War is a lover that lures people to war then takes them by force – Colonel Brightgate

Operation Menu: Phase Lunch (D+11.3 hours)

Tearing across the rooftops at full speed, Estelle jumped from one four-story ledge to the next. The iron mine came into view, and all she needed was to clear one more building.

Estelle raced down the length of the roof and leaped down to the street below. She waved her hand, and her shadows swirled around her, distorting her image. With a burst of speed, she bolted down the road. Upon reaching the base of the iron hill, she slid to a sudden stop.

Upon activating her witch sight, Estelle carefully examined the road ahead and the steep incline of the hill. She tapped her earpiece, yet no messages from her companions registered in her receiver.

"They appear to be encountering difficulties," Estelle pondered as she scrolled through the message log.

Her heart rate gradually returned to its normal rhythm.

"I wonder if Jones is aware endurance is required for most spells to function properly," she mused, checking her pulse.

"Oh well, there's no time to linger on the lack of enlightenment among others," she declared before leaping from one boulder to the next.

A gentle breeze wafted through the air, bearing a subtle aroma of ammonia.

"HME*," she muttered, sampling the air, and detecting a trace of salt. "And Demon spice. This doesn't bode well."

As Estelle journeyed along the hillside, she reached the smoldering crater. She paused briefly to observe the wreckage of the dump truck and a colossal footprint at the crater's rim.

She ran up the side of the hill.

"Is there anyone present?" she contemplated, sending her thoughts through the mental network. "The presence of iron might be generating excessive interference."

As she sprinted up the hillside, she propelled herself into the air.

"Grim mir," she said.

A pair of wings, akin to Rorschach inkblots, unfurled from her back and carried her into the air. Beneath her, she glimpsed the smoldering remnants of a mechanized robot and the ebony residue left in the wake of a series of explosions.

She scanned the sky; it was a pristine, sunlit afternoon. Not a single cloud marred the blue heavens.

"I'm rather visible up here," she murmured, folding her wings against her back.

Estelle descended toward the earth. Her velocity increased, but just before impact, she unfurled her wings once more, allowing her to gracefully glide down the final two meters.

The inkblot wings retracted. The vicinity of the iron mine lay in eerie silence. Estelle inched her katar punch dagger from its sheath.

Running her finger along the blade's edge, she whispered, "Greetings, Cruelty, we have tasks that require our attention."

The weapon emitted a brilliant yellow glow, which gradually faded. She cautiously retreated to the building's edge and activated her witch sight to scrutinize for any lingering hunters in concealed vantage points. All appeared clear, or at least as far as she could discern. Then, she examined the building; her senses detected five individuals inside. She moved close to the window and sniffed the air.

Amidst the familiar scents of T.C., Whisper, and Indigo, there lingered an unfamiliar aroma. She put her punch dagger back in the sheath.

Estelle knocked on the scorched door frame three times and slipped inside. T.C. was on his knees, meticulously tracing a 6-pointed star between two pillars with globes on top in the corner of the room. Triumph stood nearby, barking out instructions. Whisper and Indigo were seated upon the remnants of a charred couch, delicately plucking shards of blue glass from their long straight hair.

Bound and gagged was a teen boy with messy brown hair, badly bruised and covered in semi-healed lacerations.

“Greetings Boss Kitty,” Indigo said, spitting out bits of glass cubes from his mouth.

Estelle gave him a nod and wandered over to T.C. and Triumph. T.C., who started to look up at her, was nudged by the dog back to a new circle he was drawing in the corner of his sigil.

“Your personal resurrection circle, Triumph?” asked Estelle.

The dog nodded and placed his paw at the top of the star and said, “Now add a 5-pointed star here, only one point up.”

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“Got it,” T.C. said carefully drawing the symbol on the floor.

Once Triumph inspected the sigil, he grabbed Harvey and dragged him to the center of the circle. T.C. retrieved a mining pick and, with a single forceful strike, impaled it into Harvey's chest. His body took on a pallid, blue hue and then dissolved into nothingness. In his place, Heather materialized, covered in a fine layer of white dust.

Heather promptly wiped the dust from her face and spat some out of her mouth.

"The powder?" inquired T.C. with concern. "Did I screw up, Triumph?"

"It's an effect of the Lamechian pillars," Estelle explained, offering Heather a silk handkerchief. "It demotes the resurrection weakness to five minutes."

"You seem well-versed in healing principles," remarked Indigo. "Were you ever a healer?"

"I dabbled briefly, only to better understand how to counter healers," Estelle replied icily.

"I figured as much," Indigo said, emptying his pocket filled with more fragments of blue glass.

“These things are everywhere,” Whisper said, emptying her pockets.

