Eliza looked through the information that Archius and Sato harvested. There was a lot of jargon that she didn't understand, but there were several things she did. Numbers, statistics, manpower and generalised information. Other than that, she had no clue what they were on about. She was barely able to wrap her head around the BCA's Contractor Bar after all. Such bureaucracy was pretty much standard across the galaxy, even for the organisation that regulates mercs.

Across the room, Archius was playing a game of Dullahan's Calling with Riharia, a holotype-card game popular amongst those in this industry. Though she personally always preferred the other versions of the game, the fantasy elements were never her favourite. Lilly and Sato continued to have their smoke break, it was most definitely a safety hazard. But no one here cares all that much; she doesn't blame them. Most people in the business die before the age of forty, if they want to die this way, she'll let them enjoy whatever semblance of joy they have left in this galaxy…

Eliza glanced towards the holographic strategy game. She was going to interject and give Riharia some advice. Though the only experience she's had in the game was against Kazuki... and that wasn't exactly a learning experience. The sliding of the door caught her attention as she placed her data-pad down on the surface of the large command deck in front of her.

"Status report, I want it pronto," demanded Kazuki, entering the room.

Even here, he was wearing his armour, a light combination of a vest-plate with other armoured pads and plates across his chest and limbs. It was consistent with the old Clandestine models, but all of theirs had the three pillars of the AGENCY on their shoulders to mark their allegiance - instead of the crescent concave moon. Kazuki had a gold trim, the only other person with the same trim colouring as Martinez.

The sight only reminded Eliza of that rift between herself and him... So different lives, yet here she is. She must do her best!

"Multiple convoys, possible routes are given but most are probably fakes," said Archius, still focusing on playing his game, flicking up a whole table of traps to put down.

Sato and Lilly snuffed their cigarettes out, flicking them into the waste disposal drone bin hovering around. They probably wanted to avoid Kazuki's judgement if they were caught smoking, or maybe they knew how his lineage always had weak immune systems. Thinking back then, when Victoria met Kazuki, he did look ill.

Sato spoke up, "We've run it through the Phoenix's Fury's analyspec, but we've only been able to narrow things down to four possible routes. Convoy's hauling equipment, heavy load."

Kazuki nodded, his eyes glancing across the room towards Eliza. There were no thoughts or emotions in those hollowed-out, golden husks.

"Eliza," Kazuki said, awakening her from her stream of thought as she jolted in place, "Get us rocket launchers, X1G-50s."

She looked down towards her data-pad as she activated it once again, opening it up and activating her command panel, sending a transfer order through, immediately confirmed. "Drones are transporting them to the hangar bay as we speak."

"Which one?" snapped Lilly, looking towards Eliza, her armour had a white trim. Her hostility was far beyond open. Maybe she wasn't all too familiar with outsiders, Eliza thought. She understood that sentiment. After all, who was she to be here?

"Uh…" being put on the spot normally wasn't all too bad for her. Public speaking was her strong suit, though not as strong as Archius'. She looked back at the pad. "Hangar-5, the largest one on the stern."

"Yeah, we know where hangar-5 is!" Lilly retorted.

Sato jabbed Lilly in the sides as Kazuki paused, allowing things to play out. As things settled down, he turned his head towards Lilly and calmly glared. He uttered a single word, "Done?"

Lilly straightened herself out and nodded silently. Kazuki didn't seem all too intimidating from Eliza's perspective, though from the view of someone in the industry, someone like him is an embodiment of death itself. But maybe having the closest thing to the reaper's representative fighting alongside them was a good thing.

"But…" Eliza started, "May I suggest the SABIR tipped rockets? It says on the database that they're good against armour."

It wasn't much, but it was something. If she could help in any way whatsoever she'll take the opportunity. For once, Lilly didn't immediately retort back to her.

Sato spoke up, "She makes a fair point. Those rockets are probably the only things you didn't waste on Cantari-4."

Kazuki didn't respond to the sass. But if Eliza remembered, Cantari-4 was Clandestine's now destroyed fortress world in wild space. It's been a month or so since its announced destruction. The realisation that she's an outsider is starting to hit deeper than she expected.

She meekly stayed still as her normal outgoingness was overcome with awkwardness. Kazuki and Archius stayed around these people for a long time, and they probably have somewhat of a strong bond with them. But her? She meant nothing to them… did she make the right call? Her mind slowly pondered as a voice cut through.

