Genesis Crisis IC

Prisma wrote:

Abandoned Prison

Leading the way back out of the facility, Cash and Carrie were the first to arrive outside. It didn't seem that Legion was trying to follow, so the twins relaxed their guard, waiting to see who else arrived. Daemond was quick to follow with Lancar, who was still unconscious.

"You think they managed to get the researcher?" Carrie wondered aloud, eyes scanning the prison. Cash shrugged before turning to glance at Lancar's wounds. At that moment, Carrie tapped his shoulder, pointing toward the side of the building, where Raidon and the rest of his group were emerging with Kokonoe in tow. The two groups united quickly enough and made their way back to Raidon's car had been. This time, an airship was waiting for them, having been sent to primarily pick up and return Kokonoe to Ergo. Once safely aboard, Kokonoe had left the company of the others in the hold, who were watching over Lancar, and went to find a com to call Ergo.

"This is Kokonoe," the researcher said, glaring at the screen. "Someone get me the kid. I want to check up on her."

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Lancar groaned and opened an eye, looking around the hold of the airship. For a moment, he felt a surge of panic before he registered the faces of his squad mates, looking worried and agitated butt otherwise unaffected by the mission.

"Were we successful?" he asked, looking at Aera.

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Raidon had separated himself from the Army squad immediately upon arriving. Without wasting any time, he'd begun making calls to contacts and beginning extensive searches into the Army's communication database. As he sat alone, he scrolled through a series of messages between one Arya Tarsos and her sister Lisa. The last one particularly causing his eyes to narrow, as Lisa mentioned her defection from Kaddath. If Arya had immediately reported this information, the Army may have had a lead on catching these fugitives. As it was, her decision to withhold information had placed her in a very grave position.

"Arya Tarsos.. You're going to regret that decision," Raidon muttered, eyes fixed on the lieutenant's beautiful profile.

Noin wrote:

Ergo Research Facility

"That is no problem. I just wanted to make sure you would get enough rest, however, if you don't feel tired yet, you can stay up," Arya explained and grabbed a cracker. There were a few minutes of silence in the room. Arya pulled her legs up on the couch, after taking her shoes off, and then fixed her hair.

"Do you worry about Kokonoe?" she finally asked the girl.

A few minutes later, a techincal research assisstant arrived, panting, as he obviously hurried over here.

"Hi...Ma'am...," he was a little confused by Arya's presence and rank. "I have good news Millie. Kokonoe is on her way back and on the phone right now and she wants to talk to you right away," he reported and held the door open.
Arya smiled, well that was certainly good news and she looked at Millie to see how she would take it. "Go on. I will wait here," she urged her and waved towards the door. "From what I heard about Kokonoe, you better not let her wait."

Once Millie left the room, Arya leaned back a little and exhaled She was glad Kokonoe was on her way back unharmed. Millie seemed to be really attached to her. Suddenly her phone rang.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked and the voice of her assisstant answered. "I hope it's not too inconvinient, Lieutenant. There's something wrong with the new application and we can't figure out what it is. Do you have time to take a look?" he asked. Arya looked around indecisive and then agreed. "I'll be right there."

She ripped a page from her notebook and left Millie a little note. I have to fix a problem at work. I will come back as soon as I can. - Arya
With a sigh she left the room and headed over to her team.

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Bunker

"Do we really have to talk about this?" he asked and grimaced in dismay when Lisa began talking about what types Rise might like. That was something he didn't really want to hear.

By the time he was done with the last cup, the blush had faded from his cheeks again and he drained the sink before picking up a towel to help Lisa dry the rest of the dishes.

"You're not going to tell her, are you?" he suddenly asked. There was an underlying edge in his voice and his blue eyes almost glared at her. It was a rather odd mixture, because at the same time, he looked rather helpless. He put the last of the dishes away and spread the towel out to dry it. "If you do...," he shook his head, "I don't know...I wouldn't even know what to do," he admitted and leaned against the wall. Pulling his hair back with both hands he exhaled slowly. What a tricky situation. James didn't like this at all. On the one hand he was glad he could with someone about it, a completely new feeling as well, but on the other hand, he was relcutant to tell Lisa what he was thinking.

Payne wrote:

Bunker

"No, we don't have to..." Lisa said, the inflection in her voice making it sound that although she wasn't going to press the issue, she definitely wasn't going to drop it either. She went silent for a few moments while they finished though. There was no sense in making James unnecessarily uncomfortable.

"I won't tell her." She responded to his question, not even taking the time to consider her answer. "It won't mean anything coming from me. So, it's your story to tell, not mine." Lisa gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't think that will keep me from pushing you to do so yourself though."

She threw the dish towel at him with a wink and then turned to exit the kitchen. It had been a long day, and she was ready for a bed.

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Keynes sat down on his bed and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag. With a sigh, he laid back to stare up at the ceiling. "Kokonoe Velda..." He barely breathed the name out, clouding the air above him with smoke. That was a name he hadn't heard in a very long time, a name that was better left forgotten...

A few minutes later, ashes fell on the floor as the cigarette in his hand reached the end of its life, but he didn't notice. His eyes, still turned towards the ceiling were seeing something else entirely, and although he wasn't actually asleep, Keynes knew this was the closest thing he'd get to it tonight...

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Lab

Millie looked a guilty when Arya asked if she'd been worrying about Kokonoe. She fidgeted with Beetoven's arms, unable to meet the woman's eyes after spending the entire day with her, only to have it found out she'd been thinking of days spent with someone else. "Millie is worried... Last time Cocoa left, she was back the next day, way before dark." Her eyes drifted to the window, where the sun had already set.

Before she could continue, a man entered the room, telling them that Kokonoe was on the phone. Millie's face lit up, but she glanced at Arya before leaving, as if asking permission to go. When the woman consented, Millie made a dash for the door and was already speeding down the hall before the man realized she'd run past him.

At the end of the hall, Millie tapped on a screen attached to the wall, bringing up Kokonoe's face. "Cocoa! You're late." She sounded a bit annoyed, but her face quickly softened. "Millie missed you..."

Payne wrote:

Lab

Kokonoe felt herself relax at the sight of Millie's innocent face. Despite all that she'd gone through in the last couple days, a weary smile tugged at her mouth.

"Hey, kiddo," the researcher said, sighing. "Sorry I couldn't come back sooner. I got a little tied up.."

She didn't think it necessary to inform Millie of her kidnapping; what was the point of upsetting her further?

"In any case, I'll be back by morning," Kokonoe continued. "Just wanted to check up on you, make sure you were all right."

She paused, studying Millie's angelic expression. The words the Black Rider had taunted her with in prison came back to haunt her, but she pushed them away. Anything she had done, any sins she had committed in her research, would be worth it to get this child away from this life and back to a normal home. Somewhere that Millie would be loved.. because Kokonoe would never be fit to love anyone.

"Get some sleep, Millie. And make sure to tuck Beethoven in snugly. I'll see you soon."

Kokonoe broke off the com before sighing and leaning back against the wall.

It was all for Millie.. If she could keep telling herself that, then she could keep moving on.

Payne wrote:

Lab

Millie was suddenly awake and aware that someone else was in her room. Her eyes cracked open in anticipation, and she called out to who she expected to see. "Cocoa?"

