Don't mind me

A frustrated sigh left the Captain as she stared out the front window. Past the Irenix fleet was the monolith, a towering structure which pierced through the clouds and was the size of a small country. Projecting from it were the warp tunnels which allowed vessels with FTL engines to reach neighboring star systems in as little as a few hours, rather than a few decades. This particular lane however was now projecting into Irenix territory, providing them an easy flow of communication, supplies, and reinforcements.

“Comms, get me a line to the Luhman flagship.” Eve said, with one of the buttons on her console blinking, indicating it had been done. “Tacitus to Reshin, we have got to disable that monolith before retreating. If we leave it open that’ll leave the Irenix the momentum to keep this offensive going.”

“You don’t think I don’t know that Tacitus?” An older, prickly voice responded. She was all too familiar with the type. “We can’t just throw ships at the problem and expect them to break.”

“That Irenix fleet would love nothing more than for us to stay passive to buy time for reinforcements.” Eve shot back.

“Even if we broke through their lines, what would be the point? Our ships don’t have the firepower needed to even damage it enough to disable the warp tunnel.” 

The faintest of smirks appeared on her face. “I have a team on the ground, we’ll escort them from orbit and provide air cover. They’ve probably landed troops at the base of the monolith but they’ll break through and we’ll shield them from orbital fire.”

A scoff sounded on the line. “Would this team happen to have portable nukes or a canister of anti-matter? Because that’s what it’ll take to bring that thing down.”

“They’ll get the job done.” She said in a firmer tone. “Now are you going to help ensure that they do so?” Eve looked at the screen displaying the comms line, as if staring directly at the Reshin’s captain.

“...I’ll rally what’s left of both fleets.” The comms line was cut from the otherside, and Eve let out a faint exhale. Rather than let out a few remarks that would be considered unbecoming of an officer.

Her eyes drifted to the communications officer again as they turned around. “Incoming comms line request, Pacer, hauler class.”

“Put them through.” Eve accessed the controls for the display windows, moving the view to the assembling ships nearby. She spotted the blockier hull of the modified cargo vessel. It was more or less a commercial ship with heavier armor and plasma cannons welded to the exterior. “Pacer, how can we be of assistance?”

The hauler class ship moved to a parallel position to their ship. “Tacitus, you have boots on the ground, yes?”

“That’s correct, they’ve linked up with what’s left of the 6th mobile infantry unit.  We'll be coordinating with them to assault the monolith.” Eve replied.

“We carry their supplies but got separated from their troop transport during the initial fight. Since then we haven’t been able to land and resupply them.” Her head turned towards the screen view, gaze directed at the Pacer. “We’ve been informed you have a… Unique, orbit to surface delivery system.”

She tapped at the console in front of her, accessing the ship inventory. They still had three drop pods remaining. Eve highlighted all three to be moved to the hangars. “You’ve been informed correctly Pacer, start offloading the supplies to our hangars and we’ll take care of the rest.”

Eve cut the comms line, with Geren turning his head towards her. “How exactly is Katherine going to bring down the monolith? No one on that fire team, not even the engineers know how to operate those systems.”

“They don’t know yet.” She corrected. “Start pulling files and instruction manuals, we’ll have to guide them once they push through.”

The ground team had managed to meet up with more members from the scattered 6th mobile infantry division, nearing closer and closer to an actual battalion rather than a company. The combined forces had pushed forward to the downed transport ship without much resistance. During this, they had spotted several smaller aircraft taking off and heading towards the monolith some distance away.

Her ear buzzed as the comm link to the Tacitus was activated. “Katherine, I’ve got supplies coming down. ETA one minute.”

“Copy princess whadya have for us?” She asked, a grin forming at the noticeable pause that followed her response.

“Boost packs along with a standard supply of ammo and equipment.” Eve’s tone contained a slight edge. “You also have new tasking.”

Katherine looked up as three consecutive booms echoed miles above them. “Alright, what shit storm are you sending us to next?” She waved at the combat engineers in the convoy and pointed to the area where the pods would be landing, with them starting to jog over.

“You’ll be heading to the control room of the monolith, I don’t think I need to point you in the right direction.” She looked over at the towering construct of metal over the horizon, which pierced through the clouds. “As long as the monolith keeps that warp tunnel open, the Irenix can deploy as many reinforcements as they want. If left open, it could be enough momentum for them to take more than just this system.”

“So, bad thing?” Katherine held no shame in condensing the finer language and explanation.

“Very bad thing.” Eve hated it but learned that it was a non-negotiable when it came to her ground forces counterpart.

“Heard that, just keep us covered while we get there.” Her hair blew back as the pods impacted the ground, with the tops opening and the lower floors beginning to rise. Katherine killed the comms line and motioned for everyone to join the engineers in taking the supplies.

She on the other hand didn’t join them quite yet, moving through the crowd and specifically picking out Cap. “You got transport craft on this ship?” Katherine nodded to the wrecked hangars.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how many survived the crash.” She replied, following her into the ship. 

“Hopefully enough.” Katherine said, ducking her head below a piece of debris. Inside the hangars were several transport craft. Two of which were tall enough to fit the four titans at their disposal. That thought directed her gaze to Cap. “So what’s the deal with Gray? I thought there was only one titan program.”

The two began making their way to the larger of the transports. “The program Gray was a part of had a different goal in mind than the one your squad comes from.” She explained. “But that’s about all I know, I was only absorbed into his unit after the attack on the Sirius system was repelled.”

Katharine let out a breath, looking over at her. “That’s where you were when this all started?”

“Yup.” Cap replied with a short and bitter laugh. “Stuck on the ground while Roz Manufacturing rained down their newest metal walking assholes. Siege unit, just my fucken luck.” She glanced at Katharine’s metallic limbs. “Would’ve loved to get those but all I got was,” Tapping her finger on the side of her head, it returned a dull metallic thunk. “Great at keeping me alive and shooting, but memories from that time are kinda fuzzy.”

The two got close enough to begin examining the condition of the transports, checking the engines and exterior for any damage. “What about the both of you?” Katharine asked, while holding up her metal arm as if to check the time. She tapped the wrist, which projected a small holographic screen. From there, she sent a message to the company to join her in the hangar once done resupplying.

Even while doing that, Cap had not yet answered. She stopped at the end of the aircraft. “I’m not sure.” 

Katherine walked over to the end of the transport she was checking, poking her head past the tail end. “Not sure of what?”

“I mean… I don’t know.” She walked past to the next one, inadvertently skipping it. “When what was left of our unit was absorbed into the titan program, he scared the hell out of me. Still kind of does actually.” Cap stopped and looked back at Katherine. “We’re you ever scared of them? The titans in your unit?”

She leaned up against the transport, a faint smile forming. “Not really. My old man, he led the garrison at the facility where they were being developed. You can’t just experiment on a person all day so the titans there got a lot of free time to just roam about and live. He was good friends with all three of them so I saw them a lot. Practically grew up with them.” Katherine was quiet for a minute, silently savoring the memories. “But you don’t seem that afraid of him? I mean you’re the only one who approached him after he quite literally turned a guy into paste.”

“He still has his moments, like that one.” Cap replied. “But I don’t know, it's just hard not to avoid him. In between combat we end up talking, and in a way it feels familiar.” She was quiet for a few moments. “I think he feels the same way, sort of? I’m not too great at words to really say more than that’s the vibe I get.” A deep exhale left her, and they were interrupted as the twisted hangar doors started to slowly open.

The two left the transports to see Jackal and Gray pushing the doors open. The taller of the titans finished first, walking over to them. “What do we have?” He addressed Katherine, much to her surprise.

“Two heavy cargo haulers, they’ll fit you guys just fine.” She said, looking down the lane of other assorted aircraft. “The rest should be good, just need our pilots to start em up.” Gray nodded, unceremoniously scooping up Cap and walking off. She turned around to see them heading to the bigger transports, an amused smile on her face as Jackal finally caught up with them. “How come you don’t do that for me?”

The now second tallest titan let out a scoff. “You usually beat me to it.” She gave him a grin before aiming her mechanical arm at his shoulder. Jackal hardly moved as she jumped to the side while reeling in the cable. The arc landed Katherine at the opposite shoulder.

“Forgot about that.” Out of habit she tapped the ‘ground’ beneath her to get Jackal moving. He walked over to the transport containing Angel and Adler. However he noticed a slight issue.

“Oh…” Adler said with a smug tone, looking at the lack of space. “Looks like you’ll have to take the other one.”

Jackal leveled a sharp glare at him before turning around and entering the other aircraft. He stood next to Gray, who gave him a blank side eye.

The doors on each side slid shut and the overhead lights blinked on. A small shudder rocked the transport as the engines turned on and began propelling them upwards a few feet off the ground. Much like a wave of cars attempting to leave a parking lot all at the same time, each aircraft slowly began lining up into the lanes leading to the doors.

It took some time and a bit of yelling due to the lack of space thanks to debris and collapsed sections, but eventually each transport left the hangar. They joined together in a rough formation above the clouds heading to an obvious target looming over the horizon. Katherine tapped her ear to access the comm line to the Tacitus. “Hey you, see us?” She asked.

“I have visual, were matching your speed and will keep you covered from orbital fire. I’ll have one of our ships send a squadron for escort.” Eve responded. “We’re sending instructions to your engineering section of the company, you’ll have to get them to the control room of the monolith for manual shutdown and sabotage.”

“Alright, then what?” She asked, side stepping to Jackal’s neck and sitting down.

“Immediate extraction for a full retreat.” Eve’s response kept her quiet for a minute, the usual excitement present on her face wilting slightly.

“Really?” Was all she could say.

“Even if reinforcements somehow arrived, we’re too close to the frontline. We can’t risk losing the titans under your command or my ship until our primary objective is completed.” Eve reminded her.

Katherine let out a sigh. “Feels like we're on the benches waiting while everyone else is doing the real work, dying for it.”

“...On the benches? What do you mean?” Eve asked.

Katherine snorted, and a bit of a smile returned. “Right, posh academy. Sidelined, it feels like we’ve been sidelined.” She clarified.

“It’s not just a feeling, we are effectively sidelined until an opening is given to us.” Eve responded with a sigh.

Their conversation could’ve continued had it not been for the abrupt eruption of explosions which rocked their transport. Katherine pressed a hand against Jackal’s neck to keep herself steady and checked outside the window.

Tracer fire and puffs of black smoke filled the air between the aircraft of their formation, with fighters streaking in and out of view. “Thought you were keeping us covered Eve.” She said while standing.

“Against other ships, yes, smaller craft will be on your escorts.” She responded back. Katherine gave an annoyed huff and hopped off of Jackal. She landed on her metallic leg and stepped forward, jogging over to the cockpit.

“How bad is it?” Katherine asked as she entered. In front of them the formation was starting to break up as transports weaved in different directions to avoid the incoming fire. Several flares flew past along with tricked missiles veering from their original target.

The pilot didn’t immediately respond, pressing a flashing red button above. A series of muffled pops sounded at the rear of the transport, followed by two distinct explosions. “We’re getting pounded, no casualties so far but there won’t be much of a landing force at the monolith if we keep this up.”

“Shit.” Katherine muttered. “Where the hell are they coming?”

He looked down to the right and tapped a screen. It was a small local map of the immediate area with dots representing all nearby aircraft. Notably, there was just one in the very center that was hardly moving. “Some kind of small cruiser, likely an escort class. But if that’s the case our fighters won’t be able to touch it. Those vessels have point defense designed specifically for that purpose.”

“Of course.” She sarcastically responded. “You hear that princess? I got a cruiser above us and I’d greatly appreciate it if it wasn’t there anymore.”

“Any of our ventral cannons will pierce right through that cruiser and potentially hit one of you. I’m not firing that close.” Eve said, with Katherine giving a long frustrated groan. 

“Okay fine I’ll take care of it myself.” She tapped her ear to kill the comm channel and went back to the rear hold. From there, Katherine slammed the side of her fist on one of the buttons on the wall. This opened the side door, with everyone looking at her in confusion. Especially when she stepped up to the edge, despite the harsh winds and the tracer fire being flung about.

Gray kept staring at her and turned his head towards Jackal slightly. “What’s she doing?” He muttered.

“Something stupid.” He replied. Katherine braced her metallic leg and a faint mechanical whir sounded from the prosthetic hand. “Something incredibly stupid.” Jackal let out a long sigh.

“You’re not going to stop her?” Gray said with a raised brow.

She jumped out, much to the shock of everyone except her titan counterpart. While airborne, Katherine held her metallic arm out and fired it. The hand and attached cable sailed through the air. The event happened within three seconds. The first, a fighter happened to cross her path. The second, her hand managed to magnetically attach to the hull. The Third and final second, she simply turned into a blur and vanished.

Cap stared blankly out the side opening, watching the ongoing battle outside. There was another fighter lining up their sights on a transport, taking a predictable path. Without much thought to it, she climbed forward and braced her feet on Gray. Before he could so much as question her, the jets on the mobility pack flared. Much like Katherine, she disappeared into a blur while grabbing onto the passing aircraft.

“I gave up on trying to stop mine a long while ago.” Jackal said, patting the taller titan’s shoulder out of spite. “You probably should too.”

Amongst the rushing wind and roar of engines, Cap’s scream was drowned out as she held onto the side of the fighter. Twists, turns, and heavy maneuvers either crushed her against the jet or threatened to fling her off. The first barrel roll that the aircraft pulled and she already cemented in her head that this was a stupidly dangerous idea.

