The mood has been tense for most of the last several minutes while everyone gathers around a holographic image of Asqualia, with Volkir prying away what data he has of the facility. Large sections are blanks due to the damage inflicted on sensors and wiring, and there are still a few mages hiding in the dorms, much to Drenar’s grim outlook. The Talons have been sweeping everywhere they can, but they’ve been held off at the power core. It’s the last significant foothold that the security forces hold, and Zameren’s team has taken a beating but they’re all still alive for the moment. The Talons soldiers couldn’t say the same, judging by the strewn bodies, and Drenar grimly notes their casualties are approaching absurd.

“Does Val just not get that she’s going to keep losing soldiers?” he asks aloud. He’s more disturbed that these men are willing to die for her–they’re loyalists to a fault, which means they can’t be reasoned with.

“I don’t think that murder lizard cares,” Volkir responds. He holds out a weathered journal he’d pulled out of a glass and steel cabinet a few minutes ago, claws resting gently on the hide-bound material. It’s unlike anything Drenar has ever seen before, and looks almost like it’s lightly scaled. “Val is an insidious fiend. I knew her back before she became the aspiring heir of the Talons. I thought she was dead for a long time until she showed up with a little snip-snip of cosmetic surgery, and slowly taking over Magitech Industries when I read about it last month.”

“What do you mean the ‘heir’ of it? She inherited the mercenary company?” Angela asks, fingers tensed on the display.

“Self styled goddess, more like it,” Volkir snorts. “She’s still staging soldiers for another assault on the front door. I don’t think she realizes that we’ll be out of here in a few minutes.”

“Remind me. What is our plan here?” Kyle asks uneasily. “Best bet I’ve got, reconvene with Zameren’s team, lure them to the plant, set off a major plasma discharge once they’re all boxed inside, and turn it into a turkey shoot. Then hope we can blow through the rest of them.”

“No, that’ll get us killed. We’re stalling for time.” Joey grabs Kyle’s remote for his golem, and has scattered feed from James–the golem had been damaged in the transit, so they couldn’t talk, but James has been trying to piece it together with the help of one of the other mages, based on the scrabbled feeds. “I think he’s saying that the Valkyries are on the way. And that we’re all toast, when Kiera catches up to us.”

“Fantastic. Mom thinks she’s going to come out on top on this one?” Julia laughs bitterly at that assessment. “Boy, we’re going to have a story to tell her. And probably a record-breaking childhood trauma session later, by the sound of it. So, what do we do? We can’t possibly get past that many soldiers towards the library entrance, they’re firmly entrenched in there, and they keep bringing in reinforcements. Sunk investment cost, indeed.”

“How are they able to get in?” Angela asks. Kyle furrows his brow.

“Big teleportals typically have a big null field to prevent any cross-travel, as a matter of safety. With the primary hub obliterated, that safety no longer works. And there was at least one incident where the teleport…scrambled the occupants.” He doesn’t bother to show the feed from his armband, because his face is scrunched, and he’s gritting his teeth at the presumptive carnage on screen. “Sucks to suck, Talon scum.”

“Kyle, they may be deplorable people, but that's pretty horrible–” Kyle cuts off Joey.

“Reeves is dead, Joey. I saw it. They tried. They tried so goddamn hard to save him. SAF paramedics arrived too late.” His muted response, in the face of so much other loss, only leaves that stone in the pit of Drenar’s stomach. “I’m gonna kill Val for this if I ever get my hands on that scaly bitch,” he says bitterly. “The rest of those black-clad fiends can join her in a mass grave, if they’re so willing to fight us.”

“Kyle, focus on saving others, first. We have to keep Zameren and the others alive. Volkir, you know the facility best. Is the plant the best option to land a crippling blow on their operational force? Hole up and buy time for the Valkyries?”

“It’s risky. You’re going to bet everything on this one, aren’t you Drenar? Then again, I’m not surprised. You’re just like Lyssa and Alex, in a way." The way his scales crease on his face suggests great sorrow, coming from him.

“Volkir, I don’t have half a clue of the full story. Neither does Alex, because his memory is still full of holes. What’s your deal, why are you willing to throw your hand into this battle?” He gets the feeling that this answer isn’t going to be pleasant, based on the way Volkir’s gaze lowers to the floor.