The figure that had been watching her from across the room went still, as if her waking up had been a surprise. "No..."

His voice wasn't one that Millie recognized, and she felt a sudden wave of fear. Squeezing Beethoven closer, she slowly scooted away from him.

"Don't be afraid of me Millie." The voice came again, this time more soothing. Despite the hairs standing up on the back of her neck, Millie almost wanted to trust him. There was a familiarity in his tone, like a distant memory of someone she used to know.

"Who are you? Millie doesn't know you."

The man was silent for a moment, almost as if he were contemplating his answer, but for some reason, that didn't discredit him at all. He made it seem more like he was afraid of how she'd react to what he was going to say.

"My name is Levi... I'm your brother."

Millie's eyes widened at that, and she shook her head in denial. "Millie doesn't have any siblings..." She felt a small wave of guilt when she said that. Only that morning, she'd asked Arya if she'd be her sister. "Except for Arya..." She tacked it onto the end of the sentence hastily.

There was a sudden flash, which Millie recognized as her magic, but she hadn't used it. The man was gone now, but his voice called out to her from the other side of the bed. "No, I am your brother." He was closer now, much closer.

"Why are you here now?" She asked, unable to keep the pain from her voice. If she'd had a brother all this time, where had he been all these years?

"I'm here to send you home." He said softly, and Millie felt a comforting hand rest on her shoulder, slowly pushing her back down into the bed. "But that will come later. For now, rest young one."

Millie wanted to protest, but she was still exhausted from the day she'd spent outside, and his voice had a sing-song melody to it that made her drowsy.

"Mhh..." She squeezed Beethoven closer and quietly slipped off into unconsciousness with his comforting hand on her arm.

As soon as he was sure she was asleep, the man leaned forward, planing a soft kiss on Millie's cheek. "Sleep deeply young one..." A scalpel slipped into her chest, piercing all the way to Millie's heart, and she never felt a single pain as she fell into a sleep she would never wake from.

The man slowly ran his fingers through her hair for a moment, and then he stood back up, vanishing in the same way he had only moments before. The night was still young, and he had a lot of research to destroy...

Prisma wrote:

Day X

Bunker

Jax yawned and quickly jumped from his bed, stretching out his muscles to warm them up for another day of training. After his quick warm-up, he promptly exited his room, intending to rouse the others as he had the night before. However, the former Red Rider stopped short as the smell of cooking wafted down the halls.

"Someone's cooking already?" he wondered, his footsteps carrying him toward the kitchen to satiate his curiosity. To his surprise, it was Rise there alone, humming to herself as she carefully practiced the cutting technique Jane had taught her the day before on a mushroom before tossing the pieces into the pan.

"You're up early," Jax commented, leaning on the doorway. Rise gave a little start before turning around, blushing slightly.

"Well, I wanted to give myself ample time to prepare, in case I messed something up and needed to start over," she admitted, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. Jax smiled and nodded appreciatively at her words.

"You're really staying dedicated with this cooking thing. I'm impressed," he said before turning to leave. "Don't skip out on too much training though!"

With that, he headed back down the hallway to rouse the others, leaving Rise smiling happily to herself as she returned to her work.

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Ergo Research

The airship carrying Kokonoe, Raidon, and Squad 34 touched down at Ergo shortly after sunrise. The Squad would be returning to the Taurus Barracks with the airhship, while Kokonoe and Raidon remained behind. The researcher had raised an eyebrow at the police chief's insistence on remaining behind as well, but Kokonoe brushed the idea off. It was really none of her business.

"I hope I can trust that no one was slacking off while I was away," Kokonoe muttered as she stalked through the hallways, glaring at the figures as she passed. Instead of heading toward the lab, she went first toward Millie's room. As she turned down the corridor to it, however, she encountered a group of Ergo researchers whispering in hushed voices, looking frightened and apprehensive.

"What's going on here?" Kokonoe demanded, eyeing them. Beside her, Raidon seemed to ignore the going-ons, looking about sharply for something or someone.

Danny wrote:

Airship (Daemond)

"I'm sure they did; they had that man with them after all." Daemond bitterly replied when he thought about how cold that man was compared to someone like Lancar... who was unconscious at the moment. Daemond was freely confirmed of his hopeful belief as he thankfully noticed Raidon exit the building with the important researcher, Xennox, and Aera in toe. A smile came across Daemond's face briefly as he waved to Aera and Xennox to show that they were both okay.. But quickly, Daemond's mind immediately went to Lancar right when he did that.

"Oh hell, Aera is going to flip, good thing she is blind." Daemond thought to himself, as he quickly made his way to the usual airship that had ever so nice timing. Quickly walking over to a couch, he gently placed Lancar on to treat Lancar's wound to make sure none of them would get infected and such by applying disinfectant and putting on some cloths to apply pressure to the deeper and more bleeding wounds that were too deep for Dia to heal. The rest of the scrapes or shallow wounds Daemond would just put some band-aids on to help the healing process and stop the clots from opening up.

That being said, Daemond also had a wound on his shoulder that he hasn't been addressing, so he performed a similar process on his should as well.

Airship (Aera)

"I hope so Xennox." Aera replied in a troubled voice, as she began to follow Raidon outside of the building. She didn't really care about the mission at this point, but more so how Lancar was fairing with her hearing the steps of her squad in the distance. That must be Daemond and the rest, and they're heading to the ship... though Aera only heard 3 sets of footsteps, which put her on edge almost immediately.

"Were they not talking because someone got hurt?" Aera gravely though to herself, as she quickly dashed over to the airship and followed the footsteps up into the ship to catch up to whoever just went inside. Though, Aera tried to keep her cool once she was actually inside the airship, as she needed to act like a solider during these missions not some overprotective burden. So, she casually made her way towards the room only to hear sounds of somebody treating somebody else, which was obvious to the spraying, the sound of band-aids, and cloth being used to treat supposed wounds.

Aera didn't want to wait and ask what the problem was, so she immediately began to hold her shield in front of her like she was reading a book with her swinging her sword gently in front of her moments after. She didn't want to hit somebody after all.

"Angel eyes..." Aera mumbled, as her vision to the very badly wounded Lancar sent immediate concern down her spine with Aera walking over in a professional manner. She needed to hold down all those emotions otherwise it would look really stupid like last time when she ended up reciting a book word from word. Though, with Lancar sleeping like this Aera didn't say all that much, she only sat on the couch across from Lancar yet again. The poor lieutenant waking up a few moments later with Cash and Carrie showing up a bit later, them just as worried.

"You should be more worried about yourself, sir." Aera replied with an semi-annoyed tone that was restrained with her emotionless voice and posture, but she gave a brief nod to calm down the situation before Lancar could think anything as she replied "Ya, we were."

After she said that, she gave Lancar a warm smile while he looked at her that she told herself it was just to make him feel better. After all, a smile is one of the best ways to cure an injury like this... or was it laughter? Whatever, she was just glad Lancar felt better. Until her eyes began to water due to the prolonged Angel eyes, and forced her to grunt and close them.

