Scattered piles of data cartridges litter the front dash of the van, only pages of notes separating the collections. Samantha eases the front passenger seat back and props her feet up on the edge of the open door window. Balancing the laptop on her stomach, she types into different chat windows on her screen and leans her head over towards the aetherphone on the center console. "So... Howie... Have you seen the video of our little, psycho starlet roasting that bandit's nuts over a laser beam?"

Howard's voice crackles through the aetherphone with a slight reverb. "OH. YES. I sent that segment immediately to the editing team. With priority. They're trying a few different takes on it and seeing what they can come up with. Hopefully, I'll get the results from marketing to figure out which one to use in our next series of commercials. Personally, I'm leaning towards the slow motion with dramatic music breaks. Though, the meme take is growing on me. Might use that end for younger markets."

Ejecting a cartridge from a small computer, Gerald plucks it out, tossing it into a large sack on the cab floor. He slides into another data cartridge, taps an on-screen button, and sighs, idly watching the progress bar creep along. "My vote is still on the freeze frame and color wash out effect."

He squints at the screen and furrows his brow at the single pixel travel of the status bar. "Holy. Hell. Even with the booster, the radio reception signal is CRAP out here."

Groaning in commiseration, Samantha shifts her eyes between all the conversations scrolling on her laptop. "Tell me about it. But, thanks to Deedri, we had a good main focus for this last episode."

Shaking his head, Gerald snorts and stares amused at the trickling upload meter. "Well, Veevi had it coming. Just wish I had grabbed that footage myself with my camera. That hall camera isn't the best in the world. Still serviceable."

A sly smirk graces Samantha, and she darkly chuckles. "OH, along with all the other clips of the two, it worked out just fine. Right, Howie?"

A long silence looms in the van, both Samantha and Gerald awaiting a response. Second later, Samantha grabs the aetherphone, inspects the call status on the screen, and lifts a curious eyebrow. "Howie? Are you still there?"

The distant voice of Howard sounds out from the aetherphone's speaker, and he ponders out loud with an audible hum. "Yeah... I'm still here. Just thinking about SOMETHING. There's something about these new clips that I can't put my finger on, exactly. There's something different."

Samantha exchanges a curious glance with Gerald, aiming her voice at her phone. "Uh, what clips are you talking about?"

Mumbling through idle thoughts, Howard attempts at a sentence a few times and summons up an inquisitive tone. "The recent clips with Veevi. When she looks over to Deedri... I don't think I've ever seen THAT expression on her before. What IS that? I don't remember seeing that look from her on anything from the other show."

Settling back into the driver's seat, Gerald blinks in confusion and presses a button on his nearby camera. "Wait, I think I know what you are talking about. Let me check something real quick."

Under the command of Gerald, the monitor attached to the camera hops between different segments. A minute of hunting later, a shot of Veevi next to Chad appears on the screen. The clip slowly plays out. Veevi glances over towards Deedri, stares apprehensively, and briefly shows a frown. Moments later, she musters her normal front back. Gerald and Samantha cock their heads inquisitively and closely study the video segment on repeat. Resting her hand thoughtfully over her mouth, Samantha blinks in surprise. "That IS strange. Is she... NO... Not her. There's no way she would... But..."

Furrowing his confused brow, Gerald alternates between examining the camera display and the forming intrigue on Samantha. "Okay... I'm missing something here. What is going on?"

A rolling, dark laugh emanates from the aetherphone, and Howard slides into a near devious giggle. "OH. That's PERFECT. I had NOT considered that a possibility. Her usual manipulative tactics, yes. But... Genuine? THAT is just going to lead to whole new angles."

Samantha grins with a blatantly evil curl. "Howie. Don't you mean... Triangles?"

Howard and Samantha share synchronous cackles of devilish delight, and Gerald slowly processes the information to a shocked realization.

----

The morning sun warns the asphalt of the two lane road in front of the ranch style house. With each passing second, distant rumbling grows louder, and a motorcycle rounds the curve into view. Upon the cruiser cycle, a tall, imposing figure leans into the turn and levels out the bike upon the straight away. Artificial muscles flex underneath a polymer outer skin in both of his technologically advanced cybernetic arms. The muscular man navigates the motorcycle closer to the shoulder of the road and slows the vehicle to a stop next to the mailbox at the mouth of the driveway. The helmeted head glances down at a mounted aetherphone and nods confirming at the mailbox's number. Lifting his military boots off the pavement, the man eases the accelerator and rolls the vehicle down the driveway, parking next to the humvee. With a flick of the switch, the rumbling engine cuts off. Removing his helmet, he reveals an aged, hard-edged face wearing a calm smile. He rests his helmet down upon the bike and brushes off his lovingly worn, sleeveless jacket. Casually walking up to the door, he grants an admiring nod towards the humvee and stops solidly upon the front doormat. Quickly brushing his synthetic hand through his swept-back silvery gray hair, he shakes out some minor nerves and presses the door bell button.

From inside the house, a muffled tone rings. Signs of life stir inside, and the faint echoes resonate outside to the imposing figure. Patiently waiting, the imposing man leans slightly off the top of the landing and tries a peek into a window. Almost a minute later, the rattle of door locks cues him to stand back up straight. The front door swings quickly open. In a form fitting workout outfit, Sotalia glances back over her shoulder, holding a fanciful cup of coffee. "Yes. I'll warn him about the rocks, too."

