— Watedia, Ranth 13, 8054 —

“Hold it together, focus your fire! Take one down ‘fore you move to the next!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Try to bait them to the walls!” Ralak barked, “do whatever you can to get ‘em outta the Compound!”

“Aye!!”

“Tch…” Ralak clicked her tongue as she put away her communicator, and then quickly swept her gaze across her surroundings: the battle-infested streets of Compound Tresnon before her, the desert wastes outside the walls behind her, the bright afternoon sun above her, and the walls of Tresnon beneath her. Ever since Selind had been admitted to the hospital, she had ceded partial command of the Defense Force to Ralak; begrudgingly, Ralak had accepted, withdrawing from the thick of combat to keep a better eye on the situation as a whole.

And upon looking at that situation, Ralak realized that Tresnon was in a bad spot. The guns and cannons mounted to the walls had all been designed to fire outside the Compound, rather than inside, so un-mounting and re-mounting the turrets had eaten a considerable amount of the defenders’ time. By the time some of the turrets were able to fire on the attackers, the battle for Tresnon had migrated into the streets of the city, such that the turrets had difficulty firing without hitting Tresnon infrastructure. The Defense Force had largely regrouped by that point, which was slowing the Bleeders’ and SFC’s advance — but by all reports, Strén, Feral, and Shade had yet to enter the city. I heard a report that Davídrius was fightin’ Strén out on the water… Ralak mused, her eyes shifting to the waters of Mirage Lake — where a handful of the boats were clearly damaged. …But who knows how long he can hold Strén back—

Mid-thought, the wall to Ralak’s left suddenly exploded, sending brick and stone debris flying through the air. Ralak reflexively crouched to reduce her profile and held up her arm to block any debris launched her way — only for another eruption of rock to tear through the walls. Under such an incredible assault, the walls collapsed, opening a massive hole to the eastern wastes. “The eastern wall’s been breached!” Ralak quickly shouted into her communicator, and then made to run toward the breach — only to stop herself as a large, muscular man bounded onto the wall, grabbing a nearby turret and tearing it to shreds with his bare hands. He then turned to face Ralak, at which point he began to chuckle.

“Puahahaha!” He grinned. “Well, well, well. If it ain’t the Willthief!”

“Strén…” Ralak muttered back through gritted teeth.

“First the Sentry, now you…” Strén replied as he eagerly bashed his fists together. “It’s a real gatherin’ of the elites, here, eh? Wonder if I’m gonna run into the Ghost of Light, next. Bet she’s real pissed at what we did to that daughter of hers, puahaha!”

“So you did fight Davídrius,” Ralak responded, her attention focused on Strén. If I can at least keep him distracted, then… but wait. Has he used his Overdrive? I haven’t heard any reports of him shouting. Is he holding back…?

“That I did!” Strén replied, only for his eyes to fall on Ralak’s arm — her singular arm, yet still gloved. A grin quickly appeared on Strén’s face. “Looks like I did a real number on ya, the last we fought! And you’re still joinin’ the fight, huh? I gotta say, I admire that! Maybe there’s still some fire in you, yet! Though the fact that you’re still wearin’ those gloves shows you still ain’t willin’ to do what’s necessary, huh?”

“Am I supposed to be happy that you’re complimentin’ me?” Ralak retorted.

“Puahaha! Well, it’s up to you. But I think we both know how another showdown between you and me is gonna go. So how’s about we make this easy: you surrender, and join up with us, and I don’t gotta break your back! How’s that sound?”

“Join you?” Ralak snorted. “I left for a reason. I ain’t goin’ back, even if it kills me.”

Strén chuckled again. “Ha! Well, fair’s fair. At least you’re no coward — I like that!”

“And you’re just a brute,” Ralak responded, slowly moving her arm to shield her chest. “…I’d hoped I’d never have to do this again. But if losin’ myself means I can help protect Tresnon…” In one quick motion, she used her Imperator powers to take hold of her glove and cleanly remove it, revealing her scarred and sun-starved forearm. “…Then I’ll do it.”

“Well, well, well!” Strén’s grin deepened, this time laying bear the bloodlust that had hidden behind his expression before. “So the Willthief’s back! You been keepin’ her locked up, huh? Afraid of your old self?”

“Rightly so,” Ralak replied. “I did a lot of inexcusable things as a Bleeder — like what you’re doin’ here, in Tresnon. And while I may’ve left, that part of me is still in there, somewhere. But in the face of an attack like this, I can’t afford to worry about me.” Her finger extended towards Strén. “Today… your will is mine.”

