30 Minutes Later

“Where is he?”

Davídrius slammed to a stop immediately after slashing two Bleeder gang members and looked around, scowling, before whipping around and dashing off again, ignoring the chaos and carnage trailing behind him.

“Where is he?!”

He dove underneath a fireball and then leaped up just in time to rebound off of a Bleeder artillery piece, knocking it over and flattening its two operators in the process. The Velocitechnic then leaped on top of the machine and launched his rapiers at two other Bleeders before glancing around irately.

“He’s not fucking here!!”

“Davídrius—?”

“What is it?!”

Kaoné stumbled backwards, bewildered by Davídrius’s furious outburst. Immediately Siyuakén jumped over and stepped in between the two of them. “Calm down!” she demanded as she stared up at the Velocitechnic. “Keep this up and you’ll go berserk!”

“Go berserk… tch,” he snarled. “If going berserk is what it takes to draw Strén out and murder his ass, then I’ll do it!”

Siyuakén narrowed her eyes, her fingers beginning to spark — but before she could offer a response to Davídrius’s claim, a quiet and horrified sob caught all of their attention. Snapping his eyes down to the source, the Velocitechnic slapped his Sword Boxes to reel in his rapiers, caught both by their hilts, and then jumped down to the injured Bleeder before holding one of the rapiers to his neck. “Where. Is. Strén?”

“He— he—  he w-went b-b-back to the, to the base!” the Bleeder squeaked.

“Why the hell did he do that?”

“I— I don’t know! I-I-I’m just a soldier!”

“Soldier? Ha!” Davídrius drove one of his rapiers into the injured man’s thigh, ignoring his pained yelp. “You’re a gang member! You ain’t even close to the level of a soldier—!”

“Davídrius…!”

He glared back at Kaoné, who was looking on in distress. His focus then shifted over to Siyuakén, who had crossed her arms as she watched with disapproval. “Tch…!” He growled before yanking his rapier out and stepping back. Kaoné immediately rushed forward to tend to the injured man’s wounds; Davídrius watched her out the corner of his eye, scowling deeply, before suddenly slamming his rapiers back into his Sword Boxes and turning his back on the scene. “…We’re goin’ after him.”

“You want to attack their base?” Siyuakén asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

“It’s one thing to attack a bunch of soldiers in open desert, but to go after them in their own base—!”

“Strén’s there,” Davídrius growled. “I already told you — I’ll do whatever it takes to kill that bastard.”

“But—”

“I’ll give you ten minutes to bring around the vehicle y’all came with. If you’re not at the compound exit within ten minutes, then I’ll assume y’all don’t want to come and leave on my own.” He then dashed off without waiting for a response from either Kaoné or Siyuakén.

“…We shouldn’t go,” Kaoné whimpered, “he’s too dangerous…”

“…Which is exactly why we should go,” Siyuakén muttered, glancing around at the devastation the Velocitechnic had caused on the desert plain during his fury-fueled search for Strén. She then turned toward the compound and began jogging toward it, gesturing for Kaoné to follow. “Given all this, someone has to look out for him…”

---

30 Minutes Later

“We’re here.”

“This is their base?” Kevérin responded incredulously, glancing between the two short buildings poking out of the sand.

“Aye.” Davídrius nodded as he jumped out of the vehicle. “What you’re lookin’ at are entrances. The actual base is all underground.”

“Underground? In sand—?”

“Strén’s a Geotechnic, sand don’t mean shit to him.” The Velocitechnic glanced back as Kevérin and Siyuakén jumped out of the vehicle as well. He then looked up at Kaoné. “You comin’?”

“I’ll… I’ll just stay here and… keep a look out,” she answered meekly.

“…Sure thing.” Davídrius turned back to the buildings and approached one of them. Before moving to open the door, he turned back to address Kevérin and Siyuakén. “The base ain’t that advanced. There shouldn’t be any alarms, not any base-wide ones at least. Not the last time I checked.”

“Well now that you said it there’s definitely going to be base-wide alarms,” Kevérin deadpanned.

“Doesn’t change what we came here to do,” Davídrius replied, “we go in, find Strén, and kill the bastard. Even if there’s alarms we shouldn’t have trouble, since we’re Chaotics. I made sure to destroy any Negation Tech they had the last time I was here, too.”

“You’ve attacked the base before? Solo?!”

“I was bein’ stealthy then,” he stated, and then immediately slashed through the door with his sabers, shattering one of the blades in the process. He kicked the door down and discarded the broken saber before finishing, “this time, we’re takin’ ‘em head-on. No quarter… no mercy.” He then dashed through the door, leaving the Pyro and Electrotechnic to follow in his wake. They glanced at each other warily before entering themselves and jumping down the stairwell Davídrius had broken through — only to find themselves trapped between six autoturrets.

“What the—!?” Siyuakén scowled as she quickly dispatched the turrets with a blast of lightning. “He said the base wasn’t advanced!”

“Where’d he even go?” Kevérin glanced around.

“Probably just ran past…” Siyuakén commented, “you saw his saber break against the door. He’s not equipped to fight synthetic targets.”

“But we are,” Kevérin added. “…At least it’ll be easier fighting robots instead of people.”

“Yeah…” Siyuakén sighed uneasily. “Let’s just… let’s get going.”

---

“Haaaah!!”

Davídrius rammed into a gang-member head-long, bowling her over and toppling the other two Bleeders standing in the hallway. The Velocitechnic then stabbed each of them in the legs before jumping into cover to evade machine-gun fire from further down the hall. After taking a quick breath he drew his remaining saber and charged out into the line of fire, easily deflecting each and every bullet with the sword. Before he could even progress ten meters, however, the blade broke; he immediately threw himself to the side and then dashed forward, generating a sonic boom that reached the machine gunners shortly after he had smashed through their barricade and brought the gun toppling down on top of them. He paused for a moment, stunned from the impact, but recovered quickly and began storming down the now resistance-less hallway as he hastily checked each adjacent room.

“Tch,” he grunted as he grasped his aching right shoulder. “Where is that bastard…” he muttered through gritted teeth as he burst into another room. Seeing that it was empty, he turned around, scowling.

“Chaos Cannon!!”

Davídrius thrust himself to the side, just in time to avoid a Chaos Energy projectile as it slammed into the doorway and obliterated the entire wall. Drawing his rapiers, the Velocitechnic leaped through the resultant debris cloud and dashed toward the source of the attack call, blindly thrusting his blades forward — only for them to be deflected. As soon as he felt the contact he threw himself to the ground, waiting a moment for the debris to clear before leaping back up into a defensive stance.

“Woooow, you’re pretty good~!”

Davídrius narrowed his eyes as a short woman stepped out of the debris cloud. Between her short brown hair and simple off-white dress, nothing about her stood out — aside from the fact that she had just used a Chaos attack. “…Who are you?” the Velocitechnic questioned warily.

“Aw, you should know that,” the woman responded, her tone filled with disappointment. “I’m a Chaostechnic!”

“I meant your name.”

“Ooooh~? You’ve never heard of me before?”

“I’ve never met a Chaostechnic before. If you don’t tell me who you are, I’ll just have to knock you out.”

“How cute, thinking you can take me on!”

“I may’ve never fought a Chaostechnic before, but I know how your attacks work. I only have to hit you before you can finish callin’ ‘em.”

“Can you really do that though~?”

“Tch…” Davídrius scowled, irritated by the woman’s light-hearted manner of speaking. “I’m a Velocitechnic. The type of Chaotic best suited for taking on your kind.”

“That’s what you think~.”