----

The airship arrived at the research lab shortly after, as Aera and Daemond both waved goodbye to the leaving research assistant. They both felt a bond to Kokonoe at this time, similar to a squad mate since they have done a lot of missions together, but both of them quickly returned to their old business. Which in this case would be Aera worried about Lancar's wounds or reading, or Daemond attempting to study, while on the ship like Aera but failing miserably.

Noin wrote:

Bunker

James frowned at her words. This was something he had never really thought about and at the moment he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Rise. Surprised he caught the towel when Lisa left and stood there for a few seconds before leaving for his room.

The next morning, he woke up early, but decided to stay in bed a little longer once he noticed that his muscles were a bit sore from yesterday. Extensive training wasn't on his usual schedule. Instead he thought about his conversation with Lisa. He really needed to be careful, the last thing he wanted was for the others to find out as well. For now he trusted her to keep quiet.

James sighed and closed his eyes. A picture of Rise smiling appeared before his eyes and he once again realized how easy it was for her to cast a spell over him that all he could think about was her. Every time she smiled it lit up his world.

Just then he could hear Jax walking through the hallway, calling for them to wake up. He pulled himself from all the images and got up. A few minutes later, he left his room, fully dressed and freshly showered and walked in to the kitchen where Rise already started cooking.

"Good morning"

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Research Facility

Arya woke up when the alarm clock rang early in the morning. Quickly she sat up and began her daily routine. While she stood in the shower, her thoughts went back to last night. After she looking over the problem at work and fixing it, she had hurried back to Millie's room. Sadly, work had taken longer than anticipated and it was already quite late when she quietly entered the girl's room.

As expected, she was already asleep, so Arya just pulled the blanket up a little to make sure she was covered in it and touched Millie's hair in a gentle stroke before she left just as quietly as she had come.

About half an hour later, Arya was on her way to the food hall and fixed a strand of her hair before entering the room. While collecting her breakfast, she thought about whether she should check on Millie again or not. As far as she knew, Kokonoe should be back by now and even though she had not yet receive an official debriefing, she was inclined to let the head researcher handle the rest.

When finished with her breakfast, she had decided to head to Millie's room. She wanted to at least tell her that they would not be able to spend as much time together as before. However, when she arrived there, quite a few people were already there.

Arya suddenly had a bad feeling about this and made her way through to the door and stopped dead in her tracks when she realized who else was with Kokonoe.

"What in the world happened?" she echoed Kokonoe's words in a much gentler tone.

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Snow's Garage

Slowly Snow woke up. It took him a while to adjust to his surroundings. Why was he in his bed? Clear as day, he remembered coming into his garage with the thought of rest. Everything else after that was just a blur of pictures and sounds that Snow couldn't really make sense of.

He couldn't quite tell what had woken him and moved around a little. His side was straining and a dull pain told him that it wasn't quite healed yet. Finally when he felt an unfamiliar weight on his bare chest, he decided to open his eyes.

Lizzy had apparently fallen asleep, sitting next to him and at some point she must have fallen over because now she was sprawled half on the bed with her head resting on his chest. Snow lifted his hand to pull a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

After watching her a few seconds longer, he cleared his throat. "So you decided to take me up on my offer for a lesson after all?" he asked, his voice almost cracking, yet it had that same sarcastic tone as before. While he spoke, he could feel more pain. He guessed that whatever lucky circumstance he had to thank that he was still alive, probably had something to do with this young woman. Still he couldn't help but act like an obnoxious idiot.

Payne wrote:

Snow's Garage

Elizabeth was aware of the fact that someone else was in the room with her as she started to come around, but she wasn't immediately sure who it was. Her back hurt, probably from the position she'd fallen asleep in, but she was laying on something comfortable. She gave it an experimental squeeze to see what it was, her fingers digging into Snow's side.

"Mhh..." Elizabeth cracked open an eye and almost jumped out of her skin. How had she gotten on top of Snow? Swallowing down the terror that was welling up inside of her, she willed herself to give him a scowl, and Elizabeth squeezed the same spot on his side a lot harder before she sat up, probably hard enough to leave a bruise in the shape of her fingers. Good luck explaining that to any lady friends...

"The only thing I decided was to save your sorry ass last night." She growled as her spine cracked twice, causing her to grimace. "You've very quickly made me regret it though." Her fingers moved to her forehead, were her hair was matted strangely, and she groaned when she realized it was covered in dried blood. Just great...

Prisma wrote:

Airship

Lancar sighed as the airship lifted off from Ergo, glad to be rid of Chief Raidon's company. That man had the uncanny ability to make one feel uncomfortable.

"It would have been nice to just have the girl teleport us back.." the lieutenant mused, resigned to the trip back. If nothing else, he had least had the notion that they'd successfully completed another mission with no casualties, though he'd nearly been one himself.

Cash and Carrie were rather fussy, as it had been hard to get to sleep with Raidon anywhere near you. And so they were bickering more than usual, with Cash mercilessly shredding Carrie's habits while Carrie let him know exactly where he could stick his opinions.

Lancar gave another sigh as his eyes drifted over to Aera. Maybe if they had some downtime, he could finally get to working on those paintings he'd promised her..

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Ergo Research

Raidon had little interest in what had happened at Ergo, as his concern lay with the young woman had just walked so unsuspectingly into their midst. However, despite his instinct to resolve this matter as quickly as possible, the police chief waited silently for the current situation to play out, his gaze fixed unflinchingly on Arya.

Meanwhile, the researchers in discussion stopped dead at the sight of Kokonoe. Apprehensive glances were exchanged before one researcher finally cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Dr. Velda, we're not sure how it happened.." the man said, swallowing thickly. Kokonoe felt her stomach tightening, though she wasn't sure why.

"How what happened?" the researcher demanded, more firmly this time. The man clasped his hands to keep them from shaking as he took a studying breath.

"Millie was killed during the night," he said quietly, avoiding her gaze. "Stabbed through the heart while she slept."

Kokonoe felt as though the floor had fallen out from under her. She staggered back against the wall, hands clasping at her face. The words didn't make sense to her. Her mind couldn't grasp this. The researcher felt the eyes of all the people in the hallway on her as she trembled in shock.

"How did this happen?" she asked, her voice low. The same researcher looked at the others for some kind of confirmation, but recevied none.

"We don't-" he began, when suddenly Kokonoe dropped her hands, snarling like a wild animal.

"How does someone waltz into a top secret facility without raising a single alarm and kill someone? Tell me, dammit!" she yelled, slamming her fist back against the wall. The researchers flinched and shrank back, alarmed at her reaction.

"There was no indication of entry, no sightings on the security tapes," a woman said, getting the words out fast. "It's if they just.. appeared."

The words made Kokonoe's blood run cold. Despite the pain and terror of the moment, something about what the woman said felt wrong. No one in Kaddath had been found to be capable of using the Traesto Strain. No one but Millie herself.

"I want to see her," Kokonoe said, her voice hoarse, as she pushed the idea away for now. The most important thing right now was seeing the little girl for the last time. Kokonoe's heart ached unbearably at the idea that the innocent little soul she'd spoken to only hours before was no longer in this world.

Payne wrote:

Bunker

Lisa rolled over in her bed when Jax beat on the doorframe outside her room, stuffing a pillow over her head. "Go do some pushups or something. Leave me alone..." Her muffled protests called from underneat the pillow. Why couldn't they just let her sleep in a little? Mornings totally weren't her thing...

