A staccato burst of gunfire echoed off the distant cliffs. Hitori tilted his head, capturing the sounds as he walked. The village of Monte Aldé, nestled deep in the mountains of the Eastern continent, was under siege. The arrival of a fleet of helicopters stopped the immediate danger, but the assault was sure to resume when the invading metafauna shored up their numbers.

Hitori took a deep breath. The scent of cut pines and tilled earth filled his lungs, though it was mixed with an undercurrent of smoke and blood. It was almost pleasant, asides from the blood. Perhaps charmingly rustic?

Given you’ll be stationed out here, I suppose it’s good you like the stench.

He was navigating the circular rings of the town, making his way to a farm on the outskirts. He’d come from the Civic Center, the largest building in the village. As he approached his destination, he heard some chatter around the corner. Before he could identify the speaker the sound was cut off by the distinct whoosh of a powerful Flame Arte.

He cleared the last house in time to see Gordon turn away from Protius.

“Totally fine, plopped in the middle of a war zone,” Gordon said. “Ah, Hitori! Bet you have excellent news.”

Hitori smiled at him. “Nervous?”

“Me? No! About what? How every metafauna on Eastern’s outside the wall?”

“Exactly, nothing to get worked up about,” Hitori said with a grin. “And I’m sure barely any of them want to eat you, given how scrawny you are.”

“Har har,” Gordon said. “Glad the meat in your head hasn’t gotten to the funny yet. Hate to loose your sublime wit. And who’s this old board? Our evaluator?” He motioned to an older woman behind Hitori holding a clip board. She was in her late thirties, and wore armor that gave the impression of wings folded over her body. Her face was fixed in a scrunched, serious mien, and she didn’t react to Gordon’s comment.

Hitori gave Gordon a flat look, then made like he was about to say something but thought better of it. Instead he motioned for his team to circle up. “Okay, the situation is getting complicated, but our mission is simple.

“First, as you can tell, the village is under siege. Has been since Saturday afternoon and it’s gotten steadily worse ever since. Dragon Battalion was present when it started, and it interrupted their final exam. They weren’t able to stabilize the situation.”

“What happened?” Elvira asked. “This village has been here almost forty years, why are metas attacking now?”

Hitori smiled at her. “Ah, you read up on local history, excellent. And that’s a great question. Unfortunately the answer is, ‘The Commander doesn’t know and doesn’t care to speculate.’”

“Really? We have no idea?”

He shrugged. “There’s a few theories floating around. Dragon Battalion was here for a Titan Hunt, and some people think one of the targets figured it out and pressured the tribes into attacking.”

“By Titan Hunt you mean killing praepotent metafauna, right?” Elvira asked.

“Technically one rank below,” Hitori answered.

“Are we here to finish Dragon Battalion’s job?” Protius said. “Kill the targets and see if things calm down?”

“Not quite,” Hitori said. “Given the chaotic situation it’s been decided a Titan Hunt would be too difficult for junior mercenary teams, and the Commander doesn’t want to antagonize the local tribes by ganging up and making it look like an extermination. Instead we’re going to do some reconnaissance, hopefully figure out what’s causing this.”

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“Like it’s that easy,” Gordon said. “Pop out and have a look about.”

“Hey, it’s supposed to be a test,” Hitori said with a grin. “Any other questions? If not I’d like to load your WebComms with a map of the route, in case anyone gets lost.”

When he got to Elvira’s Comm she turned him aside and asked in a hushed voice, “Can I have a minute to talk?”

“Of course, but let me get everyone moving first.” Hitori finished with her Comm then gave a quick series of sharp whistles. The rest of the team formed up and headed south.

Elvira frowned. “I suppose I’ll have to learn that too.”

“In good time.” Hitori motioned for her to follow close as he started walking. “What do you want to talk about?”

Elvira took a deep breath. “Okay, so… I wanted to apologize for yesterday.”

“For what?” Hitori canted his head, eyes searching his memory.