The Velocitechnic responded with silence as he quickly considered his options. He wasn’t fooled by her playful demeanor; she was a member of the Bleeders, after all. And on top of that, she was a Chaostechnic — one of the most powerful types of Chaotics. All Chaotics use Chaos Energy as a medium to facilitate their supernatural abilities, but only Chaostechnics interact with Chaos Energy directly, freely using and shaping it to their will. Doing so requires the use of verbal keywords, unlike other Chaotic types, so Chaostechnics are generally slow to attack and highly predictable. But when they do attack, they can cause mass devastation with relative ease, and can pierce through even the most durable of defenses.

Davídrius had never faced a Chaostechnic in battle before, but he at least knew that his best strategy was to attack his opponent before she could finish declaring any keywords — and his super speed was uniquely suited to accomplish just that. He adjusted his stance to prepare for combat and then leaped forward, but she reacted in the same split-second he used to change his posture.

“Chaos Explosion!”

A burst of Chaos Energy behind Davídrius threw him forward. The woman quickly called “Chaos Blade” and thrust the newly-created sword of Chaos Energy toward the off-balance Velocitechnic, but he managed to parry the blade away from his stomach. He then allowed himself to drop to the ground before swinging his feet around in an arc, knocking the Chaostechnic off of hers. Immediately he jumped up and moved to stab her but she reacted quickly enough to roll over and call out “Chaos Strike!” This being his first encounter with a Chaostechnic, Davídrius had no way of preparing himself against the incoming bolt of Chaos Energy that stunned him and threw him backwards. As he tumbled along the ground, the woman pulled herself back to a standing stance before muttering “Chaos Strike” several more times in quick succession. With the attack name muttered instead of outright called, the resulting bolts were less powerful, but they were still fast enough to keep Davídrius on his toes and unable to approach without harm.

“Oooh, you’re actually pretty bad for a Velocitechnic,” the woman commented, “I wonder, how did Strén ever have trouble with you…”

Davídrius didn’t reply. Instead, he dashed forward at supersonic speeds, reaching the Chaostechnic and roundhouse-kicking her in the stomach before she could even perceive his movements. The force of the kick knocked her all the way down the hallway and into the far wall; the Velocitechnic immediately blasted off after her, prepared to run her through with his rapiers.

“Chaos Arrow! Chaos Arrow!!”

Davídrius dodged to the left to avoid the first arrow of Chaos Energy, and ducked to avoid the second. He then gasped as something pierced his right arm; the sudden pain caused him to lose focus and stumble into the wall, his rapiers dragging behind him as he clutched his arm.

“That was too easy~!”

“How did you survive that…?!” The Velocitechnic turned to glare at the woman standing some distance away. “What did you do?!”

“Hmm, you really have never fought a Chaostechnic before, have you?” she responded, “you’re right that Velocitechnics are the best Chaotics to take us down, but, wow, you’re really bad at this. You could’ve had me once, if you had used your swords instead of kicking me. But you didn’t! So now I’m here, and I’ve won~!”

“Not… yet!” Davídrius declared, crouching before taking off again. He almost immediately stumbled over again, though, as a gash opened up across his chest right as he passed by the woman. “Guaghh—!” he spluttered, quickly attempting to stand up as he turned around to face the Chaostechnic — who was once again wielding a sword of Chaos Energy. He scowled. “When did you—?”

“You don’t have to hear me call the attack for it to work,” the woman responded, grinning. She then lunged for the Velocitechnic who reflexively moved to block her attack only to misjudge his remaining strength, stumble over, and drop his rapier on the floor. He quickly scrambled back to his feet and backed away, not even bothering to reel in his blades as they dragged along the ground in front of him.

Damn it, he thought angrily, to be brought down like this…! He took a deep breath and finally reeled in his rapiers, catching each by the hilt.

“You can still fight?” The Chaostechnic cocked her head inquisitively. “You’re all over the place! First I thought you were good, then I thought you were bad. Looks like I was wrong again, you’re pretty persistent! Oh well. Time to stop playing around~!”

What’s she… shit. Davídrius squinted as his vision blurred momentarily. Damn. Need to… take her out… in one go. Just one dash! C’mon, you can do this—!

“Chaos…!”

Here we go!

“Bla—ack!?”

Both combatants were interrupted as the wall to their side spontaneously blasted inward, followed by a gigantic plume of fire. Davídrius immediately reversed his dash to retreat from the heat but soon collapsed from fatigue. He glanced toward the Chaostechnic just in time to see Siyuakén vault over the metal scrap and begin vigorously attacking the woman as Kevérin rushed to help the Velocitechnic.

“Wha…at?” Davídrius muttered in confusion, watching Siyuakén chase the unknown woman down the hallway and around a corner.

“That was us saving your ass,” Kevérin declared as he looked Davídrius’s injured body up and down. “And not a moment too late, too. You really took a beating!”

The Velocitechnic growled. “Don’t mock me—!”

“Get over yourself!” the Pyrotechnic snapped. When Davídrius responded with a dumbfounded look, Kevérin continued, “look, you’re not the hotshot you seem to think you are. You’re just one guy, with no actual training. I watched you ‘fight’ back on the desert and it’s pretty clear that no one taught you how to use a sword. On top of that, those Sword Boxes of yours really hamper your ability to move. Your entire move set involves dashing at people and cutting them with your swords on the way past. You can’t even do the typical Velocitechnic acrobatics with those things on. I guess this base was actually kinda conductive to your straight-forward attacks, but it’s no wonder you had trouble trying to fight another Chaotic in these hallways. You can’t even alter the terrain!”

“…Tch.” Davídrius scowled, and then smirked despite himself. “…I don’t know which is worse, that you pissed me off, or that you proved my opinion of you wrong. You actually ain’t half bad.”

“I told you, we aren’t rookies.”

“I guess I have to give ya that much…” the Velocitechnic replied, and then began getting back to his feet. “Good thing y’all came along. Now, time to find Strén…”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold it!” Kevérin quickly stepped in front of Davídrius, blocking the way further down the hallway. “You aren’t going anywhere except back outside.”

Davídrius glowered at Kevérin. “…If you take that back right now, I’ll pretend you never said it.”

“You can’t be serious. With your body like that you’ll just get yourself killed! Look — you’re bleeding all over the place!”

The Velocitechnic glanced down at his lacerated torso, and then at his right arm, which he realized he had been clutching tightly with his left hand. Sure enough, in both locations the white under cloth had been turned a damp red – furthermore, part of the left side of his Sword Box harness had been sliced, leaving the left box to hang precariously from his belt alone. “O… oh…” he muttered, dumbfounded.

“Damn, you’re — tch. Hold out your arm.”

“Eh?”

“At this rate you’ll bleed to death if you don’t do something about the gashes. If you let me cauterize them they shouldn’t be an issue so long as you get actual medical help within the next few hours.”

“…You can do that?”

“I’m a Pyrotechnic, of course I can do that. …Though, only under one condition.”

Davídrius sighed irately. “You want me to go back.”

Kevérin nodded. “If you try to fight anyone as you are now, it’d just be suicide. There’s no way you’d even be able to beat that Strén guy, especially not when he’s waiting for you.”

The Velocitechnic looked down and scowled again. “Tch… fucking… damn it!” He then looked back to Kevérin. “Alright, fine. I’ll go back, but only if you can promise me something—”

“Siyuakén and I will take care of Strén. I give our word as the Hopeless Maniacs!”

“Keh, you can bet your ass y’all are hopeless.”

“…Uh, that’s not what I meant—”

“Sure it’s not. Now fix my damn wounds already!”

---

“Chaos Strike! Chaos Arrow!”