“Puahahaha!!” A loud guffaw escaped Strén’s chest before he eagerly smashed his fists together. “Ya know, I’d always heard about how you had the strongest will in all the Bleeders — about how you even broke the will of some of the strongest Guardians. I think the fact that you’re tryin’ to fight me, even after losin’ an arm just a couple weeks ago, is proof of that strong will. So, I really gotta wonder… what happens when you break the will of the Willthief? And how long will it take?” He crouched down — followed by lunging straight at Ralak, his eyes wide with bloodlust. “So show me what you got, Willthief! Make this fun, for me!!”

---

*

“Sit still, please.”

“I am sittin’ still,” Davídrius retorted with a scowl. “Just hurry it up, already!”

“You’re literally bleedin’ out,” Selind said, watching as a nurse bandaged Davídrius’s wounded leg. “You don’t really think you’re goin’ out there and re-joinin’ the fight, do you?”

“Tch…” The Dean snorted dismissively, but otherwise didn’t respond. Instead, he irately looked around the hospital room that Karísah had brought him to: Selind laid on a small bed across from him, and Relia remained barely moving on a third bed in the corner. Distant smoke and fire could be seen through the room’s lone window, the signs of the continued fighting in the Compound — fighting that had now dragged on for several hours.

“Alright, I’m here.”

“Karísah?” Selind questioned incredulously, watching as the tall Forcetechnic entered the room carrying several boxes. “The hell’re you still doin’ here?”

“I’m helpin’ out,” Karísah replied, gently setting the boxes on the ground before opening one up and handing some supplies to a nurse. “The hospital is really under-staffed, they need all the help they can get.”

“That problem’s only gonna get worse the longer we let the Bleeders and SFC run loose,” Selind countered. “The best way to solve the hospital’s problem is to get rid of the intruders as soon as possible!”

“You’re sure bein’ aggressive, today,” Davídrius remarked, and then turned to Karísah. “…But she’s right.” He then began trying to get up from his bed. “Which is all the more reason for me to get out there, too!”

“No, you can’t!” Karísah quickly moved to his side to block him from getting up. “You saw your leg, right? You can’t be fightin’ with that!”

“Looked almost as bad as Ralak’s arm did, honestly,” Selind stated. “You goin’ out and fightin’ in that condition is a great way to lose your leg for good, Davídrius. If not your life.”

“Better that than we lose the whole damn Compound,” Davídrius argued.

“It’s not either/or!” Karísah said. “Don’t you trust the Defense Force? They can handle this!” She then passed Selind a glance. “Right?”

Selind, however, responded with an uneasy smile. “…I’d like to give an enthusiastic ‘yes’, but…” she replied, “at this rate… …the Defense Force only has so many Chaotics, and our guns are only so useful against energy shieldin’.” She looked to Davídrius. “We need to balance the numbers.”

“No!” Davídrius immediately declared. “You ain’t draggin’ the students into this!”

“They’ve already been dragged into this! I’ve got reports of the SFC surroundin’ that campus of yours, you know. They know what you seem to ignore: those students of yours are an actual threat. We need them!”

“What good is the Defense Force if we have to rely on fuckin’ children to save the day, huh?”

“We aren’t kids,” Karísah refuted. “I’m older than you were when you first fought, ain’t I?”

“That’s the entire point!” Davídrius argued. “I’ve been workin’ my entire life to make a Treséd where young folks like you don’t have to risk your lives, just to live. If me goin’ out there and fightin’, or even dyin’, will help make that come true, then it’d be irresponsible to not go out there!”

“Why are you tryin’ so hard to sacrifice yourself?!” Karísah exclaimed in disbelief. “Why does it have to be you who fights? Can’t you learn to rely on others?”

“Other people are relyin’ on me,” Davídrius countered. “If other people — or, dirt-forbid, you — got killed when I could’ve been the one fightin’—“

“And how do you think I feel?!” Karísah interjected, drawing a startled look from Davídrius. “You always keep sayin’ that I shouldn’t worry about this, or that, all while you keep puttin’ yourself in danger! You didn’t even look for help before goin’ off to fight Strén alone, and you almost died because of it! Did you ever stop to think about how everyone around you would feel if you died? How I would feel?!”

Davídrius stared back at Karísah in surprise. “Uh… w-well…”

“For ten years, you’ve been my— …” Karísah pursed her lips, eyes cast aside for a moment. “…For ten years, you’ve looked after me,” she continued. “When I had no one else, you took me in. And… while I’m not alone, anymore, if you died out there, then, I…”

“Karísah…”

“…I know that you don’t want to lose me, or anyone else. But I don’t want to lose you, either! And just like how you want to fight, so that others don’t have to… I want to fight, too! I don’t want you to die for me — I want you to rely on me, and on others, too!”