“Because Crosomer was my student, and I thought I trained him better than this. Everything that followed is my fault, Drenar. The war, the aftermath, the Ascension events. It’s not a surprise people branded my name with such hatred. I earned it. I had a hand in my own species' annihilation. Ninety-five percent of dragons were gone in three days. Three days and an entire species nearly died. And Alex…he was a terrible student too, but he was a good friend later.”

“You guys were close, huh?”

He chastised me a lot about being a bad student. But, Volkir, from what I remember, could be trusted with the bigger picture. Alex’s holes in his memories seem to be fading, but its enough reassurance for now. Volkir nods.

“Alex, I’m not even sure how you became a drakensoul. You were dead before the Ascension events.”

“That seems to be a mystery he hasn’t remembered yet,” Drenar answers reluctantly. “Look, we need to sort out the story later, we have pressing matters. One thing I know, out of all of this, is that you’re committed. It’s about what you feel you owe to Alex.” It does build his trust in Volkir on this, just a little.

“Well, to the best I can. Julia, how are those gauntlets fitted?” She flexes her newfound bracers that had seemed simple enough when she put them on, until metal plating unfolded from simply nowhere and clad her hands in green tinge plate gauntlets. The material had also wrapped up to her elbow, and she cracks her knuckles. Angela has also likewise gotten an upgrade with a silvery longsword–items that had not been collecting dust and seemed to be in unusually pristine condition. Kyle had loaded up more autobow bolts and had prepared as many of them for customized effects–to destroy personal barriers, or to take out grouped targets. His dedication is admirable, considering the little actual combat he’s been in before this. His weapons training as part of his role as an armorer certainly helped.

“I feel like I could beat up some more bad guys. Levine, Nick, we’re reloaded on ammo the best we can, Joey’s alchemical ingredients are topped off, and Drenar’s sword is…glowing. Again. Volkir, what’s the story with that one?” Julia points it out, and Volkir grunts.

“Lyssa’s sword? That would take a while to explain, and it’s time we don’t have. They’re massing something by the doorway and–” there’s a massive explosion, and the feed goes dead. The building shakes, and Volkir frowns. “Damn. Looks like they hit it with something out of range of the mana batteries. These fiends do learn eventually. Unfortunately.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“What about this antique?” Levine points out, and Nick pulls back the charging handle on the massive anti-material rifle.

“It might be enough to destroy Val’s barrier, but I don't feel like testing it unless we need it. Meantime, we’re armed with everything deadly that we can scrape from this room.” Nick stows the weapon in his dimensional armory, now somewhat replenished, but Drenar thinks it could be better stocked. Levine is down to a few magazines of his marksman rifle, and magic only has so much ‘ammo’ before burn sets in. Everyone is decked in whatever repaired armor they can scrounge up.

“This is the plan, and it has to work. Because I’ll burn the whole reactor rather than hand that book to Val,” Drenar states defiantly. “Anyone who doesn’t like the plan, show of hands right now. Because this could be a one-way trip guys. More than usual.”

“Oh, hell no. We’re gonna stand for what’s right, Drenar. I don’t think anyone in the room is going to object,” Angela states proudly. Everyone is in better fighting form after Joey and Volkir rapidly mix up a series of alchemical reagents to fix any building mana burn, and Drenar finally feels slightly refreshed compared to earlier in the night. He knows though, that the hard part is still before them. A battle with a fiend who he has vowed to kill, if at all possible, and a task made more difficult because she’s surrounded by a small army.

“They’re advancing.” Volkir gazes at each of them in turn, and shakes his head. “You’re all so young. How did this fall to you?”

“The same way it always does. When the people who are supposed to keep the world safe turn the other way, or they just drop the ball against the threats unseen and unanticipated,” Drenar states slowly. Everyone turns to look at him now. What everyone needs right now, is hope to see another day, and a battle they have to win. Not just for themselves, but for all those who have been hurt by the Talons, past and present. “Look guys, I’ll keep the speech short. We’ve had a wild couple of weeks. Maybe we jumped in headfirst and headstrong early on, but we had our hearts set on doing the right thing. Maybe I just wanted to know what the Talons were up to, if only to keep the people at home safe.”

