The dock was the top level of Inariu, being a simple black platform That contained ships as well as the building Ola worked in. Underneath it was the main housing level, and below that was the working level, where the weapon was being held. Julian ran to the level below to get the bear while the girls went to get Ola. Adebayo went to get Samuel.

The girls knocked on the door of Ola’s office, and she wasn’t in it. Cassandra quickly ran around the perimeter of the building, and it didn’t seem to be tampered with.

“I think Ola’s fine, anyway. Let’s check the weapons testing facility.”

On the next level, Julian and Adebayo met up with four robed figures in front of them. The two of them were towering over the two heroes, while one was brandishing a sharpened knife. The other one ran towards them, slamming the nails on his right hand against his left palm, and a trail of smoke quickly leaked out of his hands. He sent it flying forward toward the two men, both being left blinded in the cloud. The one with the knife leapt into the cloud. Julian saw a flash of steel through the haze, getting pushed back by Adebayo before anything could happen.

“Quick, take what I’m holding.”

Julian took a set of keys out of his hand, before feeling himself be picked up. The world came back into view as he was flung out of the cloud, narrowly landing on his feet. Once he regained his composure, he heard a loud bang behind him. One that sounded all too familiar. He tried to recall the memory of when he first heard that, only for another bullet to barely miss him as he looked towards the smoke.

It was a gun, and it was aiming for him.

He ran, trying his best not to panic. It was a gun, trying to kill him. Just like when the legion tried to during their first invasion.

The gunman walked out of the smoke cloud, reloading their weapon. Julian ran, and the gunman gave chase, firing more shots as they did. Julian put all the force into his legs as he could, trying his best to run in erratic patterns to avoid getting killed. But as he approached the row of apartments in front of him, thoughts flashed into his mind.

Old memories flooded back into his head.

Of the housing ship near Ropear fifteen years ago, when the New Legion first invaded.

It was so sudden. Him and another boy were playing outside after Julian got into an argument with his parents. While he was sulking over whatever happened, what looked like a fleet of merchant ships descended over the housing ship, but the people inside them weren’t ready to sell. They killed as many people as they could, starting with the adults. The two boys just started running, running back to his house. They could figure something out then with their parents. The distress signal blared into their ears. The local hero group had to have been gearing up to fight and neighbouring airships would be coming in to help. But when Julian got to his house, it was already burning down. A burly looking figure in a white tank top and baggy jeans was in front of it, holding a metallic object in his hand. He looked towards the two boys, pointing the object towards them.

“This your house, then?” He asked, taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

Julian didn’t respond. His parents were still in there, so he needed to get them out. He ran up to the house, and the man casually kicked him away. Julian got back up to punch the man, and the man responded by throwing him into a tree. Julian tried breaking his fall by stretching his arms in front of it, but he only ended up crushing his left arm in front of his chest. The man watched the child limp over to him while clutching his arm.

“Well kid, you’ve got guts. But it seems you’re broken, so I gotta say goodbye.”

Without another word, he fired the object at him, and he was knocked out. When he came to, he was on another ship missing both his friend and his eye. Only a handful of people survived, but he was then asked to enter the new ‘Miracle Scouting Program.’ And that’s how he ended up on that ship.

But the only thing standing between the gunman and the housing was him. He spun around to face the figure, moving his hair away to reveal his glass eye. The gunman fired another shot which Julian could only dodge by jumping to the floor, quickly scrambling back up to keep himself moving. But Julian noticed that either guns were less accurate than he thought, or that this guy was just extremely bad at it. The gunman fired another shot, and Julian noticed his arm quickly shudder as he tried to force the arm back into place. They were clearly inexperienced with the weapon. So as they tried to control the recoil, Julian ran in their direction and jumped in the air, grabbing the gunman by his shoulders and headbutting him as hard as he could. As Julian let go, he felt a wave of heat shoot out of his face. The robed figure let out a scream and clutched their face. They removed their hood, and they looked like they had a bad sunburn on their face. Julian gave them a right hook to their face while they were distracted, and the fight was over. He quickly picked up the gun and threw it over the edge of the ship.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Adebayo quickly ran up to meet him, and Julian looked over at the unconscious foe behind him.

“You good?” Julian asked.

“Yep. Surprisingly easy to take out.” Adebayo nodded casually. “Whatever, we need to get the other two.” Adebayo took out an old brick of a phone from his jacket pocket and dialled Samuel as they ran to the apartment. Julian unlocked the door while Adebayo explained the situation to Samuel, who bolted out of the door as soon as Julian unlocked it.