Davídrius responded with silence, seemingly unable to come up with a reply. After a moment, he looked away, his brow furrowed. “…I—“

«Selind! Selind, you there?»

Davídrius and Karísah both jumped in surprise as Selind picked up her communicator. She flashed an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

“What timin’…” Davídrius muttered.

“It was a touchin’ conversation and all, but unfortunately, we don’t have the time for it,” Selind quickly replied, and then moved to speak into her communicator. “I’m here. What’s wrong?”

«The hospital’s surrounded! They say they want the Wanderer!»

“Probably to finish what they started…” Davídrius said, glancing over at Relia — who remained unconscious.

“…I assume they’re threatenin’ somethin’ if we don’t give ‘em Relia,” Selind eventually spoke into the communicator. “What is it?”

«They say they’ll burn down the hospital. There’s a lot of ‘em, too. More than we can fight off on our own.»

“Shit…” Selind muttered.

«We don’t want to give in, but we need backup to fight ‘em all off. Josin is stallin’ ‘em, but we don’t got much time. Can you get any to us?»

“The rest of the Defense Force is fightin’ off the Bleeders and SFC elsewhere in the city,” Selind reported. “I’ll see what I can do, but—“

“I’ll go.”

“Huh?” Selind and Davídrius both looked to Karísah, who was giving Selind a determined look.

“Karísah…” Davídrius muttered. “Look, I get how you feel. But this is the real deal! This ain’t trainin’, or the ACT! You could die, out there!”

“I know!” Karísah countered, “but if I don’t go out there, then other people will die. Right? Even in just this room, there’s you, Relia, Selind… I can’t just stand by while you’re all at risk!”

“But… if you got hurt, or died—!”

“I’m an adult woman, Dad—!”

“Don’t call me that!” Davídrius snapped.

Karísah drew back, her lips pursed, and brow furrowed. “…But—!”

“I’ve always told you: I ain’t your dad,” Davídrius insisted, though his gaze was diverted, as if unable to make eye-contact with Karísah. “…The only thing parents are good for in Treséd is dyin’ on you. Mine did, yours did, even Selind’s… I refuse to be so useless. And I refuse to inflict that kind of pain on you, again…”

“And your solution is to stop me from callin’ you ‘Dad’? Not to stop needlessly riskin’ your life?!”

“Look, just… Karísah, you can’t go out there. You ain’t ready! And if you died—!”

“If you died, then I’d feel terrible, too!” Karísah argued. “You keep only thinkin’ about how you feel, not me! I know that I don’t have nearly as much fightin’ experience as you, but I’m not a child anymore. I can take care of myself.” She knocked on her shoulder to flare up her protective shielding, so as to remind Davídrius that she was wearing it. “I get that you care for me, but you can’t coddle me forever. Same for all of your students! When will you realize that we want to fight to protect our homes just as much as you? When will you finally trust that we can actually handle ourselves?”

“…She’s got ya there,” Selind remarked with a smirk.

Davídrius passed Selind an annoyed look, only to turn back to Karísah. “…Tch… Fine! Go. But only because it’s you.”

“I guess I’ll take it,” Karísah responded, already turning towards the room’s door. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful, Dad—”

“Don’t start with that,” Davídrius snapped, only to hold a hand to his head and release a frustrated sigh. “…We can talk about this ‘dad’ shit after the attack, but until then, don’t fuckin’ jinx me with this parent shit. So until we have that talk, you better not get yourself fuckin’ killed out there, alright?”

A small smile crossed Karísah’s face. “…Sure. And same to you — you better not die, today!” She then disappeared through the door, quickly making her way to the hospital’s exit.

*

A Couple Minutes Later

*

“Alright, what’s goin’ on here…?”

“Hmph. You aren’t the Wanderer. You’re really testin’ our patience, Compound dwellers!”

“Right…” Karísah deadpanned as she stepped forward, stopping just in front of metal barricades that had been erected all around Tresnon’s hospital. A couple members of the Defense Force crouched behind the barricades, holding guns at the ready, while across the road from them were a handful of individuals, dressed in overcoats and robes. While several of them wore green, the two standing in front of the group wore brown, and none of them sported any white. They aren’t wearin’ uniforms, so I guess they aren’t SFC… Karísah mused as she looked over the group of five individuals. But the way they dress is kinda weird. Overcoats? What Bleeder wears an overcoat in the wastes…?