"—Lizzie! Wanna play some Dullie with me?" asked Riharia. Eliza looked over, she had just won against Archius as he grumbled silently, giving off an annoyed look. She didn't know if that face was one of his supposed many faces. What happened back at her place was still uneasy to her. Archius Bar-Lyst? That cheery public rep was a spymaster? It did make some sense when she thinks about it.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not much of a holo-deck player," said Eliza, scratching the back of her head whilst giving Riharia a warm smile.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Oh, come on! Kazuki and Sato are too good and Lilly just plays the meta!"

"Because the meta is good!" rebuked Lilly, showing a less hostile side to Eliza, "There's a reason why the Pike meta is mainstream because it's historically good."

"That's enough." interjected Kazuki, his voice emotionless and steady, "Heimfall and Deltastring will take the most likely of convoy routes. Martinez's forces will be on the surface as a reserve. Persephone and Hosea's teams will take the other routes, is that clear?"

Everyone in the room nodded, except Eliza. She frantically nodded out of turn to 'catch up' with the conversation. Kazuki looked towards Lilly for a moment as Eliza caught a glimpse of their uplinks blinking. She always wanted to know what a mil-grade uplink felt like. Her father told her that from his experience fighting in the Anagoran siege, they felt crisp and smooth, unlike the civilian models.

Eliza caught glimpses of everyone in the room exchanging glances. Her curiosity was cut short as Lilly turned to her, saying, "We won't be bringing her down with us, right?"

Eliza shook her head, trying to make a light-hearted joke. "Ah, no, I'd be a goner if I went on the field. And fighting's not exactly my forte."

Lilly leaned closer towards her. Cold discipline snapped at her, "Oh really? Ya know, back in the Marines, most recruits lasted… five seconds? Eight if we're generous. Everyone here knows how to kill, except for you. If you ever get endangered, you'll be a burden."

Her words silenced Eliza. Kazuki remained still as he had both his hands on the command deck. She didn't have him to get her out of this.

"I—" Eliza thought hard, she wanted Lilly to understand that she meant no offence to her, if she even did offend her, "—am not good at fighting, nor am I well versed in this business; but Kaz gave me an opportunity for mutual benefit…"

Lilly shot a glance towards Kazuki as Sato was sleeping a log on in her chair. "What deal did you sign with her?"

"She provides logistical aid. We provide her with guns."

"Tch, this ain't even a fucking contract, if I'm working with her—"

"—The pay is coming out of my own pockets." interjected Kazuki, "Anyone assisting us will be compensated heavily for their extended services."

Lilly grumbled, looking back towards Eliza. She had no idea what she did wrong, maybe it was her attitude? No… she tried to be nice to all of them. Was it the fact that she had no experience? It was the most likely reason.

"Fine! Fine," Lilly shouted, pointing at Eliza's brooch, "You, me, training sim. If I'm gonna work with you, I want to make sure that you ain't some upper-class echelon boot-licker."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"I'm not even upper class…" Eliza muttered.

Lilly was half-right, she thought. She was fortunate enough to be in the upstart aristocracy, but she was far from the upper class. Eliza shivered… What did Lilly just demand exactly? Her eyes widened as Lilly pointed towards her, holding onto a water canteen.

A shockwave filled the air, and vibrations scattered throughout the simulated facility; soot had dirtied the walls. The complex she was trapped in was made entirely of piston-operated blocks and slabs, moved up and down through the floor to make a simulation field. A rush of adrenaline kept meeting newer and newer heights with each passing second as she tried her best to survive.

The pain and agony quickly seeped into her arms as she threw herself around one of the many corners of the simulated battleground. Its blank walls were littered with bullet holes, plasma scorches and soot from the grenades Lilly had been launching across the simulation.

She continued to run. How the fuck was she going to win? No idea, she had no idea. It had to be impossible, right? The pain in her body pushed her forward as the mixture of adrenaline and unstoppable determination locked her mind to panic. Her crimson eyes glistened.

"Fuck… COME BACK HERE!" shouted Lilly, in the distance. "I'LL MAKE IT QUICK. PROMISE! YOU BETTER COME BACK OR I'LL MIND-SNARE YOU."

