Good evening, Sunwalkers, maestro Orraya here. I’m sorry I had to interrupt that single by the Bakers Brilliant, but Luminous Live has just received urgent news about the situation near the border. The Agency of Truth will be coming out with an official announcement in about thirty minutes. We’re clear to discuss some of it briefly before it comes out, however.
General Jezail has confirmed in an emergency meeting that the recently leaked images of Sapland Airbase under hostile occupation is real. The source of the images are still unknown, but highly likely to have been taken by local insurrectionists in the region. If you’re still listening in, friends on the other side, it’s not too late to walk under the Sun again.
Ahem. Excuse me for that. That’s not the end of the urgent broadcast. It’s a whole sheaf of documents here that Dinar put together in his underwear. However, you know I’m good with keeping things short and snappy, no matter whether it's good or… bad. Here goes.
In the meeting, General Jezail and several other high-ranking military officials of the Coalition have also revealed more about the attack, as well as emergency countermeasures and acts that will be officially announced later on the national news line, VOICE. The force responsible for the assault is the Regalia Merah. There has been no formal declaration of war yet from their republic or even any word from their diplomatic channels.
That concludes the urgent news for now, which leaves me to speak my heart.
I’m scared, but not daunted. We are pushing back our own rebels with many of them reformed and serving their time under Prime Minister Chayapon. There is no doubt our misguided buddies will change their minds and join us in defending our great country. If you are fit, able and spry just like me, I encourage you to sign up at your local recruiting stations. I don’t know if the Merah will get far given their history, but I trust the Prime Minister to deal with them accordingly.
There will be more you can do in the coming days, so stay tuned to VOICE and I. For now, stay strong, calm and alert. Rebels and invaders stand no chance against the Way. We will make it through this. For you boys in armour out there listening, Maestro Orraya’s got your back! I’ve got just the song for you guys…
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The reinforcements from the Empty Coast came a week later instead, much to Dylus’ chagrin. That they came at all should’ve given Dylus some sense of gratitude. Instead, he dwelled on just what his father and Tarn, a war machine of an uncle with a barrel chest and one glaring eye. A proper explanation never reached them either, only that they were ‘coming later than expected’. With more and more time being taken up by Colonel Desjarnes’ more-passive assignments around the base instead of anything fruitful- in terms of combat- he found himself in a dredge. Even going out on his own to the nearby jungle to catalogue and watch the wildlife didn’t help.
Now those reinforcements slowly arrived from the horizon, being watched by an idle Dylus on his motorcycle; a set of hulking, almost impossible to miss shapes that was heading their way. They couldn’t be made out at this distance, but the whirring of blades was instantly distinguishable. Wally was standing on the rear seat and staring out into the distance, being able to see much further than his human friend, letting his jaw fall after recognizing the sights.
“Woah, tiltrotors? Chum, I think your dad called in a few favours of his own.”
“You can tell at this distance, buddy?”
“Yeah. If I’m right, these ones are from Homebase One. Remember when we attended a few test flights?”
The memories of a noisy, industrial lot surrounded by freshly built military vehicles were easy to recall, “Yeah, the sounds are all coming back.” Dylus made some engine noises to demonstrate what he meant, “like pipes crashing down every few seconds. Think I was more focused on not going deaf back then.”
“Was worth it to see the cool choppers though,” said Wally, sitting back down, “we got nothing that cool back home.”
The impulse to respond in context to their headquarters presented itself. The mercenary shot it down very quickly when he took a while to think and understand that Wally actually meant his own home. Having never seen it, Dylus only had his friend’s word to go by on. Still, the irresistible urge to reply back came and made him speak.
“I’d figured you guys would have something more creative than that, more advanced. Flying disks, hover chariots, something like that. Maybe even a star barge.”
His friend shrugged, “Never heard of them. Our dino-cars still run on cally leaves last time I looked out of the window, and we mostly flew to school even then. That said, Pops always did say that if our aunt Amelia ever finds out the secret to a good meat pie, then we might be able to do something like go into space.”
“May Tuah bless your aunt with such a recipe. Only he knows what you’ll do up there.”