“Well? You know what we’re here for, don’t you? So where is it?”

Karísah crossed her arms as she looked at the man who appeared to be in charge of the group. “You want Relia?”

“The Wanderer, yes,” the man replied. “She’s committed high crimes against us, and we’re here to punish her. If Compound Tresnon wants to shield her, then we’ll punish you, too!”

Sparks began to wreath the arms of one of the attackers, while flames began to lick at the hands of another; on top of that, Karísah could feel a slight pressure on her wrists and ankles, as though an invisible force were attempting to hold her in place. The force was scarcely enough to hold her, though, allowing her to easily reposition her hands to her hips as she stared down the leading man. “Who are y’all?” she questioned, “you ain’t SFC. And if you were Bleeders, you’d have just attacked.”

“Who we are doesn’t matter. Just hand over the Wanderer.”

“What makes you think she’s here?”

“Don’t be stupid. The Bleeders were supposed to capture her days ago, but they failed; even so, we know the Wanderer was heavily injured from that fight. And we know that she made it here — why else would Tresnon have been on high alert before this raid? And if she’s in Tresnon, and heavily wounded, then it only makes sense that she’d be at the hospital. Now…” The man raised his chin, looking down his nose at Karísah as he drew a gun and pointed it directly at her. “We’re done talkin’. If the next words outta your mouth aren’t ‘you can have the Wanderer’, then we’re takin’ her by force. Your choice.”

Karísah stared silently at the man, and then glanced back at the barricades; when she did, the two Defense Force members met her glance with trepidation. Her gaze lingered on them for a second before turning back to the intruders, at which point she took a deep breath… and then declared, “Overdrive: Stand Your Ground!”

“What—?!” the man exclaimed in surprise as Karísah began charging forward. “The Sentry’s progeny—?!”

He was cut off as Karísah grabbed his neck and slammed him into the ground, all while ignoring the lightning and flames that washed over her protective energy shielding. As the man hit the ground with enough force to crack the dirt, golden sheets of light ran across his entire body, indicating his energy shielding — all while a visual static fuzz wiped across Karísah’s body, signaling the loss of hers.

“Chaos… Arrow!”

Shit—! Karísah quickly lunged to the side, just in time to evade an arrow-like bolt of Chaos Energy streaking through her former position. She then used the momentum from her dodge to carry her towards the enemy Electrotechnic who had just shut down her shields, and was now blasting her with intense strikes of lightning. But Karísah’s Duratechnism allowed her to ignore the high-energy strikes as she grabbed the Chaotic by his arms and held him in front of her just in time to soak up two more Chaos Arrows. She then whirled the Electrotechnic through the air, using her superstrength to throw him at the enemy Chaostechnic and knock them both to the ground amidst a confusing display of lights from their energy shields colliding. Before either could get up, she leaped over to them and slammed her fists down into the Electrotechnic’s back, smashing both Chaotics into the sand and stunning them both.

The light sensation of pellets hitting her back drew Karísah’s attention to the man who had been speaking earlier, noting that he had opened fire on her. But the bullets from his gun merely bounced off of her skin, allowing her to lunge straight for him and grab him by the neck again. “You can’t have Relia!” she declared, at which point she grabbed him by his arm with her free hand, released his neck, and began whirling him through the air. “You can tell your friends— it’s not happenin’!”

“What—?!” the man spluttered in surprise, but wasn’t able to say anything more as Karísah released him into the air, the raw strength behind her throw launching him across several city blocks towards the waters of Mirage Lake. She wiped her hands and turned back to the rest of the group, finding the Electrotechnic and Chaostechnic finally stumbling back to their feet — and the enemy Pyrotechnic standing over one of the Defense Force members at the barricade, a fireball in their hand.

“Don’t move!” the Pyrotechnic shouted, “not if you value—!”

Before they could finish their sentence, a Mach-speed projectile slammed into the side of their chest, knocking them to the ground. In that instant, Karísah lunged forward, the powerful strength in her legs allowing her to pounce on the Pyrotechnic before they could recover and then throw them into the distance, much like how she had dispatched the leader. She then leaped over the barricade to land in the street again, grabbing the fifth intruder to also throw into the distance, quickly dropping the attacking group from five members to just two.

“Wow, you sure thought fast, huh?”