Siyuakén easily absorbed the Strike attack, taking advantage of its similarity to electricity to simply redirect the Chaos Energy back at the incoming Arrow, thus diverting the second attack. She continued chasing after the Chaostechnic, who had been attempting to shake Siyuakén off for the past five minutes as they weaved through hallways and down stairwells. Siyuakén had no idea exactly how far into the base she was, but as she rounded another corner and then jumped down another stairwell, she reckoned that she was at least seven levels below ground. This won’t be good if they decide to bring everything down on top of us… she thought warily, the desert sand will fill in any holes faster than we could possibly hope to escape…

She then threw herself to the side to evade a Mach-speed Chaos Energy projectile. Her forward momentum lost, she quickly thrust her arm out and fired her grappling hook, latching it into the wall at the far end of the hallway. She then rapidly reeled in the cord, yanking her forward and giving her a boost to continue chasing after the unknown woman. Unfortunately, the Chaostechnic was already out of sight around the next corner; scowling, Siyuakén pounded the metal walls with her palm and let loose a massive electric pulse that rushed through the entire hallway. Hoping to have at least stunned the woman, Siyuakén rounded the next corner with haste, ready to lay on the full-powered attacks—

—only to drop into a gigantic pit.

“What?!” she exclaimed, but wasted little time reacting. She fired both of her grappling hooks at opposite walls, but one of them failed to pierce the metal; as a result she soon found herself slamming painfully into the side of the metal pit. Ooooh… at least I’m not falling anymore…

“Chaos Arrow!”

Immediately Siyuakén jumped away from the wall, reeling in her grappling hook and then firing the other at a lower spot in the wall just fast enough to evade the Chaos Energy projectile. Upon realizing just how close to the floor she was, she deftly swung down and then released the hooks, sailing through the air until she landed on the ground below with a roll. As soon as she slowed down she leaped up into a standing position and looked around warily. She was now standing in a large circular room with flooring and walls covered by stone, but constructed of metal. The ceiling, in which there was a hole — the hole she had fallen though — was built of metal as well, and also partially covered by stone. The walls were mostly homogeneous except for two doors across the room from each other; Siyuakén would have quickly made her way toward one of the doors if a certain duo weren’t standing in her way.

“Heheheh… puahahahahah! You done well, Ind!” Strén guffawed. “Takin’ out that brat and leadin’ ‘is new buddies into the Destruction Room!”

“The what?…” Siyuakén scowled, backing into a defensive stance as she glanced between Strén and the Chaostechnic, whose name appeared to be Ind.

“Eh, well, it really wasn’t all that hard.” Ind shrugged casually. “He wasn’t nearly as hard to deal with as you said he would be.”

“Keheheh,” Strén chuckled. “Thas’ mah girl.” He then turned to address Siyuakén directly as he slammed his fists together in murderous glee. “You’ll regret the day you decided to try an’ fight the Bleeders!”

“Oh really…?” The Electrotechnic smirked despite her poor odds. “I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into. Well, it probably won’t be a bad thing for one of Hero Machina’s first accomplishments to be taking down dangerous gang leaders…”

Strén and Ind glanced at each other in amusement. “What’re you talkin’ about?” The large man snorted. “Ha! You think you actually got a chance?”

“I guess we’ll have to see,” Siyuakén retorted as her hands and arms began sparking dangerously. “Come at me!!”

“Well, if it ain’t the crusty old bastard again.”

“Hah! You talk big, but talk ain’t nothin’. You know what I’m here for. Talkin’ll just getcha killed!”

“Tch,” Davídrius snorted, glaring at the opposite side of the conversation in the distance. “Go home, Strén!” he growled into his handheld communicator, “you know what I’ve done to the rest of the Bleeder gang leaders in the area. I’ll do exactly the same to you!”

“Puahahahaha!” The Velocitechnic reflexively drew away from the communicator as its speakers exploded with laughter. “Looks like li’l Mister Protector’s ego has grown too big for his compound! Well it ain’t too late, if you apologize now an’ hand over the supplies, we’ll leave you and your purty little village intact.”

Davídrius looked up and then glanced over at a cannon mounted on the wall. He jerked his head forward before turning back to face the intruders — just in time for the cannon to spark and then fire a high-speed projectile. It zoomed toward the large man standing closest to the compound, but it was instantly obliterated as a large boulder popped out of the ground directly in its way.

“Hah! Cute,” Strén responded, “but, boy, you sure don’t know what you just got yourself into. Come sunrise tomorrow an’ I’ll be standin’ over your dead carcass!”

“Damn right you’ll be standing over my ‘dead carcass.’” Davídrius sneered. “You’ll have to kill me twice ‘fore you lay a hand on these walls!”

The gang leader didn’t respond. Instead, Davídrius could barely make out some hand motions before a high-speed projectile suddenly screamed straight toward his position — and was stopped by an invisible force parallel to the tall wall. Davídrius smirked as he watched the air shimmer slightly and then glanced around as a constant hail of projectiles began impacting the energy shield protecting the compound. He quickly switched the channel of his communicator and held it back up to his mouth. “Don’t bother firin’ back ‘til the shields have dropped to forty percent. Let’s see how much ammo we can get the bastards to waste.” He then stuffed the communicator into his jacket pocket before back-flipping off of the wall and to the ground below, where the three members of Hero Machina were standing.

“You have a shield generator too?” Kevérin exclaimed.

“You’d be surprised how much shit your little nation dumps on our coasts.”

“We don’t—”

“Listen, Captain Pyro, I don’t care for your excuses. I’ve seen with my own damn eyes that Tekdecénian ships dump shit on the coast. Bugger if I know if it’s your government or some stupid corporation, but it’s Tekdecénian, and that’s all I care.”

“Sooo…” Siyuakén spoke up, cutting short the brewing argument, “what’s the plan?”

“Huh?” Davídrius glanced back at her, his expression blank.

“…The plan?” she responded in exasperation, “you didn’t just provoke the leader of a gang to lay siege to your compound without a plan, did you?”

“Oh. Yeah, of course. The plan’s to attack after dusk.”

“…Really? That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it.” The Velocitechnic accompanied his response with a patronizing nod. “That’s all it takes against these stupid bastards. Provoke ‘em into wastin’ all their artillery on the shields and then when they ain’t got any real back-up, rush in and kill ‘em all.”

“Kill?…” Kaoné frowned.

“Yeah, kill,” Davídrius repeated as though it were only natural to say. “Tch. Don’t tell me y’all are still rookies.”

“We’re not rookies,” Kevérin retorted, “I’m a Transfer Captain—”

“Rank don’t mean shit if you don’t got any experience,” Davídrius cut in. “…Oi, oi, what do the world’s militaries do if their Chaotics just sit and twiddle their thumbs all day?”

“I take it you’re not in the military,” Siyuakén deadpanned.

“Hell no. There ain’t even a proper military for me to join.” He snorted in derision. “This place can’t afford for me to leave, anyway. Not now. ‘Til the three of you pranced up, Strén and I were the only Chaotics in the whole damn region. I’ve been knockin’ out as many of their camps as I can, but they keep poppin’ back up in different places. And I can’t beat Strén in a straight-up fight, he’s one of those lucky double Chaotics. Rocks and super strength. But now that the three of you are here…”

Kevérin crossed his arms, irritated. “You want to use us as your own brute squad?”

“Oi, I ain’t a fuckin’ Bleeder,” Davídrius growled. “You ain’t seen the shit they’ve pulled. The stuff they stole. They people they killed. The people they stole. You can’t tell me whether it’s right or wrong to fight fire with fire if you’ve never even sat in front of a smolderin’ wood chip!”

The other three Chaotics responded with uneasy silence.

