_NOTE: 37 hours to relocation site.

As Rebecca continues the countdown, Dante takes a seat on the ground beside an unconscious Nadia and Cassie, he can feel the exhaustion and pain in his body return. They've been at it for hours, and now that he's depleted his mana and his health points indicate he's on the brink of death, he's finding it difficult to keep his eyes open.

The drill beam starts to rumble and the surge of energy throughout the train almost eases into his sleep- whether it's the energy itself, or the comfort in knowing the drill beam is a ‘safe place’. He feels content in his efforts, and if he were to die in his sleep then so be it.

“Firing,” Rebecca calls out

A thunderous blast is followed by the ripple of the drill beam, and as Dante's eyes shut he can hear the high-pitched whizzing of the laser fly off into the distance before there is total silence in the train.

“Boom!” Clint exclaims.

“That’s a hit,” Rebecca adds.

“Little fuckers thought their laser was tough shit,” Clint chuckles.

“Enemy drill beam is disabled,” Siv says.

“Good work,” Captain Hammond says, “Charge another round. I want fifteen, ten-ten on that main Krix garrison beyond the shield,”

“Sir, they have multiple shields up in that position,”

“And I want to poke at it,” The Captain responds.

“Copy that,” Siv and Rebecca respond.

_PICKUP ETA: 1 Minute

Pickup? Dante wonders on the edge of consciousness.

“This is unit eighteen, arriving for exfil,’’

“Roger that, Eighteen, we have a few wounded pups,”

“Copy, preparing to mount,”

A hollow whirring sounds from the rear side of the cart, and before Dante can turn his head to see what they're doing his kind vanishes to darkness. The voices becoming distant mumbles amongst the subtle sensation of his body being lifted from the ground and then rested elsewhere.

During Dante's journey, the occasional rumble and shifting of the humvee jostles him in and out of consciousness, briefly giving him the sight of a medic stitching up a few of his wounds whilst another tends to Cassie. At that moment, he also noticed Cassie and Nadia were both with him before fading back into sleep.

He can't remember much, but he was dreaming during his sleep. Dante doesn't dream so often and when he does it's a coin toss between a nightmare in which he can't save Julz or a world where there are no Krix. No war. The two of them live in a woodland cabin, growing all the food they need and collecting water from the river just beyond their doorstep.

At most, he figures he just has a rational, and healthy, fear of Julz dying- At least, that's what the class counsellor told him at the Academy, so he hasn't thought about it any deeper. The counsellor also told him that it's largely the reason the Academy allows romantic relationships. Fighting for allies on the battlefield is the best a soldier can do. With what he's experienced so far, and the number of times Cassie or Nadia have saved him, he knows a real Zo'an always fights and dies for others.

It's their instinct.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Dante didn't notice at which point he'd completely lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes he found himself lying on a medical bed in a large tent- one that must be double the size of Dr. Jiji's tent at the last camp.

Dante squints at the increasing brightness of the daylight streaming into the tent. Amongst the whiteness, a blurred face pops in front of his, with her oceanic hair tied up into two cute buns at the top of her head.

“He's awake!” She calls out, looking across the room before Dr Jiji's head pops into view as well.

“Welcome back, Recruit,” Dr Jiji smirks as Dante tries to sit up, “Take it easy, you have a lot of meds in your system,”

Dante pauses, hearing her advice too late before he feels the rooms start spinning around him. So, he lays back down and embraces the sight of their blurred faces for a moment.

“Julz?” He asks as her face and blue hair come into focus.

She rests her head on his chest, and he swiftly feels it grow warmer, “I didn't know if you'd come back,”

“Are you okay?” He asks hesitantly as he notices the bandages all over her body and around her forehead.

“I'm fine now,” She lets out a calm sigh.

“Where are we?” He asks.

“The relocation site,” Dr Jiji responds.

“Where’s Cassie and Nadia!?” Dante panics but is quickly put at ease when Julz rests a hand on his chest as well.

“Ugh, so cute,” Dr Jiji rolls her eyes, “They’re fine. They're already doing some recovery training,”

“Oh,” Dante sighs in relief and an ounce of confusion, “How long have I been asleep?”

“Eighteen hours,” Dr Jiji says, “The other two woke up about twelve hours ago. My guess is because you depleted your mana reserve, your body had no energy left over. You're taking longer to heal small injuries than you should be, so my first prescription is getting your mana back up- so I'll have the cafeteria cook you up a few meals and some high-kilojoule beverages,”

“Alright,” Dante nods as she turns to tend to other patients, “Thanks Doctor,”

Dante looks at his HUD, briefly drawing his attention back to the convoy making its way to the relocation site. With a brief thought of the countdown, it appears on his HUD.

_NOTE: 19 hours to relocation site.

“Do you know how they're doing?” Dante asks Julz, playing with her hair.

“The last update was eight hours ago,” She says, “They'll be okay, you can't worry about that if you want to recover,”

“Yeah but-”

“Seriously Dante.” Julz lifts her head from his chest, “You know the Krix are following them here, and if you aren't recovered enough, you won't even be able to protect yourself. You aren't going to heal fast enough to fight by the time they get here anyway, so focus on yourself. Okay?”

Dante slowly nods, knowing she is right and being incapable of figuring out a counterpoint.

She takes a seat on a nearby chair and puts her head on his chest again, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” Dante smiles, running his hand through her hair, “How was it working with the operators?”

“It was good… I guess,” She sighs, “I don't know… I didn't think I'd come so close to dying so soon,”

“Same,” Dante and Julz both chuckle.

“I worried about you a lot,” She adds.

“What you said earlier applies to you too. You need to focus on yourself or you'll put yourself at risk,”

“Yeah, You're right,” She sighs before they both sit in a comfortable silence.

“Hey, Romeo!” A voice yells from across the room, “I’m surprised you not dying,”

He turns his head to see Nadia, bandaged up and marching into the room as if her personality and low health points have no relation to each other.

“Romeo?” Dante asks.

“What, You didn't do the extra reading?”

'I must have missed that one,”

“Cassie wants you in recovery training as soon as your HP is back up,” She says, before looking at Julz. “You took a beating too, huh?”

“Something like that,” Julz chuckles.

“Well we made it,” She grins, “If Taydo makes it back we'll have done a better job than most squads in Academy history,”

“What do you mean?” Julz asks.

“Eighty percent of squads have at least one recruit die on their first mission,” Dante responds.

“Yup, and if Taydo doesn’t screw it up we'll all sail to tier four,” Nadia grins.