Eliza glanced up at the black pane ceiling that separated the test field from the observation deck. Her heart continued to race as she swore never to get into this industry as a contractor. Her legs and shins were aching as she broke into one of the numerous rooms inside the simulated facility. Collapsing against a wall, she heaved a huge breath as she slammed her hand against the vest-plate on her chest. Its durability was reaching its limits. She reached out towards the door and slowly pushed it closed.

She had dropped both her guns when fighting Lilly. Well, 'fighting' was giving her too much credit. It was more of a slaughter on her end. She could hear Lilly's Footsteps approaching through the hallways outside. She held her breath whilst tying up her hair.

Eliza hastily forced herself to calm down as her footsteps were audible outside. She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that she'd just walk past. It was at times like these that she wished that she just run away from it all. For a moment, she wished she never changed. She wished that she was that emotionless, cold husk of logic that she used to be. Maybe that Eliza would've known how to deal with Lilly.

Opening her eyes, she took a single glance through a gap in the doorframe, Lilly slowed down as she started to search the rooms in the area. With each door that cracked open, her heart jolted. She scrambled upwards against the wall beside the door.

Kazuki agreed to this test… but why? Why? WHY?! She didn't have time to think. No more time. Eliza could hear her heavy breaths as Lilly placed the gun muzzle on the door, noticing that it had been opened before from the small amount of sweat on the door knob.

Lilly slowly pushed the door open. Its squeeze contrasted with the violent crashes of the other doors. Panic set in as Eliza was still as a rock. She closed her eyes. Nothing came to mind. This time, there was no Kazuki, nor Archius to help her. Archius… her mind remembered back to when he was cornered. He grappled and went for the jugular. It was bloody, but everyone's used to death. An idea quickly formulated.

As Lilly entered the room, Eliza could see her back slowly pass by the opened door as she gripped the knife on her belt. And with a heave of exhaustion, she pushed forward. She threw herself forward, lunging at Lilly.

Just in time, Lilly twisted to meet the attack as she slammed down on the trigger. Bullets went flying past Eliza as her momentum knocked Lilly's gun to the ground. Lilly blocked Eliza's knife stab as she grabbed her arm, before swiping in with her slice.

Eliza's mind followed through with what Archius did. Disarm. She interposed her other arm to hold Lilly's blocking hand as she threw her knife hand directly into her attack. The blades clashed for a moment. But in this moment of stalemate, Lilly made her move.

"Agh!" Eliza cried as Lilly kicked her in the stomach. She was thrown back against the wall as Lilly steadied herself, throwing her knife directly towards Eliza.

"Come on! Outsider! Let's finish this!" shouted Lilly.

Once again, Liz threw her arms up as she felt a searing pain cut deep into her right forearm. She gritted her teeth as she used all remaining willpower to stop herself from crying out loud in agony. Eliza took a step forward as Lilly leaned over, picking up her rifle. And as Eliza aimed, she had one chance. She threw herself once again at Lilly, throwing Eliza back against the wall behind her; Lilly's brown hair slightly blinded the line of fire, one of her eyes masquerading behind an eyepatch - whilst a long scar scratching down from her forehead, across her other eye, down to her lips. Her voice matched the ferocity of her looks.

But just as Eliza finally had the chance, the one opportunity to land a single hit in - she felt a bullet pass through her guts. Her vest-plate unravelled as the simulation ended. The bloodied, deteriorated walls descended into the ground as their equipment disappeared. Eliza felt her uplink flicker off and on with a reboot as she fell onto the ground beside Lilly from exhaustion.

"Dammit…"

Any injuries suffered by the two of them were gone. Their nervous systems reverted to their normal states as pain relievers were inhaled straight into their system from the gases floating around the chamber.

Staring up above, she saw the black pane disappear as the observation deck came into view.

A voice filled the intercom system, "Alright, get 'em up here, good showing you two."

It was a playful but serious voice, Archius' she presumed. Hovering drones came into view from the sides of the simulated battle arena. She couldn't tell what model they were, but they weren't civilian models. They hovered right up to them, bringing stretchers forward. Eliza was lifted onto one as Lilly shook the drones off of her.

"I can handle myself," Lilly said, staggering up in an act of defiance.

The two got back up into the observation room. There were many operatives in the room that were watching the fight. News probably got out about Lilly fighting someone. Eliza sat up on the stretcher as she twisted her body to look at Kazuki. He didn't have anything written on his face. But she knew that underneath those golden eyes was a fervour, she's seen it before. Her doubts slowly seeped back in, Kazuki's violent but there must be a reason… Even compared to what little she's seen in the industry, he's far more brutal.