Wally ignored his friend’s blessings to tap him on the shoulder.
“They’re coming in fast. We should probably go.”
“No kidding. Got your helmet fastened on?”
The sound of a plop behind him was enough for an answer. Dylus stopped talking to enjoy the sound of an utterly monstrous sounding engine roaring to life, then zoomed off. The thrill of bike-riding never diminished after so many times on top of it. Even a short distance drive to the landing zone was enough to make him beam with pride over his handiwork. The same, however, couldn’t be said of the base personnel.
There were definitely more civilian technicians and machine operators stationed here than a week ago. Dylus found himself swerving left and right to dodge a few transport and construction vehicles, waving back to their annoyed operators insincerely. While his speed meant that they were unable to see his face, they most definitely felt the smug bastard and his pillion smiling throughout their joy ride.
Covering a significant length of the airbase was not a monumental feat no matter how you looked at it. Dylus made it seem like it was a big deal as he screeched to a halt just before the three of his subordinates and their small legion of ready mercenaries. Brenner flinched and angrily waved a non-verbal ‘what the hell?’ to him. Harran covered her face, coughing out the smoke he kicked up while almost dropping her sniper rifle. Yumiko, as usual, had absolutely no reaction outside of a vexed stare. His glance covered the former two with cockiness. When it came to Yumiko, that glance transformed into an unhappy frown.
He had not found the courage to approach her even with all this time. What little he did exchange with the one person he was instructed to stay close to was terse, cold and underlined with a sense of dread. Not wanting to look unprofessional for the landing, Dylus shook his head and just addressed them all cordially.
“Lieutenants, good to see you here early with the soldiers.”
Brenner coughed, walking up to Dylus with an unimpressed look, “I would say likewise if you hadn’t looked like a daredevil doing that.”
“Aww, I can’t be a showman out here, can I?”
The old soldier folded his arm, “To us, you pretty much are without even trying. Doubt we can knock some sense into your head until something nasty really starts to screw us up,” Brenner then pointed in the general direction Dylus had come from, emphasising the maverick route and how some of the people behind were still looking at him with strange looks, “but to them, you don’t look like Captain out here.”
“Does it matter to the grunts though?” said Dylus, disembarking from his bike. He carried Wally onto his mechanical arm and allowed him to perch. The extra weight didn’t mean much to his designs, “I’d be worried if it was the Colonel watching me, yeah, but these guys, not so much. If you know me, you know me. Doesn’t stop me from doing what I’m supposed to.”
“It’s the image, kid. The face of a leader matters to everybody, not just the people they’re commanding,” spoke Brenner, swapping between idle stares at Wally trying to take off his helmet and a rather serious look towards Dylus, “it’s not all too important now, but it’ll be so somewhere down the line.”
Dylus put his hand on Brenner’s shoulder, “Yeah, I getcha. Still, some time for fun is better than no time for fun, eh?”
“True,” Brenner shrugged, “for now, you get this chance. Let’s just welcome our buddies with some broad smiles and a helping hand.”
“Speaking of that. Harran, any other words from the flight about their delay?”
Harran stepped up, fastening her sling, “Nothing specific. Lieutenant Miriam only mentioned something happening at home that needed a bit of immediate attention. Never explained what.”
The helicopters were now much closer. Her voice almost became too soft to hear. He made a gesture towards his ears for Harran to speak a little louder.
“It’s something at home! Maybe she’ll talk about it after she lands!”
He nodded, then realised they were a bit too close to the landing zone upon looking at the tiltrotors. What were shadows before could now be made out clearly in detail. There were some doubts in his mind on whether their designs were original or based on some rediscovered blueprints, judging solely on panels, shape and overall look of the thing. Knowing very little about helicopters, it fed his imagination better to think of them as Old World relics. He gestured for the three lieutenants to back off, rolling his motorcycle some place where the wind wouldn’t knock it down.
Within less than ten minutes, a total of four tiltrotors landed safely on the assigned landing zones. As promised, eighty-four mercenaries emerged from the transport holds, waving towards the ones at the base. Some rushed to hug, while others offered firm handshakes and sang songs from times past. A nice and welcome reunion, given that everyone under Dylus’ command hadn’t seen home for two months. Seeing them made him feel a little better, being sure that the same could be said for mostly everyone.