“…This is my only demand for joinin’ your li’l troupe,” he continued, his voice lowered, “I dunno how bad you want me. I’ll admit I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you decided to waltz right on out after this siege lets up. But if you decide whether or not to help take down the Bleeders without actually thinkin’ about it, without talkin’ to anyone who lives in this compound…” He gestured at the small walled-in town behind him. “If you make this decision based on your sheltered little upbringin’s alone, then I’ll gut you where you stand, ‘cause I’ve got no time for ignorant foreigners to be tellin’ me what I should do.” He then exhaled deeply and turned around so that his back was to the other three. “…I’ve got some stuff to check on before sunset. If you wanna talk to me ‘fore then, well, try to find me. Otherwise, I’ll meet you back here at twilight to hear your answers.” He then sped off, disappearing just faster than the other Chaotics could process the last of his words.

“Wow,” Kevérin muttered, “…I knew a Tresédian would be no good.”

“He’s so violent…” Kaoné whimpered.

“But he’s not entirely wrong…” Siyuakén commented quietly.

The Pyro and Materiatechnic snapped their heads toward her. “What?”

“Treséd really is the worst continent on Nimalia,” she responded, “you two probably don’t see it as much, since Tekdecé and Nimaliaka are both always so busy with the space fleets or the Interstellar Gate. But, being from Relédiaka — well, we get more refugees from Treséd than any other nation. It’s hard to ignore what it’s like here. Yet, somehow, people still do…”

“That doesn’t give him an excuse to just kill everyone!” Kaoné exclaimed.

“Maybe, but is this really worse than if we were sent off to the Drakkar or Riaxen space fronts?” Siyuakén questioned, “at least he’s actually defending his home. We’d just be stuck in the fallout of political bullshit.”

Kaoné opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again before turning away. Kevérin simply scowled irately.

“We should probably take his advice, and talk to at least a couple of the people here,” the Electrotechnic suggested.

“…Yeah,” Kevérin eventually admitted. “…Talk to people. Tch. As if that’s ever changed anyone’s mind…”

---

4 Hours Later

Kaoné wearily sat down on a nearby bench and leaned against the wall behind her. She sighed and closed her eyes, tired and exhausted — both physically and mentally. Siyuakén was right about the Tresédian climate being more comfortable around the equinoxes, but that didn’t mean the weather was actually pleasant. The air felt remarkably warm, especially in Kaoné’s thick Nimaliakian uniform. Sand was no issue — she could easily keep herself clean of the small grains — but she had little ability to control climate as a Materiatechnic. And these physical elements of exhaustion weren’t even taking into account all of the things she had heard over the past four hours, all of the people she had talked to, all of the stories she had heard — stories ranging from petty acts of theft and vandalism, to simple wanton death and destruction, to the heartless kidnappings under the dark of night — and the needlessly cruel open enslavement of individuals of all ages right in front of their families. And that wasn’t even the worst she had heard…

“Hey, Kaoné.”

She glanced to her left to see Siyuakén approaching. She waved; the Electrotechnic waved back before taking a seat on the bench as well.

“Davídrius… wasn’t wrong.”

“Yeah…” Siyuakén sighed wearily. “That, or he got everyone here to lie to us. I doubt he’s charismatic enough to pull that off, though.”

“The Bleeders…” Kaoné muttered, “…I’ve barely ever heard of them before. But they’ve been here for decades, doing all these… awful things. I think every single person here has lost a relative to the Bleeders somehow, either through murder or kidnapping, or…” She shuddered. “This is just… how doesn’t this make the news?!”

“It’s just like Davídrius said — hardly anyone outside of Treséd cares about what goes on here. And the Bleeders keep to Treséd, so… yeah. But still… that hardly excuses anyone from ignoring what’s going on here.”

“…I guess this means we should help Davídrius, then…”

Siyuakén looked over at the Materiatechnic. “You don’t want to?”

“Well… I want to do something,” she replied, “I know the Bleeders need to be stopped, but— …there has to be a better way than just killing them. …Right?”

“Maybe. But Davídrius probably won’t be willing to do anything else. And… I’m not sure I would be, either.”

Kaoné snapped her attention to Siyuakén and stared at her in surprise. “Wha-what? Why?!”

“…It’s a long story, and not one that I’m entirely willing to tell right now,” the Electrotechnic responded uneasily. “But while we’re on this topic — I’ll be honest, Kaoné. Given what I’ve seen so far, I don’t think killing alone is where you draw the line.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re the most pacifistic person I’ve met to date,” Siyuakén stated bluntly. “Yet, you’re a Materiatechnic. With that kind of ability, why are you so averse to fighting?”

Kaoné frowned. “I don’t have to have a reason to not like fighting… and it worries me that you think I have to…”

“It would be one thing if you were a civilian. But you’re not. You’re in the military — and you’re a Lieutenant at that, so you’ve obviously put some effort into it.”

“…Nimaliakian Chaotics are conscripted as Lieutenants.” Kaoné looked down, averting her gaze from Siyuakén. “…I didn’t have a choice.”

Siyuakén glanced over at the Materiatechnic before standing up slowly. She looked down at her hand, watching it spark momentarily before clenching her fist. “Well, I’m not going to just let the Bleeders get away with what they’ve done. In this kind of situation, against these kinds of people — doing nothing is almost the same as killing.”

“But killing itself isn’t necessary!” Kaoné refuted adamantly.

“Maybe not. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Though I have a feeling Davídrius will end up forcing our hand…” Siyuakén sighed. “We’ll help him tonight. After that… I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”

Kaoné responded with silence as the Electrotechnic walked away. She then closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, hoping to rest until twilight.

---

“Gah—! Tch— augh!”

Davídrius quickly withdrew from the machinery in front of him, waving his hand frantically in pain. “Ow!” he exclaimed through gritted teeth, “…damn Chaos Engine, ‘course it’d have to break right when I need it.”

“That’s not a Chaos Engine.”

Davídrius whipped around and then narrowed his eyes when he spotted Kevérin standing in the entrance to the machine shop. “How’d you find me?”

“Your Sword Boxes were outside,” Kevérin stated flatly.

“Wow, you can recognize Sword Boxes,” Davídrius deadpanned, “you’re smarter than I thought.”

“If you don’t want any help—”

“Oi, oi, lighten up. I don’t actually have anythin’ against you, I’m just a little irritated with your country. …And I guess you by extension, ‘cause you’re in their military.”

“…”

“…What’s this about not being a Chaos Engine?”

“It’s impossible for Chaos Engines to be this small,” Kevérin explained, “they’re only used in spacecraft. Whatever’s powering your mech has to be something else.”

“How’d you know this was from the mech?”

“It’s right there.”

Davídrius glanced to where Kevérin was pointing: a humanoid mech, about 8 meters tall, standing in a hangar-like space to the left of the machine shop. The machine was old and worn, its sun-bleached armor faded with age and scarred from use. There was an opening slightly larger than the engine in the mech’s lower chest, as well as a forklift-like vehicle parked to the left of the engine.

“…That doesn’t mean anything,” the Velocitechnic replied defensively.

“I’m sure it doesn’t,” Kevérin deadpanned. “…Do you want help with that?”

Davídrius eyed the Pyrotechnic suspiciously. “What d’ya know about fixin’ machines?”

“I learned my fair share when training back in Tekdecé.”

“Oh, so that’s what you were doin’ instead of learnin’ how to fight.”

Kevérin turned around and began walking toward the exit.

“Hey hey hey, alright, I’ll— I’ll shut up,” Davídrius quickly back-pedaled, “if you can fix this real quick, man, that’d be great.”

“No guarantees, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Davídrius stepped aside as Kevérin approached the engine and then crouched down, looking it over. The Velocitechnic looked on curiously, though tried his best to appear disinterested whenever the Pyrotechnic glanced backward.

“I’m not a rookie, you know. None of us are.”

“Huh?” Davídrius cocked his head in mild confusion. “…Oh. …Look, I’m sure y’all are great Chaotics. There’s gotta be a reason you’ve been chosen for this, er, Hipster business.”

“It’s officially Hero Machina.”

“Wow, that’s kinda cool. You don’t like it?”