Karísah snapped her attention to the source of the new voice — only to find Sky approaching, with Spike and Liask restraining the two remaining Chaotics. Behind them, Obra, Phoenix, Kestrel, Twy, and Austin all carefully watched the two restrained Chaotics, carefully keeping their distance as the Electrotechnic lashed out with bursts of lightning. Spike and Liask were able to hold them, but on noticing this, Karísah gave Sky a quick glance. “One second!” She then rushed into the hospital, grabbing two devices just by the entrance before returning to the outside street and activating the devices near the hostages. As soon as she did, the lightning ceased.

“…CENT field, huh?” Spike remarked, no longer able to use his superstrength — though his normal strength was still more than enough to restrain the two attackers.

“You’ll regret this, Compound Dwellers!” barked the Electrotechnic, who continued to thrash against Spike — but was completely unable to free himself. “You’ll regret defyin’ our will!”

“I don’t even know who you are…” Karísah responded as she approached.

“I think we do, though…” Conrad muttered, finally making himself visible as he looked over the brown overcoat the Electrotechnic was wearing, and the green robes of the Chaostechnic. “…Pretty sure they’re from Rokres.”

“Rokres…?” Karísah echoed.

“And here are the other interlopers,” snorted the Chaostechnic as they looked up at Liask and Obra. “Tresnon will regret shieldin’ assassins from their proper punishment!”

“Assassins?!” Phoenix exclaimed incredulously, and then turned to look at Liask, Obra, and Conrad. “Just what the hell did you guys do?!”

“The question of what they did can wait,” Twy suggested, warily looking all around at their surroundings. “We should probably get inside, right?”

“That’s right,” Spike said, keeping his grasp on the Electrotechnic’s arms as he pulled them to their feet. He then looked at Karísah. “We think Relia’s in trouble.”

“And Pierce was kidnapped!” Liask quickly added. “We need to save him!”

“Kidnapped?!” Karísah exclaimed, her eyes moving to quickly count everyone in the group — and finding only seven of the eight Earthian students. Upon noticing this, her expression grew grim, and she gestured for everyone to follow her inside. “C’mon. Davídrius and Selind are both here. We can see what they think about all this…”

“Really…?” Austin questioned uneasily. “Davídrius and Selind? In the hospital? I’m not the only one who thinks that’s a bad sign, am I?”

“Tresnon is bein’ fuckin’ raided by Bleeders,” Obra retorted. “Nothin’s a good sign.”

“Right…”

“Anyways, let’s get movin’,” Spike prodded, finally getting the group to follow Karísah into the hospital.

*

A Couple Minutes Later

*

“They’re from Rokres?!”

“Well, it makes sense,” Conrad replied. “They’re specifically looking for everyone who visited Rokres right after Hunger’s Bane. Pierce, me, Relia…”

“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me…” Davídrius muttered, holding a frustrated hand to his forehead as he leaned back in his hospital bed. Selind and Relia still occupied their beds in the room; now accompanying the three wounded Tresédians were Karísah, Austin, Spike, Sky, Twy, Conrad, and Obra. Phoenix, Kestrel, and Liask were elsewhere in the hospital, helping to question the two captive attackers while everyone else discussed a plan of action.

“Rokres, teamin’ up with the Bleeders?” Selind remarked incredulously. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“I always knew the Rokresians were stubborn dumbasses, but…” Davídrius clicked his tongue angrily. “I can’t fuckin’ believe this. The Bleeders, a PMC, and now a dirt-damned nation-state are all plottin’ against Tresnon?! Fuck, dealin’ with Rokres after beatin’ this raid is gonna be a pain in the fuckin’ ass…”

“…Do you think we’ll be able to fight everyone off?” Austin questioned uneasily.

“Do you want the good answer?” Selind replied, “…or the real answer?”

“Selind…” Karísah muttered.

“These are just the facts,” Selind insisted. “The Defense Force has regrouped since the start of the attack, and they’re slowin’ the attackers down. But that’s all they’re doin’, right now.”

“Didn’t the Defense Force train for exactly this kind of situation…?” Twy questioned.

“No. What’s happenin’ now is way beyond anythin’ we ever trained for or expected to deal with,” Selind said. “Half our strategies relied on the shields, but those got taken out instantly by fancy new tech that we didn’t even know could exist! And the other half of our plans relied on the Bleeders actually attackin’ over land, or even through the air — or, hell, with actual fuckin’ surface boats. But submarines? In Mirage Lake?! It’s beyond belief, if not for the fact that it actually fuckin’ happened!”

“So the SFC’s help actually mattered, then…”

“Fuckin’ outsiders…” Obra muttered.