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As Jax went by the bathroom, both Will and Keynes stepped out, neither looking like they'd slept at all the night before. A few drops of water beneath Will's eyes denoted the fact that he'd just washed his face in an attempt to wake up. Mumbling between themselves about which one looked more like ****, they both lit a cigarette and made their way towards the kitchen, leaving a trail of smoke behind them.

Will sat down at the table holding onto the cigarette with a death grip as he massaged his ribcage with his other hand. He'd only thought it hurt the day before, but now, it was on fire after not being stretched.

Keynes didn't seem to be suffereing from anything but lack of sleep. His eyes lazily drifted to Rise, who was working on something in a frying pan. "Where's Jane?"

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Temporary Location

Alina frowned at the com in her hand. Chastenay had been less than approving of her current endeavor, and had practically ordered her to return to the capitol. That definitely rubbed her the wrong way. They were supposed to be on equal footing, but Chastenay had tried to push her around from the moment she joined the Praetorate. To her absolute annoyance, he got away with it too because he had the ears of the rest, something she couldn't even pretend to have. At best, she could get Lecarde to agree with her, and that was only if her ideas lined up with his 'justice'.

"Men..." The word sounded more like a curse than she'd intended, but the corners of her mouth lifted in a half-smile at the thought. For now, she'd have to return, but if they thought she'd be in a good mood about it, they were dead wrong, and if she wasn't going to be in a good mood, you could be damn certain none of them would before it was over either.

"Starkweather, get on the horn with the rest. We're bugging out and heading back home for now." She called out to the man behind her. He nodded and pulled out his com to start calling the others, but she was already on her way back to the jeep. No sense in wasting time here when she could be tormenting politicians instead...

Noin wrote:

Research Facility

The news hung in the air and it took Arya several seconds to process them. How could that have happened? I checked on her just a few hours ago. The pain of sadness spread through her, clearly showing on her face. However, she didn't follow into the room or asked to see the girl.

Instead she turned around and walked a few steps away, leaning against the wall. She'd only known Millie for a few days, but still, how could one not mourn the loss of such a cheerful little girl?

Arya leaned her head back and covered her eyes for a few seconds to regain control over her emotions. With a deep breath, she opened them again and watched what further happened. She didn't engage into useless self-blaming. There was no way she could have predicted this or any way she would have prevented it. No, I did everything right. No one could've predicted this. Never was there any indication that she was in danger, she thought, I do feel sorry about what happened and it makes me incredibly sad to see a young life ending so early. If there was any way I could've stopped this from happening, I would have.

Her thoughts returned to her own sister. "Another girl I couldn't keep close," she murmured to herself. Once this thought entered her head, she was unable to lose it again and a wave of guilty feelings washed over her.

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Snow's Garage

Snow groaned when her fingers dug into his side and more pain shot through his body. That wasn't how he imagined waking up.

"Yet here you are, in bed with me," he teased and moved slowly into a sitting position. He wanted to get up, but quickly gave up on that when he could feel the stitches strain. He pulled the bandage away and looked at the cut on his side. It looked neatly stitched and clean.

He became quiet when he realized how close it must've been last night and then shrugged it off. It was a weird feeling, Snow wasn't used to people doing things for him without being asked, let alone that there was someone who wanted to save his life.

"Thank you," he finally said, his voice almost back to its normal husky sound. Then a grin spread across his face and he looked at Lizzy. "So now that you've been my doctor…you think you can be my nurse too? Nurse Emma…or whatever you name is…" he asked and moved towards her, looking straight into her eyes. Suddenly his hand moved to the nightstand next to her and grabbed a small round box that was clearly filled with painkillers.

Leaning back again Snow dropped two pills in his palm to swallow them.

Prisma wrote:

Bunker

Rise hummed to herself as she stirred the contents of the pan about, the smell of bacon, eggs, and mushrooms filling the air. Keynes and Will entered the room first, followed by Jax.

"Oh, I told her she could sleep in a bit. She should be here soon," Rise answered, smiling wickedly. "Sorry I'm not as fun to watch in an apron, Keynes."

She stuck her tongue playfull at him as she brought the pan over and set it down before turning back to the stove to get out some rolls. At this time, Jane entered, as elegant and gracious as ever.

"Rise, I slept longer than I thought I would," Jane said apologetically, looking to see that everything had already been finished. "I didn't mean to make you do all the work alone."

Rise waved away the apology as Jane took a seat next to Jax and across from Keynes. Rise gave the older man a wink - a rather Jane-like wink at that - before setting the rolls down and removing her apron.

"It's no problem. I kind of wanted to fix it myself anyway," she admitted, shooting a glance at Jax to see what the silver-haired man thought of it as he served himself. Jane smiled and patted Rise's arm in response.

"It looks great. You've improved so quickly," the high agent commented as Rise moved to take a seat across from Jax, only to find that Will had already taken it. She shot him a rather disgruntled look before taking a seat next to Jax instead. It wasn't nearly as easy to shoot covert glances at him from this angle, and having him so close was a bit intimidating.

"So, Jax, what's on the schedule for today?" Jane said casually, glancing at the young man next to her. Jax looked over, shaking his head.

"Well, we lost a lot of early morning practice since everyone was too worn out from yesterday to get up and do a morning jog with me," the athletic silverhead replied. "I think we'll focus on some core exercises before getting in some casting practice, and then maybe some more weapon training."

Rise groaned at the sound of this, trying to maintain her resolve to get stronger. Jax wouldn't respect her if she couldn't be strong enough to handle this. And besides, Kaddath needed them.

"If you weren't so gorgeous, I might hate you," she thought, shooting Jax a look.

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Ergo Research

Kokonoe sat slowly down on the edge of Millie's bed, eyes fixed on the small girl's face. Her expression was so angelic and peaceful, and Kokonoe was grateful for at least that much. Were it not for the red stain on the girl's pajamas, she might have been asleep. To have seen a look of pain or terror in the girl's wide, unblinking eyes..

"Dammit," the researcher muttered, leaning forward and cradling her head in her hands. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. With all the evil and corrupt people out there, why did it have to be an innocent little child?

"Oh, Millie.." she whispered, the name sounding unfamiliar on her lips. She rarely addressed people by name, making it easier to distance herself from them. She couldn't let people in anymore. Not since him. Even now, she couldn't manage to even shed a tear. Those reserves had dried up long ago.

"Dr. Velda?" came a voice from the doorway. Kokonoe looked up to see a group of men in the doorway, obviously there to remove Millie's body for burial and conduct an investigation of the room. Kokonoe stood up and gave them a nod to continue as she exited the room. Out in the hallway, she stopped short as she saw Arya, looking quite as devastated as she was. The researcher knew the proper thing to do would be to comfort the other girl, but Kokonoe's style wasn't to share grief. She paused only long enough to stare at the lieutenant, hoping that some amount of gratitude was conveyed before she turned and headed up to her lab to lock herself away for a good long time.

--------------------------------

Raidon watched as the crowd dispersed, leaving only himself and Arya in the hallway. The lieutenant seemed unusually attached to the girl, considering they'd only known each other a very short time. Regardless, the goings-on surrounding the child didn't have anything to do with him. The police chief stepped toward Arya, hearing her whispered words of another girl she couldn't keep close.