"You lasted longer than I expected," said Kazuki.

"Hey!" Archius interjected, "Good job."

Archius came over to her as he patted her on the shoulders. Kazuki remained still as Archius slapped her on the back. Now that she thinks about it, Archius always was an enigma to her - maybe even to Kazuki. Kaz always seemed to act cautious around him; well he acts cautious around everyone…

'Good job,' said Synthia, the holographic projection forming from her holo-phone, 'You put on quite a show, Miss Eliza.'

'Not… good enough…' Eliza muttered to Synthia.

"But… good enough to get me like this." Lilly staggered in as Quinn and Amyé were right there to make fun of her.

"You nearly lost to the hottie!" shouted Quinn, slapping his superior on the back. Amyé sniggered.

"Haha! Look at the old hag!" snapped Amyé, wrapping an arm around Quinn as the two laughed at Lilly.

A grizzled man placed himself between everyone as Lilly took a step forward, frightening the group of operatives, most of which wore red and white trimmed armours. He had white hair and a white stubble, pale as the Eclipse maelstrom, yet glanced down at Eliza dismissively. "Hey, at least she has the balls to fight the newbie!"

But Lilly moved him aside. "Thank you, O'Hara, now get back to work. I'll be doubling your guard duty next time round," ordered Lilly.

Eliza looked at the operatives, noting that these were the men and women that she'll be using to help her investigation, with added manpower this should be easier. The immediate sense of dread filled many operatives as they immediately stood to order and fled from the room, leaving only those that she couldn't lay a hand on.

Lilly twisted to Eliza. "Alright… outsider, I guess there's hope for you yet."

Her eyes thinned at Eliza as Lilly's face made an unremarkable expression. Yet that wasn't what caught Eliza's attention. Her words felt somewhat warm, and her bias towards that warmth forced her to ignore everything else.

"Thanks…" said Eliza. "Do you really have to be harsh on them?"

"Hmph." Lilly turned away, showing Eliza her white-trimmed armour and gold-trimmed pauldron. The bias showed as Eliza once again refused to acknowledge what Lilly truly meant.

Claire approached Eliza, kneeling down to her level. "Don't worry about the pain you feel, you'll get used to it. Simulated pain is probably the closest thing you'll be getting to on-field testing."

She immediately injected a few medi-jectors into Eliza as she made sure that everything was alright. Eliza caught a glimpse of the green cross underneath her lightly armoured plate.

"Thank you," said Eliza.

"No need, name's Claire, a self-taught medical expert." Claire replied as she lowered her voice, "But don't worry about that, learnt most of it from textbooks; there's a lot of nuances to injectors, so don't think that it's just as simple as injecting away the pain."

"Wait… you didn't go to med-school?" asked Eliza, watching Claire tend to every one of Eliza's ailments, even the bruises on her arms with aseptic spray.

"Fuck no!" Shouted Claire. "Too expensive, have you seen the admission rates? Still, if you need me to patch you up, I'm here for you." She continued to spray down the bruises and scratches, ensuring not a speck of pathogens remained, figuratively of course. Her crimson armour with a slide of gold showed some connection between Claire and Kazuki, though Eliza chalked it up to her being one of his commanders, like Lilly or Martinez.

Eliza was left slightly dumbfounded; there was someone just as dedicated as her! The sensation of admiration crept onto her, just like how she idolised so many people in the past from scientists, engineers and inventors.

Eliza glanced up at Kazuki. He didn't have anything to say as Claire helped her up. "Come on, new kid, there's a bar that me, Lilly, Quinn and Amyé go to. Perfect place for contractors like us, you down for it?"

"Why, thank you, I'd love to have something to drink." Eliza smiled at Claire as they started to walk off. "I can pay the bill if I am honoured to do so."

"Sure, sure." But a single sentence caught Eliza off guard as Claire twisted to Kazuki. "Oi, she's legal for drinking right? Don't wanna be bringing in someone underaged again."

Kazuki nodded. Eliza was only a few months younger than Kazuki. By now, if they had just had normal lives… they'd be in university. But here they are. Claire turned to Eliza as they left the room, "So, you watching any shows?"

"Well, the one with Dr. Garreau is quite interesting," said Eliza. Claire's mouth slowly opened, a grin on her face.