Mostly.
There was still Yumiko. Being solitary with only Dylus and one other person as her confidants, she knew nobody and reacted to them as if they were strangers who simply needed help. While she had found herself carrying equipment and sorting out inventory, there was an utter lack of acknowledgement of anyone in her stride. In response, the mercenaries gave her a wide berth and said nothing to her. The sight, the very same when she started field work with the company, was painful to watch.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
It was a blessing, then, that that only person she knew was Lieutenant Miriam. Dylus quickly rushed to find her, easily identifying the lieutenant by the bright purple and grey tammie she wore, secured by a pair of black military earmuffs on the side of her ears. She was managing the soldiers out of the helicopter when his voice breached through the noises of a winding down engine.
“Miriam? Lieutenant Miriam?”
The woman turned around. Seeing Dylus, Miriam gave some parting instructions before moving to hug the captain. His mind wondered why he kept getting close to the tall ones as she spoke, feeling Wally’s butt squeeze into his face.
“Ten-Ten! There you are! I was wondering if you were gonna leave me to manage the reinforcements alone.”
“I’m Captain now, Miriam, that’s just not happening.”
She feigned surprise, “Oh yes, I forgot! You’re no longer just one of the Headmaster’s instructors. It’s still so wild to think you’d move up the chain of command so quickly!”
“I live outside of the normal system,” commented Dylus nervously, “I wish I didn’t sometimes.”
“Right, right. Teman and all. How are you feeling, Captain?”
He looked briefly flustered. Miriam was a friend, first and foremost. It didn’t stop him from getting embarrassed by her personality.
“I’m good. I think.”
“Hmm? You think?”
Luckily, there was a distraction from having to explain more. Before Wally could quietly escape, the Lieutenant wasted no time in catching the crocodile in a loving, almost-suffocating embrace. The sight of Wally struggling to escape gave him something to snicker at.
“And you! Oh, you big, soft cutie, I missed you too!”
“Lady! Please! A bit too aggressive! Chum, help me!”
Miriam pouted and stuck him out forward, “What’s this? Why don’t you want big sister to give you a hug?”
“You call that hugging? That’s a friggin’ assassination technique- urk!”
She hugged him again, “Ah, he’s so warm and comfortable. Dylus- I mean, Captain! Requesting permission to keep your friend for the duration of this contract, sir!”
Dylus eventually rescued Wally from Miriam. She looked at him like she knew what he was going to say next; in her head, at least.
“Denied, we need him for fire support, Lieutenant. I can’t hazard him being out of commission because you find him the irresistible ladies thing he is.”
“Hmph,” Miriam crossed her arms, “no fair, how come I don’t get my personal attack doll? I want one just like him. It’ll make fighting much more fun and I can finally get a good night’s sleep. Please?”
“No’s a no. Besides, you’re not gaining favours by ignoring me here.”
“Ignoring? No, no, captain, I’m not! I just like Wally, that’s all. A lot. I like you a lot as my comrade, though. Remember the Valley of the Sultans?”
“Back when I was starting to make my name. Yeah, I remember the Valley. Those Cold Ones gave us a hell of a headache.”
From her back, she pulled out a long stick that deployed into a spear. It did not diminish her aura one bit, “You were good then, but I got the killing blows! This went straight through their head, I remember as clear as the blue sky. Maybe I’ll get more of that operation, then?”
“Plenty of opportunities,” said Dylus, “anyway, if it's not too troublesome, I need to have a word with you about some things. I’m not being professional about it but it’s-”
“Did you make Yumiko angry again?”
“What? How’d you…?”
“I always know, Captain,” she winked, “but you said some things. What else do you have on your mind?”
After a few coughs, he dove right into asking what happened at home. While the question came out very straight-forward, if veiled with frustration, the answer had to wait. Casual conversations often made him forget that he wasn’t talking to civilians most of the time.
“Give me a while, Ten, I’ll get Damask and Ming to manage the men from the chopper. I got something to show you as well.”