The magnetic gloves still held, along with the magnetic implants in her boots. At relatively calmer periods where the aircraft slowed down and took gentler curves, Cap crawled forward. Only halted at more aggressive maneuvers.

At two steps to the cockpit, she looked forward as gunshots erupted from the front.

Her grip tightened as the fighter locked on to one of their escorts. The hail of fire punctured the engine and several other key components resulting in an explosion of fire and metal. Rather than take a path to avoid it, the aircraft simply flew through.

“Shit!” Cap ducked her head and pressed close to the hull of the aircraft. Still, the heat nearly burned the skin and several small shards of metal punctured her shoulder.

With an annoyed growl, she crawled forward another step. Pausing just before getting to the cockpit. Her eyes wandered the body of the fighter before finding a small panel located just behind the canopy. Placing her hand on the panel she lifted it up, revealing a handle. Cap grabbed it and pulled back.

The time wasn’t right though, and she waited. Holding tightly to the handle and the body of the fighter. Until eventually she heard the firing mechanism of the aircraft's gun, but no actual shots leaving wing mounted guns. Sure enough, it pulled up away from the fight, piercing through the clouds.

In view was the cruiser that had been harassing the formation, it was about a quarter the size of a typical vessel like the Tacitus. Now that the fighter was on a smooth path to one of the hangars, Cap twisted the handle.

The emergency eject handle existed for the purpose of safe extraction of pilots if they were to crash in friendly territory and crews could assist. There was always the possibility of a pilot being knocked out and unable to either open the canopy or eject. Instead, crews could initiate the ejection on their own. This however did provide an incredibly rare downside for if the pilot so happened to have a soldier crazy enough to have latched themself onto the aircraft.

The canopy popped open and was flung backwards. Before the pilot could register what was happening, she grabbed her sidearm and fired into the cockpit. Cap got the indication that the pilot was dead when his body slumped forward and pressed against the flight stick. Putting them into a steep dive. “Fuuuuuck!” 

Wind roared passed, nearly deafening her as she scrambled forward. Cap grabbed the flight stick and pulled back to level them out. She then reached over to undue the seat belts along with grabbing his helmet to put on. Once nothing was keeping the former pilot down, Cap turned the stick to the side. The fighter rotated and essentially dumped the pilot out once they were upside down.

With a free seat and now level, she quickly hopped inside. The heads up display on the console  indicated that the aircraft had run out of ammo, and it highlighted a path back to the cruiser. “It’s been a minute.” She muttered, looking at all of the screens, buttons, and switches. For now Cap just needed direction, so she simply adjusted the flight stick to guide the aircraft along the suggested flight path.

This soon brought her back to the cruiser, and she saw that one of the hangars was partially on fire. There also seemed to be gunshots coming from the inside, and she had a guess as to who was responsible.

Cap tried to turn the flight stick to direct the aircraft to the other hangar, however it was now stiff and unresponsive. “The hell?” She muttered, still attempting to yank it to the right.

While she did, the fighter slowed down and soon they entered. Though it looked less a hangar and more a factory line with multiple cranes and mechanical arms. The aircraft automatically docked at a space and hovered idly as ammo boxes were swapped out from the bottom. She looked over to the side to see fresh munitions be loaded by two mechanical arms. Once inside, the fighter turned around without any input from her. A polite chime sounded.

“Okay…?” Cap hesitantly pushed the throttle forward and sure enough, she’d been granted control again. Turning it around, she maneuvered into the next door hangar.

Inside was a wrecked fighter of the same model, still on fire. From the doors and halls leading further into the cruiser were soldiers holding position and shooting at a stack of crates. Behind of which was Katherine, wielding a rifle that didn’t have a magazine, surrounded by empty ones.

Cap killed the thrust and hovered in the middle of the hangar. She immediately pulled the trigger, only for it to barely budge. “What?” She pulled again and again but that still only resulted in the fighter awkwardly hanging in the air with soldiers staring up at what was supposed to be one of their friendly aircraft. Upon seeing the open cockpit and someone very much not in the correct uniform, the bullets started flying.

With a yelp she ducked down as they attempted to shoot into the cockpit. Out of panic Cap tilted the stick to the left, resulting in the fighter moving to the left and bumping its wing against the wall. She started pressing buttons in hopes of somehow getting the guns on the aircraft to do their job. The landing gear came out, random panels opened and the flaps engaged much to the confusion of her attackers. At some point, powerful lights meant to cut through the darkest of environments flashed on.

A collective shout of pain emanated from the soldiers as they covered their eyes and sought cover. “Not exactly what I wanted but I’ll take it.” Cap muttered, eyes darting around the console. She finally found a prompt that read ‘prime’. Pressing it, a resounding click came from the guns. “Fucking finally.”

Grabbing the flight stick she aimed the fighter at the nearest group and held down the trigger.

Bullets with explosive charges hosed out of the wing mounted guns, the rapid successive shots producing what was akin to constant thunder. The group was shredded into indiscernible pieces and she slowly tilted the stick side to side, essentially sweeping the entire back area of the hangar.

By the time a few passes were made, Cap was both out of ammo and out of targets to shoot.

She positioned the fighter in the middle of the hangar and slowly pulled the throttle back, resulting in a soft landing. From there Cap slumped back into her seat with a gasp, breathing heavily. 

“You landed way better than I did.” Katherine commented, walking up.

Cap looked over at the charred wreckage. “That is not a landing.” She pushed herself off and jumped back to the ground, relieved to be on something stable. Still not quite recovered from being flung through the air, she sat down against one of the crates. “I’ll just be a minute.” There wasn’t initially a response from Katherine, only her shadow falling on Cap as she walked up.

“Here, let me get that for you.” She turned the forearm of her prosthetic where a panel opened up. Katherine fished out a small cylinder containing a white liquid, inserting it into a slot inside the arm.

Cap was confused for a moment before looking to her own shoulders, where blood had dried around the metal fragments that peppered her skin. “Shit, I got it.” 

As her hand moved, it was gripped by Katherine’s still good hand. The grip wasn’t too tight, but firm enough to suggest that she not try against it.

She watched as Katherine plucked a shard out from her shoulder, wincing from the sharp pain at each exit. Following each removal, a metallic finger would press against the wound. A small amount of white substance flowed through a tiny nozzle at the pad. It soaked up the blood and filled the gap. After a few seconds the substance turned into a gel which blocked any further blood from escaping along with remaining fluid enough to not tear at bodily movement.

The two were silent amongst the distant explosions and gunfire below. Even as Katherine finished up. “Still breathing?” She asked, offering her metallic hand.

Cap let out a breath, taking the hand and nearly being yanked up from its strength. “Yeah, I’ve had worse.”

Katherine nodded and jogged over to the doors leading into the cruiser, with Cap in tow just behind. She went to the control panel of the door and peeled off the screen. From there she jabbed her index finger into the mesh of wires and circuits.

“What are you doing?” Cap asked with a raised brow.

“Alright, eyes up, look alive.” She said, pulling up a holographic screen containing the dozen or so checklists they’d have to perform upon exiting the warp tunnel.

As the stars around them came back into focus, so did the fiery wreck of a consulate ship being split apart. With how close the vessel was near the warp gate, a piece of it tore a sizable gash through the side of the Tacitus.

A cloud of metal debris and several unfortunate crew members flew out the wound, with Eve stumbling as the ship shuddered from the impact. “Sitrep!” She yelled, grabbing the console to stand back up. “Section fourteen and seventeen hull pierced, sealing breached areas.” 

“Fourth Centauri and Luhman home fleet engaged with two Irenix fleets.”

Eve tapped the center console and brought up a holographic map which displayed ship positions and information as it was made available to them. It only took a second of actually viewing the map to make the first decision. “Divert power from weapons to shields, get us a drop course over the planet.”

She moved her hand back to the console and opened the comms line. “Katherine-”

“Already on it princess don’t have to tell me.” 

Alarms blared throughout the hangar, with the overhead lights being switched to a red hue. Five apartment sized drop pods had been moved to the center courtesy of the rail and magnet system above. Two of them had ramps acting as their doors where troops and armored vehicles were entering. When the bottom was filled, the floor would ascend to the top layer like an elevator, and an empty one would take its place.

Three of the pods were reserved for one titan soldier each, with them loading their usual loadouts and accompanying ammunition. Below them on the ground, other crew were loading supplies into their armor. Given the size and thickness, there were a number of small spaces that could be used to store magazines, medical supplies, anything needed for the mission ahead. A few of the braver crew actually climbed up the armor using strategically placed pegs and dips. 

“Five minutes to drop point.” The PA system blared. 

The crew quickly loaded the last few pieces of equipment and cleared the three titans. Once the stragglers had jumped off, they quickly entered the tight spaces of their pods. The doors closed, sealing them inside.

The bottom door of the fifth pod slid down. With all of them prepped and ready, the rail system carried them deeper into the ship. The interior of the top floor was almost designed like an amusement park ride. Rows of stands with straps attached surrounded a projection table, where Katherine stood at the helm and the other soldiers silently observed.

“Alright people hot drop time, only got a rough destination and no orders. Only to help where we can.” She swiped her hand at the holographic planet above the table, switching to a different continent. Opening up her hand, it zoomed into a region on the West coast. Making the motion again, the map locked onto a city that was in the path of the ship. “This is where we’ll be ending up, or at least should be. Knock on wood.”

The soldiers around her looked at each other and then the surrounding room. Completely made of metal. “...Bad omen.” Katherine muttered. “Just strap in, it’s gonna be a rough ride.”

She and the others selected a stand, looping their arms and securing themselves. 

Shudders and metallic groans echoed through the room as the pod was moved again. A resounding clunk signaled everyone to brace themselves, with most of the soldiers’ posture stiffening. Not Katherine though, who relaxed into the stand with a deep breath.

A thunderous roar preceded their launch as they were fired from the ship’s belly into the planet’s atmosphere. From the outside, the pod didn’t look all too different from a bullet as it tore through the sky.

The inside was a rumbling rocking ride for five minutes, with one question inevitably rattling in some soldiers' heads. Would they make it?

They were answered by a gentle shudder as the pods impacted the ground. The subsequent explosion of dirt and debris contrasted against the relative quiet inside as the shock absorbers and internal dampers softened the blow.

A quiet mechanical whir sounded as the first floor was pushed up. Katherine quickly unfastened the straps and jogged over to the projection table again, which turned on as she approached.

It automatically displayed several camera feeds which showed their surroundings. Since they weren’t being shot at, Katherine initiated the opening sequence.

A short alarm blared and the overhead lights turned green as the doors slid up. The others followed suit and undid the straps to get off. They quickly made their way to the broken street, with the lights inside beginning to flash.

When everyone had gotten off, the lights flashed red. The floor rose revealing another layer. While this process repeated, Katherine’s head turned down the street where one of the titan pods had landed. It was Jackal, their frontline specialist. Sporting the heaviest armor of the three and unsurprisingly the tallest at thirty five feet tall.

On the other side was Angel, their medic. To the front was Adler, anti-armor specialist.

The three titans began converging on their pod which was still offloading soldiers, their combined set of steps producing a slight tremor.

By the time they got there, the last few floors were unloading tanks and APCs. “Where to?” Jackal asked.

“No idea yet.” Katherine said, looking down each street to see if there was an indication of where they would be needed. She turned around and looked past the street behind him. A few dozen blocks away, a crashed ship had leveled an entire section of city. “Let’s start there.”

It was silent agreement with everyone and they began heading towards the ruins to check for survivors. The company of soldiers formed into a convoy, Jackal and Adler took up the front of the convoy followed by their armored vehicles. Everyone else along with Angel stuck to the rear.

Katherine eyed the radio operator and motioned for him to join her closer to the front of the formation. He caught sight of her and quickly followed behind. “Yes ma’am?”

“I need to know what exactly is ahead of us.” The request was immediately followed up by the operator. He had a pda attached to his wrist and flicked it up. It took a few minutes of interacting with the interface for him to produce an answer.

“Trident class troop carrier, it was downed half an hour ago. Survivors were scattered after Irenix ground forces landed nearby to finish the job.” He explained.

“Then we’ll link up with them. Past that, we can figure out later.” Katherine said as they continued down the street. The column started to split into two separate groups, thanks to the indented footprints that Jackal was leaving behind.

“There’s one more thing about this carrier, there was a titan on board.” The radio operator said.

This drew a confused raised brow from her. “I thought ours were the only ones?”

“Apparently not, they’re from a separate research division. He serves with their mobile infantry unit, specializing in rapid insertion and response.” He said, reading from a basic file. “Must’ve been why they were singled out and hunted like this”

Katherine nodded. “They’ll have to be our priority.” Her eyes drifted past the column of soldiers, counting the buildings to see how close they were getting. “I doubt they’d still be at the crash site, likely at least a few blocks away.” The convoy at the moment was only ten blocks from the ship.

“Their comm lines should still be active, I might be able to trace them.” The radio operator said, tapping away at the pda.

Her brow furrowed and she stopped walking. The soldier just behind nearly bumped into her. “Jackal, stop here.” She called out.

The lead titan looked back. “How come? We’re nearly there.”

“Just dig in-” Katherine never managed to finish her sentence as a wall of bullets slammed into the front of the convoy. Jackal and the tanks up front took on most of the blows, shielding everyone else behind. “Take cover and form up a perimeter, we hold here!” She yelled, pushing past while the others dispersed.

Their armored vehicles moved to form a wall facing the street in which dozens of Irenix soldiers had poured out to engage. With their sides turned, Jackal knelt down and began firing single shots at different clusters of enemy soldiers.