“Okay, got the news!” Samuel yelled out as he passed the two. “I’m scoping the place out, you and Dakarai get the bear ready!”

As Samuel ran as fast as he could through the apartments, he heard a woman scream from the east side, opposite where Julian and Adebayo entered.

“Cover me!” Was all he yelled before rushing in to meet the New Legion members. About four of them, all covering their faces like cowards. One of them rushed towards him and threw an incredibly predictable punch. Samuel ducked, jamming an extended palm into their shoulder. The arm it was attached to drooped down. Allowing Samuel to jump up and deliver a kick to his head, knocking him out instantly. Without a moments hesitation, he ran up to the others, kicking the gun one of them was holding before they could even react, knocking them down with his hands now in his pockets, realizing just how pathetic they were. He quickly kicked the other two unconscious. The last one even took two kicks as he was escaping. Very impressive. The woman who noticed them ran away, giving Samuel a wave goodbye as she did.

The weapons testing facility looked normal as Cassandra and Roxanne went inside. The greave was where it was supposed to be, with nothing in the room indicating anything was messed with. The only thing out of the ordinary was the lack of security.

“So someone has to show up here, right?” Roxanne whispered, looking around for anything out of the ordinary.

“I’m guessing they want the weapon, so they’ll be here eventually. Look for something, I’m telling the others we’re here.”

Cassandra got out her phone, crouching down to send a message to Julian. Suddenly, she felt her hair move in a breeze. She shot up to see what the commotion was, jumping back when the security alarm started blaring.

“Cassandra, over there!”

Cassandra quickly looked towards the entrance where a figure was casually standing with their hands in their pockets. She looked towards the pedestal holding the greave, and a pale girl wearing a bright pink bomber jacket and neon green skirt was standing on it. Cassandra immediately went in for the kill, and the girl silently threw the greave towards the figure. When Cassandra hit the girl with the axe, she gave an outrageously pained expression as she split into two, disintegrating into a pile of coloured dust a second later. The dust quickly went back into the figure, who finally decided to step into the room. She looked the exact same as the girl who was just on the pedestal, resting the greave on the palm of her hand with a smile on her face. She had a bright pink bob cut the same colour as her jacket, with two small purple heart tattoos under the corners of both her eyes.

“Hey there, how’s it going?” She asked politely, playfully tossing the greave in her hand.

“Who are you?” Roxanne asked.

“Hey now, I don’t like that tone.” The girl replied, squinting at her. “Besides, I’m…pretty sure I’m not actually allowed to give you guys my name. At least not you. The redhead over there is kind of a maybe.”

“Just tell me your number and get this over with.” Cassandra said, pointing the axe at her face.

“Aw, you figured it out.” She said with a pout. “But aaaanywayyyy, name’s Serafina, and I’m ranked number eight! How’s that for introductions?”

Cassandra responded with an axe swing. Serafina threw the greave behind her as she readied her swing, looking mildly scared as the axe approached. She quickly turned to dust once the cut was made.

“Well, I guess I gotta be more careful next time.”

Cassandra looked behind her, and Serafina was holding a dagger to Roxanne’s throat, spinning another dagger in her index finger thanks to a hole in the handle.

“No marks anyway, it seems. That’s good.” Serafina whispered.

“What are you doing?” Cassandra asked.

“Your friend here isn’t a fighter, is she? Also has a broken leg, I think?”

Cassandra thrust the tip of her axe towards Serafina.

“The lightning will just track you. Let her go.” This was a lie, but she was hoping the New Legion didn’t have anything to prove it wrong.

“Wait, for real?” Serafina asked, putting the daggers in her pocket and slowly backing away. “Okay, okay. Let’s not get too hasty. I’m not even here to kill anyone.”

“Excuse me?!” Roxanne yelled, panting for life while grasping her neck.

“Well, not now anyway. My main thing for now is simply…buying…time.”

A quick knock was heard on the wall opposite the entrance. Before Roxanne could do anything, metal shards were flying towards her. Luckily nothing hit her in any major ways.

“Heyyyy, it’s my buddies!” Serafina announced, spreading her arms to greet the people who made the hole in the wall.

Cassandra turned to meet them, and it was about a dozen robed figures. They all had roughly the same body shapes as in the church. Definitely the same people. The only thing that changed was the new person. Decked out in robes like the rest of them, only they had a sleeve rolled up revealing a metallic arm.

“No, wait.” Cassandra whispered, staring at the girl. “Chizoba?!”