Heather stepped out of the resurrection circle and delved into her bag. After rummaging for a moment, she retrieved a strip of paper adorned with vibrant green lettering.

Clearing a section of the floor from debris, she began her incantations. The paper strip started to glow a pulsating greenish-white glow, hovering in mid-air. With a sharp pop and a fizzling sound, it slammed onto the ground, vanishing in a puff of smoke that carried a faint hint of patchouli through the air.

As the smoke dissipated, Tauru emerged, covered in a dusting of white particles. Triumph turned his head and his ears perked up.

"They go by different names like Sigil Strips, Glyph-Bound Scrolls, or Witch Weaves," Heather explained to Triumph. "But I prefer to call them Hex Ribbons. Whatever school you are in the scrolls act the same way, they're pre-prepared spells that allow for swift casting without the need for summoning circles."

"Except when the healer has all the damned ribbons and isn't merced," Tauru added, dusting himself off. "So, did we win, or have we found ourselves in a bit of a sticky mess?"

“Not yet,” T.C. admitted and scratched the back of his neck. “I think the Iron Mine is one of those who hold the territory for an unknown amount of time sorta thing.

"I don't see the Red Team informing us about the victory conditions here," Heather remarked. "Timed victories are typically the norm for industrial zones."

T.C. reached into his back pocket and extracted a red pennant. Unfurling it, he waved the flag before Estelle, revealing an image of a black-eyed rabbit with three daggers beside it.

"Oh, that reminds me, Boss Kitty, I snagged this for you," T.C. said, grinning.

Estelle accepted the battle flag from T.C., and in an instant, she found herself standing in front of the arena statistics board.

The status board for Battle City displayed live broadcasts of the current teams engaged in skirmishes across the city. A mixed group from Gold, Blue, and a few Red Team combatants were crowded around a row of view screens, fixating their attention on the live broadcast of the Wheels fight.

Estelle let out a deep sigh and crossed her arms.

The announcer, a cartoon character resembling a magpie bird, declared that the Playboy Mafia and North-West Lynch Mob had been eliminated. The number of Red team reserve units was depleted, and three quick reaction teams had been neutralized.

"Neutralized, huh?" Estelle grumbled and turned away from the screen.

In a single sentence, the announcer briefly mentioned the Thornewoods seizing the mine and swiftly moved on with the broadcast. T.C. and the other appeared. Tauru and the others were congratulating him.

“So that was absolutely brilliant how you turned a door into a kinetic dampener. How exactly did you do it?” asked Indigo.

“Explain over drink, I’m buying,” Tauru said picking up T.C. and giving him a bear hug. “To the bar!”

Once Tauru put him down, Heather gave him a long hug and smacked his rear. Triumph nuzzled his hand to be petted.

“You coming, Boss Kitty?” Tauru asked. “We’re going to make it rain.”

"I'll be there momentarily," Estelle said, giving T.C. a slight nod.

Estelle observed as T.C., Tauru, Triumph, Heather, and Indigo made their way down the hall. She closed her eyes, a sense of emptiness filling her heart as she waited for the feeling to pass.

Whisper leaned on her arm, watching the boisterous crew make a sharp turn at the T-intersection.

"You didn't stay for the after-action review. T.C. pulled off an amazing victory over that bratty Harvey," Whisper remarked.

"I only remain for failures, not successes," Estelle replied quietly.

"Oddly enough, I never remember anyone cheering for you like that," Whisper said, her tone thoughtful.

Estelle clasped her hands together, her tone cold and detached. "One shouldn't receive praise for doing what's expected of them."

Whisper gently wrapped her arm around Estelle's, pulling her closer. "A bit reminiscent of grandmother's kind words of encouragement. Let's get out of here and pretend to have feelings."

Estelle glanced up at the camera lining the ceiling, exchanging a subtle glance with Whisper. Removing her brooch, Estelle noticed Whisper adjusting her top slightly.

They escorted each other down the hallway, taking slow, cautious steps. Estelle discreetly palmed her brooch to Whisper, who clutched it tightly, her eyes glazing over.

In an instant, the events starting with the activation of the brooch on the train, followed by the encounters with D.T. Jones and the introduction to ADA, flooded into Whisper's mind. Within a half-breath, she had witnessed the entirety of Estelle's day.

"Will ADA be a hindrance to our plan?" Whisper communicated telepathically to Estelle.

"Unclear at the present juncture. We will observe and act accordingly if necessity dictates," Estelle replied.

A slight smile graced Whisper's face.

"On a more pleasant note, I do believe I'm enjoying the new clothes especially now that the corset is finally fitted," Whisper said, a touch of humor in her voice, as they walked side-by-side together.

***