She snaps her head forward and finally examines the person in front of her. "Hey, I guess you're-"

Her sentence trails to a sharp pause. Tilting her head to the side in surprise, her recognition of the man erupts within her mind and overflows upon her light tan face. She fights a losing battle to maintain her composure. The grip upon her coffee cup unconsciously loosens, her golden eyes gawk starstruck ahead. "C-c-commander Blaureiter?!"

The cup slips from her fingers. Commander Blaureiter's blue eyes lock onto the falling container. His cybernetic arm flexes forward with the rest of his body. In mere fractions of a second, he gracefully seizes the coffee from its descent. Sotalia reflexively shudders at the silent swiftness, and long dormant youthful admiration wins the battle over composure. Covering her mouth with both hands, she fidgets energetically and struggles to keep her pitch from climbing. "OH MY GODS! You're Commander Blaureiter! I- Uh- Um- Oh- Ah- Wow..."

Blaureiter bashfully chuckles, presents the recaptured coffee cup to Sotalia, and smiles graciously. "Yes. Well, I was once. Now, it's just Professor Blaureiter, officially."

He humbly rolls his eyes at himself. "And well... It's mostly just Thomas these days."

Regaining some situational awareness, Sotalia grabs hold of her coffee cup. Thomas lifts an examining eyebrow. "If I'm correct, I believe you are Sotalia?"

Gazing up from the cup in her hands, a flush of pink floods Sotalia's face, and she shyly stares at Thomas. "Uh... Yes. You are correct. Um, how did you know?"

With a gentle smile, Thomas shrugs his shoulders and chuckles lightly. "Well, you are the only one who meets the vibrant personality that Sebastian described in his aethermails to me."

He glances inside the house around Sotalia and notices the gathering group staring towards the entry. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time."

Sotalia snaps her head back, remembers where she stands, and excitedly steps to the side. "OH! No! Of course not! Come in, sit down! Please!"

Thomas nods, taps any debris off his boots before entering, and eases heavy footsteps upon the hardwood floors. "Hello. Hope I'm not barging in."

Sebastian's ethereal form zips over towards Thomas, both blinking in surprise. "Professor Blaureiter! Holy shit! What are you doing here?! It's great to see you!"

Inspecting Sebastian's ghostly visage, Thomas cocks his head curiously to the side. "It's good to see you, too, Sebastian. Despite the information I've heard, I think there's a lot more you can tell me about what has happened as of late."

Gritting his teeth, Sebastian shrugs his shoulders and sighs, drifting in place. "YEAH. It's a story or two."

From the dining table, Bach snaps a delighted gaze up from his bowl of cereal towards Thomas and hops up from his chair. "Hey, Professor Blaureiter!"

Bach holds a hand out to shake, and Thomas steps closer. Thomas shakes Bach's hand, wraps his arms around Bach in a brief hug, and holds him at the shoulders. "I've been worried about you, Bach. I had promised myself to hunt you down after the semester was over if I didn't hear anything from you."

A sly smirk curls across Bach's face, and he motions over towards Sebastian with a grumbling, ill-humored tone. "WELL, someone already beat you to it. In some fashion."

Narrowing his stare upon Sebastian, Thomas slowly crosses his powerful, cybernetic arms with an unamused glare. "Oh. Did he drag you into trouble again?"

Bach joins Thomas in the stare down of Sebastian. "Oh, both figuratively... And, LITERALLY."

Sighing, Aristespha slumps her shoulders and rolls her violet eyes at herself. "In his defense, Professor Blaureiter, we weren't in the best of mindsets at that time. But, I'd like to think we're making progress in conducting ourselves better."

Thomas points to a chair and gazes around for a confirmation. With a few nods of acceptance, he smiles and lowers himself into a chair around the table. "Well, I'd really love to hear all about it. If it's not too much trouble for you all."

At the entry doorway, Sotalia settles her excitement down and gradually calms herself. Closing the front door, she exhales quietly. With a long sip of coffee, she stills herself and mumbles. "Okay. Keep it together. Don't fangirl out here."

She glances down the entryway towards the living area and cranes her head around the pantry, catching a glimpse of Professor Thomas Blaureiter sitting and chatting with everyone else at the dining table. She closes her golden eyes, bites her lower lip, and excitedly fidgets with teen-aged glee.

----

Scratching the top of his blonde haired head, Kaleb slides through another guild mission listing on the tablet. He lifts the device up from top of the unfinished table and squints at the next quest description. The sound of water rushing from a faucet abruptly halts, and Shadeesa lifts a greasy frying pan out of the kitchen sink. She dumps a few plates of leftovers on the pan and hovers it over the sill of an open window nearby. Moments later, big green eyes rise up into view. Lagi's maw opens, and a long, large tongue lavishly licks the cooking surface clean. Shadeesa waits for the last confirming sniff from Lagi, inspects the empty frying pan, and sinks it completely into the water. "Thank you, Lagi."

Drying her light gray hands upon a nearby towel, she tosses her head of dark green hair back and narrows her gaze upon the large dragon. "Now, you can help yourself to FIVE apples off the tree in the back."

Lagi nods his large head, turning away eagerly. Shadeesa lifts a suspicious brow, focuses a stern stare at Lagi, and snaps her long nailed fingers. Lagi halts to attention. Holding her hand out, Shadeesa flexes all her fingers on a hand. "FIVE apples. I counted twenty eight yesterday on that particular tree. SO, there better be twenty three left."