It would be an understatement to call what he was firing ‘bullets’, even though he was wielding what amounted to a machine gun scaled up to his size. They were borderline tank shells, and Jackal didn’t need to spray down the street like a human sized traditional gunner would. He simply tapped the trigger at a group or a piece of cover and everything there turned into a crater.

With the support of the tanks and troops behind him, the initial group they were firing was quickly cleared. However, that was replaced by an actual battalion. Equipped with armored vehicles and mechanized units to match.

As soon as the similarly sized mechs stomped onto the street, it evened the playing field. And they were standing out in the open practically begging to be shot. “Get to the sides, go!” Jackal’s order echoed off the streets as he stood up.

Standing even taller than the mechs, he proved to be an attractive target as rounds began shattering against his armor. Jackal held up a hand to his face as he blindly pulled the trigger and let the machine gun loose. 

While the street in front of them became obscured from dust, falling building parts, and the occasional spurt of red mist, everyone else used the opportunity to head for the alleys and side streets. Angel had moved in front of the retreating troops, acting as a shield for those who were wounded in the initial barrage. Adler had rushed forward to the intersection and took cover behind a convenience store. 

Once the battalion was more or less in a better position, Jackal moved to the same intersection. “Five mechanized armor, and at least a dozen tanks.” He said, dropping the drum magazine which cracked the tarmac below.

Adler simply nodded and moved his shoulder closer to the edge of the building. His spotter had been perched just behind his neck, and slowly stepped over to peak around the corner. He used a high powered scope to see past the smoke, taking note of enemy positions. “Jackal, give the left side of the street a burst. Adler, I’ve got a walking armor alllllll the way in the back. Betting on AP munitions.”

“Not for long.” The titan muttered, changing to a crouched position. When he held his breath, the spotter rushed back closer to his head. Adler rounded the corner and brought up his rifle, which held still despite its weight.

The spotter locked on to the invisible laser being shone from the barrel, which currently was off target. “Right more, about a car’s length.” He grabbed a fistful of hair to keep himself steady as the titan adjusted his aim. “Tiniest bit upward…” A pause. “Hit em.”

Even with the springs built into the butt-stock, the shockwave still shoved at the spotter’s chest. Though hundreds of shots had taught him the best foot placement and conditioned his limbs to hold on tight.

There was the initial ear tearing gunshot, followed by a distant metallic ‘thunk’ as the mech fell over. “Anti armor down.” Adler called out.

The vehicles that had taken to the alley ways drove out and joined Jackal in laying down a blanket of fire past the debris smoke which began to clear. Other soldiers began to follow as well, with a few staying back to tend to the wounded and manage communications with the ship.

Above their heads, a metallic hand attached to a winch flew by. It impacted Jackal’s shoulder and he stood still upon hearing it.

A few seconds later, Katherine rocketed along the path of the metal wire. She braced her leg out in front, with it absorbing the other wise bone shattering force upon landing. From there, she kicked a small lever left of his lower back.

A fifty cal machine gun popped out of a hidden socket embedded into the armor, flipping out and facing forward. Katherine grinned while climbing up higher and manning the weapon. Together, Jackal focused on demolishing vehicles and potential cover, and she swept the playing field with crayon sized bullets to catch stragglers.

The combined amount of gunfire had masked the approach of several of the mechanized units flanking their left side. A few blocks down, one had taken up position at the corner of an intersection. It was using a long range rifle similar to what Adler had packed. She barely noticed it out of the corner of her eye.

“Fuck!” Katherine tried to turn the gun but its turning radius was limited. “Jackal, left flank!” 

“What?” He said, lowering his weapon and looking at her.

Within the time span of the warning she was trying to give, the mech had time to acquire target and fire. And of course the target would be the largest one there, Jackal.

However, one thing preceded the subsequent shot.

A streak of blue light flashed from the top floor of the office building to their right side. This was followed by both an electronic pulse emanating from the source weapon and a small orange glowing hole in the mech’s shoulder. 

The barrel of the opposing rifle, once perfectly aimed for Jackal’s head, had veered wildly to the left. Out of instinct the trigger was still pulled, firing a shell into the lower floors of the office.

“I got him!” Adler called out. With how close they were, he simply aimed down the scope for center mass and fired.

The round punched straight through the chest, tearing apart the power core and sending it falling backwards. That wasn’t the only one though, and the others began peeking around the corners of the building they’d selected for cover to begin returning fire.

This forced the battalion to reposition, not leaving much in the leeway of matching the firepower being thrown at them. “Who was that shot from?” Katherine called while Jackal jogged over to a corner store, leaning against its front.

Adler’s spotter again gripped the titan’s hair as they moved around. He waited for another body shattering shot to be fired before looking down his scope up at the office building. His eyes glanced over the myriad of broken windows, stopping at one which had a faint glow. He focused the scope, seeing a woman wielding what appeared to be a smaller version of the rail cannons attached to warships. 

She seemingly spotted him, giving a short wave, and a grin accompanied with a wink. From there, he was able to make out the symbol on the bluesleeved uniform she was wearing. “Rapid response unit ma’am, definitely with us.”

“Good, we can use the extra hand.” Katherine said. “Jackal, they’ve got our flank, focus on our front.” With the momentary dip of firepower being flung down the street, the main force they were fighting began to creep back up to re-establish a foothold. Soldiers took cover in craters and the few remaining armored vehicles began to push out from their hiding spots.

Thanks to certain features, their new ally’s position became incredibly obvious. The blue streaks of light and electronic pulses from the higher floors of the office building near them presented a clear target. One of the walking armors who wasn’t taking enough fire to be occupied aimed at the floor. Katherine’s eyes widened, not needing to look back to trace where the shot would be hit. “Oh shit-”

What occurred was barely even audible, the singular shot and explosion was hardly noticed over the chorus of the conflict boiling around them. She looked back to see a fiery hole where the floors used to be, and the occupant dangling from a sagging metal beam. They were wearing a jetpack but the engines had smoke emitting from several holes.

“Jackal, throw, now!” She yelled, moving off the machine gun. He sidestepped into cover with a confused look.

“Where?” Katherine simply pointed up at the burning floors. Seeing his target, he nodded and offered a flat palm to her.

She climbed up the shoulder and hopped onto the hand. Katherine crouched down as the fingers curled up around her. Holding their pads, she hunched a bit, trying to make herself as small as possible. Jackal had dropped his gun, holding his free hand out towards the burning floors. 

The metal beam that the rapid response soldier was hanging onto was seeming to grow impatient, and it shuddered and dropped slightly.

“No, lower than that.” Katherine said, with Jackal aiming two floors lower. “Go!”

The grip she had on Jackal’s fingers tightened as her cupped platform wound back. Everything blurred and her stomach twisted as she went from stationary to flying through the air.

As Katherine had predicted, the beam snapped. The rapid response soldier dropped for a few seconds before something or rather someone impacted them.

She did her best to orient herself upward and grab the soldier’s waist. “Hang on!” Katherine yelled, slamming her metal arm onto the passing windows and tightly gripping. While there was nothing to stop their fall, the friction of metal fingers against reinforced glass began to slow them down.

Aiming her prosthetic foot down, the tarmac cracked under the force of their landing. Katherine’s still good foot still hurt but the remaining force that wasn’t absorbed didn’t result in anything permanent.

Breathing heavily, she put the soldier down in front of her and aimed a toothy grin down. “Still breathing?” The rapid response member simply looked up with wide eyes, nearly stumbling. “...Hello?” Katherine lightly waved in her face.

It took them a moment. “Y-Yeah, all good.” She quickly said. “Thanks for the save.” Her eyes darted over Katherine, particularly at the arm and leg. They met their eyes and quickly averted.

“Good.” She looked down the street, letting out a sigh. Only a few more stragglers who seemed to be retreating. Most of the fighting was still coming from their flank, but with Jackal joining the others, it seemed the fight was quieting down. “Looks like we get a few moments to breathe,” Katherine checked the name badge, which read, “Carol-”

“Just call me Cap.” The rapid response soldier interrupted.

“Noted?” She said with a confused smile. “We’re the same rank but it’s whatever.” Katherine began walking up the convoy line towards Jackal and the others. “I’m guessing you’re from the downed troop transport. They had a titan stationed with them, any idea of their whereabouts?”

“We got separated during an ambush, but that wasn’t too far away. With all this noise he should be here soon.” Cap said. As they got closer to the intersection where the titans were positioned, she grabbed the rifle holstered to her back. It was a weapon designed for heavy damage at long range, but that was where the similarities to a traditional sniper rifle ended.

The barrel was thicker, with multiple vents lining the structure. The weapon almost seemed to hum with energy as she loaded in two separate magazines. One into the buttstock itself and another under the rifle where one would expect it to go.

“I don’t know what that thing is but that is not standard issue.” Katherine said, looking at the weapon.

“RnD got a hold of some of the more exotic weapons the Irenix have cooked up. It’s basically a wieldable rail gun.” The two took up position next to Adler, though they were a bit late as the last few shots sounded off. What remained was one last walking armor still hiding around the corner of an intersection a block away.

The titan next to them was scoped in, barrel trained at the store corner. “Either fuck off or try your luck, get on with it.” Adler grumbled, firing a round that grazed the building. Still, it didn’t compel them to make a decision.

As he pulled the bolt to rack another round, a few tremors shook the ground. “Maybe this fight isn’t completely over yet.” Katherine said, running to Jackal. She shot her hand at his shoulder and grappled back to her usual position on the mounted gun.

Looking over to the side, she was confused to see Cap lower their weapon. “Trust me , that ain’t more armor coming in.”

Katherine tilted her head, still not quite understanding. A metallic crash and faint yell drew her attention back to the street they were holding. Everyone's eyes were at the intersection as the walking armor was pushed out of cover, a serrated knife jabbed into the left center of the chest. It just barely missed the pilot as its arms pushed against the hand that had it caught.

A new figure made itself known as it stepped past the building, wearing a darker set of armor. A mask covered the bottom of his face and a dark visor did the same for the top half.

He stopped at the middle of the intersection and pushed down harder, forcing the mech onto the ground. From there, the titan punched downwards, easily accessing the inner workings. Everyone watched in morbid curiosity as the faint yelling ceased, drowned out by crunching metal and exploding parts as the titan simply closed their hand. When it came out, the mixture contained a black liquid, and a dark red which dripped down to paint the tarmac.

When they stood up, Jackal's eyes narrowed. Especially as Adler side eyed him. “Thought you were the tallest-”

“Shut the fuck up.” He muttered as the new titan began walking towards him.

“If you’re feeling insecure about certain things you can talk to Angel, he knows a thing or two being the shortest-” Katherine never got to finish her remark as he placed the pad of his index finger on her mouth.

A shockwave blew over them as the jet roared atop the streets and released its payload. Hundreds of rounds from its main gun, the sound akin to thunder striking every half second, followed by two ground shaking explosions from dropped ordinance. “Good hits but there’s still more coming!” The other soldier said, quickly scrambling to his feet. He did the same, getting up to a crouched position and bracing his rifle on top of the concrete barrier.

The street in front of them was completely cratered, littered with chunks of tarmac and the corpses of the creatures they had been sent to exterminate. The only way he could describe them was mixing animals from earth together and then mutating them beyond recognition. The most common in the city they had been deployed seemed to have a body of a leopard, and skin of a lizard. However, that’s where the familiarities ended, and where he struggled to even begin to describe them. That wasn’t his job anyways.

There were only three of them left, a machine gunner and radio operator, both of which were to his left side. Distant screeches indicated that the fight was far from over, and they readied themselves for another hoard. “How many mags you got left?” He asked the gunner.

“Just this one.” The gunner muttered.

“Two, and about half empty on this one.” The radio operator responded.

“God damn it.” He murmured under his breath. The soldier was also running low, as he only had a single spare magazine. There still was the combat knife on his hip holster but he doubted its effectiveness.

In the distance, faint skittering could be heard, along with some quiet growls. “Here they come.” The gunner said, as about a dozen rounded the corner in a full tilted sprint.

The three remaining soldiers greeted the creatures with a hail controlled fire, shooting in four round bursts to maximize their dwindling resources. But no matter how many they dropped, several more would take their place. Worse still, they were starting to learn. At the beginning of the engagement the soldiers could maintain accurate shots, but now the creatures were starting to weave and duck behind ruined cars.

“Last mag!” The radio operator called out, dropping the empty magazine onto the floor.

“I’m running dry here too, can’t be more than half left.” The gunner responded. To everyone’s relief though, the hoard started to thin. It seemed to understand the message, and the still standing creatures began to retreat into the alleyways.

The soldier let out a tired sigh. He ejected his current magazine to check how many rounds he had left. Only three. “What’s the status of evac? We can’t hold out for much longer.”

“They’ve been saying the same damn thing over and over but I’ll try them again.” The radio operator said with a frustrated sigh. He put down the backpack containing the radio and took out the talking piece. 

While he tried to get in touch with other units in the area, the sound of flapping wings started to cut through the air. “Hoh shit!” The gunner aimed up and the other soldier followed. He froze for a second, as what appeared to be a swarm pterodactyls darting between buildings directly to their position. 

Both of them started firing again, forgoing the conservative bursts. The radio operator stood his ground, frantically trying to concentrate through the gunshots and screeches of injured alien creatures cutting through the air. A few car alarms were added to the symphony of chaos as some of the flying carcasses dropped onto still intact vehicles.

“Fuck, I’m out!” The soldier ducked behind the concrete barrier and looked over to the radio operator. “Your last mag, give it to me!”