Kevérin stared at Davídrius, unamused, before returning his attention to the engine.

“Oi, oi, you’re a lot stiffer than Siyuakén made you out to be.”

“You talked to Siyuakén?”

“A li’l, yeah, before I shooed her off so I could work on the Chaos Engine. Well, this engine.”

“What’d she say?”

“About you?” Davídrius smirked. “Well, that you’re the least serious of the lot of you, mostly.”

“Tch, of course she’d say that,” Kevérin muttered. “I’m technically her CO now, too. Where’s my respect…”

“Respect’s somethin’ you gotta earn,” Davídrius declared, “can’t have it by default. Part of why I don’t understand you military types. I’m not gonna respect some schmuck just ‘cause he has a bunch of stars on his jacket and a fancy title.”

Kevérin glanced over at the Velocitechnic. “…How was it, growing up here?”

“Not worth talkin’ about,” Davídrius answered irately. “My childhood can be summed up by sayin’ that Treséd is a shithole. ‘Cause it is. Sooner I’m out of here, the better.”

“Then why are you forcing us to help you take out the Bleeders?”

“I’m not forcin’ you to do anythin’.” He smirked when Kevérin snorted. “Though I understand what you’re askin’. See, much as I’d like to leave, I’m pretty much the sole active protector of this entire region. If I leave, the Bleeders’d have their way with everythin’ and, well, I’ll be damned if I let that happen.”

“So you just want to kill them all?”

“You got a better idea?”

“…”

“I’d almost be satisfied if the rest of Nimalia had a sudden ‘bout of caring, swooped in, arrested the entire gang and locked ‘em up for forever an’ a half. But I’ve seen too much shit to settle for that. I’ll take ‘em all out myself if I have to. Even if it’s just Strén, at least the compound’ll have a chance against the rest.” Davídrius sighed. “Look, I don’t expect y’all to understand my grudge. But you’re soldiers. If you don’t get used to killin’ now, well, I’d hate to think what’d happen to you when whatever the next war is crops up on Nimalian territory.”

“Heh, it almost sounds like you care about us.”

“Tch.” Davídrius scowled. “…You know what’s up with the engine yet?”

“I fixed it a bit ago.” Kevérin stood up and wiped his hands against each other.

“…You…” Davídrius smirked in spite of himself. “…You used the damn engine as an excuse to keep me talkin’. Looks like I’m not givin’ you enough credit.”

“Heh.” Kevérin half-smiled back. “You’d better not underestimate us.”

“We’ll see just how much I’m underestimatin’ y’all tonight.”

“Yeah, sure thing.” The Pyrotechnic turned toward the exit. “See you in a couple hours.”

“Aye.” The Velocitechnic nodded as he watched Kevérin leave. He then glanced back at the engine before frowning and rushing after the Transfer Captain. “Hey, wait, you never actually said what was wrong with the engine!”

---

2 Hours Later

“I see y’all made it back.”

“Yeah…” Kaoné replied quietly, her focus turned upward at the rapidly dimming sky.

“The artillery barrage has stopped,” Siyuakén observed.

Davídrius nodded. “Aye. I had our guns fire back for a couple hours. Probably discouraged Strén a bit. Even if they haven’t run themselves outta ammo like I’d hoped, artillery won’t do much good against a Chaotic raid… which brings us to why we’re here.” The Velocitechnic looked each of the other three Chaotics in the eye. “You don’t hafta say yes, if you don’t wanna go I’ll stick to my word and leave you alone. I’d really appreciate the help though.”

“I’ll help,” Siyuakén responded.

“I will, too,” Kevérin declared. “…I’ll at least tag along and make sure you don’t get caught in deep shit.”

“Nice to have ya lookin’ after me,” Davídrius replied with a snort, and then glanced down at Kaoné.

“…I don’t want to kill anyone,” she stated.

The Velocitechnic frowned, and then shrugged. “You’re a Materiatechnic. I guess you won’t have as much trouble stunnin’ instead of killin’… but don’t expect me to hold back. In the very least, Strén’s gotta be good and dead ‘fore I leave this continent. I ain’t askin’ you to kill for me, I’m just askin’ you to watch my back.”

“But isn’t it the same—?”

“I’m not here to talk about what counts as killin’ or not. Are you in or out?”

Kaoné glanced over at Kevérin and Siyuakén, who looked back expectantly. She then turned her attention to the ground before replying quietly, “I’ll at least go with you…”

“…Alright.” Davídrius nodded in acknowledgment, and glanced up at the darkened sky. He then spun around and approached a touch pad in the wall. After quickly typing in a code, a lever appeared; he pulled the lever, and a small door, just large enough for a single person, opened in the wall. The Velocitechnic gestured for the other three Chaotics to follow him as he passed through the wall and emerged outside the compound, where he stopped to stare across the sandy plains at the Bleeder encampment a few hundred meters away.

“They’re pretty far…” Kevérin muttered.

“Yeah, but not too far.” Davídrius reached down to the handles of his sword boxes and drew two sabers, brandishing them in anticipation. “I’m sure y’all can at least protect yourselves from incomin’ fire. …Well, you shouldn’t have to. I’ll draw their attention first. Try to get close enough to do damage ‘fore you draw any attention to yourself. Got it?” When the other three Chaotics nodded, he crouched into a running stance. “Alright!” He smirked and then dashed forward. “Time to kick some Bleeder ass!!”

3 Days Later

“Are we there yet?”

“No,” Siyuakén replied irately, “we’re in the middle of the desert, Kevérin. You’ll know when we’re there.”

“But I don’t have to pay attention to that,” the Pyrotechnic retorted, his attention primarily drawn to the AR game he was playing. “It’s a lot easier to just ask you.”

“Of course,” Siyuakén deadpanned, her grip tightening on the vehicle’s steering device.

“Kevérin…” Kaoné sighed warily. “Can’t you at least switch with Siyuakén every hour or two? She’s been driving for four hours…”

“And I was driving before that.”

“For only two,” Siyuakén stated.

“Hey, I got us out of Nock,” Kevérin protested. “That place was a clusterfuck. I had no idea Treséd was so bad…”

“Well it’s probably time for you to switch back,” Kaoné suggested.

“Hmm…” Kevérin glanced over at her. “…Why can’t you drive?”

“I don’t know how.”

“What kind of Lieutenant doesn’t know how to drive?”

“One who’s used to automatic transportation.”

“…Right,” the Pyrotechnic replied slowly. “Another reason to hate Treséd: we actually have to drive our own damn cars.” He then returned his attention to his game while asking cheekily, “are we there yet?”

“If you ask that question again I’ll make you drive the rest of the way.”

“How far away is it?”

“That’s a more reasonable question,” the Electrotechnic commented. “…I don’t really know. Tresédian compounds do their best to keep their location secret, in order to avoid drawing attention from all the bandits and gangs. It was hard enough trying to figure out what direction to drive in to reach this Velocitechnic you’re looking for.”

“Davídrius,” Kaoné stated, “his name is Davídrius.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” Siyuakén responded flatly. “But really, Treséd is a bitch of a nation to navigate. The whole damn place is desert wasteland, the vehicles are outdated and don’t have built-in GPS or any kind of automation, and there’s no satellite receptors anywhere so neither of you can get GPS to your glasses!”

“Speaking of glasses, why don’t you have any?” Kevérin questioned. “Practically everyone wears them now.”

“Too much trouble. I’ve accidentally fried every pair of glasses I’ve owned within a week of getting them…”

“Oh. Well that’s really too bad,” the Pyrotechnic replied nonchalantly, “there’s tons of great things you can do with glasses. Like play AR games!”

Siyuakén glanced over at Kevérin for a moment before returning her attention to the road. “I’ll pass. I’ve never been one for gaming.”

“Well, you’re missing out.”