Tipping her back, she keeps her motherly stare upon Lagi. "Understood?"

Nodding his large head slowly, Lagi waits patiently. Shadeesa warms her smile, leans carefully out the window, and scratches Lagi's chin. "If you need to fill up, there's a new drum of fryer grease from Draco-Burger under the carport."

A low, growling purr rumbles from Lagi, and he quickly departs. Hungrily rushing along, his huge four winged frame bounds around the long brick house. Shadeesa giggles to herself and undoes the apron around her prominent belly. Slowly walking towards the table, she guides her hair over her horns and sits down next to Kaleb. She rests her head on his shoulder and sighs. "Anything good in the guild listings?"

Kaleb leans his head snugly against Shadeesa's and hums in thought. "Well, just the usual batch of flyovers and survey jobs. Nothing that pays that great, but if I can get a few more..."

He lifts an entrepreneurial eyebrow and visibly ponders. "Might be able to work a nice two day run to take care of a bunch in a row."

Tapping his finger upon the map on the tabletop, he traces out a penciled path in between a number of dots. Shadeesa nods and wraps an arm around his. "That doesn't look so bad. Looks like a busy few days, though."

Opening his eyes wide in reluctant acceptance, Kaleb draws a long breath in and sighs hopefully. "Yeah. But, it'll mean just two long days to get what we need for the week."

Shadeesa grumbles and rests a hand upon her belly. "Gods, I really need to pick up the pace on getting the veterinary clinic plan together. I don't want you and Lagi having to fly around all the time. Especially when the baby arrives."

Kaleb slips his arm free from Shadeesa and wraps it around her. Turning his head, he kisses her on the cheek, carefully avoiding a horn. "Don't worry about it. We're on track with the payments here. We've saved up quite a bit. And, you've got a few local, regular clients."

A long eye roll crosses Shadeesa's face, and she lowers her head in disappointment, snuggling close to Kaleb. "Livestock. I'm treating cows, pigs, and a few stubborn donkeys."

Wrestling a grimace, she huffs and playfully whines. "OH, what I wouldn't give to get on the preferred list for one of the weird zone reserves or a dragon rider company."

Kaleb rubs Shadeesa's arm and rests a free hand on her baby bump. "Hey. We have to start somewhere. You did get to treat a dire boar piglet and people keep asking me about Lagi's dedicated vet. You may get those calls soon enough."

Shadeesa sighs and relaxes a bit. "I guess... It'd still help if I had a dedicated place to practice and all the proper equipment set up. Having to haul everything around gets a little tiring."

The two share a quiet moment, each taking turns sliding through job postings on the tablet. Minutes later, an aetherphone chime rings out from between the two. Shadeesa blinks to awareness, retrieves her aetherphone, and reads the caller info. "It's Aristespha."

Cocking his head to the side, Kaleb lifts a curious eyebrow. "Might be Sebastian, too, since he can't use phones at the moment."

Shadeesa taps a button on the screen and holds the device up to her ear. "Hello?"

A mixture of dialog between a number of voices spill out from the speaker, and Shadeesa's eyes light up. "REALLY?! He's there?"

Listening to another chorus of conversation, she smiles brightly. "Why, of course, I think we can!"

She turns and gazes at Kaleb with a happy smile. "Professor Blaureiter is over there with Sebastian and Bach for a surprise visit. Do you think we can go over there?"

Kaleb blinks with a happy grin. "Sure! I don't believe we have anything planned today."

Shadeesa squirms happily and focuses back on the call. "We'll fly over there soon enough, it shouldn't be too long-"

A flash of concern washes over Kaleb. Craning his head around, Kaleb stares resolutely into Shadeesa's bright green on black eyes and shakes his head. Shadeesa quirks an incredulous brow and turns the aetherphone away from them. "What?"

Kaleb sighs and lightly pats on Shadeesa's stomach. "You can't fly right now. We'll drive over, and Lagi can follow us."

Shadeesa sneers her upper lip with an indignant tone. "I'll be fine. It'll take an extra half hour or so driving-"

Moving his head close to hers, Kaleb watches the minute shifts of mood upon Shadeesa's gray, white freckled face and calmly speaks. "Remember what you said last time."

Blinking, Shadeesa pauses in thought. She eases to a calm, appreciative smile and places the phone back on her ear with a tinge of embarrassment. "Oh. No. Everything is fine. We'll just be driving over instead. I shouldn't be flying at the moment."

She listens to a few voices in response and smiles. "Don't worry. Lagi is really good about following the car. We'll see you all soon."

After the call ends, Shadeesa gazes over to Kaleb, wraps her arms around him, and hugs him tightly. "Thank you for keeping me grounded. Sorry for being-"

A sly smirk pulls across Kaleb. "Yourself?"

Shadeesa squints at Kaleb momentarily and rolls her eyes at herself with a grumbling groan. Kaleb sways with Shadeesa in his arms and laughs. In the distant background through a large window facing the back yard, Lagi sits next to a large tree and carefully counts apples.

----

At and around the dining table, the large gathering of Thomas Blaureiter, Shadeesa and Kaleb, and the rest of the team converse. Recent and historical events rise up to the latest, ever-changing topic, all retelling their perspectives. In a lull of the exchanges, Thomas glances over to Sotalia with a quizzical hint to his voice. "I apologize, but I have to ask, Sotalia. How do you know about me?"