“Hang on.” The radio operator put the talking piece aside and pulled out his last magazine from the front of his chest armor. However, just as he tossed it, one of the creatures managed to break through.

A pair of claws pierced the man’s shoulders, and within a second, he was out of his field of vision. The radio operator's screams grew faint, and the other soldier remained still. Staring at the spot where they last were. The magazine he had thrown skittered to a stop next to his boot.

“Fuck this.” The gunner stood up, now mindlessly spraying into the sky at the flying creatures. “Get up! We’re retreating, high command sent us to die-”

Just as he was about to finish, another broke through. Its beak impaled his chest, breaking clean through the armor plate and into his chest. The last standing soldiers quickly scrambled away, keeping close to the barrier as the gunner dropped his weapon. Before he could fall over, the creature positioned itself on his shoulder, and carried him away, just like the radio operator.

With the roar of beating wings getting closer, he laid down and covered his mouth. Dozens of shadows flitted by unimpeded, until the intersection was left in an ear ringing silence.

The soldier knew he had to move, but still found himself frozen in place. His head darted on a swivel, looking for any potential threats waiting for his first move. What got him to finally break out of the paranoia induced daze was faint static emanating from the radio backpack. He remembered that their operator had gotten into contact with someone, and as of the moment, it was the only step he could take to ensure that maybe, just maybe, he’d make it out of this nightmare alive.

He got on his hands, taking the magazine that was thrown to him and storing it in a slot on his chest armor. Crawling towards the device, he used the still standing barriers as cover. Once there, the soldier re-attached the mouth piece to the side and put the radio on his back.

His attention was stolen to… Something.

He looked around, a certain feeling settling into his stomach. Something was giving off alarm bells in his head, however none of his senses were picking it up just yet.

Then he felt it, the slightest ground tremor. He knew it wasn’t from a heavy vehicle, each rumble came in a pattern. All he could determine was that it was getting closer with how they grew in intensity, and that he didn’t want to stick around to find out what it was. The soldier scrambled to his feet and started running down the ruined avenue. The tremors were now accompanied with crunching tarmac, and nearby windows shattering from the earth breaking weight.

He decided to take his chances in a pharmacy to his left, knowing that outrunning the thing wouldn’t be possible. The soldier bashed through the door with his shoulder and ran to the very back. He took cover behind one of the aisles and sat down against it.

Dust started to sift and fall from the ceiling as the footsteps grew closer. A few bottles of pills and over the top medication jumped off the shelves onto the floor. The next one resulted in a shockwave rushing into the ruined pharmacy. A couple of aisles fell down and several windows shattered from the impact. He bit the inside of his cheek to prevent a yelp from coming out. A bead of sweat snaked down his forehead as he realized that another step had not yet been taken. With heavy hesitation, he leaned to the side to peek out to the street.

Taking up most of the view from the windows was… Something. He had to blink several times and wipe the dust from his eyes to properly take in what had crushed a section of street.

The skin was a dark green, and reptilian in nature. A faint hexagonal pattern with black highlights covered the flesh and four claws dug into the surface of the road. The soldier immediately hid behind the aisle again, ragged breaths tearing through his chest as one thought ran through his head.

‘Why the fuck isn’t moving past?’

He closed his eyes and pressed his head against the metallic shelf.

‘Please keep moving, please keep moving, please keep moving-’

A harsh flinch left the soldier as the entirety of the store shook once more. He didn’t dare to peek past the aisle but could assume that the creature was moving away, especially since each tremor grew fainter. Though even as his ears rang through the silence, he refused to move. Fear of how close to death he was kept the soldier chained to the floor, and the paranoia of what could be outside froze his legs.

The faint static which emanated from the radio backpack changed him back from a statue to a living person as he scooted away from the shelf. He took the device and placed it in front of him. The soldier grabbed the talking piece and twisted one of the dials, switching it to a general frequency. “Hello?” He tried. “Is anybody left?”

The only response was static. The soldier kicked a shelf in front of him with a frustrated growl. “God damn it don’t tell me I’m the only one left!” The yelling echoed throughout the store, and again, was returned with static.

He looked at the radio, waiting for a response. The grip on the talking piece loosened, and it slipped slightly in his hand. It eventually fell to the floor as he slumped back, and stared up at the partially broken ceiling.

‘I’m gonna die here…’

“Hello? Does anybody read me? This is-” The soldier immediately sprang back up, hands blindly looking for the microphone. It bounced a bit in his hand out of sheer panic but he got it in a firm grip before speaking.

“Y-Yes?! I read you. What the hell's going on out there? I lost my squad and need immediate-”

“Hold on there, take a breath for me.” He looked at the radio with narrowed eyes, close to throwing an insult and a demand on the side. However, one look at his shaking hand told him that the advice was given to him for a reason. 

The soldier took in a deep inhale, and exhaled an unsteady breath. After he was clear, he spoke again. “Please, I need an immediate evac. I’ve lost my entire fire team and there’s too many of these things stalking around.” A sigh left the other voice on the line, which gave him very little confidence.

“Alright, here’s the deal. Carrion City has been declared a total loss. These… Things, these creatures, whatever the hell they are, they overran the civilian evacuation sites.” The soldiers' brow furrowed.

“How did they get through? We were holding the perimeter… Mostly.” He admitted the last part with a whisper.

“The subway tunnels, one must’ve found them and the rest followed. With efforts hampered, and everyone scrambling to pull out and divert resources to neighboring cities… Yeah it's bad.” The voice said.

The soldier stared down at the radio for a minute, and he relaxed a bit. He scooted back towards the shelf to lean against it. “I’m gonna die here, aren’t I?” He replied with a quiet tone.

“Hey.” The voice firmly said. “I didn’t say that. I said things are pretty shitty right now.” It clarified. “Now, I can help you get out. But you’ve gotta be doing most of the legwork and listen to every word I say like its gospel. You do want out right?”

“Yes, god please get me the fuck out here.” The soldier breathed.

“Alright good, then up on your feet soldier. I can only direct you, not move you.” With a deep exhale, he pushed himself up. Grabbing the radio, he slung it over his back. “Before you go, what’s your name?”

“Is she a criminal?” Stanley whispered to him.

“No, she’s Fran.” Juno simply said.

She observed the short interaction, prepared very much for a routine job that would put her life on the line. Not for this again. “Hesperian owns this burger chain, a chunk of their communications runs through here.” 

“Cults can own a fast food chain?” Juno asked with a tilted head.

“Hesperian owns a lot more than this fast food chain.” She responded, turning around to head back inside. There was still a job to do, and it was likely that Juno and his maiden would leave. From their reactions, they didn’t know about Red Star burgers and probably stopped by for food. The two could just find somewhere else to eat.

Pulling out her phone, Fran entered the kitchen and began scrolling through the intelligence report she had gotten from an abandoned Cydonian cell. Apparently, a lot of Hesperian services and online traffic were routed through this particular rest stop. This would require equipment, equipment that certainly wouldn’t fit in a fast food kitchen. While checking for additional details, Fran bumped into someone.

She nearly drew her pistol but froze upon hearing a familiar voice. “Oop, sorry.” Juno moved aside to allow her through.

“Where’s the fridge?” Stanley called out from the other side of the kitchen.

“Wha- What are you two still doing here?” Fran asked with confusion and a sliver of annoyance.

“We didn’t get our food, you killed the guy who was going to make it.” Juno stated. “Do you know where the fridge might be?”

“You can’t just magic a burger out of thin air?” She asked.

“I could do that, but Stanley has been wanting me to do stuff the human way. So… That’s off limits.” He said with a sheepish smile. “Besides, this is fun?”

She stared at him before giving an exasperated groan and looking around before pointing at a large steel door. Juno disappeared from her sight completely, though no flinch left Fran. It wasn’t exactly anything new for her. “Found it!” A muffled voice sounded as Stanley made his way over to join him. While the space dragon and its maiden went about preparing their food, she continued on with her mission.

Fran headed to the back door to check if the equipment was stashed outside, but there was only another car and a dumpster waiting at the back. She went back in, thinking that there must’ve been a hidden entrance. Maybe a clue as to where it was kept.

She started at the rear portion of the kitchen, as the other part was currently being used. Judging by the frantic tone of Juno as the sound of pots and pans falling over echoed through the kitchen, Fran surmised it could’ve been going better.

While trying to move one of the tables, she looked up seeing Stanley approach. “Do you need help with that?” He asked, offering a cautious smile.

“I don’t think you’d want to be involved with what I do.” Fran said, managing to move the table an inch.

“Honestly, out of all the things I’ve been involved with because of Juno. This is pretty tame.” He said, moving to sit on the adjacent table. 

She paused, looking up at him. This was fairly tame to her too, not only because of how long this fight against Hesperian involved her. But of recent events having come across and having to deal with a dragon. Stanley, as far as she was concerned, was a civilian. Then again, a civilian seemingly in a relationship with a cosmic entity of unknown power.

“Alright.” Fran relented. “Help me with this table.”

Stanley hopped off and crouched down on the opposite end. On a silent countdown, they both moved the steel table. Which only revealed more tiled floor. “So how did you two meet anyway?” She asked, moving on to the next table.

“That’s a fun story.” Stanley said with a small smile. “I was out camping near where I live. I had a few days off but all I really did was sit around and do some errands. I wanted to do something that day so I figured star gazing might be fun.” He moved to the opposite end of the table, gripping the underside as Fran did. “Bought a cheap telescope and just looked up. Didn’t really know what I was doing.” 

He took a breath and Fran took that as the cue to start moving. Both of them lifted up, and moved the table back. This revealed yet more floor tile. “At some point, I saw a constellation that kind of looked like an eye.” She stood up, looking around to see potential hiding spots and glossing over the colored flames emanating from Juno’s side of the kitchen. “Turns out, it was his eye.”

Fran paused her thoughts, turning to Stanley. “What do you mean it was his eye?”

“It blinked, and then it was more than an eye, it was a whole face and before I knew it he was right behind me.” A soft chuckle emanated from him. “God he was so smug about it.”

While she did find the story endearing, a question took priority. “So was Juno just really close to the telescope in his… I guess space body. Or was he actually the stars?”

Stanley took a moment, with a thoughtful hum sounding from him. “I actually don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the actual constellation.”

She stared at him slightly disturbed before continuing. “I assume the rest is history then?”

“For him, a very long one.” Stanley’s statement drew a furrowed brow from her, as it wasn’t exactly what she expected as an answer. Nor was its meaning readily apparent. For now, she decided to leave it alone. “What about a hidden hatch? Like in the movies, under a carpet or something.”

That on the other hand got her looking again. The kitchen didn’t seem to have any mats or coverings that would fit Stanley’s description, though she figured that the walk-in fridge might have what they were looking for. Fran silently walked over to the steel door, with the maiden in tow.

She opened the door and looked down. There was indeed a large black non-slip mat covering most of the ground. Kicking up the edge and shoving it forward revealed the hatch that she was looking for. “These definitely aren’t standard in restaurants.” Pulling up the handle, she had eyes on the staircase leading into a dark hallway. The lights slowly flicked on, illuminating a path forward.

“That’s definitely not ominous.” Stanley said under his breath.

Fran didn’t respond, only descending the stairs. He followed behind, ignoring the shower of colorful flames and sparks emanating from the grill area.

They both slowly went down the hallway, which opened up to a small hub. The open area led to three separate rooms. “So what exactly are you looking for?” He asked.

“Servers, computer screens. Something that looks important.” She replied, taking the left side door first.

Inside was a small armory, with a variety of guns lining the walls. A crate of different types of ammunition sat in the center. The room would be important but that was for later, and she closed the door to check the center one.

A bed and other living accommodations implied it to simply be a personal quarters for whoever manned the restaurant. Less important than the armory.

The door to the right finally revealed what she was looking for. A tight closet like space with the walls composed of server machinery and a desk with a computer sitting on top. There was a pair of headphones and a filing cabinet underneath. 

She got to work immediately, opening up one of the panels. This was practiced, nearly automatic. From there, Fran’s thoughts started to wander away from the mission at hand. “Hey Stanley, could I ask you about Juno?”

He had taken a seat in the office chair in front of the computer, turning his head over at her. “Uh sure. What is it?”

Fran took out a USB and plugged it into the server. “Juno is immortal, right?”

“Pretty sure he is, I mean he’s been around since the universe started.” Stanley responded, idly spinning in the chair.

She crouched, waiting for the stored malware to upload. “If that’s the case, how do you two deal with that?”

Stanley was quiet for a moment, putting a foot down to stop spinning. “What do you mean by that?” Fran nearly explained though stopped herself, realizing how personal her inquiry was. A sad smile formed on his face. “It’s just something we’ve accepted.” He quietly said. “It wasn't easy, actually it nearly ended things.”

Fran moved to sit down on the ground. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did it work out?” She asked.

“I guess we were both afraid.” Stanley murmured, with him leaning forward to rest his arms on his legs. “I had found someone who really cared about me, and I didn’t feel out of place. But moving forward would mean that in the end, it’ll hurt him. And that would be on me. And Juno of course was afraid for his own reasons. I just… I just didn’t want to be selfish. But I didn’t wanna lose him either.” 

Even as the USB blinked green, she paid it no mind. “I think we both agreed that it would be worth it. And… I have something thought out for when I go.”

Having finally noticed that the USB had done its job, evident by the series of lights and alerts on the servers, Fran pulled it out. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried.”