“I didn’t think they’d have this much shit with them,” Selind admitted. “Armor, guns, artillery, shields… that’s the kind of stuff I expected. Not submarines, or fucking shield-breakers! I mean, Gavon himself says that those shield-breaker bombs are bleedin’ edge tech. Even he was surprised the SFC had one.” She heaved a wary sigh. “I hate to say it, but our best bet is to hold out ‘til tomorrow, when Gavon’s friends are supposed to arrive. That is…” She passed a side glance toward Davídrius. “Unless you let those students of yours actually fight.”

“It’s not happenin’,” Davídrius declared. “You said it yourself: if we can hold ‘til tomorrow, then everything’s fine.”

“And how many of the people have to die, just so you can coddle those precious Chaotics of yours?”

Davídrius drew back, his eyes wide with surprise and fury at Selind’s words — but he failed to come up with a reply.

“Selind… really…?” Karísah responded warily.

“You were the one gettin’ on his case, earlier,” Selind remarked as she eyed Karísah. “Don’t tell me you’ll back down that easily. You know just as well as I do that we can’t keep you students sheltered forever!”

“Well, yes, but…”

“It does look pretty rough, out there…” Obra said.

“Yeah. Is Selind really wrong…?” Austin muttered. “Davídrius said it himself, there’s three powerful enemies all attacking Tresnon, right now! Can we afford to hold back?”

“What, are you volunteerin’ to go out there?” Spike questioned.

“I-I mean…”

“I am,” Obra declared. “And I’m sure most of the other students would, too!”

“You ain’t ready to go out there,” Davídrius stubbornly insisted.

“Davídrius, really…?” Karísah turned to Davídrius. “I think Selind was harsh, but I also think she has a point. And after everything I said, earlier… do you really still not trust me? Or the rest of WCU?”

“This ain’t a matter of ‘trust’,” Davídrius replied. “I’ll admit that I might’ve been overly restrictive with you, Karísah, but with the rest of the students…?”

“Be that as it may, Chaotics are what we’re lackin’,” Selind pointed out. “The Defense Force only has a few. But the Bleeders, SFC, and Rokres — they can pool all the Chaotics they’ve got into this one attack. That’s what’s really screwin’ us, right now. Those students of yours would go a long way toward patchin’ up the Compound’s defenses, Davídrius.”

“Tch. And what good will the students do if they just get themselves killed the moment they set foot on the battlefield, huh?” Davídrius countered. “The Bleeders and Rokresians don’t have uniforms, and most of the students haven’t been trained to identify enemies like the Defense Force has. Without a reliable way to tell friend from foe, they’ll fall faster than the enemy, and they’ll break faster than the enemy. Then it’s just chaos.”

“We won’t break!” Obra retorted.

“Yeah? How do you know? How many fights have you been in?”

“Well… that’s…”

“Not to mention that Strén, Feral, and Shade are still at large,” Davídrius pointed out. “Any one of them would eat you students for breakfast. Strén gave even me massive trouble, the fucker. I had ‘im dead to rights, too, before those two bitches showed up…”

“Might’ve done better if you actually bothered to grab some energy shieldin’,” Selind remarked.

“What if everyone had energy shields?” Sky suggested. “That would make it safer to fight, right?”

“We don’t have enough for all the students…” Selind admitted. “Remember, we ain’t rich, ‘round here. And we never thought we’d have to prepare for an attack like this.”

“Exactly,” Davídrius declared. “If you can conjure up some shields for the students, then maybe I’ll let ‘em fight. But until then, they’d just get in the way!”

“If Kaoné was here, then she could just make a lot of shields…” Twy said forlornly.

“Too bad you can’t do that, huh?” Conrad remarked as he elbowed Spike in the side.

Spike responded with a confused look. “Huh?”

“Well, I mean… you can make regular, physical shields, right? I was just thinking it would be neat if you could make energy shields, too. Since they’re both ‘shields’.” Conrad then looked around the room, finding that everyone was staring at him blankly. Upon seeing this, a sheepish smile crept across his face. “…Guess that was a stupid idea, huh?”

“Is it?” Twy questioned, quickly turning to Spike — who had already reached out with his right hand. Holding his palm up, Spike closed his eyes to concentrate for a second… after which a small device suddenly manifested in his palm.

“…Well would ya look at that,” Selind remarked with a smirk as Spike clipped the device to his shirt — at which point the telltale golden glow of energy shielding swept across his body before disappearing.

“I can’t believe I never thought of this…” Spike muttered.

“How far can you go with it?” Karísah questioned. “Can you make a full-on shield generator? Or is it just personal shields?”