Furrowing his brow, he smirks curiously and tilts his head. "You recognized me... But, not immediately. And, I haven't gone by Commander in over fifteen years."

Sotalia's golden eyes open wide, and she briefly grits her teeth. A tense moment later, she sighs with an embarrassed smile. "Well, I think you KNOW how. I was a teenager back, then."

Thomas lowers his head forward and chuckles out a wave of bashfulness. "Oh. I'm actually a bit surprised. Okay. Now, I have to ask..."

He lifts an inquisitive eyebrow and smiles amused. "Which poster did you have?"

Sotalia blinks, averts her eyes momentarily, and bites her lower lip with a coy tone. "All three."

Shuddering his head, Thomas gawks at Sotalia in genuine surprise. Sotalia shrugs her shoulders and crosses her arms. "Hey, I have two sisters close to my age. So, when I took an interest in dragons... We all took an..."

She rolls her eyes at herself and fights a guilty grin. "Internet... In the man riding the biggest, baddest one out there."

She fidgets with a girlish glee and tries to contain her amusement. "When my sisters moved on to other things, I kept all the posters."

Narrowing her stare, Aristespha puzzles between Thomas and Sotalia. "I am missing something here. Posters?"

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

The last word radiates out to the ears of everyone else, triggering different reactions. Bach and Sebastian reflexively snort and squelch any further response. Shadeesa covers her mouth with a hand. And, Kaleb grins wide. "YEAH. You'll have to ask Commander Blaureiter himself about that."

Dretphi and Cideeda exchange intrigued glances, joining their attention with everyone else upon Thomas. Seconds of gauging the crowd later, Thomas wrestles an embarrassed grimace and groans with begrudging amusement. "FIRST, let me say this..."

Furrowing his brow, he swings an humored stare around the gathering. "When your job description on a contract says other duties as assigned... Make sure there's LIMITS upon THAT."

He gazes up towards the ceiling with a distant, reminiscent smirk. "After the Southern Crux collapsed from all their MANY internal problems... And, the GAA and Appaland States absorbed the fracturing territories, the mercenary group I was part of lost its major government backer."

Lowering his head down, he meets the anticipating gazes around the table and shrugs his cybernetic shoulders. "To be fair, they actually had a decent plan given the situation."

Aristespha crosses her arms and tilts her head of silvery blue hair curiously to the side. "Which was?"

Motioning his hands outwards dramatically, Thomas laughs with a mocking grin. "Marketing, of course!"

He rests his cybernetic hands upon the table and pantomimes with his thoughts. "They put it to us SIMPLY. If you ever wanted to receive your big end of career contract retirement payout, you pretty much had to sign away your likeness rights and go along with their big scheme."

Gritting his teeth, he hisses out a stalely annoyed breath. "And being five years away from the end of my long service contract, I decided to humor them."

He settles back in his chair and sighs. "So, pretty soon my old mercenary company worked out merchandising deals, sold rights to every entertainment medium along with some of us as actors, and the few they deemed photogenic..."

Thomas straightens his postures and flashes a bold grin. "Were marketed as the latest craze for teenagers."

Drumming her claw tips upon the tabletop visibly pondering, Cideeda springs her emerald eyes open in revelation and snaps her gazes over. "WAIT. Is THAT why all the different named heroes got released in Battles of Nexus?!"

Thomas nods in confirmation and chuckles lightly. "YES. Once the idea got out, every group and government that could get away with it wanted a piece of that market."

Dretphi pauses thought. "I believe my mother had-"

Arriving at a surprising realization, she blinks. "HAS a poster of you."

Sotalia sneaks a grin across her face and winks mischievously to Command Blaureiter. "My favorite was the swimsuit edition."

A strong blush of red washes over Thomas, and he works it off his face. Mustering up his composure, he laughs quietly with a gentle smile and faces shyly down at the table. "That's Albert's favorite, too."

Shadeesa smiles, reaches out, and pats her hand on Thomas's. "How have you and Albert been? It's been a few months since we went up to High Alton with Lagi for your class."

Thomas chuckles lightly and shakes his head in good humor. "Oh, he's still wily as ever. I always have to make sure he keeps on the light side of his profession."

Noticing the curiosity, he swings gaze over to Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia. "He's a law professor that specializes in patent law."

The four nod in understanding. Thomas crosses his synthetic arms and shrugs his shoulders. "He's currently out in Cali for a few weeks for a big conference. BUT, he specifically demanded I do something other than lounge around the house, since I'm not teaching summer courses. So, I decided to fire up the old motorcycle and travel down here from High Alton to see who I could see."

Getting up from his seat, Bach glances towards the kitchen door leading to the garage. "I thought I recognized that rumble. Yeah, I need to show you my ride, since you are here."

Nodding with interest, Thomas slides his chair back and stands up tall. "Sure. Need to get up and move around a bit anyway. The bits that haven't been replaced get stiff a lot easier these days."

Sotalia quickly springs from her seat, pulls her aetherphone out, and gingerly taps Thomas's shoulder. "Um, Excuse Commander Blau- Um... Thomas. While I'm thinking about it, would you humor an old fan with a teen-aged wish to get a picture with you?"

A happy smile graces Thomas's sun tanned face, and he nods. "Of course."

