“Where?” muttered Ajax nervously as she glanced around the room, curling up behind the bed.

“You’re in a hospital-ish room in the third district, the slums, of the super-dreadnaught class colony ship ‘GRC Martin’.”

After a moment of pondering the nervous Ajax nodded and asked, “Why?”

Grace smiled gently and said, “Approximately twenty-seven hours ago you were engaged in a vicious fight, you survived but suffered severe cerebral damage.”

Ajax looked at us in surprise and asked, “Is that why I don’t remember?”

Grace smiled and said, “Yes, but fear not, we aren’t here to hurt you.”

She looked at us nervously and asked, “Who?”

“Me? I’m Gr-” Grace began but was quickly interrupted by a denying grunt and shaking head from Ajax.

“Me,” said Ajax while pointing to herself.

Suddenly I understood why Grace said there wouldn’t be any grudges. Let alone our fight, she doesn’t even remember who she is. Not to mention one person, she has no recollection of any quarrels with anyone.

Grace looked at me pleadingly and I answered, “Ajax. That was the name you introduced yourself by… You never stated a surname.”

She gazed downwards thoughtfully as she muttered her name a few times. After a few seconds, she looked back up at us and with a pleading look asked, “You?”

“I’m Grace Sakura, and this is Tiama Cusith” she said while gesturing towards me.

Ajax looked at us and trembled as she tried to speak, “The person I fought… are they okay?”

<( *Snort* That’s what she’s worried about? )> Dawn spat harshly.

Grace, with a gentle smile, said “Such a caring nature… it’s hard to believe you were a hired killer.”

Ajax looked at us, trembling in shock, “I was… I was a killer?”

Grace’s smile dimmed as she said, “That… may not be quite the term we’re looking for… You were a mercenary. While you most likely killed your fair share of people the job itself does not revolve around the act. Mercenaries are more often than not hired to protect something.”

Ajax looked down sorrowfully for a long moment before looking up resolutely and once again asking, “The person I fought, are they ok?”

I sighed and said “Yes, as you can see, I’m perfectly okay. Despite all odds, I survived our fight.”

Grace snickered and said, “Indeed ‘against all odds’. It’s incredibly rare in fights like that for both sides to come out alive, not to mention when there’s a significant disparity in fighting strength… The odds only get lower.”

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Ajax looked at me apologetically and said, “I’m sorry, Miss Cusith…”

There was a pause in the conversation. Grace broke the silence by saying, “I’m certain you two would like to know the circumstances, past and present respectively.”

Ajax and I nodded in unison.

“Very well,” said Grace seriously, “Present circumstances first then. The siege team successfully retook the tower twelve hours ago – albeit with severe casualties. They likely would have lost the fight if the men that helped retake this base didn’t join the fight. The surprise backup made the Blood Fang falter and boosted morale, just barely turning the tide of battle. The captain lost an arm but lives another day… he wanted to speak to you when you woke up about re-establishing some of the old pacts that were made with your predecessors. The scientist you retrieved has also expressed an interest in working with you for unknown reasons a few hours ago, though she is still somewhat delirious from the painkillers and she might say otherwise when she can think straight.”

“How’s her physical condition?” I ask seriously, remembering how mangled her leg looked when I found her.

Grace replied, “She’s stable, but her leg will never be the same without advanced reconstructive surgery. They’ve done what they can to save the leg, but the facilities required to properly treat it simply don’t exist in the slums.”

I nodded in acknowledgement as Grace turned to Ajax.

“As for the circumstances leading to the fight,” Grace said, “You were hired by the group called Blood Fang. You were posted here to defend their newly taken position at this military outpost. Tiama was attempting to retake this base and was fighting alongside us when-”

“Alongside? Not for?” Ajax interrupted.

“Yes, alongside. I’m not a part of the military. I’m the head of a local gang, one which the Blood Fang antagonised.” I supplemented.

Ajax made an indescribable face filled with mixed feelings at my comment as she tried to reach some conclusion to something.

“Anyway,” Grace interrupted, “Tiama lead a team in from a backdoor where you intercepted them. She sent the team ahead while she bought time for them by facing you alone. Nobody outside this room watched the fight but the scene at the end was rather pitiable; Tiama lay motionless with several broken bones and various cuts and bruises while you lay there with nary a wound, only the whites of your eyes showed your unconsciousness. Despite being severely disadvantaged Tiama managed to bypass your mental defences and knocked you out with a psionic discharge, damaging several parts of your brain in the process.”

I opened my eyes wide as Grace casually admitted that I was the one who wiped her memories.

Ajax, however, looked stunned for a moment before a resolute expression appeared on her face once again. She bowed her head and enthusiastically said “Miss Cusith, please let me make up my transgressions against you.”

I stood still in shock for a few moments before Grace spoke up, “Here’s a suggestion, let her work for you until she regains her memories. I’m sure you’ll both agree that this is not only mutually beneficial, but will also allow you to make it up to each other.”

“Okay, we can do that…” I said helplessly as Ajax nodded vigorously.

Grace smiled and said, “Great. Now that we’ve settled that, I have a gift for you.”

“A gift?” I asked.

“Yes,” Grace said, “A gift. Normally I would pass this down to you once you’ve finished my training and passed a trial of strength, but I believe that this trial by fire you’ve made it through proves your strength and determination more than adequately.”

She held out a beautiful white-silver Katana that had a wavy edge pattern with a black and red themed hilt. Lying parallel to the sword in her arms was a long black scabbard with golden embellishments littering the inner side of the curve.

“This is?” I asked a little confused.

“This, is an artefact.” She said seriously. “I’ll explain the details to you at a more appropriate time, but know that despite our scientific advancements we can’t reproduce artefacts such as this. A chemical analysis indicated that the base of the alloy use in this was some sort of silver isotope, but silver simply doesn’t form such strong materials. Additionally, Psions seem to be able to channel raw Psionic power through it to strengthen it. My father handed this down to me before he died, and now I’m handing it down to you.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.

Grace smiled and said, “Use it well… Now then, let’s be off, you have a lot of work to do.”