As far as memory could serve him, Miriam always had a whimsical, light-footed way of sprinting. She still held onto that today, even after years of service in the Pursuit Specials as a highly valued mercenary. He couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement before moving to help out with the offloading, making sure that Wally hadn’t been too traumatised by the encounter on the side.
Miriam caught up with him as he was holding up a large box of grenades, carrying it towards a nearby truck that had just arrived. She made sure her words didn’t disrupt him, lest she risked startling her superior.
“All done, Captain. The two of ‘em weren’t too airsick to direct the others.”
The grenade box was carefully handed to one of the Merah workers inside. Dylus rubbed off the tiny bits of sweat rolling down his forehead and turned around, “I’d be surprised if Damask was the airsick one. Ming? Not so much.”
“He actually got sorted out, believe it or not. Now, what about the other things you mentioned?”
“Well, for starters,” said Dylus, gesturing for Wally to leave them be for a moment, “Father’s delay. What’s going on with that? Two months out of the Empty Coast and suddenly after only two reports, I get a message that says there’s something at home causing issues.”
“Oh, that,” Miriam adjusted her tammie carefully. The hand that did so was conspicuously covered in a large welding glove with a single orange line running around its cuff. The blackened marks around its edges didn’t leave much to Dylus’ imagination, “I’m not sure how to say it but someone, or something, came to visit us. The Headmaster went out to confront it and, well, let’s say it took a while to clean up the mess.”
Dylus cupped his face, looked away for a second and let out a silent prayer-filled curse, “Shit. How’s he doing? Did Father get injured? What about Tarn? Everyone else? None of this reached me, damn it-”
She put both hands on his shoulder, stopping him halfway in his panic, “Dylus, Dylus, our home is fine. There were no casualties and the Headmaster forced the visitor away. We had our equipment in a tizzy until we could get replacement parts from a local factory. That’s part of the reason why we couldn’t send out anything but that message.”
“Oh, thank Tuah,” Dylus repeated. Inside him beat a heart that had become powered by a high-powered engine, propelled by the illogical fear that someone had gotten the better of his father. Miriam immediately sensed this and simply kept close. There were no words said for a brief while. Once the Lieutenant could feel her peer’s readiness to talk again, she stepped back.
“Right, right. I’m glad everyone’s safe at home. Sorry for that,” said Dylus, letting out a heavy breath, “Who attacked us, though? Nobody’s crazy enough to walk into our HQ and start a fight.”
“Nobody we know, seemingly. But the thing that came over was such a matter of concern for him that he set off on his own to find out what it really is.”
Dylus tilted his head, “What? You mean he’s gone?”
“For a while,” Miriam said, “left Tarn in temporary command of the base. He talked with some friends from the Pathfinder and Iskandar companies, then left. You’ll be hearing more from Tarn in the coming weeks, plus reporting to him as well. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue, right?”
He chuckled. It wasn’t convincing. Dylus eventually straightened up and prepared his mind to deal with Tarn, though his words weren’t put together well.
“Yeah, I suppose. All these years, though, and I still can’t get over how much genuine pain it is just listening to him.”
“He’s got our best interests in mind, Dylus, to the point he forgets he’s a combat machine,” Miriam said, curling her hair, “and then he remembers. It’s a back-and-forth thing. I taught you already how to handle it without losing your head. Just keep it in mind,” her face lit up, raising her gloved hand and slightly hopping, “Right, there’s also this! I know you wanna talk about Yumi but I have to show you this.”
She looked around quickly, got closer to Dylus and then pulled it off. There was not a human hand beneath that welder’s glove. What there was looked akin to a burnt, shrivelled-up tree branch, blackened so much until it was the shade of charcoal. Three of its bony fingers curled and snapped, causing a dancing orange flame to appear above them. Dylus watched as it turned into a yuraptor in motion before taking on a blue glow. The growing heat he felt did not stop him from nodding with small awe.
“That’s impressive. That old croon taught you well in those two months.”
The shaped flame flickered and disappeared. Miriam’s face straightened out, having squashed itself from focusing intensely. She hid the hand behind the welding glove and backed away, adjusting her hair.