With a mischievous grin, he steps clear of the table. "Stand over here."

Sotalia slides over next to Thomas and taps her aetherphone into the camera function. In a swift motion, Thomas kneels down, sweeps up Sotalia into his arms, and hoists her up. A startled squeak escapes Sotalia, and she blushes with a wide smile on her face. Anxiously giggling at the attention, she quickly addresses her appearance, aims the camera at her and Thomas, and presses an on-screen button. Sotalia wraps an arm around Thomas's neck, and he assumes a fashionably tough exterior. A bright flash later, the picture appears on the aetherphone display. Thomas gently lowers Sotalia down and back on her feet. Drawing in a long breath, Sotalia exhales out her nerves and fidgets with excitement. "Oh my gods! Thank you SO much! Sorry for being such a fangirl and all. I just never really expected to meet you in person."

Rubbing the back of his neck nonchalantly, Thomas chuckles humbly. Hey. You're just fine. Admittedly, it has all reminded me of my more youthful days. So, this old man thanks you."

The mischievous grin reappears upon Thomas's face, and he inquisitively peeks over Sotalia's shoulder. "So, uh, who are you sending that picture to?"

Sotalia bites her lower lip and smirks with a sinister tinge. "Both my sisters. Gods, I can't wait to see how they react."

Shakes his head in amusement, Thomas watches Sotalia quickly tap out a message. The doorbell chimes out. Cideeda hops up from her seat and walks swiftly to the front door. She opens up the entrance, revealing the tall, strong body of a red-headed teenager. "Hey, Dace. I'm guessing your schedule freed up enough to get to our yard."

Blinking back to awareness, Dace focuses back from the side of the house and gazes down at Cideeda. "Oh- OH, yeah! Sorry, it took so long to get out here. Man, everyone seemed to have something special that needed to be done with their yards... And..."

Leaning back, he cautiously angles his gaze towards the corner of the building. "Yeah, um, speaking of special things with lawns... Um..."

He points to the side of the ranch style house, flexes his hand in different motions with his confusion, and apprehensively broaches the subject. "OKAY. I just looked in the back yard and... Well... Uh..."

Scrutinizing the nervous uncertainty blatant upon the teenager's face, Cideeda thinks a moment and reflexively snorts in amusement. "OH! The dragon!"

A brief wave of relief washes over Dace, and he breathes out his tension. "Okay! Cool! You know about the... Dragon-"

He snaps his head down and furrows his brow. "An actual dragon?"

With a slow nod, Cideeda grins toothily. "Yes, we do."

Dace combs his fingers through his short, red hair failing a calm, collected exterior. "So, um. Yeah, ah... Do you want me to mow around the dragon? Uh, is he bothered by loud machinery? Do I need to feed him first?"

Cideeda snickers, shakes her head, and signals Dace to follow her inside. "It'll be fine. Just come inside real quick, and we'll figure it out. Also, have you ever heard of Commander Blaureiter?"

Dace furrows an unamused brow and grumbles out past frustration. "Yeah, actually. Shallen keeps on using his Blaureiter and Night Terror combo unit to cheese out wins against my Red Gear mechs."

A dark chuckle escapes Cideeda, and she leads Dace inside.

----

Squatting upon a branch high up in an older oak tree, Modoran surveys the forested vicinity with a pair of binoculars. Sweeps later, he wanders his aim down long clear corridors between the trees. In the breeze, Rustling leaves from the canopy above drone out and accompany the minutes of inactivity. Modoran lowers his hands, uncertainly twists his mouth, and swings his gaze down upon a trail below, shaking his head with a grimace. An unseen source grabs his attention, and he presses a finger upon a device in his long, dusky, bluish gray ears. "Modoran reporting. Nothing here. Saw some signs of foot traffic along a trail. But... Whoever is probably long gone by now. Over."

He lifts his finger from the ear piece. Seconds later, he nods understandingly and taps it quickly. "Understood. I will start moving towards the next sector in a few minutes. Just want to double-check the area before I clear out. Over."

Staring out into the forest, he focuses his dark blue eyes at the occasional flit of activity from the local wildlife. In the passing minute, he slumps his shoulders, rolls his head around into stretches, and sighs, hinting boredom. Slowly he unfolds his legs out, balancing upon the large branch high up. He plods over to the trunk and leans his back against the tree. Closing his dark blue eyes, he releases a relaxing breath and eases the tension out of his body.

A distant snap echoes out, and his very long, pointed ear twitches. Springing his eyes wide open, he presses himself into the contours of the trunk. His wary stare hunts around the area, searching.

Along the trail next to the large tree, fourteen evuukians hike in a tight group. All carry packs of equipment, supplies, and other belongings, navigating the rougher forest floor with ease. Their attire shares a similar uniform, natural theme, lacking any obvious markings. Torn threads faintly outline unfaded spots upon clothing, and fresh scrapes obscure original markings upon items. Chelindia glances over her shoulder and bows her head to two evuukian guards, light haired and dark haired. With an apologetic cadence, she addresses the two in respectful evuukian. Gradually adopting an appreciative smile, she gazes up to them. The two guards share a laugh. Both nonchalantly shrug back and mention Faelatelia's name in an inquiring tone. Nodding, Chelindia turns her head forward and gazes down the trail. She relays over her shoulder a comforting, informing sentence of evuukian. Relief washes over the guards, and they nod in agreement. Chelindia brushes back her dark green braids, draws a long breath in, and sighs to an uneasy grimace upon her dark tan face. Pondering out loud, she glances around the group, seeking reactions. The discussion grows between the large group, each member commenting in turn. With in the calm debate, Captain Hays, Captain Hackle, GAA, Borderland Rangers, and Perimeter Weird Zone stand out in contrast against the shared dialect of evuukian.