"Yes, your sister's recent decisions have made it a bit difficult to keep in touch, I suspect," Raidon said coldly, staring down at her. Before Arya could react, her arm had been seized in a vice-like grip, cold and hard as steel. Raidon pulled her back against the wall, rather hard, with his right hand as his left grasped at her face, yanking her chin up so she was forced to stare into his eyes.

"I very rarely misjudge people, Lieutenant Tarsos," the police chief growled. "I had figured you as one of those overeager, loyal-to-a-fault, drones that the Army likes to mass produce here in Kaddath. Imagine my surprise to discover that you have aided and abetted known fugitives and enemies of the State, including your dear sister. Did you really think we wouldn't discover that? A very foolish mistake on your part, Lieutenant."

Raidon released Arya from his grip as the sound of his policemen's boots filled the hall. The police chief turned his back on the lieutenant, adjusting the visor on his hat.

"Lieutenant Arya Tarsos, you are under arrest on suspicion of treason. Please escort the lieutenant to the ship. We'll be heading back to headquarters immediately."

Danny wrote:

Aera (Airship and to Tarsus Barracks)

The rest of the trip was pretty silent despite all the bickering from Cash and Carrie, which didn't really bother her all that much. In fact, it kind of put Aera at ease at this point since it's kind of strange to hear silence these days expect during missions which weren't fun just tense. Still, Aera was rather exhausted at this point considering how late it was so she just wanted to go to bed at this point, and the darkness that she constantly sees doesn't make it easy to stay awake... She had to kick herself awake quite a few times already.

"Maybe I should talk to someone..." Aera wearily thought to herself, as she weighed the options of her social group. As Aera stretched her arms behind her from the stiffness that occurred during the ship ride, and began to listening to everyone's conversations. Daemond seemed to be studying at the moment and Aera didn't want to interrupt that so Lancar was probably the best choice... hm ya.

"How are your paintings coming along, sir?" Aera curiously asked Lancar in an overly formal manner even though the conversation was completely casual. Though, Aera soon realized how strange it sounded to her and averted her gaze from Lancar quickly even though she couldn't even see him, supposedly looking out into the rising sun with her right arm under holding her sleepy head up.

"Maybe you should paint one of the sun rising, I always heard it was a beautiful sight." Aera stated in a rather thoughtful daze, as she just pictured the sun looking like the well... sun when it rises, but the books she read always implied that people thought it looked so beautiful and natural. Even lovers would sometimes watch it together....

And at that comment Aera began to turn a little red, as she noticed the ship was beginning to land and used that opportunity to immediately walk off the ship and towards the barracks for a night sleep. Man, how could she be so weird around the lieutenant like that, still it was nice to say something before they landed besides hearing it in a tape recorder or something along those lines.

Daemond (Airship and to tarsus Barracks)

Daemond was trying to study the Dia and Kaja strain more, as he wanted to learn more about these respective strains, but the more he studied the more annoyed he found himself. His mind was practically looking for an excuse to push itself away from the book, but thankfully nothing was happening around them so he didn't have much to worry about until the bickering between Cash and Carrie caught his attention. Out of all the people who could of drawn his minds attention it was them, what the hell might as well say something since it's going to be bothering him now.

"Nice job during the mission you two, and thanks for casting kaja spell Carrie." Daemond stated specifically thanking Carrie since he remembered her casting a spell he should be studying or learning eventually, but it hasn't happened yet to Daemond's dismay since it would allow him to fight for the squad a lot better. But for now, supporting was fine with him.

"Well, you two can get back to chatting, I just wanted to say that." Daemond said with a shrug, as he noticed the ship was landing down at that moment and followed Aera out of the ship towards the barracks wanting to get some sleep in before the next mission came or Lancar decided to go demon mode and make them do one of those obstacle courses the next day.

Nexius wrote:

Bunker
-Alexander Dranos

Alex was already up before Jax started knocking on the doors, however, he was too focused on his own morning exercise that his ears completely ignored Jax's loud knocking. "99.......100.......101....." It was also another way of distracting himself from thinking about what was happening out there.

Soon his morning push ups number just reached 200, Alex stood up in his feet and went out to find Jax and others for further training. As Jax and others came to his sight, he smiled at them. "So Jax, what's next?"

The young male asked Jax with great enthusiasm, and he looked ready for anything that Jax would throw at him. 'I will become stronger. I must.'

===================================================================================================================================

Xennox Xylon
-The Airship

Xennox was quiet through out the journey. The fight with the rider disturbed him, even though Xennox did not show any sign of stress or pain, whatsoever in his face. 'Terror Blade' thought Xennox, slowly his one hand moved to his shoulder where that spell had touched him, the pain suddenly shocked his entire body, but by tightening his jaws he managed to be quiet about his pain. 'Guess I have to see a doctor....' thought Xennox as his lifeless eyes stared at the window, letting his hand rest on his laps.

When they finally reached the barrack, Xennox gave a solid salute to Lancar, "Sir, Permission to visit infirmary, Sir." said Xennox. Even though, there wasn't any sign of injuries or whatsoever, Xennox voiced sounded serious about seeing a doctor; 'A doctor with Dia strain would be nice...' thought Xennox as he waited for Lancar's permission. Xennox also felt little awkward about how informal Squad 34 runs their operation; the interaction between Lancar and the others gave Xennox awkward feeling. However, for the moment, he did not try to think about it.

Payne wrote:

Snow's Garage

"You'd better commit it to memory." Elizabeth said as she leaned back onto the balls of her feet and stood up. "It'll never happen again." There was an ice in her eyes that hadn't been there the night before. Why had she saved this man the night before? Was it for her career? Losing a contact was bad for your record... No, she'd saved him for the sole purpose of letting him know who held his life in her hands, and so he would know who she was when she took that life away.

She'd almost managed to replenish all of the frost in her soul when he suddenly thanked her. It took all of her reserves to not let her jaw drop. Maybe most people would have expected thanks for saving a life, but she hadn't figured Snow to be the type. A thank you was the last thing she'd been anticipating from him.

It didn't take him long to ruin it though, typical male...

"Trust a man to imagine any woman as their personal nurse..." She rolled her eyes. "And don't call me by names that aren't mine, although I doubt you could even remember a girl's cheesy stripper name, much less my actual one."

Her eyes stared back into his defiantly. If he'd been expecting her to back down or balk, Snow had another thing coming. She did divert her attention to the pills in his hand though. "Oh no you don't..." Her fingers gripped his wrist and twisted it behind him as she planted her other hand on his shoulder and turned him around. The sound of the pills hitting the bedroom floor seemed to echo in the small space. "You're gonna feel every second of it, to remind you not to get into serious trouble while you're on my watch."

As if she were pushing around a child, Elizabeth shoved him back into the bed, facedown. Then, she sat on his backside, making sure to keep pressure off of his ribs. "Now, tell me, how did you get that wound?"

Noin wrote:

Bunker

James sat down at the table and grabbed a cup of coffee when everyone else came in. He avoided Lisa's eyes and instead focused on the conversation between Jane and Jax. It seemed there was more training in store for them now.