“I… I snapped at you all of a sudden, and…”

“Oh, that? No, don’t apologize for feeling things,” Hitori said. “I mean, I appreciate your concern, but I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to speak up. I’m sure you’ve been overwhelmed since coming here.”

“Yeah, at least,” Elvira said, then shook her head. “I-I wasn’t being fair…”

“Maybe, so what.” Hitori shrugged. “Look, you noticed a contradiction, and had the guts to point it out. That’s an admirable quality.”

“But it was so… petty.”

“If you’re afraid to talk about the little things, how are you supposed to confront the big ones? If someone can’t handle their foibles being exposed, it’s their problem, not yours. I just wish I had a better answer for you.”

“What?”

“I really do believe Nova is pathologically pragmatic, but, you know, it does seem sentimental to keep the Park around right now. Well, maybe, anyway. Something to think about, I suppose. Maybe we’ve been changing?”

“For the better?”

Doubtful.

“We’ll see.” Hitori grinned. “Oh, we’re almost to the wall. Do you mind if we continue this conversation later?”

“What?” Elvira looked around. “Oh, yeah, the mission.” She poked her tongue out at Hitori when he gave her a flat look. “I guess we can…. Where’s the gate?”

“It’s a learning opportunity?” Hitori put on his mischievous smile. “I hope you got good and comfortable with your Dash Tech yesterday.”

Protius, Gordon, and Chandra jumped up the wall and out of sight in one fluid motion, leaving Hitori and Elvira on the ground below. The evaluator was standing a short distance away, her face still scrunched and stiff as a board.

Elvira watched where her three teammates disappeared, a mote of concern floating across her eyes. “I have a bad feeling about how this is going to work.”

“Oh, you mean you don’t want to jump right in and go for it?”

Elvira hemmed a moment. “Actually, you know what, I am going to go for it and you can’t stop me!” Elvira ran at the wall before Hitori could say anything. She jumped and planted her feet the way she practiced yesterday, except now roughly perpendicular to the ground, then shot up with a snap of air.

Hitori heard a gasp above, and saw her flat on her back, facing the sky. She seemed to float, carried aloft by her rapidly diminishing momentum. She began to fall, and twisted her body towards the top of the rampart with a short scream, a mixture of thrill and fright. As she was about to slip past the wall-walk Gordon snatched her hand, pulling her onto the narrow path.

Damnit Gordon, I was hoping to watch her splat a few times.

Hitori joined them a second later. Elvira’s skin was flush at the cheeks, and she was breathing hard, but otherwise appeared in good spirits.

She grinned at Hitori and laughed. “It almost worked!”

Hitori smiled back. “I was going to tell you to build up a little forward roll, but otherwise you figured it out nicely.”

“As much as I practiced the darn thing yesterday, I’d be embarrassed to not get the general idea.” She looked at Gordon. “Thanks for the catch, by the way.”

He shrugged, then jumped from the wall to the other side. Elvira followed to the edge and looked down.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have time to teach you the Impact Tech,” Hitori said. “I can carry you so you don’t waste any VF.”

Elvira was still staring at the ground, a contemplative look in her eyes. “VF? That like a fancy mercenary name for Vital Energy?”

“Short for Vital Force. It’s punchier in a conversation, I guess.” Hitori moved closer to her.

“Cool,” Elvira said, then looked at Hitori. “You know, it’s not far of a drop.” Before Hitori could respond, she hoisted herself over the parapet. Hitori watched her land into a roll and end on her feet. He followed after her.

“Oh, parkour,” Hitori said. “Nice.”

“Yeah, I used to do it when I was younger, a sport I was in to. Wasn’t sure I sill had it in me.” She smiled. “Looks like I’m a bit out of practice though.” She pointed to a line of blood on her hand before rubbing it away.

“We’ll set up a course for you later,” Hitori said. Elvira watched his eyes with a wary gaze. “Anyway, for now, let’s get on patrol.” He signaled to his team and lead them south into the mountains.