Minutes later, the large team walks out of view over the crest of a small hill. Modoran releases himself from the tree trunk and slides down to a seat upon the branch. Blinking out of a tense stupor, he furrows his brow and darts his eyes between his thoughts, mulling the situation over. Deliberation blatant, he contorts his dusky, bluish gray face to an uncertain conclusion and presses his ear piece. "Captain... This is Modoran. Reporting... Strange activity. Over."

Pausing the transmission for a confirmation, he squints into the distance. Moments later, he keys up the radio. "Large group of evuukians just passed by me a few minutes ago. I counted fourteen. If I had NOT overheard their conversation, I would identify them as Terra Priests. But..."

Modoran furrows his brow, confusion creeping out onto his face. "They were all talking as if they all... Well... Just quit and walked off the commune. They were debating what they were going to do next and brought up some names and organizations. Over."

He side eyes to the response over the radio and reflexively shrugs his shoulders. "OH. Yeah. My sentiments exactly. I do NOT know what to make of it, really. I believe they are harmless and were heading south west from my current position. So at the pace they were going, they'll be outside the operational zone in an hour or so."

Gritting his teeth, Modoran grumbles and shakes his head. "But... If they are leaving the Terra Priests, that means there has to be a commune somewhere around here. Over."

He pauses for the reply and apprehensively shakes his head of short, white, grayish hair. "Uh. They didn't say anything to indicate where. I know we are out here for bandits, BUT we might catch something else by accident. Over."

Standing back up, Modoran stretches his arms out, rocks his head with the radio response, and quickly taps his ear piece. "That sounds like a plan to me. I'm going to continue on to the next area. THAT group will probably scare off any straggler bandits from coming this way. I will report in, if I see anything else. Over and out."

He crosses arms, stares out into the forest, and gradually sways his head. Tossing his hands up in the air, he mumbles out a few evuukian curses and gestures out an incantation. He steps off the branch, glides down onto the ground, and lands in a darkly obscuring mist, enveloping him from sight.

----

Wandering her stare around the back yard, Sotalia stands with her arms crossed and shakes her head in disbelief. Lagi flexes a slight strength down his body, resettles his head upon Thomas's lap, and happily purrs a low rumble. Relaxing his two pairs of massive wings out onto the freshly mowed field, he fans out his long tail and huffs dramatically. Next to the plank picnic table, Thomas pets Lagi softly and stretches his legs out, sitting upon the end of the wooden bench. Glancing over at the lounging dragon, Sotalia sighs in playful resignation, reaches out, and scratches underneath Lagi's chin. "Gods... I still can't believe THIS is The Night Terror's son."

Thomas laughs and smiles at the attention soaking dragon. "Oh. I think he's turning out just fine. While I'm certain Nachta would have raised him FAR differently, I actually like this life for him better."

Stiffening her upper lip, Sotalia places her hand on her hip and fights against a smirk, watching Lagi's begging gaze. "I- I mean... This IS the child of the Night Terror. The biggest, most powerful dragon to have ever flown in combat in recent memory. The dragon that bit off both your arms-"

Thomas averts his eyes, grits his teeth, and sheepishly remarks. "ACTUALLY, she only bit one off. And THAT was because I was a stupid twenty something that didn't know what the hell I was doing."

Blinking in surprise, Sotalia stares down and furrows her puzzled brow at Thomas. "Huh?! I always heard she took both of your arms?"

Scratching the back of head, Thomas sighs, wrestling embarrassment. "WELL, you can blame marketing on that embellishment."

Sotalia crosses her arms and pivots to Thomas. "Okay. SO... Um... How did you lose the other-"

Grimacing a moment, she glances off to the side uneasily. "If I may ask?"

With a nonchalant smile, Thomas shrugs and scratches around Lagi's bony plates. "It was a farming accident. Trying to get my dad's heap of a tractor working again. I was out test driving it and hit a hidden sink hole on the road. Dumped me out, first. Followed by the tractor flopping onto my arm with all the moving, hot bits."

Rolling his blue eyes, he sighs to a chuckle. "They MAY have been able to save some of it. But, I just opted to pair up the cybernetics with cross skeletal reinforcement. Worked out out for me, at least."

Sotalia blinks aghast and verbally stumbles to a response. "Uh... Wow... That sounds worse than Nachta biting it off."

Tipping his head back, Thomas breaks out into laughter and smiles brightly. "Gods! I would have chosen her to chomp it off over that tractor in a heartbeat. I didn't even realize she had bitten my arm off until after I tried to punch her with the missing arm."

Noticing Sotalia's utter bewilderment and shock, Thomas draws in a deep breath and exhales slowly with a reminiscing grin. "You have to understand... Nachta had a whole different mentality than any other creature. She was proud, smart, and strong. She ONLY respected those she felt were equals, and that happened to be no one. Well..."

He tilts his head to the side and cracks a smirk. "No one until I showed back up and slugged her dizzy with the new arm. After THAT... We had an amazing partnership."