Carefully he took a bite of his breakfast, but even though Rise had just started practicing, it tasted pretty good. Of course nothing compared to Jane's food, but he would never tell her that. "It doesn't just look great, it tastes good too. You did good, Rise," he told her with a smile and looked at her for a second before diverting his eyes to his plate again.

Once he was done eating, he stood up to get his weapons from his room and brought them over to the trainings room.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Research Facility

Her eyes followed Kokonoe when she passed, meeting her eyes for a second. It didn't make her feel better, but it also didn't make her feel any worse.

When she turned back again, she found herself facing Raidon, who suddenly seized her arm and pulled her hard against the wall. Arya didn't resist; that he was suddenly so close surprised her. The Police Chief began to speak and just after a few words, all color drained from her face and incredulous surprised showed on it, while his cold and hard grey eyes kept staring into her own that started to fill with fear. There was no emotion on his face and as much as she tried, she couldn't find anything that gave her hope.

"How- … No, I-," she started to explain, but then pressed her lips together. Nothing I can say will help me in this situation, she thought and when Raidon finally released her, she stood still, keeping her eyes on the ground.

Arya still felt the shock, unable to grasp the complete situation. Her emotions were in even more disarray. First the sadness of Millie's death, then the sudden proximity to the Police Chief that reminded her of the dance and now the sudden and disturbing news that they found out Lisa was her sister. Maybe deep down she had expected it, maybe she'd known it was only a matter of time before someone came. A little bit of her world was breaking apart when the only thing that gave her stability in her life suddenly turned on her.

Feeling helpless, she looked up again with pleading eyes to meet Raidon's gaze, but he had already turned around and two police officers appeared by her side. Swallowing dryly, she stood to attention and followed Raidon, making it clear that she wanted to walk on her own.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Snow's Garage

"Then tell me you name," he said and even managed to make it sound impatient. Contrary to her belief, he was good with names, actually he was good with any kind of information that he was given. Otherwise his career as an officer of the secret police would've been far less successful. That also meant it was hard to forget things, so in the recent years, he just tried to get the least amount of information possible from and about people.

Snow tried to close his hand before Lizzy could snatch his painkillers, but he was a split second too late and they all clattered to the floor. In the next moment she twisted his arm behind his back and pushed him into the mattress. "That's not what nurses do," he groaned and looked up at her accusingly when he could feel some stitches rip at the sudden movement and pain ran along his side. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

"And now you're back in bed with me again," he said, masking the pain in his husky voice. There were a few ways he could get out of this unfavorable position, but all of them would involve more pain from his side, so he opted to just relax until she decided to get up.

"I can take care of myself," he grumbled and wondered what had gotten into her for reacting so sensitively. He was just an informant, not even important, yet she seemed upset. Snow sighed internally. Working with women was so exhausting and even though this was a pretty hot young woman, she was so complicated.

"About how I got this wound, well that would be at none-of-your-damn-business," he said and looked down his side, where blood began to stain the bandages.

Payne wrote:

Bunker

Keynes gave Rise a wicked grin when she commented about how she looked in an apron. "All women are fun to watch in an apron missy. You just happen to be a bit young for me."

Will snorted, clearly not agreeing with the older man, but he didn't turn down Rise's cooking. Food was food, regardless of who made it. Ignoring the rest of the conversation, he began shoveling down breakfast. Maybe having something in his stomach would give him the energy to make it through the day. The word 'training' was heard in the back of his mind a few times. Apparently it was being passed around the table, and he suddenly doubted that the food would be enough.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Snow's Garage

"Oh?" Elizabeth asked teasingly. "What exactly did you have in your mind that nurses did Snow? Because to me, this is subduing an unruly patient who was about to take non-prescribed medication."

She ignored the quip about being back in his bed because she didn't see it that way. Earlier, she had been asleep, vulnerable even. It was unlike her. Now, she was fully aware of her surroundings, and more than a little in control of the situation.

"Didn't you just ask me to be your nurse?" She continued. "One might suggest that means you're incapable of taking care of yourself at the moment. So, forgive me for disregarding your independence for the short term."

Elizabeth could see the red spreading on the bandage and mentally cursed at the fact that some of the stitches must have torn. It was his own fault though. Releasing his wrist, which she'd kept a firm grip on until now, she put her hand over the wound instead, probing for where the break had occurred. Despite applying pressure, her movements were surprisingly gentle, and when she found what she was looking for, she left her palm there. "Dia..."

A pale light covered her fingers before coating his side. She'd regained a lot of her energy during the night, and it was little trouble for her to mend the skin where the stitches had been now that she didn't have to worry about any internal injuries. "About my name..." She began, leaving her palm over the wound, even after the magic had run its course. "Well, that would be none-of-your-damn-business."

Prisma wrote:

Bunker

Rise smiled at James, grateful for the kind words. He always seemed to go out of his way to be nice to her.

"That's very sweet of you," she said cheerily before turning to glower toward Alex, Will, and Keynes. "Not like some ungrateful brutes I know."

Jane laughed at Rise's words before turning to glance at Keynes, a mischievous look in her eyes.

"I hadn't realize I was giving you such a show before, Keynes," the high agent said smoothly, raising her eyebrows. "Perhaps I should start charging."

Rise rolled her eyes at the unbridled display of flirtation before going back to giving Jax covert glances. The Red Rider had, in fact, been watching Alex since he walked in, looking a bit flushed from his exercise. He could see that same determination he himself had had when training to save his little sister.

"Don't carry the world on your shoulders.." Jax mused to himself, eyes narrowing slightly. "You'll just wear them out."

Realizing Alex had asked him a question, just swallowed his mouthful of food and nodded in acknowledgment.

"I think our primary focus will be practicing spellcasting and combat again," Jax replied, lamenting the fact that time was too short to really focus on getting their bodies as honed as possible. For now, they just needed to be able to survive another encounter with the Army or Legion.

-------------------------------

Ergo Research

Raidon's military police stepped toward Arya, intent on seizing and restraining her. However, the police chief raised a hand, stopping them.

"That won't be necessary. She'll come quietly," he replied, watching as she marched off toward the police airship, erect and dignified. Arya's response to all this - that she could hold her head up in the face of accusations of treason - was something of a surprise. Raidon couldn't tell if it impressed or just annoyed him. It was difficult to tell when you lacked a very diverse array of emotions.

When they reached the inside of the airship, the police stopped short, waiting to see where their chief would place the criminal for the journey. Raidon paused, his eyes fixed on Arya. Although placing her in the hold was largely unnecessary, he did not want to give the impression of giving her any favorable treatment over any other common criminal. Perhaps even more importantly, the thought of having to watch her the whole flight seemed surprisingly loathsome to him.

"The hold," he replied, turning his back on Arya as the men marched her back out of the cabin and into the hold, where several cells were placed to hold criminals for the flight. Some of them were already occupied, and at seeing Arya and the police, some of them began to cheer.

"Shut up!" one of the policemen snapped, smacking a stunner into the side of one man's head, causing him to slump to the ground. Arya was forced into a cell and locked in before the policemen departed to the cabin in front and sealed the door to the hold.

"Well, ain't you a fine sight," one of the raucous men commented, eyeing Arya. "What are you in for, sugar?"

-------------------------------

Taurus Barracks

Lancar had been dozing somewhat when Aera spoke to him, startling him awake.