“It’s okay.” Stanley said with a quiet chuckle. “Something tells me you needed it. Most people I imagine would’ve asked about the adventures and what all Juno can do. But you were after something very specific.” He watched as she stood up, checking the machinery as it began to loudly hum. “I hope my answer helps in some way.”

Fran paused, letting out a sigh. “Me too.” She muttered. “You should go, these servers will melt down soon. I just need to grab something.”

He nodded and stood from the rolling chair, setting it aside before disappearing around the corner towards the hallway. She also left the room, though headed to the armory instead. The malware would not have gone unnoticed, and a silenced pistol was at its optimal when the user was unnoticed and had the element of surprise. This time she wouldn’t have such advantages.

All of the weapons save for one were ignored, the lever action rifle with its silver barrel and dark brown wooden handle. Fran grabbed it from the rack as if pulling a coat from a hanger along with several handfuls of bullets which she stuffed into her pockets. Keeping eight in her hand, she slid them into the feed located on the side, inserting them like coins into a vending machine. Fran then gripped the lever and pushed downwards, racking a round.

Now fully armed, she went back upstairs. Being sure to keep the hatch open in order to let the flames from the soon to be burning servers a chance to jump up to the store and burn it down as well.

Upon exiting the walk in fridge, she could already hear the sounds of trucks and other cars pulling in. Fran guessed they weren’t there for the burgers. And as expected, Juno was completely oblivious to the oncoming storm she was to face. Colorful flames still danced across the grill and Stanley was scolding the cosmic entity for the unorthodox cooking method. 

A faint smile pulled at her lips, which quickly vanished as she looked away towards the door. Towards a job that never seemed to be finished no matter how many times she slashed a knife, fired a gun, or dropped another body.

Fran stepped past the door and took cover behind a booth. The grip on the handle and barrel tightened as the footsteps drew closer, and she steeled her breath.

The moment right before she would've popped out to fire, Fran realized that the only thing audible now was her breathing. There were no footsteps, just idling engines outside and the faint bickering still emanating from the kitchen.

With a heavy amount of hesitation, she peaked up from the booth. Fran was greeted with an empty parking lot containing her car and the one the two had ridden in. There wasn’t a single trace of Hesperian anywhere. She was stuck staring at the scene, wondering if she was even awake at the moment.

Her focus was broken when Stanley and Juno exited from the back. The human was holding two to-go bags and a cup of coffee. “Hey Fran, we’re heading out.” He greeted casually, walking past. “It was nice talking to you.” Stanley shot her a small smile. She was only able to respond with a half wave and a face unsure of what expression to display.

Stanley exited the establishment but Juno stuck around, standing next to her. “...Did you kill them?” She whispered.

“Kill them? No.” He responded with an offended scoff. “They’re just somewhere else. Sent a few to Nepal.”

“...Nepal?” She looked at him with brows contorted in exasperation.

Juno simply shrugged. “I doubt they’ll cause much trouble when dispersed into countries where English isn’t the primary language.” An amused smile tugged at his lips. “That’ll be a fun puzzle, getting back home.”

Her grip on the rifle had loosened, but she still kept it in hand. “I didn’t think you’d interfere, considering last time.”

“Well last time I didn’t know you were up against cultists bent on ending the world.” He replied. “And… You seemed tired.”

Fran switched the safety off, and though she didn’t need it, she slung the weapon over her shoulder. The weapon settled into position, like it was meant to be there. Like it was a part of her. “What do you mean by that?” She asked with a flat tone.

Juno shot her a sad smile, not directly answering. “You should join us in town. You could probably use a break.”

“My work isn’t done yet.” She simply said, moving past him towards the door. “Maybe next time when I’m not in the middle of something.”

Fran didn’t get any further responses, and took that as her cue to leave. Sure enough, while walking out to the parking lot, Stanley’s car began to drive away. 

Upon getting closer, her steps slowed down and her eyes narrowed. Something was off about her car, as the body sparkled as if embedded with glitter. Stepping in front of it, Fran realized it wasn’t a trick of light or the exhaustion getting to her. The car was covered in glitter, and the above street lamp further revealed a hot pink paint job.

“No.” Fran’s operations relied on being hard to track and to not be noticed. She couldn’t do anything remotely close to a job- “No!” She yelled with a frustrated growl, knowing exactly who  was responsible. The driver side door was nearly ripped off its hinges as she tossed the rifle to the passenger seat and got in.

Turning the key and stomping the gas, her car rocketed out of the lot towards the road that Juno and Stanley had taken.

“You’re singing.” 

“I thought that’s one of the things you do on a road trip?” Juno replied with a tilted head.

“Yes but you’re cheating, you’re just repeating the audio of the song.” Stanley elaborated.

The cosmic entity would need more than that. “Is that not what singing along is?”

“Juno, you sing along with your actual voice and add to the song.” The smile on Stanley’s face only grew the longer he had to explain such a simple concept.

“You wouldn’t like my real voice.” Juno said, with it now the human’s turn to get confused.

“What do you mean?” His brow furrowed as he glanced at Juno. “I like your voice.”

Juno hesitated, idly fiddling with his hands. “This voice doesn’t exactly belong to me.”

“Well then who does it belong to?” Stanley asked.

Again, he wasn’t the quickest to give an answer. “The first human I met, 4,000 BCE I think? Ancient Mesopotamia, he was a farmer. Nice guy too.”

The casual delivery would’ve shocked him in the early days of their relationship, but there was a different question rattling in Stanley’s head. “So then what do you actually sound like?”

“You wouldn’t want to hear that.” Juno quickly replied. “It doesn’t even really register as a voice.”

“Oh c’mon, it can’t be that bad.” His intrigue only grew at the look that Juno tossed him, a firm confidence that he wanted to challenge. “Please?” He offered a coy smile, a tactic that tended to yield results in his favor.

Juno looked at him for another moment and sighed. He turned towards the road, and opposite to Stanley’s expectation, his mouth didn’t move. 

What emanated from the cosmic entity raised the hairs on his arm as a low vibrating pulse filled the car. The lights on the dashboard flickered throughout the duration and he kept his grip on the steering wheel tight trying to keep a casual composure. “...It sounds nice.” Stanley said, nearly phrasing it as a question.

Juno looked over with a deadpan expression, but that didn’t deter him. “It’s unique, and it’s definitely you.” That managed to get a faint smile out of the entity as he focused back on the road.

A yawn left Stanley. “I think I need a break soon.” He said with a long sigh.

“You know, I could get us to the nearest-”

“No, we're doing this properly.” Stanley said with a huff. “Take my phone and see if there’s any diners or restaurants along the way.”

Juno silently took the phone off the holder on the center console, holding it up to his face and staring at the blank screen. His eyes flickered with a spark of electricity, and the phone immediately opened up to the map.

“You can also just put in the password and tap the map icon. That’s an option.” Stanley commented.

The entity simply grinned. “And where’s the fun in that.” He zoomed out from their current route and pressed the food icon. From there, it showed that there was a burger joint not too far from them. “What about Red Star burgers? They’ll probably have coffee.” He suggested.

“Red Star burgers?” Stanley repeated. “If it’s close, we can give it a shot.” His eyes occasionally flicked to the side of the road to watch for any relevant signage. Sure enough, an exit sign with the Red Star logo veered past.

He took the off ramp and followed the road to the lone burger joint. The parking lot was completely empty, which bothered Stanley a bit but he didn’t dwell on it too long. He parked the car at the furthest spot, wanting out as soon as possible to stretch his legs.

With the parking brake on and the engine off, Stanley got out. Closing the door a long sigh followed by a stretch of his arms preceded. “Oh that’s better.”

“You know there wouldn’t be a need if I just teleported us there.” Juno said with a smug expression.

“Shut up, I know you’re having fun.” He walked to the front of the car and waited. The body of stars did the same, though by the time they had joined him, it was replaced with a well fitted black suit and pale skin. Stanley looked over at him with an amused exhale, it didn’t exactly complement his sweater and jeans but that was the charm of it.

Leaning against Juno and hooking an arm they headed inside. Like Stanley had guessed, the place was empty. The only occupant was a single cashier on their phone, who quickly put it away hearing them enter. The two walked up to the counter, with Stanley quickly skimming over the menu. Juno leaned down closer. “What should I order?” He whispered.

“Whatever you want.” Stanley said, quickly putting together his order mentally.

“I don’t really want food, I don’t get hungry. The only thing I really want is your tea.” Juno replied.

“That’s really sweet but should I just order for you in that case?” He asked, receiving a nod from him. Stanley directed his gaze to the cashier who was looking at them with a raised brow. “Uhh. Could we get two coffees with cream and sugar, and two cheese burgers?”

“You want fries with that?” The employee said with as much enthusiasm as a graveyard fastfood worker could muster.

“Uh… Yeah I think we’ll have fries with it.” Stanley said as the employee nodded, inputting the items and heading to the kitchen. He took out his card and tapped the wireless kiosk. With that done, both of them headed over to the booth at the window facing the parking lot.

As they did, another car pulled up. Like Stanley, it parked farther from the building. “I think our next stop is Honesdale, it’s a nice little town.” Stanley said, lounging in the booth.

“We should probably stay there for at least a day, you've been driving for quite a bit.” Juno suggested. His eyes glanced for a moment at the car and its driver who was getting out. Usually he wouldn’t pay any mind but something told him to keep his gaze on them. As they stepped into the light, he could make out dark hair which was pinned back. She wore fairly plain clothes, and a simple jacket accompanied with jeans.

For a moment they locked gazes, and it took her a moment to figure out why some random guy was staring at her. What gave it away were the gray eyes, and strange attire. Both of them  thought the same thing.

Oh fuck.

She froze while Juno quickly averted his gaze back to Stanley, offering an embarrassed smile and trying to catch up on what was being said to him. “Mhm?” He simply said.

“So should be fun.” Stanley finished off.

He did his best to ignore the woman entering the restaurant who side eyed him, though kept going. “Did you find a place to stay? At the town.” 

“No not yet, I should probably do that right now.” Stanley pulled out his phone, and while he was distracted, Juno looked to his left to find her heading to the counter. There had been hope that she was just getting a bite to eat. That crumbled apart when he spotted the pistol holstered on her hip, and when she disappeared into the back kitchen.

Oh shit.

“This looks nice, it’s an actual house.” Juno directed his attention back to Stanley, who was showing him a pin on the map along with a picture of the place. 

“Yeah looks nice.” He said a little too quickly, with furrowed brows developing on Stanley.

“What’s wrong-”

“Nothing's wrong.” Juno delivered immediately, a wince forming as a loud crash could be heard in the kitchen.

Stanley looked in the direction of the commotion with a flinch, turning his head back to the cosmic entity. “...Juno, is there something going on?”

“No! Nothing's going on, everything's normal and fine.” He offered a weak smile which cracked as frustrated yells and the banging of kitchen ware grew louder. “Must be a difficult burger to cook.”

The human simply gave him a deadpan expression.

“Okay fine.” Juno sighed. “Do you remember that one time I disappeared for an hour seemingly with no explanation? Thank you, by the way, for not throwing yourself off a building to try and get my attention.”

Stanley scoffed at the last bit but answered nonetheless. “I remember, you got kidnapped by cultists and someone helped you get free.”

“Yes, she did.” Juno said, deliberately not going any further.

“...Juno. Did the woman that just entered the restaurant just so happen to be-” He never got to finish the sentence as a muffled explosion shook the tables. Both of their heads turned just in time to see the cashier’s body fly out the kitchen into the wall. 

The aforementioned woman slowly trudged past the door to the back, her hair singed and slightly smoking. She was heavily breathing, and after a moment, turned her head towards them.

Stanley was currently standing over the stove waiting for the kettle to boil water. Two mugs of tea sat to the side on the counter along with a french press. A few years ago, it would’ve just been the store bought tea bags sitting in them. But given his new access to the entirety of the world, and thus actual high quality tea leaves, he figured he would do it properly.

Juno was in the living room, having insisted on rearranging the trinket shelf and its array of shrunken down planets and stars. He thought the order was fine, but nonetheless was curious as to what the cosmic entity had in mind. Plus there was the thought of a body of stars organizing another body of stars.

Making tea was as automatic as his heart beat, allowing his mind to wander. It took him not to a place but rather a person. Juno.

They’d been together for a year now. For Stanley it more so felt a month with how quickly it went by, and for Juno? Likely just a moment. That particular thought always shook his perceived foundation of the two of them. This was the deepest connection he felt to anyone, and it certainly felt like it was supposed to be more. Go further than a traditional friendship and make the inevitable step to the next level.

The low whistle of the kettle hardly deterred the thought, and the creeping insecurities. He knew Juno appreciated his company, of course he did. The entity could have literally anything it wanted and yet still chose to stop by. As far as he knew, Juno didn’t know anybody else. But what kind of appreciation was it? The same kind of appreciation you show to an antique at a thrift store, or the kind for the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?

It wasn’t easy to think it was the latter. Stanley was average as average could be. Juno was quite literally everything else.

“Is it supposed to be whistling for that long?” Juno called out.

He flinched and quickly pulled the kettle off the stove. “No, I just got a bit distracted.” Stanley quickly replied. Opening the french press, he put some of the leaves in and poured the hot water. 

Juno didn’t make sound unless he wanted to, and most cases meant him talking. Because he wants to be heard. Other sounds however, Stanley discovered that he needs to make a conscious effort to actually be audible. Such sounds included footsteps, meaning that the entity quite literally moved around like a ghost. It led to many jumps but in time Stanley found himself to be able to just feel the entity. 