Sotalia closes her agape mouth and covers her astonishment with an admiring smile. "That's actually a far more amazing and cooler than the story they wrote for your bio."

Thomas massages the blue black scales between the white bony plates on Lagi's head and smiles with a light chuckle. "Nachta was a strange girl. VERY jealous, too. When she saw I lost my other arm to the tractor, she left her den, went to my father's farm, and melted the tractor to a puddle of slag. I STILL don't know how she knew where to find the thing. She'd never been out there before."

Across the wooden plank picnic table, Kaleb nervously smiles and shudders with memories rising up in his mind. "I still remember the few times you took me NEAR her enclosure. Gods... That red eyed glare."

A humored chuckle escapes Thomas, and he abruptly halts when a chime rings out from his inner jacket pocket. Retrieving his aetherphone, he taps to the messages and groans with a shake of his head. "Oh gods, Albert."

Shadeesa leans close to Thomas and inquires with a hint of concern. "Is everything okay?"

Thomas presents a smile over his frustration and nods reassuringly. "YES. Albert is just being his picky, over analyzing self again. We've talked about repainting the sun room. I'd just like A warm color. Albert... is trying to divine the exact shade and is conferring with me to the point I think my brain refuses to differentiate colors anymore."

He rotates the phone display out towards the gathering nearby. Sotalia, Shadeesa, and Kaleb squint and study the number of pictures highlighting extremely similar colors. The group deliberates and contort their faces in different shades of indecision. Glancing around, Sotalia grabs hold of Aristespha walking by and directs her attention to the swatches. "Which color do you like better?"

Blinking to awareness, Aristespha focuses her violet eyes upon the aetherphone screen, furrows her brow in thought, and incredulously stares at everyone. "Okay... Is this some kind of trick? They look almost the same to me."

Thomas sighs and shakes his head, continuing to pet Lagi.

----

Inside the large, tall tent, Veevi stretches out upon the sleeping bag, flexing her sharp nailed fingers. She combs through her pink hair and twitches her short haired tail in idle thought. The tent flap unzips, and Chad slips on through. He glances down, and Veevi smiles slyly at him. Chad smirks with a snort. "Don't get too comfortable. We still have individual interviews to record and a daily recap."

The half-fvalian girl sighs petulantly and narrows her pink pupil eyes. "I KNOW. Gods. I don't know what there's to talk about. NOTHING happened Tuesday, and NOTHING happened today. Not like Saturday."

Pointing her finger towards the top of the tent, she curls her thumb and audibly mouths out. "ZAP!"

Chad narrows his glare and tugs uncomfortably at the corner of his mouth, groaning. "Hey. I gave you that laser pistol to defend yourself. NOT to shoot surrendering people in the junk."

He briefly cringes and shudders reflexively. "Gods dammit, that hurt to WATCH. So... Can you AVOID giving the medical staff any more work in the future?"

Rolling her eyes indignantly, Veevi sticks her tongue out at Chad. "Fucking fine, then! It's not like the asshole didn't DESERVE it."

She wraps her arms around herself and presents a pitiful, endearing gaze to Chad with a meek cadence. "But... I am so sorry. I guess I just got a little carried away."

Fluttering her eyes, a sly grin creeps out. "After that AMAZING sword fight, I was just SO worked up and saw him point that gun at you."

With a slight squirm, she gazes up. "I just wanted to help out."

Chad crosses his arms, sighing with a smirk. "Yeah... I agree he deserved it. BUT, fucking hell. Try not to shoot anyone who has surrendered. I REALLY don't want the Flames of the Phoenix to get that type of reputation."

A seductive grin graces Veevi, and she rolls over onto her side. Gliding her fingertips along the length of the sleeping bag next to hers, she flicks her tail over her legs. "Keeping up appearances, hmm? Is that why there's two sleeping bags in here?"

A chuckle accompanies the smile upon Chad's face, and he kneels down upon the sleeping bag. "Well... Not entirely. These two sleeping bags CAN be zipped up together."

Veevi bites her lip, giggles with a squirm, and stretches herself out, emphasizing her figure. "OH. Something we'll try out... Tonight?"

Chad shrugs his shoulders, sitting down. "Maybe. It might be a bit difficult, since you're not exactly... Quiet."

A sharp nailed hand walks over and rests upon Chad's knee. Veevi smiles with a seducing lick of her lips. "Ooo. THAT sounds like a challenge. I'd like to attempt... NOW."

Outside the tent with the Flames of the Phoenix logo, across the other side of the camp site, Trakenthin flips to the next page of his book. Relaxing against a tree, he calmly reads the paragraphs and props his feet upon a small equipment locker. Pouring over the pages, his hazel eyes quickly scan over the text and traces of excitement rise upon face. Eagerly reaching out to turn to the next page, he freezes. His head lifts up, and he aims his ears towards faint noises rising up from the background drone of nature. Hunting around the campsite, he settles upon the tent with the Flames of the Phoenix logo. Bewilderment flashes over to disgust, and Trakenthin recognizes the sounds. He cringes, grips onto a heavy armored boot nearby, and readies for a throw. Moments pass, and Trakenthin grits his teeth in defeat, dropping the boot. Grumbling grath curses under his breath, he surges up from his spot and stomps away from the developing din of carnal gymnastics.