“Well… I dunno. I only just now tried, for the first time…”

“How much do you know about the inner workin’s of shield generators?” Davídrius questioned.

“Uh…” Spike stared blankly at the Dean. “…Not much…”

“It would figure…” Davídrius released a wary sigh. “The quality of the stuff Formtechnics create is directly related to how well they understand the construction and mechanics of that stuff. So if you don’t actually know how energy shields work, then — yeah, you can make ‘em, but they ain’t gonna be strong. They won’t hold for long.”

“A stop-gap is all we need,” Selind insisted. “Any fightin’ won’t be for long. A day, at most.”

“A day sure sounds long, to me…” Sky muttered.

“Still…” Selind mused, “…this really changes things—“

“Pierce is in danger!!”

“What—?” Davídrius began to question, turning towards the doorway to the hospital room as Liask burst through, followed shortly by Phoenix and Kestrel.

“Pierce is in danger!” Liask reiterated, “the Rokresians, they’re gonna kill him!!”

“Well, that does make sense…” Obra commented.

“No, I mean, they’re gonna do it soon!” Liask countered.

“More specifically…” Phoenix said, “we just finished questioning those two captives, and they said that the Rokresians had an agreement with the SFC to ‘test’ something on Pierce.”

“What ‘something’?” Twy asked.

Phoenix shook her head. “The captives wouldn’t say. But it sounded deadly.”

“Happening soon,” Kestrel added.

“What would they want to test on Pierce…?” Austin questioned warily.

“The important thing is that Pierce is in danger, right now!” Liask insisted. “We need to go save him!”

“If we go right now, we can get him, and then go help out the Defense Force,” Karísah suggested.

“And leave the hospital defenseless?” Selind questioned.

“Well, I can make energy shields, now,” Spike pointed out. “I can try makin’ a shield generator for the hospital. That’ll give us at least some time to help out elsewhere, right?”

“True…”

“Actually, that’s a good point,” Twy said, her hand held to her chin in thought. “…If Spike can make a generator that protects the hospital, then maybe he can also make one to replace the failed generators around Tresnon!”

“That’s a big maybe,” Davídrius countered.

“But worth a shot,” Selind added.

“So, I think we should split up,” Twy suggested. “If Spike really can make generators that big, then Austin, Sky, and I can go with him to replace the broken generators around Tresnon. And while we’re doing that, the rest of you can go after Pierce!”

“Are we all really goin’ after one asshole?” Obra questioned incredulously.

“Well, he did kinda save the rest of us…” Conrad admitted.

“Obra’s right, though,” Selind said. “Six of you goin’ to help Pierce is overkill. Karísah, Obra, the two of y’all should head back to WCU, after Spike here fabricates enough energy shields to pass around to the students. Reports say the SFC is surroundin’ the campus; y’all need to get in touch with the students, pass out those shields, and break through the SFC’s lines!”

Karísah nodded resolutely. “Got it!”

“For fuck’s sake…” Davídrius muttered as he began trying to climb out of bed. “Can’t believe I’m really gettin’ the damn students involved…”

“No, you need to stay put!” Karísah insisted, turning back towards Davídrius — but this time, he forcefully knocked aside her hand before grabbing a crutch laying next to the bed.

“I ain’t stayin’ put,” the Dean insisted. “What kind of useless-ass Dean would I be, if I let my students put their lives on the line before me?”

“Didn’t you hear the nurses? If you move around too much with that wound, then you could lose your leg for good! Or worse!”

“That’s a problem for future me. The present me needs to go with y’all back to WCU. It’s my dirt-damned students you’re about to drag into battle, so the least you can do is let me say a few words to ‘em!”

“Stubborn as always,” Selind remarked with a resigned smirk.

“…You really won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, will you?” Karísah responded warily.

“Now you know how I feel when you say you wanna get the students involved,” Davídrius replied.

“I mean…” Austin said with a shrug, “worst case, Davídrius loses his leg, and Kaoné makes him a prosthetic, or something. Right? That’s not too bad.”

“Not everyone likes cybernetics, Mr. Transhumanist,” Phoenix retorted.

“And I don’t really know if that’s the worst case…” Twy muttered.

“More importantly, we’re losin’ time!” Liask insisted. “If we got a plan, then we should get goin’, right?”

“Right,” Spike agreed as he began fabricating more personal shielding devices. “I’ll make a bunch of these, and then we can get goin’.”

“Although…” Sky passed Liask a doubtful glance. “…With just you, Phoenix, Conrad, and Kestrel… are you sure y’all will be able to save Pierce?”

