enemies. And as long as someone is making and using those weapons, there’s always a black market for them…”

“If most of Strén’s body is cybernetic, then that’d at least explain how he survived your friends killin’ him,” Selind remarked while passing Davídrius a glance. “Sounds like someone found his sorry ass and patched him up.”

“It would also mean that the SFC has had eyes on Treséd since over twenty years ago…” Davídrius muttered. “I knew they couldn’t be trusted. …Ah, damn, if Strén has extensive cybernetics, then Feral probably does, too.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Saito said. “But it gets worse. We learned that Strén has an Overdrive, and it’s a powerful one. ‘Barbarian’s Roar’, it’s called; it seems to let him shout very loudly, and anyone who hears the shout goes temporarily deaf. It also induces panic — Liask fully locked-up, and both Ralak and I could feel it.”

“…Fuck,” Davídrius swore. “I had a feeling the bastard had somethin’ up his sleeve, but deafness and panic? That’s a dangerous combo with Feral’s Chaostechnism.”

“Oh believe me, we learned that first-hand.”

“You’re certain you have to hear his shout for it to affect you, though?” Kaoné questioned.

“Well, I’ve only gone up against him once, so I don’t know for absolutely certain,” Saito replied. “But that seems to be what happened. The rest of my team were out of earshot of Strén’s shout, and none of them were affected. And now that I think about it, Feral wasn’t affected, either, despite being right beside him when he shouted. She must’ve had a way to ignore the effects, somehow.”

“Makes sense. She’d know what to expect, after all, so of course she’d be ready for it,” Selind mused. “But it looks like I’ll need to make sure the Defense Force has plenty of hearing protection.”

“That’s still no good,” Davídrius said. “If we deafen ourselves to make us immune to Strén’s roar, then we’re still fuckin’ deaf. We save ourselves from a bit of ‘panic’, I guess, but bein’ deaf on the battlefield is worse, in my opinion. Especially against a Chaostechnic.”

“Can Strén only do the shout at the moment that he activates his Overdrive?” Kaoné questioned, “or can he do it repeatedly, so long as his Overdrive is active? If we know that, we can better plan around it.”

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you,” Saito answered. “…But now that I think about it, I’m inclined to think he can shout repeatedly. When we fled the battle aboard the shuttle, it looked like Strén was about to shout again; he only stopped because Travis and I shot him, and then he had to deal with a Berserk Feral.”

“Fuckin’ great…” Davídrius muttered.

“At least we know to expect it, now,” Selind said, and then glanced at Davídrius and Kaoné. “What about the two of y’all, huh? Was that little trip of yours worth leavin’ Tresnon?”

“I guess you could say that…” Kaoné replied. “But it didn’t really have anything to do with the Bleeder situation, here.”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing…” Davídrius interjected. “For us, it did.”

“What? How so?”

“We ran into fuckin’ Shade, of all people, on Nayasis.”

“You ran into a Bleeder on another planet?!” Selind questioned incredulously.

“Are you sure it was her?” Saito pressed.

“I’m damn sure it was,” Davídrius replied. “She brought the whole cave down on top of us, too, the bitch. Ugh…” He stopped to massage his brow for a second before continuing, “well, now that we know the SFC is behind the Bleeders, I guess that explains how one of ‘em could get off-world… but it also tells us that the SFC gave the Bleeders more tech than we thought.”

“They did have a couple of Nimalian shuttles at the base we found,” Saito pointed out. “But, with that said — what was a Bleeder doing on another planet? If she was there because of you, then she would have had to reach Nayasis within a couple of days, which just isn’t possible with one of those shuttles. Those things don’t have any FTL Drives.”

“The SFC could have smuggled her through the Gate,” Kaoné suggested. “As tight as Gate security appears to be, big organizations tend to get their people and cargo rubber-stamped.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what happened…” Davídrius muttered. “Now that we’re on to the SFC, though, I think their movements will be a lot more limited, goin’ forward… but I’m sure the Bleeders still have plenty of tech. And even if the SFC is stopped or ends up cuttin’ off the Bleeders themselves, the Bleeders will still have all of the tech they’ve already been given to use against the people of Treséd. All in all, things are probably still gonna get worse before they get better.”

“That’s just life in Treséd,” Selind remarked with a smirk.

“And there’s a looming attack on Tresnon to consider, too,” Saito pointed out.

“Fuckin’ Bleeders…” Davídrius muttered. “We really need to deal with this. Until Strén is finally killed for fuckin’ good, I ain’t leavin’ Treséd again.”

“Stopping our trips with the Keys for the time being really is for the best, as well…” Kaoné mused.

“Well then, my team and I will keep doing what we can to help for as long as we’re here,” Saito said.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Davídrius replied as he stood up from his desk chair. “Now, with everythin’ we’ve just discussed, I think we’ve all got too much on our hands to just be standin’ around, here. With the Bleeders hopefully on the back foot, it’s time for us to find a way to get rid of ‘em, once and for all…”