“More than what I’ve shown you, but not here.”
“Still, the amount of focus for such fluidity has to be something hard for you.”
“It was at the start,” she said, “once she taught me how to harness and paint the image I want for it to take, it turned into a reflex. That’s not all I can make the fire do.”
The captain smirked, “Hope your training wasn’t only about parlour tricks for the kids. Though, given what we could be doing, we could use a pyrogician to win the people on the other side over.”
His tongue was, as usual, too fast for his brain to comprehend. Her annoyed pouting made him realise the extent of his remark. He was about to apologise when Miriam turned it into a shrug and spoke, “You never change, do you? Is that why you told me you were scared of Yumiko?”
“I never did.”
“But I know you too well. She’s one of the few people that puts real fear in you. You can’t hide this from anyone and you know this.”
Dylus covered his face, “No, it’s not- it’s not that. I just feel like I screwed up.”
Miriam crossed her arms. Now he was back to being her junior. Dylus felt a lecture was coming up soon about how to be ‘kinder’ to others or some other nonsense that drove him to tears out of boredom. It was painful admitting that idea, but he told himself that was the truth before listening to her. This time, however, the position of Captain gave him good enough reason to man up and really take some advice.
“Ten-Ten, this is probably the fifth time we’ve been back here about her. What did you do?”
Dylus breathed in, took notes of what had happened the last few days and began talking without any brakes. Miriam found it hard to keep up with him for the next fifteen minutes, constantly wondering if he could ever befriend such a person like Yumiko. When Dylus was done, he suddenly realised he was hugging Miriam like a small kid. Instinctively, he let go and immediately apologised.
“Oh Tuah, I’m so sorry-”
She looked at him as if he had done something far worse. He probably had.
“I’m not the one you should be sorry to.”
“Yeah, I know.”
His gaze met with hers. It was not a pleasant sensation, seeing the hints of raging fires behind her irises.
“You can’t keep doing this. You cannot expect me, or anyone else, to pretend that it’s always your ball that you’re rolling at the expense of others. Screwing up is one thing, Dylus. Then you completely ignored her since the accident. Don’t you think that’s screwed up?”
He tried to defend himself, “No, I haven’t been ignoring her.”
“Zip it. You have been, don’t pretend I’m talking about official business.”
Dylus surrendered physically, holding his mechanical hand sheepishly. Miriam sighed, converting her sudden need to chew her friend out into something more akin to constructive suggestions. She responded after having some time to think, watching Yumiko from a distance.
“Alright. I don’t know how she’s been since you pressured her in battle. Best that you try and visit her in a bit to apologise anyway. I’m sure she’ll be willing to hear you out, or at least try to.”
“Miriam, I just can’t.”
“You will,” Miriam said. Again, the fires burned, “and I will find her later. Either way, I’ll know if you didn’t go and meet her. I don’t need to spell out how fierce this new fire I have burns on the human skin, right?”
Smooth. Threatening me physically. What have I gotten myself into?
Dylus nodded. He could retaliate more, be a menace, maybe bite back with a little lightning, but ultimately Miriam’s quick observations did make him realise he needed this out of the way before the rest of the invasion pushed onwards. Right now was the best time, as there was nothing assigned to them at the moment.
“Right. I’ll find her after we sort out the arrivals. That okay with you?”
“Mean it,” Miriam stuck out her pinky, “promise.”
“Come on, we’re too old for this, Ria.”
“But it’s always worked, right?”
Again, she was right. He had never broken a promise with Miriam that was made by this gesture. So he locked pinkies, shook her hand and immediately turned red with embarrassment. Miriam’s stoic, almost motherly face disappeared and she cupped her hands on her right cheek. Her change in tone was so quick he didn’t even register her speaking differently.
“Alright! Let’s go, Ten-Ten. There’s a lot we have to unpack and set up. I need to guide where our green giant needs to go, otherwise he might wander off and accidentally step on someone.”
“Yor? Sure, I’ll help with that.”
She smiled sweetly, nodded, and the both of them headed for the tiltrotors.