“Mm hmm.”

“Yep.” He then looked over at Siyuakén. “Hey, are we there yet?”

---

5 Minutes Later

“Me, a Transfer Captain, getting bullied around by two Lieutenants. It’s ridiculous. How am I supposed to know where we are? I was just sitting there, trying not to annoy everyone with my boredom, and now…”

Siyuakén tuned out Kevérin’s mumblings as he grasped the steering device. She then turned to look at Kaoné in the back seat, who seemed to be preoccupied with staring at the surrounding desert. “Bored?”

“Huh?” Kaoné glanced over at the Electrotechnic.

“I asked if you were bored.”

“Oh. Well, yeah… there’s nothing to do.”

“Why not play Dessert Destruction?” Kevérin suggested, “hell, you introduced it to me!”

“That…” Siyuakén passed Kevérin an incredulous glance. “That sounds like a—”

“Awesome game,” Kevérin interrupted.

Siyuakén nodded patronizingly. “…Yes. That’s totally what I was about to say. …Shouldn’t you be paying attention to the road?”

The Pyrotechnic began grumbling again, but nevertheless turned away from the conversation.

“Aren’t you bored?” Kaoné questioned, “you don’t even have glasses. You couldn’t distract yourself if you wanted to.”

“I’ve never needed to,” the Electrotechnic replied, “I don’t go on road trips. A lot of travel I did back in Relédiaka was through the trees, anyway — you shouldn’t be ‘distracting yourself’ when swinging through the forest.”

“True.”

There was a moment of silence as the vehicle quietly zoomed through the sandy wastelands.

“Hey, Kaoné… can I ask you a question?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Is there…” Siyuakén glanced at Kevérin and then frowned. “…Never mind. I’ll ask later.”

Kevérin looked over at her suspiciously. “What, you got a problem with me?”

“Shush. You should pay attention to where you’re going.”

“I am paying attention to where we’re going. Where we’re going is a straight line. There’s not a lot to pay attention to.”

“Well… are we there yet?” Siyuakén asked cheekily.

“Actually… we might be.”

“What—?” She turned to stare out at the horizon. She could see a faint speck in the distance, but as time passed, it seemed to grow. “…Well, I see something,” Siyuakén commented, “but how do you know it’s Davídrius’s compound?”

Kevérin snorted. “What else could it be in the middle of nowhere?”

“Unless you’re certain, we should approach carefully. Even if you aren’t certain, we should approach carefully…”

“Carefully? What for? We’re in the middle of a wasteland! I don’t see any potential traps or ambushes.”

“They wouldn’t be traps or ambushes if you could see them.”

“My point is that there’s nowhere to hide in a wasteland.”

“That’s what you think, but Tresédians are born and raised in this environment. They’re bound to have some sort of trap or ambush tactic that works especially well in the wastelands. Especially on unsuspecting outsiders like us…”

“Fine… I’ll be more careful.” Kevérin nodded as he slowed the vehicle to a more manageable speed. “It’ll take longer, but we should still be there soon.”

“Good.” Siyuakén nodded back, and turned to Kaoné. “Make sure to keep watch for traps—”

BAM! BANG!

“Gah—!” Kevérin yelped as the vehicle flipped over due to some unseen explosive. But before it came crashing down to the ground, Kaoné seized control of its constituent matter, froze the vehicle in midair, spun it around upright, and then deposited it back on the ground.

“Uagh—!” Siyuakén doubled over in her seat, the sudden motions of the vehicle catching her by utter surprise. “Ah… Kaoné, you…”

“Uh, guys…”

Kaoné and Siyuakén glanced over at Kevérin before slowly looking around themselves. No less than five levitating autoturrets had their guns trained on the three Chaotics, and standing some distance away was a large humanoid robot, just over 8 meters tall, staring down at the vehicle as if it were an impassable sentry.

“What the hell is a Tekdecénian Recon Mech doing here?!” Kevérin exclaimed.

“Looks like you were right about the trap thing…” Kaoné admitted quietly.

Siyuakén sighed in irritation. “Of course I am…”

Any further conversation was cut short as the mech’s loudspeakers flipped on. “What’re you doin’ here?”

“Wow, his voice is really deep,” Kaoné commented in response to the pilot’s question.

“He doesn’t know we’re Chaotics,” Kevérin muttered, “well — he could know one of us is, since you righted the vehicle so easily. But — Siyuakén, how quickly would you be able to take out the autoturrets?”

“You want to fight? Already?” the Electrotechnic hissed.

“I don’t want to, but if it comes down to it, better to have a plan than not. Can you?”

“…I could probably fry all five before they open fire. I don’t know if that mech has anything in store, though—”

The hushed conversation was cut short as the mech’s loudspeakers sounded again. “I asked, what are you doing here?”

The three Chaotics looked up at the mech as it removed a large gun from its back and trained it on their vehicle.

“Uh… what should we say?” Kaoné asked hurriedly.

“…Might as well go for the truth,” Kevérin commented. “If things go bad, you two know what to do.”

Siyuakén glanced between the two Chaotics uneasily. “Wait, we do—?”

By the time she asked, however, Kevérin had already jumped out of the vehicle, his hands in the air. “We didn’t come here to attack you!” he shouted, “we’re just looking for someone. Do you know, um… Davídrius… Wrikax?”

A moment of silence passed before the mech pilot responded, “I might. Usually only bandits and thieves lookin’ for that guy though.”

“We aren’t thieves!” Kaoné exclaimed indignantly.

“…All of y’all, out of the vehicle,” the pilot demanded. Kaoné and Siyuakén quickly complied, getting out and standing next to Kevérin. “Now…” the pilot continued, “…what do you want with Davídrius?”

“It’s not something we can tell just anyone,” Kevérin replied, “we have an offer for him, sort of.”

“You ain’t the first to’ve said that. Every other time the dealers turned out to be Bleeders.”

“Bleeders?” Kevérin and Siyuakén snickered.

“The Bleeder gang ain’t nothin’ to laugh about,” the pilot declared, “but of course y’all wouldn’t know that. Foreigners think Treséd’s just a joke, why should they be concerned with how actually dangerous the national gangs are so long as they stay on this shithole continent, am I right?”

“Uh…” Kevérin glanced over at Siyuakén and Kaoné uneasily. They both shrugged in response. Turning back toward the mech, he asked, “by any chance, um… are you Davídrius?”

“…And if I was?”

“You’re not doing a very good job of hiding it,” Siyuakén commented.

Immediately each of the autoturrets began whirring. “I still don’t know who y’all are, and I’m startin’ to think that you really ain’t worth my time. You’ve got ten seconds to come up with a good reason for why I should listen to y’all before you become just another random group of intruders that I caught on a bad day!”

“He’s not going to listen to us…” Kaoné muttered with a frown.

“Time to show him we mean business, then,” Kevérin declared, “Siyuakén, take out the autoturrets. Kaoné, seize the mech. Three, two, one, now!”

Before the mech pilot had a chance to say anything else, Siyuakén raised her arm into the air and simultaneously zapped all five autoturrets, frying and permanently shutting them down. Kevérin then set to incinerating their remains as Kaoné obliterated the mech’s gun before forcing it to stand stock still.

“Do you want to listen to us now?” Kevérin shouted triumphantly.

The pilot didn’t respond. Instead, the members of Hero Machina heard a distant clanging noise, and then saw a metal plate fall to the ground behind the mech, followed by what appeared to be the pilot. After rolling to a stop on the ground, he stood up, turned around to stare at the Chaotics… and then disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

“Wait, he’s—!” Siyuakén exclaimed, but was unable to finish her sentence. All three Chaotics were unable to properly respond before a virtually unseen force bashed them all along the back of their heads, knocking them unconscious.