While waiting for the tea to seep, he looked to his side. Sure enough, Juno was just there. “Is something wrong? You seem… Not here.”

An amused breath left him. “Not wrong, I wouldn’t describe it that way.” He said bracing his hands on the counter and leaning on it. Stanley repeatedly tapped his index finger, with Juno immediately picking up on it.

“Ah. I’ll leave it be then.” The cosmic entity replied.

“No Juno, it's okay.” Stanley quickly responded, pulling his hands off the counter to stop the tick. “I… I actually have been wanting to talk about this for a while now.” Juno turned towards him, an entire universe at full attention directed entirely at the human. “I wanted to ask you a question.”

Juno paused for a beat. “Well, go on.” He gave a slight smile. “You certainly don’t need my permission to ask one.”

He of course knew that, but wanted to buy time to brace himself for the answer. “Do you… Do you like me?” A bit of him died from how the question was phrased. “Okay not like that kind of ‘like’ you obviously like me-or or I’m fairly certain you like me- you like me right?”

The cosmic entity looked at him with a raised brow and slowly nodded. Stanley continued. “Okay. Then do you like me?”

Juno blinked. “You already asked me that.”

“No no I mean a different kind of like-” In that moment his brain snapped. “Do you love me?” Stanley abruptly said.

This time surprise formed on Juno’s face, and for a moment he was quiet. Before a soft chuckle broke out. Stanley’s face twisted in confusion as Juno broke down into a full on laugh. Of all the possible answers and reactions, this was on the very bottom.

“Sorry.” Juno breathed. “But no.”

Stanley nearly flinched at the bluntness and casualness of the delivery. The laugh didn’t make it any better.

He of course noticed and did his best for a comforting smile. “May I explain? I promise this isn’t some cruel joke.”

Stanley was teetering on a tight rope over an abyss of emotion, completely unsure of what exactly to feel. Having been essentially frozen on all levels, he managed a hesitant nod.

Upon completion of said nod, he found himself out of the apartment. The human looked around with a furrowed brow. Surrounding him was a dense forest that spread as far as the eye could see, with the terrain occasionally interrupted by a gentle hill. Beneath Stanley was a stone platform, clearly old with its cracks and vines snaking around the surface. Moving to the side and looking over, he found that he was on some kind of ancient pyramid. Sort of.

One side had a section which was completely flat, leading to a sheer drop to the ground. A tremor shook the foundation and Stanley quickly grabbed the railing which bordered the platform. He looked to the side and saw the source of the now rhythmic quakes. Juno was slowly circling the pyramid, moving to the flat section. His body was in its usual view of space form, but there were noticeable differences. The laurel adorned on his head for one. It was made of the same material as the surface of a star. Its pointed edges swayed and flickered. There were rings on his fingers and even a pair of earrings made of gas giants.

“A long time ago, I played gods. Not all of them, but some.” His voice echoed through the trees and through Stanley’s very being. “I didn’t know how to blend in or be human. So I figured I wouldn’t be one while trying to understand how humans worked.”

He looked up with wide eyes. Juno had a tendency to be big, but this was easily double the difference in size he was used to. Stanley watched as the cosmic entity walked up to the flat side. Despite the height of the pyramid, Juno’s head still easily loomed over him. “This lot of followers, honestly my favorite.” He said with a soft smile. “They built this pyramid so that I wouldn’t have to lean down while talking to them. I told them I could make myself smaller but they insisted.”

“...Uh huh?” Stanley meekly responded, still staring up.

“I was good to them, you know how it is.” He said with a chuckle. “What they felt for me, well… It’s the exact same thing I hold for you.” Juno leaned a bit closer, casting the top half of the pyramid in darkness. “And it isn’t love, it’s more than that.”

It took Stanley a moment to form the courage to respond. “A-And what would that be?” Juno’s head slowly came down, and he resisted the urge to back pedal. His surroundings turned to night as the cosmic entity quite literally became the sky for him. The head was a bit to his side, with Juno’s lips right next to him.

“It’s devotion.” Stanley heard the words, felt them rattle his body and raise the hairs on his arms. “I am completely, and utterly,” A pause. “Devoted to you.” The last three words were spoken magnitudes softer, and felt as though it gently brushed over him.

Daylight returned as Juno pulled back, and he looked down with the same soft smile. “Does that answer your question?”

A very much red faced Stanley didn’t immediately respond, needing a minute to regain composure and not squeak out an answer.

Eve walked over to check, and sure enough the dot on the map was approaching. Though it was quite slow, and not exactly heading to them directly. It would pass close, but civilian craft still were to keep a greater distance from military vessels. “This should be a nice distraction.” She simply said, walking back to her post. “And they’re not responding to any hails?”

“No ma’am.” The tech responded.

“Well, let's see what we’re dealing with. Don’t move the ship just yet. Maybe it’s a fresh pilot and they didn’t see us.” She instructed, with Gerrin scoffing.

“Didn’t see a several thousand foot long warship?” He said.

“If you’d like to discuss your own blunders during the academy I’d be more than happy.” Eve said with a smug tone followed by a faint smirk.

“...Point taken.” Gerrin simply said as the bridge waited for the approaching ship to come into view.

Everyone had their expectations of what the ship would be, at the bottom of that list was a vessel so traditional to what that word used to mean.

The first thing that had caught her eye was the silver curved hull, the carved patterns mimicking planks of wood and port holes. Eve’s eyes then found their way to the golden sails, which were angled towards the system’s sun. They billowed in reaction to light, moving as if wind were somehow blowing over them in the vacuum of space. On the decks, crewmen operated such mechanisms like ropes and levers. Attached to the bottom rear of the ship was a set of dual ion engines which gave off a blue glow as it propelled the relic forward.

“Follow them.” Eve murmured, her gaze never leaving the window. “Easy on the engines, they probably can’t go very fast.”

The navigation officer nodded, focusing back on their console. Applying the slightest bit of power to the engines and inputting a set of commands to follow the strange ship, they began on a path that put them side to side.

“Zoom in.” Eve said, with the window flickering and showing a magnified view. Now it was as if they were directly next to the ship. It made the crew more visible, with some giving nervous smiles and waves. No doubt at the very least a little bit intimidated with the warship that was following alongside them.

“That ship is probably older than the Sol Consulate, they didn’t respond because they’re not equipped with compatible communication equipment.” She theorized, thinking of a way that they could communicate. Her eyes lit up. “Can we code the exterior lights to blink in sequence?” 

One of the techs looked at her with a raised brow. “What would that do?”

“We’ll communicate via morse code, an old ship like that, all of the crew should know it.” She said, with everyone else Gerrin included giving her a look. “...Don’t tell me none of you know morse code.” Everyone else conveniently looked elsewhere. “Shame on all of you.” She scoffed.

Eve looked at her own console, waiting for one of the techs to code in the control for the exterior lights. A red button appeared and she began tapping the sequence for her message.

Turning back to the window, a small smile appeared on her face in accordance with the sailors who also adorned some of their own. Her smile only grew as a spotlight was pointed in their direction and she translated the message.

“What did you tell them?” Gerrin asked.

“I told them they were the most beautiful ship in this system.” She replied. “They said they were flattered, and that they would bless us with fair winds for our next deployment.” Her eyes lingered on the ship still, and she tapped another sequence.

“What now?” Her co-captain asked as the other ship blinked a response.

From there, it was a quick jog to the side of the roof. He brought out the grapple launcher again, and folded out a tucked in screen on the left side of the main body. Anthony aimed up at the top of the wall which stood in the way of the edge. After some buffering, he was given a firing solution. The screen directed him to the proper angle, and once there he pulled the trigger.

An electronic pulse sounded as the magnetic rails accelerated the hook and attached cable upwards. It completed its arc and snagged itself to the outer edge of the wall. Anthony gave it a quick tug to confirm that the hook was secure.

Once he was sure that it wouldn’t slip, the human pulled a secondary trigger sitting just below the first one. 

Having tightened his grip, Anthony was immediately shot upwards. The spool of cable attached to the right side of the gun rapidly spun with a metallic whir as the motors worked. He eased off the trigger which slowed him down just beneath the edge of the wall. Bracing his feet on it, he simply climbed up.

The human was greeted with the chasm that was the alleyway between his building, and the police station. Since it wasn’t jumpable under any circumstance, he pulled the trigger on the grapple gun again. Essentially resetting it as the hook was fed back into the barrel.

He pulled out the screen again, reading the number provided at the top. The gun had a built-in range finder, and to his relief the station was just barely close enough to still use the grapple. Again he aimed at the ledge of the other building and awaited for a firing solution. When it was provided, Anthony adjusted and fired. This time the pulse was more strained and he even felt a bit of heat from the barrel as it worked over time to propel the hook through the air.

Anthony kept deathly still, not wanting to interrupt the trajectory. To the point of holding his breath in until he could hear the distinct echoing thunk of the hook impacting the ground.

For this instance, simply reeling himself in was impossible. Unless the end goal was to become a meat pancake as he swung face first into the opposing building at terminal velocity.

Instead, Anthony pressed a button on the side of the launcher and moved the stock away from his shoulder. The panel covering the end of the stock flipped open and he placed the opening onto the ground. Another button press and the drill hidden inside began to extend and burrow downwards. After a minute the mechanical whir stopped, indicating that it was done.

He shook the anchored grapple gun which didn’t even budge. It was time.

Anthony took out an ascender and attached it to the cable. Without hardly any hesitation he jumped off the ledge, with the ascender pulling him along to the other side. The human swayed a bit as wind blew over the ravine like chasm below him.

It didn’t take very long to reach the other side and he leapt onto the ledge, landing with such practiced precision he hardly stumbled and kept going. The grapple gun would have to be retrieved later. Anthony was headed to the ventilation shaft, intending to infiltrate the same way he did for the apartment.

After some considerable effort manually turning the screws and climbing inside it was a matter of navigating the hallways of silver metal to find the correct room. It would take several attempts as he skimmed over other rooms and the supply closet. Anthony nearly moved on with this particular office but froze seeing a tiny doll-like figure on the desk.

“Ben.” He murmured, taking out the crowbar. There weren’t any visible screws, not that he’d use that to get past the vent. Getting in quiet was still a priority, and a metallic vent cover impacting the ground wouldn’t exactly fly in a library.

Anthony braced the crowbar between one of the many slits which acted as its filter. He pulled back and bent the thin plates of metal which formed a gap wide enough for him to fit. Taking out the rope, he attached the grapple to the bent plate and jumped down.

During his descent, Anthony kept a loose grip on the rope up until around a hundred feet to the desk. From there, he tightened his hands to slow himself down. Small wisps of smoke shot out from where Anthony had closed his fingers, the friction burning the rope and warming his hands. Though the gloves still held up as he came to a stop just five feet from the desk.

Anthony quickly let go and sprinted over Benjamin who was laid out limp on the ground. He stopped and crouched over him, trying to shake his brother awake. “You’re burning up.” His gaze switched to Benjamin’s legs, where the ankles were bent at an odd angle. “Fuck, we gotta take you to the infirmary. C’mon.” 

He slipped his hands under his brother’s shoulders, lifting up and attempting to to put his around to make carrying easier. Anthony froze however, both hearing and feeling approaching footsteps.

“No no no it’s too soon.” He growled to himself, gently setting Benjamin down and taking out a vial of liquid from his pocket. The green solution swirled violently, almost begging to be unleashed. Anthony flicked the cork off using his thumb and downed it instantly like a shot of alcohol. It went down as such, with a bitter almost burning sensation.

Flinging the vial away, he turned around with narrowed eyes. Just as Gadriel entered. Their neutral expression upon seeing him changed into a smug smirk. “Just when I needed more leverage to break your brother, you show up.” He said with an amused hum, closing the door behind him. 

“You won’t get away with this you son of a bitch, and you’ll pay for what you’ve done to us.” Anthony said in a low tone, walking towards the edge of the desk.

Gadriel simply looked at him with a ‘really?’ sort of expression before the smugness returned. “Do you have any idea how much you and your crew hold him back?” He asked in a calm tone, resisting the temptation to grin at the rage starting to boil in Anthony’s eyes. “Benjamin is a fine specimen with so much potential, so much loyalty, and so much grit. I mean, he bore an injection of Noxus and still would not give in. Had to… Temporarily disable his ankles to prevent further escape.” Gadriel began walking towards them.

The human at this point had his fists clenched and was just about ready to use them. He felt the strain of his skin wanting to stretch and expand, bones becoming brittle in order to break and become stronger. Anthony’s desired response could not be formed into words, only in the next moves he would make.

Stepping over the edge, he jumped. Much to the surprise of Gadriel, whose confidence eroded into complete shock. The human, instead of falling to their death, was just… There. In front of him, eye to eye.

“How-” The giant never got to finish his sentence. A boot impacting his stomach stole the breath and words out of his mouth, sending him flying backwards into a bookshelf. The force broke several of the shelves, raining books and other trinkets on top of him.

“Get up.” Anthony commanded with a growl in his tone. He only got a pained groan in response. “I SAID GET UP!” He roared.

Gadriel aimed a glare at him and shoved the books off of himself. “Vermin.” He hissed while standing back up. 

While waiting, Anthony got into a fighting stance and raised his arms up. When the other giant was getting back on their feet, he punched his left arm downwards and then his right in quick succession to warm them up.

Gadriel sloppily stumbled forward and threw a hit aimed at Anthony’s face. He simply raised up his arms, blocking it with his forearms. In the same motion he dropped his left and jabbed a punch at Gadriel’s side.