Conrad released a resigned sigh before replying, “I kinda hate to say it, but if it’s just an in-and-out sort of thing, then I guess I might be the best person to help…”

“Never thought I’d hear you volunteer for something like this,” Phoenix remarked.

“Yeah, well…” Conrad shrugged. “It’d be kind of a pain if Pierce died. That’s all.”

“Then that’s what we’re doing,” Twy declared. “The four of you will go after Pierce. Spike, Austin, Sky, and I will try to repair the shield generators… and Davídrius, Karísah, and Obra will go back to WCU.”

“Y’all better watch yourselves,” Davídrius ordered, only to sigh. “…But, I guess Karísah’s right. Can’t coddle y’all forever. Just don’t die out there!”

“Of course we won’t!” Liask replied, after Spike had handed personal shields to everyone in the room. She then turned to lead the group out, declaring, “now, let’s get going! To save Pierce… and Tresnon!!”

---

*

“So what the fuck do you guys even want with me, huh? We’ve just been sitting here for ages!”

“Silence, outsider.”

“Fuckin’ make me, you assholes!” Pierce retorted, glaring through the bars of a small cage at the two Rokresian men standing guard around him. The two men simply glared back before turning away again, their attention focused on guarding their immediate surroundings. Just off to the left was the gunship that the attackers had used to raid WCU, which now took advantage of Tresnon’s distracted Defense Force to park just outside of the Compound’s western walls. Several of the attackers stayed within the gunship, seemingly keeping in communication with their allies in the city, while one other — the Cryotechnic — was using their ice to fashion a large, caged arena.

Pierce himself was trapped in a smaller cage, fully within the bounds of a CENT field so as to stop him from using his speed to free himself. He had been there for some time, now, as the Rokresians seemingly dallied about. It’s been a few hours, now. I can only guess this means that they’re having a hard time going after the others, Pierce mused. If so, great. Now I just need to find a way out of here. That CENT field makes things tricky, but these Rokresians seem pretty proud; maybe I can goad them into a fight, and use that as an opportunity to escape.

With that thought in mind, Pierce kicked at the metal bars that consisted of his small cage. “Hey, fuckwits,” he called out to the two guards standing in front of him, “are you really this scared of me? I’m just one guy, you know.”

“You’re a Chaotic,” retorted one of the guards.

“A Chaotic that you already captured, once,” Pierce replied. “What, are the Chaotics of the mighty Rokres just that weak, that they have to rely on CENT fields to do their job for them?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Rokresian Cryotechnic stopped tending to their makeshift cage of ice and stormed over to Pierce’s cage, knocking aside the two guards. “You tryin’ to say somethin’ about us, outsider?”

Pierce passed the Chaotic a level glare, a daring smirk plastered across his face. “I’m not trying to say something — I am saying something: that you’re a fucking pussy!”

“You—!”

Before the Cryotechnic could speak further, another gunship zipped into the air over the small encampment, the air flow from its engines temporarily drowning out all sound. As the gunship slowly landed, the Cryotechnic turned to give Pierce a smug grin — and a distinct feeling of unease settled into Pierce’s gut.

“You’ll regret everythin’ you’ve done against Rokres, soon, outsider,” the Cryotechnic remarked, their finger thrust through the bars of Pierce’s cage to jab him in the sternum.

“I’m sure I will,” Pierce deadpanned as he brushed aside the Cryotechnic’s finger. He then glanced over at the ice cage arena. “What, are you going to make me fight someone to the death, or something? That’ll be boring as hell without my speed.”

“A fight to the death… I suppose you might call it that,” the Rokresian replied, watching as the second gunship finally landed and its cargo doors opened, with several other Rokresians spilling out and working to move what appeared to be another cage.

“Great…” Pierce muttered, watching as the cage was slowly and carefully wheeled out of the second gunship. The Cryotechnic promptly left to manipulate the ice bars around the makeshift arena, to allow the new cage to be wheeled inside… and as they did, Pierce could feel the hairs raising on the back of his neck. Inside the second cage was a large wolf-like creature, its eyes wide with stress as it growled and snapped at its captors. But most notable of all were the distinct silver rashes running down the beast’s hide, and covering half of its snout.

Upon seeing Pierce’s trepidation, the Rokresian Cryotechnic chuckled. “Really regrettin’ yourself, now, ain’t you, outsider?”

“Shit…” Pierce muttered, a scowl forming on his face as he watched the Rokresians carefully handle the obviously infected beast, attempting to wrangle it within the ice cage without injuring any of their own people. …Well, fuck. Just what the hell have I gotten myself into, this time…?