I stared out across the glistening surface of the sea, appreciating the sight more in this moment than I had in the week leading up to now. Instead of thinking about the lurking menace beneath the waves, for once I could allow myself to simply appreciate what nature offered. It felt like a rarer occurrence these days, that I could even appreciate these sights. Perhaps that was just a part of this way of life, hardening to the little things...

But today not even that could bother me. I knew full well that we’d succeeded, that we’d secured our territory. The lives lost were not in vain, and I had to believe that what we’d accomplished would balance the scales.

“Good mood?” I heard Domino’s voice ring out beside me atop The Wendigo’s deck.

My smile didn’t diminish, “You could say that.”

He nodded, joining me as I looked over the water silently, relishing in the calm. Below deck I knew that the others were all relaxing and recuperating as much as they could. Some nursed wounds, others mourned the fallen.

Alice had mostly returned to her usual self, though she was still plagued by an anxiety that clung stubbornly in spite of the progress she’d made. Luckily Richard was around, a soothing presence that seemed to do wonders in aiding her continued recovery. Others had managed to return to some normality, mingling with the crew and with other team members.

I wasn’t certain how many of them, even among my own team, would be able to continue hunting biotics after what had happened. If I had my way, they wouldn’t need to.

At that thought, I turned my attention over to Domino. He stirred at my notice, quirking an eyebrow, “What’s up?”

“Just wondering about things.” I chuckled, “What are you planning on doing after this?”

His quizzical expression only grew more befuddled, “Well, I mean, we’re going back to port, and I’d imagine HQ after that?” He said, uncertain as to my line of questioning.

“Will you stay with the Legion?” I carefully said, keeping my voice neutral, “I imagine there’s plenty of people who are going to be seeking retirement after this. Not something I can blame them for, either.”

Domino nodded slowly, comprehension clear as he leaned back against the railing. I waited for him to think, the man staring hard at the splashing surf against the hull. Idly, I cast my thoughts out over my Determinator horde, feeling them in various stages of alertness. Some were consciously working to repair the bodies of their fellows, while others simply slipped into an idle sleeping mode, reviewing memories of the past days and sharing their insights.

It was interesting to feel them commune with one another, that much more aware of the world around them than the day before. I felt proud of them for having been so successful during this mission, and I knew that there would be a need in the future, no doubt, to expand further upon my own steel legion.

I dragged my attention back to Domino as he began speaking, “I think I’ll stick around. Jessica too, probably. I’m not too sure about the others, though. Even Daniel and Fran seem a little too shaken up.”

It took a supreme act of will not to let the chagrin I felt reach my face. I knew fully that Daniel and Fran had taken the brunt of a lot of trauma since the start of all this. Whether or not this was the last straw, I didn’t know, but I knew that I couldn’t expect them to be unaffected. We’d lost people, gruesomely, and had been utterly helpless to do anything about it. It could just as easily have been them.

Everyone wanted to destroy the biotics, but not everyone was able to stand up and fight. They’d already done that and more, and I didn’t know if it was right or wrong to let those who couldn’t fight anymore go.

“If that’s what they decide,” I said slowly, “Then that’s what they’ll do. We have enough auxiliary positions in the Legion that I’m sure they can find something. Hell, we can take care of anyone who just doesn’t want anything to do with biotics anymore.”

“But you hope they stay.” Domino stated, pointedly not looking at me as he did so.

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I opened my mouth to refuse that statement, feeling a touch annoyed at the assertion. Yet, I couldn’t manage to rebuke the thought.

A sigh preceded my words, “Yeah. Yeah, I hope they’ll stay. It’s hard to find someone you can trust to hold the line even when things look bad.”

Domino nodded, tapping the railing with his fingers in thought. “Well, that aside. What’s our big next move?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Well, now we need to try to get rid of biotic hotspots. We can finally begin to coordinate with other organizations, destroy biotic infestations, and maybe ensure that we don’t slide back completely into the way things were. With access to the orbital defense grid, we can begin to expand and exert influence in that way. We won’t need the full compliance of any given organization thanks to that; it’ll be enough that they stay out of our way…Plus now I don’t have to blow up the satellites.”

Domino started laughing, perplexing me. Quickly, he stopped, looking confused, “Wait, you weren’t joking about blowing those up?”

I frowned, “No? I was going to blow them up if we couldn’t find a good access point.”

He blinked rapidly, “We are planning on using these on biotics, right?”

“Mostly,” I nodded, “I have no intent of using them on people, anyways. Besides, I won’t need to use that as a bargaining chip.”

“You… won’t?” Domino’s befuddled expression only seemed to be increasing.

I chuckled, “I have some allies that are eager to get to work.”

He frowned, but a communication request had me stop him for a moment. Rapidly I communicated with Sira, Yamak’s personal A.I. that also organized much of his day-to-day minutiae.

With a grin, I nodded up towards the sky, the island still in view. “Speak of the devil.”

Domino followed my gesture with his eyes, trying to see what I was looking at. He strained to see what I was pointing out, seeing nothing against the sky.

Until he saw the slightest glimmer of light amid a pale blue sky, and watched as it grew and grew.

“Holy crap.” Domino uttered as he realized what he was looking at.

I grinned, already contacting Adira, “Just a heads up, I have company coming in from above. They’re friendlies.”

For a few seconds Adira said nothing on the other end of the line, “You… Sorry, what?”

“We’re going to have friendly aircraft in the area,” I mentioned again, “Just so that you’re aware.”

The feed fully came active then, a serious expression the first thing I could see, “You might want to call that off. There are a lot of biotics in the upper atmosphere here.”

I frowned, simultaneously contacting Sira about that detail, “What kind of biotics are we talking about?”

She shrugged, “Not sure, we know that they’re hard to spot and tend to attack en masse. They clog up exhaust ports and the like.”

I nodded as she spoke, relaying the information up above.

“Well, I don’t think they can really stop at this point.” I hummed thoughtfully, “Since they’re coming down from orbit.”

Adira paused, “From…”, she made a confused and frustrated huff. “Alright, you know what? I’ll just wait and see.”

I chuckled, seeing the ship continue its descent, far larger than the pod that came in last time. Blue and red sparkled across its surface, the energetic crackle of power visible even miles below.

And then the lightshow truly began.

Pulsing streams of red ignited across the open air, hundreds of meters suddenly combusting only to leave trailing ashes in their wake.

“I guess they found the biotics.” I murmured, Domino staring upwards with consternation.

“They found what now?” The man beside me asked, but continued staring upwards. Streams of red seemed to explode outwards, the nearly invisible laser weaponry the self-defense system used burning swaths of whatever creatures were above us. At once I felt streams of information coming to me, Sira providing me with general information on the creatures they destroyed now by the hundreds. Slim creatures that seemed to be especially reactive to temperature and damage, nearly fully transparent, and very fast. Yet, they were hardly capable of much against something with shielding.

And as the second vessel fell from orbit, flanked by a third, I had the distinct feeling that the air-craft carrier sized space-faring vessels would be just fine.

“Yamak does have some pretty good toys,” I nodded appreciatively, watching as the triumvirate slowed their descent, gradually reclaiming the sky over this area of the sea.

“Is that your leverage?” Domino turned his gaze back to me, clearly impressed.

I simply grinned. This was the future of the Legion.