---

“Oooooh… my head…”

Kaoné slowly and painfully pulled herself up into a sitting position. She rubbed her head tenderly as she began looking around at her surroundings: a small cell, partitioned off from a slightly larger room by several metal bars. With her in the cell were Kevérin and Siyuakén, both of whom appeared to be coming to as well… and sitting on a bench outside the cell, next to a solid metal door, was a young man with a slim build and a dark complexion. His coarse, long black hair was both held back by a headband and tied back near the base of his head in a puffy ponytail, but even then, much of it escaped over his headband to frame his glasses and brown eyes. His chin was hidden behind a short beard, accompanied by a tuft of hair just below his bottom lip and a mustache. His outfit consisted of a pair of heavy-duty brown boots that extended halfway up his thighs, white pants and desert-tan chaps, a white shirt, and a thick desert-tan jacket with a breast pocket on both sides. On top of that was a dirty old scarf on the verge of turning threadbare, yet still wrapped securely around his neck. And at his sides were two large metal boxes with two handles extending out the front. The boxes seemed to be attached to him through a series of straps and buckles, like a hilt that was designed to hold multiple different swords.

Eventually the man noticed the three Chaotics coming to, at which point he stood up, causing the two metal boxes strapped to his sides to rattle and then bang on the bench. He stopped momentarily to glare at the boxes before placing his hands cautiously on the handles extending out them, and then turning to face the cell — where he nearly seemed to tower over the three Chaotics at an easy six feet tall.

“…Davídrius?” Kaoné questioned.

“…That’s me, aye,” he eventually responded.

“Pretty short-sighted, just throwing us in here without any bounds, even while knowing we’re Chaotics,” Kevérin stated.

“I assume you ain’t actually tried usin’ your powers,” Davídrius deadpanned.

“…He’s right,” Siyuakén admitted. “I can’t do anything.”

“Well… shit.” Kevérin scowled as he attempted to create a fireball in his palm but failed. He turned back to glare at Davídrius. “Is this a CENT field? How the hell did you get your hands on negation tech?!”

Their captor crossed his arms and smirked condescendingly. “It’s just one of the pieces of ‘junk’ that you Tekdecénians decided to dump off the coast somewhere. One of the Bleeders picked it up, and then I… acquired it from them.”

“What?…” Kevérin frowned. “But… Tekdecé doesn’t—”

“Hah! As if you know what you’re talkin’ about. You’re from Tekdecé yourself, ain’t you, Transfer Captain.”

“You know who we are?” Siyuakén asked uneasily.

“No, but I can recognize your uniforms and rank symbols,” Davídrius stated. “The two of you are Lieutenants. He outranks y’all, so I’m guessin’ he’s the leader of whatever retarded little troupe y’all are runnin’.”

Kaoné and Siyuakén glanced at each other. “It’s debatable whether or not he’s actually leading us…” Kaoné commented, ignoring the quick glare Kevérin threw in her direction.

“Well ain’t this just grand. Three Chaotics, each from a different nation, travellin’ in the middle of Treséd, and the guy who’s the highest rank by international military law ain’t even leadin’? What, are y’all AWOL or somethin’?”

“I was getting the idea you didn’t like Tekdecénians. Now you’re complaining that I’m not in charge?” Kevérin scowled. “Which is it?”

Davídrius turned toward Kevérin, his face stoically condescending… until he broke into a self-amused smirk. “Aw, I’m just screwin’ with you, keheheh.” Then he frowned. “Well, sort of. I do have issues with Tekdecé, but I’d assume mister Transfer Captain here is too green behind the ears to be a part of that.”

“We’re all the same age here…” Kaoné commented.

“Don’t mean shit,” Davídrius growled. “I’ll bet the three of you have lived nice, sheltered li’l lives. Well, try growin’ up in Treséd. This place don’t give a shit how old you are. I was hittin’ Mach 2 and practicin’ with Sword Boxes ‘fore the lot of you had even hit puberty, ‘cause I had to. You laugh at the damned Bleeders, but to Tresédians, they’re an actual threat. What’s more, is they’re only a threat ‘cause the rest of Nimalia just doesn’t give a shit about this hellhole of a continent.”

“…Sounds… pretty bad,” Siyuakén replied.

Davídrius glared at her. “Don’t patronize me.” He then took a deep breath and exhaled wearily before turning back to Kevérin. “…Aight, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let’s start from the top. I’m Davídrius Wrikax. Y’all are…?”

“…Kevérin Tyrion.”

“Kaoné Densalin.”

“I’m Siyuakén Wanléon.”

“Kevérin… Kaoné… Siyuakén… ‘k. Alright then. What was this ‘deal’ you wanted to offer me?”

Kevérin frowned. “We’re still behind bars…”

“And you’ll stay there until I’ve decided that you aren’t actually Bleeders or crazies,” Davídrius asserted.

“You’re still not sure?” Kevérin scowled again. “You sounded certain that we were from the continent-nations before!”

“You— just shut up and tell me about this deal of yours.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if it’s still open to you.”

“Kevérin,” Kaoné cut in, “maybe if we explain who we are and what we’re doing, he’ll change his mind.”

“Now there’s an idea.” Davídrius nodded in agreement. “I’m a Velocitechnic. I don’t got much patience.”

Kevérin glanced over at Kaoné and Siyuakén before sighing. “Alright, fine. So, we’re part of a group called Hipster Memorandum—”

“Kevérin.” Kaoné glared at him.

“—Hero Machina,” he corrected himself before throwing the two women a quick glare. “Anyways, Nimaliaka and Tekdecé are joining together to form the Nimalian Systems Defense, a non-national organization that will take over all extrasolar activity.”

“And you want me to join to be your token little Tresédian, is that it?”

“You really do have a chip on your shoulder, don’t you,” Siyuakén deadpanned.

“…Tch.” Davídrius scowled and crossed his arms. “Y’all ain’t doin’ a very good job of convincin’ me to join you.”

“The NSD is only just getting off the ground!” Kevérin exclaimed, “just think — if you join us, you could say you’ve been around since its inception!”

“I’m not gonna join your little circus show if the only reason I’m wanted is so I can be trotted in front of the galactic community as an ‘example’ of how non-discriminatory the NSD is.” Davídrius snorted. “Give me a real reason and I’ll think about it.”

“Our mission is to investigate the Chaos Energy Quake,” Kaoné offered.

“…See, now that’s interestin’, you could’ve just said that.” Davídrius glanced at Kevérin; when the Pyrotechnic turned away in annoyance, the Tresédian simply turned back to Kaoné. “I guess that’s why you came to look for me, then, huh.”

“That’s it exactly,” Kaoné replied.

“So the three of you were born during the Quake, too?”

They all nodded in response.

“Hmm, not bad…” Davídrius mused. “Your Chaotic types ain’t too shabby either… Pyrotechnic… Electrotechnic… Manipulator Psychotechnic.”

“Actually, I’m a Materiatechnic,” Kaoné corrected.

Davídrius stared at her, dumbfounded. “…No way. Really? Why the hell’d you let someone like me get the drop on you, then—?”

He was interrupted as a man stormed into the room. He immediately turned his attention to Davídrius, exclaiming, “the Bleeders are outside!”

“What!?” The Velocitechnic spun on his heel to face the man in the doorway. “Is Strén leading them?”

“He is.”

“Damn.” Davídrius snapped his fingers in frustration. “…Alright. I’ll be up there in a bit. Head up the defenses, make sure everything’s primed and everyone who ain’t a fighter stays inside.”

The three imprisoned members of Hero Machina watched as the man dashed out as quickly as he had entered, leaving Davídrius to begin rummaging around in his pocket.

“What’s going on?…” Siyuakén asked.