He lets out a breath that no one in the room hears. “But that’s not where it ended. It’s just where it started. The writing has been on the wall for us for a long time, because we were lied to, kept blind, and otherwise led to believe that these safeties were ‘for our own good.’ Meanwhile, an army of crazed killers is stomping across the world, killing people indiscriminately. The best and brightest of SAF, the people who should be responsible for mitigating this rolling disaster, are in this room right now. The rest of us are just scared teens and young adults who have seen and been subject to truly strange things over the last few days. I can’t even unpack what some of it means just yet. But, I do know one thing.”

He brings his gaze up, looking at his friends in turn, some he has known since they were young, others who have made an impression on him in a handful of days. “I know why I’m in the fight now. I’m in this now, not because of just Crosomer, or Val, or King, or even the fate of my mother. It’s about standing for what’s right. It’s about being a light to guide the way, and to carry a beacon to better tomorrow. This is the motto of the Luminaires. This is what we stand for. And that is something those murderers for hire can never understand, and it’s why we will stand, and fight, and win today!” he states defiantly. Luminari feels like it’s shaking on his back, there’s a tension in his body that he feels could be alleviated…if only he were to draw the weapon.

Curiosity takes the better of him, and he slowly pulls it from the scabbard. The etched runes on the flat of the blade glow a light blue, and the metal itself hums in the air of the arcane laboratory of neatly arranged potions, burners, chemicals, and now-empty ammunition cases. The sword sings in a single crystalline note, and the gem gleams with an inner light. There’s a current, a charge in the air, that he did not feel a few seconds ago. Another voice is written over his when he speaks–a presence that doesn’t direct, but guides. It almost sounds like Alex’s voice, but at the same time…it sounds like someone else. “Defend the defenseless. Bring tranquility to those struck by terror. There were six Luminaires upon their inception. Alex and Lyssa Rashalda. Hanna and Gerard Celestine. Robespierre Crosomer, before his fall. Valen. Each was commemorated for their bravery and sacrifices in the service of others. Each chose this path for no other reason than to be a guiding example, to light a path for others to follow. We shall do the same!”

“Yeah! I like this!” Julia roars triumphantly. “Let’s put this in some less poetic words, who’s ready to go put these monsters in their place, and put a stop to this home invasion, here and abroad?!”

Everyone salutes in sync. Even the new arrivals, Joey and Kyle, are a hundred percent behind them, and Julia points to the teleportal that Volkir had hit a remote on. “Alright then, let’s go do this dance! We know the plan, We make a beeline for the power core, put up a good fight, and drag this out as long as we can! I don’t doubt Mom is gonna ground my ass but good after this, but she’s gonna do it knowing we did something that no one else could! Watch each other's backs, and we’ll get through this!”

Drenar smiles lightly, and sheathes Luminari for the moment. It does feel comfortable in his hand, like he was always meant to wield it, and even now, he wonders just what it means for the future as they all gather on the platform, ready for a fight the second they get off. He tests the new bracer that Volkir had provided him–a deployable shield that would use a super-focused burst of his telekinetics to repel immense blows. Something he’s going to need to avoid Val from fracturing his arms if she hits like a truck, and it still allows him to grab his autobow or dagger without encumbrance. Joey is handing out alchemical boosters as the portal charges, saying it will help with reflexes, no matter what they port out to. Even Volkir steps out onto the platform, wielding a dragon-sized staff.

“So, how’s it feel to be part of the team again?” Drenar asks, as much for himself, as for Alex, who gives a distinct ‘nod’ in his headspace somewhere. Volkir grunts and taps a claw on the metal staff, taloned feet tensed–it’s a little bit of a squeeze for him on this platform.

“A bunch of reckless youth saving the world? This seems familiar. But not unwelcome,” he adds with a sharpened smile. That high-pitched hum grows louder, and he keeps his options ready. They’re making a blind jump to the hidden exit near the power core, and anything could be waiting for them.

But this time, they’re bringing the fight to these foes. It's time to put them on notice that their rampant violence is about to stop, and the Luminaires will make sure it stops with force, if need be. The world flashes with white light, and he feels himself floating through space. It’s that place again, for a fraction of a fraction of a second, he sees that blank canvas between worlds, and can feel Joey’s presence next to him, anxiety and fear all held bundled by an unwavering bravery to defend something important to her.

He has this feeling that might include him, too, now.