At the slightest falter of the giant Anthony went on the full offensive, no longer blocking and aiming to hit every weak spot he could think of. Gadriel would find himself bombarded with a fury of hard hitting yet precise strikes that would alight his entire upper body with pulses of sharp pain. Then came a full strength hit to the nose.

It was almost concussive, as Gadriel’s vision blurred and he stumbled backwards. With hardly a second of respite, Anthony shoved him against the wall. A hand found its way to his throat, pinning him down. With a choked breath he struggled to pry the now giant human off of him, but was only met with another punch to the face.

Anthony pulled back to strike another blow, however paused upon hearing a faint cough. He looked back and his grip on Gadriel loosened completely. As the giant fell limp to the floor Anthony rushed over to the table and crouched over the stirring human. “Ben?” He whispered, tentatively reaching out and resting a hand behind him. Tilting the humans head up, he slipped a bit more of his hand under him to prop up Benjamin.

The human’s eyes began to open. However once they were he immediately started to panic, looking around frantically and trying to crawl away. A pained groan left him every time he moved his ankles.

“Hey.” Anthony said softly, lowering himself a bit more and leaning closer. “It’s okay, it’s not him.” He chanced a hesitant smile. “C’mon, you know this face, right?”

Benjamin slowly moved his head to look back at the familiar giant, eyes glistening slightly as the recognition kicked in. “...Anthony?” He murmured. “How-”

“Let’s not get into that right now. In fact, let’s just get out of here.” He carefully pulled the human onto his hand, minding the ankles and trying not to move them too much. “I need both hands free.” Anthony moved the hand to the inner pocket of his jacket. “Think you can get settled in?”

His passenger simply nodded and he waited for Benjamin to climb inside. He inwardly winced as the pained yelp that came from his brother as they inevitably landed on their feet inside. “You okay?” Anthony lightly pressed his thumb inside the pocket against the human’s shoulder to reassure himself that his brother was really there. He felt a miniscule grip on the pad of his thumb, eliciting a relieved smile. 

Looking at Gadriel's crumpled form the smile faltered into something darker. He walked over and crouched down, delivering one last punch to the giant’s face before quickly exiting the office. Anthony closed the door and headed down the hall. 

He kept his pace brisk but didn’t sprint, not wanting to attract too much attention. Once at the elevator, he pressed the down button and entered. Getting out in theory would be easier than getting in, now that Anthony was at the proper size to interact with the world normally. All he needed to do was walk out and not be noticed.

The elevator doors opened to the scene of the busy lobby, all it took was one person to turn his direction. “Who the hell are you?” One of the paper pushers asked. Anthony froze as more stares were directed at him. His white jacket and orange clothes didn’t exactly fit the older style that everyone else had. 

“Uhhhh…” Anthony started spamming the close button.

“Hey! Stop right there!” One of the officers yelled, running towards the now closed elevator doors. He selected the top floor again.

“Okay, different way.” Anthony casually said to himself, tapping his boot on the floor while trying to think of an alternative exit. The doors opened again and before he left, a red button with the label ‘emergency stop’ above it caught his eye. Without much thinking Anthony pressed it resulting in two things happening.

The elevator shuddered with a metallic clunk, which he assumed to mean it was immobile. Then came the alarm which sounded from a speaker inside. “Shit.” He hissed, stepping out into the hall. His gaze gravitated to the fire alarm and then to the staircase down a separate hall. Already he could hear the pounding of footsteps as officers raced upstairs to get him.

Anthony pulled the alarm lever, resulting in a building wide ringing echoing through the halls. The effect was almost immediate, with other employees exiting their offices and making their way to the staircase. A grin formed on his face hearing ‘out of the way!’ and ‘ move!’ along with other annoyances as a mob descended upon his pursuers.

Eventually it did start to subside. The strength in Benjamin’s arms and legs slowly came back, steadying his shaky stance into something more collected. The pain lulled itself out to flashes of discomfort as the liquid was flushed out of his system. At last he could hear more than the beat of his own heart. Above him was a constant creak from the ceiling fan, and the ruffling of paper in front as the giant still seemed to be working.

He was tempted to stand, but refrained. Currently, Benjamin was at a complete disadvantage on all fronts. Every action mattered, and every scrap of advantage he could get his hands on no matter how small would be worth it. Even if it was just a slight discrepancy of information.

Benjamin gave a pained groan and allowed himself to fall onto the desk. From there, he’d let out a noise that would indicate the solution was working. Gadriel still didn’t pay any mind, giving him an opportunity to finally think.

The primary concern of course was escape, with the biggest obstacle being his size. In fact, most of his problems on this planet seemed to be derived by that single factor.

From his current position, he couldn’t see anything of help. The edge of the desk held nothing but a several story drop and the furniture past that were too far to be of any use. His gaze went back to what was actually on the desk, particularly to a wooden tray. He couldn’t see inside it but Benjamin figured it was one of those organizers meant to hold various office supplies.

Before he could think any further, his ears rang at a high pitched bell being struck in rapid succession. The bombardment of noise continued again, coming from the side his head wasn’t facing. A curious “Hm?” was heard from Gadriel, and Benjamin flinched as the shadow of his hand temporarily casted him in darkness.

A distinct click noise sounded before the giant spoke. “Yes?” Despite the increased volume of everything around him, Benjamin was unable to hear what the person on the other line was saying.  Though he figured that it couldn’t have been good news for Gadriel as the giant gave an annoyed huff. “Fine, yes I’ll be there shortly.”  Benjamin suppressed a flinch as the handset of the phone was slammed back onto the hook. From there, it was a silence that made his skin crawl. Everything was still, and so was he. 

The human didn’t dare to move, almost feeling pinned down by the looming stare being directed out of sight. Benjamin practically was holding his breath as Gadriel stood up from the desk, with a low rumble sounding as the chair was pushed in. He waited for the creaking of the door followed by it being closed, still not moving until the ground no longer shook from his captor’s footsteps.

After having let out a deep breath, he pushed himself back up and resumed his analysis of the desk. He was more so interested in the wooden tray, and Benjamin quickly walked over to check what was inside.

Given his stature, he had to climb up the wall of the tray to properly take in its inventory. The contents were what one would expect in an office, a stapler, note paper, pens, and some thumbtacks to the side. Benjamin stared at the assortment of tools at his disposal with a furrowed brow. Nothing immediately screamed useful, after all they were just office supplies. How could they possibly help him down?

It was then that Benjamin realized he needed to think outside of his own head. He wanted climbing gear, or a hoverpack, but it was clear that he needed to make use of what was around him.

The human hopped off the tray, starting to walk off in a random direction. “What would Anthony do?” He muttered to himself, looking around. This time with a different headspace. His gaze landed on the old rotary phone. “...He’d definitely cut the power line out of spite.” He scoffed to himself. “Not exactly helpful.”

Benjamin then turned to the chair that the giant had been using and tilted his head. He looked at it a bit longer as the gears in his mind were jumpstarted. After a moment he realized why it had caught his attention in the first place. The back support was cushioned, and so was the seat. “Dangerous and stupid.” He whispered to himself.

Turning back to the supply tray, he jogged over and climbed up into it. Benjamin grabbed two thumbtacks and tossed them over the wall onto the desk. Once he was out, wielded the two like ice picks and began walking to the edge of the desk closest to the office chair.

The closer he got, the wider the gap he’d have to jump appeared. “...Really dangerous and stupid.” Benjamin said with a shaky breath. “God how does he do it.”

He paused just at the edge and looked at the distance required to get to the back of the chair. The grip tightened on the thumbtacks and he took a deep breath. “For the crew.” Benjamin muttered, trying to move his legs to back up and do a running start. “Do it for them.” With heavy hesitation he began backing up, pausing ten paces away from the edge.

Benjamin stood there for a moment before breaking out into a sprint. The hammering of the heart was back in his ear as he leapt off the desk into the air. As he sailed towards the back of the chair, time seemed to slow down.

His vision was filled by the back cushion and he pointed the sharp end of the thumbtacks forward.

The pointed ends effortlessly plunged into the plush surface, and the force caused his hands to slip. Benjamin’s breath caught as he struggled to regain the strength of his grip, with his left hand failing on him.

A yelp left him as it slipped off the thumbtack, leaving the human hanging on the other one. With a frustrated growl he grabbed the left thumbtack and gasped for air.

He had completed his first objective, get off the desk. Though that still left him with just another which was to get off the chair.

Benjamin slowly pulled out the right thumbtack and lowered it. Once secured into the cushion, he did the same with the left one. He repeated this process dozens of times and occasionally stopped to catch his breath.

Eventually, he made it down. Twenty feet descended, thirty more to go. 

Placing the improvised climbing picks down he observed his surroundings. The chair stood on a wheel base, so using the same method of climbing wouldn’t work. Benjamin carefully made his way to the edge of the seat and began scouting his surroundings for any points of interest. That’s when he spotted the seat adjuster.

“How does he live like this?” He grumbled to himself. Jumping to the cushion had already shot his nerves but the next stunt blew that way out of the water.

He carefully placed himself over the edge of the seat, aligning himself with the end of the adjuster. This time it was a lot more difficult to execute the next move. At the very least with jumping to the seat, there was cushion to at least guarantee that the injury would only hurt. And not be excruciatingly painful.

It didn’t exactly compare to letting himself fall several feet down to what was essentially a giant pole that he could easily slip off if not careful. Leading to a thirty foot drop and what would most certainly be a critical injury.

Benjamin’s entire body had tensed up, and he figured that now was the time. Any further hesitation would just leave him frozen in fear for Gadriel to come in.

With that possibility constantly playing out in his head, it was enough to allow his legs to relax slightly. 

“Hoh shit-” Benjamin said with a sucked in breath as he slipped off the cushion and dropped. His stomach sank as he held out his arms to catch the seat adjustor. 

The human’s hands managed to catch on, though the impact drew a pained grunt as his fingers bore the brunt of his weight abruptly pulling on them. Benjamin’s heart started to race again as he dangled several stories above the ground. Looking to his right, it was about ten feet to the cylinder supporting the actual seat.

A grimace formed his face. Benjamin’s arms were already sore from the climb and now the impact. 

Despite this, he knew he needed to push on. He wouldn’t give up on those depending on him simply because his arms hurt a bit.

With a deep breath, Benjamin began scooting his hands to the right side to get him closer to the support cylinder. Much like the climb down from the back cushion, the process was tedious. Progress for him was measured in inches, but he did eventually make it to his destination. Bracing both feet against the cylinder relieved some of the weight on his hands, offering a bit of respite for the time being.

Benjamin looked at the support structure and realized that it was essentially a giant pole. He couldn’t fit his arms around it completely but he figured it still would be enough to slow his descent down to prevent injury.

Prepping himself only took a few deep breaths before swinging himself back and aiming for the cylinder. He grabbed it with both hands and hugged it as hard as he could.

The human would find himself sliding down towards the base, not at the rate he hoped for but slow enough that the landing would just hurt a bit.

A small grumble of discomfort sounded from him as landed on the base. From there, it was just another short hop to the ground.

He wasted no time gunning for the door. Getting down from the desk had already taken more time than he was comfortable with, and every second just meant a higher likelihood of Gadriel coming back. Benjamin pushed his legs to maintain the sprint towards the door, which loomed ever higher as he got closer. A hopeful smile lit up his face, the door was just a few dozen paces away. 

All it took was the slightest tremor to wipe the smile, and for him to slow down to a crawl. Another tremor, each one growing stronger and coming quicker than the last. Gadriel was back.

From everything he had down to reach the door, Benjamin was exhausted. Almost ready to give up. Still, the human gathered up his strength and turned around to run away from the door. Not only did he have to deal with the consequences of Gadriel discovering his escape attempt, he was keen on not getting smacked like a fly from the towering piece of wood known as the door.

Having less stamina, Benjamin ultimately did not make it. He was still in range, and when the door swept open, it was almost as if he’d been hit by a semitruck.

The impact was nearly bone breaking and it sent him flying to the side towards the wall. Benjamin rolled several times with pained yelps, with his body and limbs taking hits at awkward angles. He came to a rest several feet away from the wall, barely able to stand up again after taking such punishment.

Inevitably, the human was cast in darkness. “See? This is exactly what I mean. How could you have possibly gotten down from the desk?” He only groaned at what was said, using his hands to lift himself up a bit. Looking to his left, Benjamin spotted the underside of a closet. The gap between it and the floor was low enough to make it difficult to get him if he was under. Reaching out, he began to crawl over.

“Trying to get back to the desk? Here, let me help you.” A harsh flinch left Benjamin as fingers the size of tree trunks wrapped around his body. The sudden heat emanating from the appendages made his skin crawl as the grip tightened around him, his stomach dropping as he was lifted into the air. 

Gadriel kept him close to his chest while walking back to the desk. His gaze was directed at his chair, where the two thumbtacks that Benjamin had used were left behind. “Huh…” He muttered, picking them up and placing them back onto the tray. From there he sat down, but didn’t put the human back quite yet.

“You know, if you were actually one of us, I’d kill to have you a part of the force.” The giant said almost off handedly, with Benjamin looking at him with a furrowed brow. “Resilience like yours is rare, and that loyalty? It’s hard to come by nowadays.” He said, bearing a stare down at the human. “If only you could provide that to us, because if you did we could provide something in return.”

Benjamin again was prepared to deny the offer but was interrupted by Gadriel. “If I remember correctly, you had a child aboard your ship did you not?” The giant tilted his head, eyes gleaming seeing the slightest glimmer of an emotion that he had not yet seen in the human. A protective fire aimed directly at him with confidence that rivaled his own.