"Oh, oh yes," he said, rubbing his eyes. "Well, unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to work on anything since we had to go straight on the mission after the fair. But hopefully I can work on it today. Personally, I like sunsets more than sunrises."

Meanwhile, Cash and Carrie paused in their snarking and looked up as Daemond approached. They looked puzzled at his congratulations on their performance, as though they'd already been quite aware that they'd done a good job.

"What are you thanking me for?" Carrie wondered, crossing her arms and staring up at him. "I was just doing my job. I hope you don't expect a gift basket every time you swing your sword."

Fortunately, Daemond was spared any response by the arrival of the airship at Taurus. Lancar sighed as he forced himself to stand, wincing slightly. While Cash and Carrie immediately headed off to the lounge, Xennox approached the lieutenant to ask for permission to the go to the infirmary.

"Yes, by all means," Lancar replied, nodding. "I'd best get looked at as well. I'll lead the way for you."

They walked in relative silence, Xennox being rather untalkative and Lancar not being one to push conversation. Once they'd reached the floor, they were ushered into a room to be looked at.

"Treat the ensign first," Lancar told the medics. "I can wait."

As they placed Xennox onto the table to inspect his body for wounds, Lancar headed into the hallway, having noticed something on his way up. Stopping before a room, the lieutenant peered in to see Mitchell sitting up in his bed, silently and expressionlessly eating the breakfast that the medics had placed for him.

"How is he?" Lancar asked quietly to the medic, watching as Mitchell turned to glance at him before turning away, as though the sight of them held no interest for him.

"Better. He at least has resumed normal functioning," the medic replied, adjusting his glasses. "However, he still refuses to acknowledge anyone. Hasn't spoken a word since he's been here."

Lancar sighed, feeling guilty at not having even remembered his former ensign's plight up here in the medical wing.

"And Lymond?" he added, turning back to the medic. The man shook his head, not to the lieutenant's surprise.

"I see.." he replied, nodding before heading back to the room to see how Xennox had faired.

[Nex, you can have the medic treat Xennox's cursed wounds, noticeable as blackened areas like bruises, with the Posumundi spell.]

Noin wrote:

Snow's Garage

"Bu-," he was about to complain but then he felt her hand on his side and stayed still. Snow had experienced enough magic in his years to know the feeling of a healing spell and when the warm feeling began to spread along the line of the most pain, he closed his eyes and enjoyed it.

"Maybe I changed my mind. You seem to be a terrible nurse," he complained when she was done. "Thanks to you, I'm all healed now, so I can take care of myself again."

Snow still sounded tired and he also felt exhausted, like he'd just complete a marathon.

Suddenly there was the sound of someone knocking on metal. "Hey! Snow? Anybody here?" Snow heard Roy's familiar voice call through the garage. "You gonna let me get up now?" he asked. "Or will I be forced to stay in bed? Because then you will have to go deal with him" he added and tried to turn around to look at her. He was getting increasingly grumpy while the urge to smoke a cigarette became stronger. Though, he was still enough in control to keep his policy of not smoking upstairs, but his frequent glances to the cigarette pack near the window showed that he wanted to go downstairs.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Airship

Once they reached the inside of the airship, Raidon ordered her to be locked up. Arya looked at him, her eyes still fearful. "Please -," she asked, but then his answer came and she bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything else.

The hold in the back of the airship looked anything but inviting and Arya slowed down when they reached the cells. The thought of having to enter any of these cells was repulsive to her. However, she didn't have a choice and the police officers forced her into one and locked it behind her.

As soon as they had left, she slumped down on the ground and buried her face in her hands. As strong as she had seemed earlier, it all evaporated now and she hugged her knees in an attempt to feel some security. It was a behavior she remembered from when she was little and things had started to go bad with a foster family. Arya couldn't begin to count how many nights she had spent curled up like this against a wall and suddenly she felt incredibly lonely.

When one of the other criminals spoke to her, she looked up. "It's Lieutenant. And it's nothing I should be talking to you about," she said in a weak voice and stared off straight, trying to make sense of her situation.

Payne wrote:

Snow's Garage

Elizabeth rolled her eyes again when he told her that she was a terrible nurse after all and that he could take care of himself. Before she could comment, there was a knock downstairs though, and Roy's voice called out in the garage.

She frowned, realizing that if he saw her here at this hour, he'd probably draw the wrong conclusion about her and Snow, but she refused to not be in on the conversation this time. Silently, she pushed herself from the bed, giving Snow the ability to get back up if he wanted.

"I thought you could take care of yourself Snow." She said, letting sarcasm drip in her tone. "Far be it from me to tell you whether or not you're confined to bed for the remainder of the day. Although if you pass out from light-headedness because you've not had enough time to replenish your blood content, I'd like to be around so I can laugh at you."

She held up her hands in mock surrender. "So, by all means, don't let me stop you from greeting your guests."

Noin wrote:

Snow's Garage

"I can take care of myself," he replied with a defiant undertone. "Though I'm not above listening to a girl every once in a while if she has the right arguments."

Snow was glad when she finally moved away and concentrated on slowly moving up. He stopped when he was sitting upright on the side of the bed and took a deep breath before getting up. It worked better than he expected. Quickly, probably quicker than was good for him, he moved over to the window to grab his cigarettes.

"Be right down," he called out loudly when Roy called out for him again. When he walked into the kitchen, he stopped for a few seances to let the dizziness pass. Even though there were no external wounds anymore, he could feel the toll the injury had taken. The kitchen was still full of blood smears and in the midst his bloody shirt on the ground. He didn't bother picking it up, nor did he put on a new shirt.

Just before walking downstairs, he turned back to Lizzy. "What? You're not coming?" he asked mockingly. "Afraid what he'll think?"

"But don't worry. He knows you're not my type, especially not when you're all bloody like that," Snow grinned at her and started to make his way downstairs. That wasn't quite the truth. In his eyes, Lizzy was pretty, but her attitude was lacking. Maybe it could be fixed with a lot of patience, but Snow was not willing to try that.

He moved steadily, even though he was still looking a little pale.

Finally, when he arrived downstairs, the first thing he did, was to light a cigarette. Inhaling deeply he looked around for Roy, who was inspecting the bloody handprint traces on the wall.

"What did you here? Butcher someone?" Roy asked and walked over. "Geez man, you look awful. What happened to you?"

"Nothing," Snow replied and sat down on the couch, puffing grey smoke into the air. "This isn't a social call. What do you have for me?" he asked and pulled out another cigarette.

Danny wrote:

Aera (Tarsus Barracks)

"I can't fall asleep yet..." Aera mumbled to herself in a daze, as she began to place her weapons back on the stand she had in her room with her sword on the highest point of course, fighting the urge to just fall over in her bed. She had to make sure the Lancar and apparently Xennox were alright and not in some critical state since it was gnawing at her until she would check up on them. The only problem being is that... she felt like it would be rather pointless for someone like her to show up since she would be of little help...

"Well, I can bring something for them to eat." Aera thought to herself, as she nodded in confirmation moments after. With Aera feeling across the stand of her equipment using her right hand one last time to make sure everything was in perfect position, as she adjusted her hair to make sure it was in place and opened the door that lead outside her room with Aera quickly following her memory to lead herself to the cafeteria, while she avoided the sounds of the occasional other squads who passed by.