----

Cideeda and Dace stand at the crest of a slope leading down from the picnic table into the open field. Dace traces out the forest border with a hand. "When I do a finishing pass around the edges, I can angle the cutter and trim up the bushes along the way if you want."

Scratching a claw tip thoughtfully on her light brown chin, Cideeda nods and pinches out a small height. "Can you cut it short along the bushes, like you did the target field on the side of the house?"

Grinning confidently, Dace proudly places his hands on his sides. "Oh, yeah, of course. I can cut the grass to the centimeter on that mower."

He points towards the lone, worn, scorched, and chipped boulder in the middle of the field. The wind blows the trimmed grass surrounding the pile of rock chunks encircling the massive stone. Glances down to Cideeda, he furrows his brow to an inquiry. "You sure you don't want me to take care of that huge rock? I won't charge that much to remove it."

Cideeda grins toothily at the teenager. "Won't be needed. Kind of like it there. It's perfect for target practice. So, it might not be a problem given time."

Blinking at the mention of target practice, Thomas notices the Particle Power Blaster secured in the equipment satchel on the sunbathing Lagi. With a hint of playful guilt, he sidesteps over, flips the cover of the bag, and places his hand on the huge pistol. Wistfully smiling, he glances over his shoulder towards Kaleb at the table. "Kaleb. Do you mind if this old man catches up with an old friend?"

Kaleb gazes over, spots Thomas's hand on the blaster, and nods enthusiastically. "Hell yes, you can. I told you when you gave it to me that you could always use it."

Thomas grins wide and eager and deftly draws the weapon clear of its holster. Feeling out the blaster in hand, he walks to the crest of the slope with Dace and Cideeda. He examines the control panel on the device and chuckles. "Up to thirty five percent power! Nicely done, Kaleb."

Kaleb puffs out his chest proudly and beams out with his accomplishment. "Oh yeah! I've gotten up to fifty percent... for single shots. But, keep it there most of the time for convenience."

Shadeesa briefly glares over to Kaleb, reinforcing her sentiment with a stern tone. "ALSO because someone nearly dislocated their shoulders when they accidentally burst fired it on that setting."

Shrugging off the embarrassment, Kaleb weathers the stare from Shadeesa. Dace studies the device in Thomas's hand and blinks in astounded recognition. "Holy shit... That's YOUR Particle Power Blaster!"

He gestures towards the large pistol and smirks at Thomas. "Okay! I GOT to ask how powerful that thing really is. Because, my friend Shallen and I got into an argument about it and the stats in the game-"

A sinister grin parts Thomas's mouth, and he powers on the weapon with a quick twirl of the pistol grip. He expertly flips the blaster around in his hand and presents it to Dace with a sly smile. "Try it out. Brace yourself. Take aim. Squeeze your pinky around the lower grip safety and hold your thumb on the upper safety when you are ready to pull the trigger."

Taking hold of the pistol with both hands, Dace searches around for a spot, plants his feet, and raises the pistol up in line with the boulder. Thomas side steps behind Dace, keeps a steadying hand at the ready, and flashes his greatly amused smile to everyone else. Dace secures his grip, takes aim, and pulls the trigger. A bright orange bolt of charged matter loudly blasts out the muzzle of the pistol, streaks down to the boulder, and erupts into a fiery cloud. The surprise force jerks Dace's muscled arms up and tips him backwards onto the awaiting hand of Thomas. Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Kaleb, Lagi, Sebastian, Shadeesa, and Sotalia react in a mix of amusement, surprise, and encouragement. Blinking in utter shock, Dace gradually lowers his arms and stares in awe at the particle pistol. "HOLY. SHIT. That's at thirty-five percent?!"

Thomas chuckles confidently and holds his hand out. "YES. Want to see what it can do at ONE HUNDRED?"

Dace returns the pistol to Thomas, steps back a meter away, and awaits with renewed respect. Thomas flips the power level to full, and an audible hum of power emanates from the blaster. Training his stare upon the distant boulder, Thomas plants his feet, braces his stance, and keeps a free arm out to balance himself. He raises the muzzle of the blaster up to the target.

A flurry of blue-white particle bolts stream out of the weapon, single shots following triplet bursts. Each shot belches out flashes of ionized gas and billows out faint pressure waves upon the cut grass ahead. Thomas's cybernetics buffer the recoil masterfully, and he makes minute adjustments in aim between shots and during bursts. Taking a few seconds to squint at the distant, smoldering boulder, he squeezes one last blast and dons a happy grin on face. "Yeah... I think I still got it."

Plume of dust, smoke, and ionized air lifts away from the boulder into the breeze. Upon the large rock, a collection of purposefully placed holes glow a fading orange-red and resemble a dotted smiley face. The assembled group stare at the display, between uncovering their ears and granting a healthy applause to the spectacle. Cideeda glances over with a scheming grin to Bach. "I think we need to set up the target range today. We have a new challenger."

Gawking in absolute awe, Dace blinks back to awareness and scratches the back of his head reflectively. "Damn. I think I owe Shallen an apology."

Thomas pats the shoulder of the teenager. "Eh, don't worry. They've been debating how many dice my attacks should get for YEARS now. They'll try to fix it in an errata. Then, unfix again in the next errata. Then... unfix the unfix? I TRY to stay out of those fights these days."

Dace nods in agreement. Cideeda rolls her eyes and sighs. "Gods, tell me about it."