“If you hurt her-”

“I will do no such thing, I just think that with all of you on the run. All that stress and wondering how you’re going to survive the next day. Is that really the best thing for her?” Gadriel leaned on the desk with his elbows, taking up a more relaxed stance. “...You do want what’s best for her, right?” He asked with a faux tone of empathy, bringing the hand a bit closer to his face.

“I do.” Benjamin said, with the giant arcing a brow and waiting with bated breath. “And what’s best for her and my crew is that they leave this planet and get as far as they can from you.” 

The silence that followed saw Gadriel’s usually neutral facade journey through several emotions. At its forefront, shock. Which twisted into confusion fused with a bit of annoyance. And finally, unfiltered unapologetic hatred.

He didn’t even say anything while opening up his hand and allowing Benjamin to fall through. This time, there was no cushion or part of the chair to save the human. 

A distinct snap preceded a yell of pain as Benjamin landed on his ankles and fell to the surface of the desk, splayed out in front of the giant.

The doors opened and he stepped inside, a bit relieved that no one else occupied the elevator. Gadriel selected the top floor, and leaned back against the wall.

Just one little obstacle, and then we have an entire world to ourselves.

He was pulled out of his internal dialogue by feeling yet more movement in the pocket.

Surely it realizes there’s no point in this?

As if to answer, Gadriel felt the miniscule form start to rise up. Perhaps it had found leverage and was attempting to pull itself up and out. He simply held the spot where the human was and closed his fist. Obviously, they were no good to him dead. A firm, but not suffocating grasp wrapped around the human’s fabric prison. It brought no harm, only an all encompassing presence that silently told him to stop.

He felt a swell of emotion, it was difficult to put into words. A mix of pride, and satisfaction. A powertrip with the dial turned to the max setting.

That’s what will sell, that feeling. And that was just a small taste of the potential.

The doors opened, bringing him back to the real world. He peeled off the back wall of the elevator and headed straight down the hall to his office.

Gadriel fetched the key from his pants and opened the door. Walking over to his desk, he opened his trenchcoat and dug his hand into the inner pocket.

It took a few tries, by virtue of the human refusing to stay still, and by Gadriel not wanting to break anything. Eventually his hands settled for a tight grip around the torso, lifting it up out of the pocket. 

Once out, he held his hand an inch above the desk before letting go. The human stumbled slightly, and he watched. Not out of amusement, as Gadriel honed in on their gaze. Once it was back on its feet they were looking around, and not in a frantic way. The human took in their surroundings, almost analyzing them before moving on to a different point of interest.

“Don’t bother escaping, there isn’t a safeway down.” Gadriel said, turning around to hang his trenchcoat on the hangar fixed to the door. He heard the faint pitter patter of tiny steps against the surface of the desk, though he continued on as if not hearing anything. 

Even as he faced the desk again, Gadriel simply sauntered over. As predicted, the human barely made it halfway to the edge. 

Raising his hand, he formed a fist and slammed it down just in front of them. He had to cloak his surprise behind a neutral face as the human was actually sent back a bit and stumbled over. While it recovered, Gadriel took a seat. 

Doing so was strange, and only because of the situation he found himself in. He was the center of attention, an image so unavoidable that every action, no matter how insignificant to him, mattered greatly. Gadriel was sitting down, something he did so thoughtlessly so often. Now, that action held greater weight than him simply doing it out of comfort or rest.

He sat up straighter than he usually would, fixing his posture to be ever so slightly taller. Gadriel rested his other hand behind the human, and directed a neutral stare down at it. The feeling swelled again, alighting his nerves like a refreshing chill. It only solidified his resolve. This kind of high, no one could resist it.

At this point, the human finally got back on its two legs. Gadriel watched as it turned around to fully face him and much to his surprise, actually met his gaze. While thinking he idly drummed the fingers on his left hand, which slightly broke the human’s firm stance. A subtle reminder of their position.

“It’s funny, I’ve had to deal with some rather problematic people of interest throughout my career. Of all of them, I’m not quite sure they’d come close to the amount of headaches you’ve caused me.” Despite the first two words, Gadriel’s face hardly suggested any amusement. “It’s… A humbling experience.” His tone sounded as if the words had to crawl and fight their way up to be said. 

The human simply looked up at him with confused unease, not sure what to make of what the giant in front of him was saying. “It’s infuriating for one. You gave me so much trouble and to see you here now, and understand how helpless you truly are. How could you have ever slipped away so many times?”

The edge of Gadriel’s lip curved upwards, practically imperceptible to someone his size, but very much noticeable to the human. “It drives me mad to one end but at the same time… It fascinates me.” The slightest slip of curiosity escaped his tone. “The way you’ve gotten away from my grasp, that requires more than just using your size to your advantage. You’re,” He paused, carefully selecting his next word. “Different.”

Gadriel only received a continuation of the perplexed stare and lack of words, and so continued. “What I’m trying to say is that you strike me as the more reasonable of your crew, so I won’t dance around and I’ll get straight to the point.” He leaned in slightly, casting a shadow over the human. “You’re going to tell me the location of your ship, and how to reverse engineer its technology.”

Even being surrounded completely on all sides, they stood their ground. It took them a moment to muster a steady voice. “No.” It said, “I know what you want, and I can’t let that happen.”

The slightest curve of a smile appeared on Gadriel's face, though it contained no warmth. “I get it.” He said with a fake sympathetic almost mocking tone. “You want what's best for your kind. I want what’s best for my people. But sometimes, what’s best is to be on the right side of history.” Gadriel made sure his gaze bore into the human’s. “I know I am, not sure about yourself if you continue on this path.”

He relaxed slightly, attempting to try a different angle. “If you gave us the ship, and showed us how to utilize its technology, no harm would ever come to any of you.” Gadriel moved his hands a bit away from the human, though they were still plenty close enough to just snatch them. “In fact, you’d probably be hailed as a hero. Modern day prometheus granting us fire from the gods. Key to a new era of prosperity for our people. You’d be treated like royalty, you’d have a life better than the one you have now.”

Gadriel lowered himself slightly. “Aren’t you tired of running? Worrying about surviving day to day? I can make all of those problems disappear.” He said in a quieter tone. The human was more or less still rigid in the same position, which he silently took in with disappointment. Though still pressed on. “All you need to do is tell me where the ship is. We’ll take in your crew and they can rest easy knowing that you made the right choice.”

He was unsure if the words got to the human, as it was quiet for a solid minute. Gadriel leaned in a bit closer as they started to speak. “I made my choice already, and I won’t give up the ship to someone like you.”

The last three words echoed within Gadriel’s head, and his expression soured along with narrowed eyes. Of all the things that could’ve been said, an insinuation that he was somehow lesser than the creature in front of him completely cut out the possibility of talking things out.

Without warning, his hand shot towards the human. He barely left them any room to breathe as they were rocketed up to his face, being stared down by a sharp glare. “Then what happens next is entirely on you.” Using his freehand, Gadriel opened the drawer on his desk.

The human’s eyes widened seeing a needle the size of a car in the giant’s hand, and all the shaky confidence seemed to crumble there as the struggles started up again. Gadriel only needed to tighten his grip. “Squirming will only help circulate the fluid through your body quicker.” He simply said.

Gadriel deliberately hovered the needle above the hand holding the human. As he tested it by pushing the injector slightly, a drop fell from the tip. 

It landed right next to them, the reaction was immediate. Their eyes started to water, and they closed after only a few seconds. “Feel that?” After looking away, they coughed a few times. “Awful to inhale. Even worse once inside.”

He lowered the syringe, aiming to inject through the shoulder. “Wait!” The human rasped with a cough. They didn’t get to say another word. 

“You made your choice, now you’ll live by it.” Gadriel calmly said as the needle punctured just below their collar bone.

A yelp left them as the effect of the needle puncturing their skin was similar to being stabbed with a knife. Then came the burning.

Had the human been his size, Gadriel would’ve been worried about the pained screams attracting the attention of the station staff. The small pair of lungs could only produce a volume which barely made it to the door. To an outside perspective, the room was quiet.

“It’s a shame you really won’t be able to pay attention to this because it’s actually quite fascinating.” He pulled out the syringe, with blood starting to seep out the wound. “The serum, despite the amount of pain you’re feeling, isn’t really doing anything harmful.”

Gadriel put the syringe back into the drawer, and in the same motion he placed the human back onto the desk. They collapsed onto the ground, attempting to hold themself up on shaking arms. “All it’s doing is simply telling your pain receptors that you’re burning.” He pulled out a different drawer, though it only contained some files and paperwork. “It’s so difficult nowadays to get approval to use it, but that’s the great thing about you.”

Curiosity got the best of him, and he changed paths accordingly. It would be a few minutes until the human got to the larger bathroom, exiting from a door out of the wall just next to the entrance. From there he was greeted with a sight that compelled him to take his time to announce himself.

The giant was standing in front of the mirror, leaned over on the sink shirtless. Next to his left hand was a glass of scotch with two spherical pieces of ice, and on the other hand was a cigarette. Occasionally Donovan took a drag, followed by a sip of his drink.

Must’ve been a tough job.

Ciel directed his gaze to the giant’s chest specifically, trying to not get distracted by certain features and focus on what could possibly warrant such a combination. He found it in the form of a knife slash in the center of the chest, stitched and surrounded by lighter cuts underneath the stitching. 

By this point, the human had been standing there for a couple of minutes. Still not making his presence known. Donovan looked over at the human entrance on instinct, scoffing on it being correct. “How long have you just been staring at me?”

A smirk formed on Ciel’s face. “Not long enough.” He said, casually leaning against the door frame. “Need help with that?” 

“I know how to patch myself up.” Donovan said while grabbing a double edged dagger that had been sitting in the sink. The blade had small specks of blood decorating the edge.

He held it up to the stitching and tried to slip it under to cut the threads. His breath hitched as the blade started to cut into the skin and he quickly pulled back. “God damn it.” He muttered. His eyes narrowed and he turned towards the human, expecting a reaction.

As predicted, Ciel was staring at him with a shit eating grin. “You must’ve been a surgeon in a previous life.” The comment drew the giant away from the sink and he put the cigarette out by pressing the lit end onto the counter. Heavy steps forced Ciel to lean against the door frame to maintain composure as the lights above were eclipsed by the immense form of Donovan. Despite the display, he simply shot him a smirk. This was standard intimidation for debt collection and other odd jobs. While anyone outside of their criminal organization might’ve crumbled, his heart simply raced. The same way it did when a job got more exciting, or after walking away from a fight that he had no chance in winning.

“Use your words, I believe in you.” The smirk only grew seeing the restrained contempt in Donovan’s eyes.

“Take the damn stitches off.” The giant said with a huff, lowering his hand next to the catwalk. Ciel took his sweet time, slowly peeling off the door frame and sauntering to the railing. He vaulted the barrier and landed on the hand which rose up to the chest.

Donovan went back to the sink where he grabbed the glass of scotch to take a swig. Putting it back down he adjusted the hand so that it would be directly in front of the wound. 

Ciel took out the switch blade stored in his pocket, flicking the knife out and moving to the closest thread. He braced a hand on the warm surface, suppressing a smug smile feeling an ever so slight flinch. Placing the blade on the thread, Ciel slowly began to cut through.

At a smaller scale, accidental cuts were less of a concern. And with how tightly wound the stitches were, they practically pulled apart once Ciel was halfway through a thread.

When one snapped, he’d pulled it out from the skin. Slowing down anytime a sound of discomfort was heard from Donovan. Occasionally Ciel would feel the pad of a thumb run down his back, taking its time to give silent thanks.

The process continued until all that was left was the slash mark the length of a car. “I think that’s it. Can’t do anything with the scar, though I wouldn’t want to anyway. It looks nice on you.” He looked up to meet an exasperated and bashful smile on Donovan’s face. 

“Thanks.” He simply said, starting to move to the catwalk again.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ciel asked. “I don’t work for free.” The human said with a knowing grin.

Donovan stopped, looking down with an amused expression. “Really?”

“I’m afraid so.” Ciel had crossed his arms. “Pay up.” He said it in a similar tone used for some of their more problematic debtors, and to see it used in such a trivial exchange finally brought out the mischievous glint usually present in Donovan’s eyes.

He silently complied, raising the hand upwards to his face.

Much like Ciel had done, he took his team in dishing out his payment. His smug face hovered near the hand, a teasing smile adorned on his lips. The human stood waiting, growing more and more unamused as the seconds ticked by. Donovan leaned in a bit closer, opening his mouth again but quickly closing them. 

“Really?” He huffed, taking a step closer to the edge. 

Donovan finally gave in and leaned his head forward, gently pressing lips that covered the entirety of the human’s top half. A soft smile lit his face feeling a smaller pair return the favor, which turned smug as Ciel pulled back. He simply pushed forward, quickly eliminating the gap.

The human started to backpedal but that didn’t help much as he crashed into Donovan’s fingers, which curled inwards and pressed him more into his lips.

“Dawn.” A muffled voice said. “I-I got it.”

He simply smirked, not moving an inch. “You sure? I wanna make sure I’m fully paid off.” Donovan pressed again, resulting in another kiss.

“Yeah-” Ciel was cut off as another came. “C’mon-” And another. “Asshole-”

“You’re cutting out.” Donovan snickered, finally pulling back.

The human was somehow more disheveled than when they had come in. Ciel’s hair was completely tussled and clothes crumpled as if just coming straight out of the drier. And of course there was the face, completely flustered in a red shade.