It sounded like a good idea to Aera though; they had a long mission that lasted a day, so surely they were hungry considering it was almost lunch time. The only question being... what would they like to eat? Aera only memorized the positions of a few of the sandwiches and more healthy food, but she didn't know if the squad liked anything different. And the last thing Aera wanted to do was ask some random stranger about where something was and make herself look like an idiot.

That being said, Aera quickly worked her way to the refrigerated drinks and the sandwiches that Aera kindly took to bring to the rest of the squad with her ignoring the sounds of various chatter from other army members who were probably looking at her. Making Aera leave the cafeteria as fast as she got there, making sure she put all the food in the paper bag that was in the lunch room so she wouldn't bring food openly into the medical wing.

Once Aera arrived, she heard the sound of Lancar with his more uptight stature that Aera could easily distinguish from the rest of the army members, as a light smile went over her face before fading back to an emotionless expression. With her walking formally towards Lancar, holding the paper bags down at her side, trying to look as concerned as she could.

"Sir, I brought everyone some lunch after everyone was alright, if that's okay." Aera stated in an overly formal manner, as she held up the brown paper bag in her right hand that contained the various food. Though, she couldn't help but notice the treatment going on in the distance, and it didn't take much brain power to guess who was there.

Xennox, during the battle Aera didn't remember him being hit... He was only effected by that black blast that had slightly nicked Aera's fingers earlier. Come to think of it, her fingers still hurt... If Xennox was hit directly, maybe the pain he felt was a lot worse.

That made Aera ominously look down at her left fingertips, as she flexed her hands muscles for a few seconds to test how bad the pain was, and at that moment the pain surged through her hand quickly making Aera wince in pain. Though, she quickly brought her left hand down on her side before anyone could hopefully notice.

The pain she was feeling was nothing compared to Lancar and Xennox, so she would just hide it. It's not like it would matter that much either way...

Daemond (Taurus Barracks)

"Xennox, What's the matter?" Daemond replied to his comment rather surprised, as he took a quick scan of Xennox's body not noticing anything suspicious. What could possibility be hurting the man? He didn't seem like weakling that would get battered up over a scrape so... what? Well, this would be a perfect opportunity to study medical procedure, so he'll tag along for the time being.

Daemond followed Lancar and Xennox into the medical wing, as he watched the treatment going on with Xennox rather closely. There seemed to be black marks scattered all over the poor man's body now that professionals were looking at him and revealing the points of interest, but that still didn't explain what exactly was wrong... as far as Daemond was concerned that just seemed to be black and blues. \

"Hey lieutenant, do you have an idea what's going on with Xennox?" Daemond asked intrigued, but he noticed that the lieutenant's mind was focused else wear as Daemond quickly glanced in the distance to only notice their one former teammate was sitting up straight and starting to recover. Though from the nurse's remark, it wasn't much at all. Still, it's nice to know that the choice he made back then was finally binging to save one of their comrade's lives, but the grimness inside of Daemond still clutched his heart. A constant reminder as what pain he went through back then, and how it can happen anytime... just like Sasha said.

"Agh, wake up stupid!" Daemond yelled inside his head, as he remembered that it was this passion that got them through the last couple missions without that much damage. For now, he would still study the treatment to see what exactly was going on. So focused in fact, he ignored Aera who came walking into the room at that moment.

Payne wrote:

Bunker

"You can put on a show for me anytime." Keynes responded with a crooked grin. "Don't expect me to invite any friends though."

Still looking at her to gauge her reaction, he picked up a piece of toast and took a bite.

Beside Jane, Will rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by the situation at the table. Not that he was in a hurry to get back to training, or whatever the heck Jax was calling it now...

A loud yawn announced Lisa's presence in the room, and she shuffled into the room, eyes still half closed. "Mornin..." She said weakly before moving past them all and heading straight for the coffee pot.

Nexius wrote:

Xennox Xylon
-Taurus Barracks

Xennox replied to Daemond's comment with short answer, "I don't know, Ensign Daemond." As he and Lancar arrived at the medical wing, Xennox was about to protest at Lancar's decision about treating him first. As he believed, the captain should be treated before him. However, his protest did not make it out from his mouth as one of the so called doctor touched his shoulder. "Urgh" Xennox groaned in pain and doctors placed him to look for the injuries. "Wait, I know where it is." Then he took off his top wear, revealing his muscular figures he had formed through out the military training.

"Interesting...." said the doctor as Xennox removed his top wears. The left side of shoulder was blackened like bruises, and it was after few tries that the doctor managed it to heal it with Posumundi spell after failed attempts with other Dia Strain spells. "What was that doctor?" asked Xennox as he dressed his top wear again. "I believe it's some kind of curse spell that slowly consumes whoever that was hit by it. Well we are not sure about it would disappears itself or not, but definitely it's one of a kind...." Xennox nodded at Doctor's explanation about the injuries that he got from the black rider. 'A fitting spell for a black rider...' thought Xennox, then he saw Daemond who was focused with Xennox's treatment."Ensign Daemond, do you have something to say?" Xennox asked Daemond as he looked at the doctors and Xennox with heavy concentration. Then he saw Lancar and Aera, "Sir," Xennox gave Lancar a salute. "The wound was nothing serious, Sir." he reported, the doctors were now able to tend to Lancar's wounds. As doctors about to put their mind at treating Lancar, then Xennox lifeless eyes shifted to Aera who came in with something to eat. And then his eyes shifted to Aera's hand. "Sir, I believe Ensign Aera is hiding something, Sir." Said Xennox, he didn't know what it was, but something made Xennox so sure that Aera was hiding something. "Sir, my guess is the minor injury she had received during the battle with Black Rider, Sir." And that something told Xennox that Aera would deny the fact and so he quickly added another as Aera try to hid her hand that had been hit by spell. "The spell that was used by Black Rider is some kind of curse spell, Sir. The doctor said they are not so sure if it will disappear itself or not." Then, Xennox grabbed Aera's free hand that had its one finger touched by the spell, then revealing the blackened spot. "Ensign Aera, even if it is a minor injury, you should get it treated. It is better we all are in fully recovered condition when the next mission starts." There was sudden warmth in his voice which surprised Xennox himself. He coughed, "I mean, to perform your best in mission, it is important to get everything treated even if it's a minor injury." said Xennox with his formal voice. 'What's wrong with you? You sounded like a brother who is worried about his sister....' thought Xennox.

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Bunker
-Alexander Dranos.

Alex nodded at Jax's answer. "Alright." then grabbed another bite of his food.

"By the way, Jane... Just out of curiosity... How do update your information about what's going on in the army and Legion?" Then Alex asked Jane as he was at the verge of finishing his food. "I mean, is there any major or minor news that we should be aware of?"

Even though, they were training, Alex knew it was important to know what was going on with Kaddath. Considering the fact that Legion tried to hurt huge population of kaddath and their 'specially recognized' scientist, Alex was in little doubt that army will stay passive about it even now.

But then, as there was a possibility that they may just ignore it, Alex wanted to know what's Army planning to do.

Just then Lisa came saying morning, "Morning Lisa" said Alex with his usual smile.