“What’s it sound like?” the Velocitechnic retorted, “the Bleeders have shown up. They’re led by the most dangerous Chaotic on this shithole continent. Barring myself, of course.”

“…So you’re letting us go?” Kaoné questioned as Davídrius stepped up to the cell door and unlocked it with the keys he just found.

“No, I’m bringin’ you to help out,” he corrected. “If y’all can help push back the Bleeders, maybe even follow ‘em back to their base and crush ‘em once and for all, I’ll consider joinin’ you. Otherwise, I got a compound to protect, and as interestin’ as this Quake investigation sounds, my home takes priority.” He then stopped to glance back at the three Chaotics. “Y’all gonna help?”

“No—”

“Yes,” Siyuakén cut Kevérin off, “…we’ll help. For now.”

“Good.” Davídrius adopted an impatient expression and cracked his knuckles. “Follow me. Let’s see what the bastard spouts out this time…”

My power didn’t work—?!

The dragonbird screeched again, shaking Kaoné from her thoughts. The beast lowered its head and charged at the Materiatechnic, who jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being trampled. When the bird slammed into a tree while trying to brake, Kaoné quickly ripped some dirt from the ground and flung it at the creature, transforming the dirt into solid rock around the dragonbird’s neck and ankles and binding it against the tree. She then stared at the now bound and struggling bird for a couple moments before realizing that she was panting heavily. …At least… I can still control other matter—

“Lieutenant!”

She glanced upward to see Siyuakén swing down from the upper branches. The Electrotechnic then withdrew her grappling hooks, allowing the cords to reel in rapidly. As soon as they snapped back into place, she fired off one of the hooks again, snagging it in a low branch. She swung around the respective tree before reeling in the hook and hitting the ground with a roll. Leaping out of the roll as smoothly as she entered it, she jogged over to Kaoné and then glanced up at the bound dragonbird.

“…Impressive,” she commented, “but you should get it away from the tree, quickly.”

“Why?” Kaoné questioned, nonetheless obliging. She disconnected the rock bounds from the tree and then added more rock to the bounds so that they completely surrounded the dragonbird’s neck and ankles. After doing so she carefully levitated the animal through the air before depositing it on the ground away from the tree, creating a section of metal flooring to which she attached the rock bounds.

Siyuakén nodded approvingly before explaining, “we still don’t know what causes the infection, or how it spreads. We don’t know if it can affect plants, but I don’t want to risk having the forest itself get infected. Who knows what would happen if…”

Kaoné glanced over at the Electrotechnic as she trailed off. “What is…? Oh.” She then turned around fully to face in the same direction of Siyuakén. “Uh oh…”

Moving through the forest toward the two Chaotics was not one, not two, but at least a dozen horribly deformed creatures. Some of them seemed to amble aimlessly through the forest, while others had their eyes dead set on the two women as they marched steadily through the underbrush, ignoring any and all plants that happened to be in their way.

“Oh no…” Siyuakén gasped. “This— what is this? How did it get so bad so quickly?!”

“Can… can you take them?” Kaoné questioned uneasily.

“Probably…” The Electrotechnic adopted a battle-ready stance. “But if you aren’t going to help, then stand back. I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.”

“Ye…yeah,” Kaoné muttered, stepping back—

“KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!”

“Wha—!?” The Materiatechnic stumbled, surprised by the dragonbird’s sudden cry. Siyuakén turned to see what was wrong, but the moment she did, several of the approaching animals began to charge.

“Damn it, we don’t have time for this!” Siyuakén scowled as she dashed back toward Kaoné and grabbed her around the waist with one arm. She then aimed her other arm at a branch and was about to fire one of her grappling hooks when a sudden blast of fire filled the small clearing on the forest floor. Startled, Kaoné and Siyuakén watched in stunned silence as Kevérin jumped down, using periodic fire blasts to slow his descent while also shooting fireballs at the animals below. The moment he landed on the ground he jumped forward and created a massive firewall before blasting it outward, burning all of the closest animals and scaring off the rest. He then quickly extinguished the flames that had ignited on the nearby trees as Kaoné took the opportunity to raise a solid rock wall all around the clearing, preventing any of the infected creatures from entering.

Kevérin casually blew on both his hands before rubbing them together and turning around with a triumphant grin on his face. “And that is the power of Hell’s Math!!”

A moment of silence passed. Then Siyuakén held a hand to her mouth and turned away as Kaoné gave Kevérin the best glare a short pacifist could muster.

“…What?” the Pyrotechnic asked cluelessly as he looked over at Siyuakén. “Is she okay?”

“She’s laughing,” Kaoné responded, deadpan.

“…Well at least I’m trying!” Kevérin scowled. “I don’t see you trying to come up with a better team name.”

“We don’t need a better team name.”

“That’s what you think.” Kevérin glanced toward Siyuakén again. “How long is she gonna be like this?”

“I’m— ha… I think, heh, I think I’m fine now,” she replied, shaking herself off and turning back to face Kaoné and Kevérin. When she made eye contact with Kevérin she snickered again, but quickly stopped herself. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then donned a more serious expression. “This is a bad situation.”

“I’ll say. I’m trying to take initiative here, but the two of you—”

“No, seriously,” Siyuakén interrupted, “I’m talking about the animals.”

“…Oh.” Kevérin glanced between Kaoné and Siyuakén uneasily. “Well… we’re safe now, right? Shouldn’t we just go back up to the city?”

“No, we need to deal with this now,” the Electrotechnic refuted. “I’ve never seen so many infected animals in one place before. And it’s even reached the higher elevations, somehow…” She sighed. “If only Rebehka were here. This would be so much easier…”

“Where is she?” Kaoné questioned.

“With a research team up north, on the Continental Glacier,” Siyuakén replied. “It’s cold enough up there that she doesn’t have to put in much effort to keep the animals in cryogenic stasis.”

“There exist cryogenic stasis machines,” Kevérin pointed out.

“They’re not as reliable as a skilled Cryotechnic. They have a higher failure rate,” Siyuakén immediately countered. “But that isn’t the point. If she were here, she could easily clear the way with her ice and have the situation under control.”

“I can do the same with fire.”

“And risk burning down the whole forest?”

“I can put fires out too! Didn’t you see me do that earlier? I put out the fires that were on the trees!”

“What if you miss one? I’ll admit your pyrotechnics can be useful, but we can’t afford to have you blasting fire around like a madman! There’s a reason most Relédiakian-born Pyrotechnics are sent to East Nimaliaka or Tekdecé.”

Kevérin scowled, but didn’t argue the point further.

“So how do we deal with this?” Kaoné asked.

“…I wish I knew.” Siyuakén frowned as she held a hand up to her chin in thought. “I hate to say it, but step one would be euthanizing all of the infected animals and disposing of the bodies…”

“Oh…”

“There’s gotta be a source, right?” Kevérin suggested, “something like this ‘metal infection’ can’t be natural. If we can find the source, then we can find a way to stop the infection!”

“What do you think we’ve been trying to do for the past five years?!” Siyuakén exclaimed, “we haven’t just been sitting on our asses all day. I know what I’m doing.”

“S… sorry.”

“Ah… no, I’m sorry.” The Electrotechnic sighed wearily. “…I hate to ask you this, but we can’t afford to dawdle. Can the two of you handle the infected animals? I’ll rush back to headquarters and get a full recon team down here to make sure there are no more signs of the infection within a few kilometers. That shouldn’t take longer than half an hour.”

“But—!”

“You don’t have to kill them, if you can secure them like you did with the dragonbird.” Siyuakén passed Kaoné a wary glance. “…Though it might be better if you did. We can’t take in all of these animals, and as much as it may hurt you to kill them, I’m sure the infection is hurting them much more.” She turned to look up at some of the denser branch areas. “Will you help?”

“Yeah.” Kevérin nodded. “We’ll do what we can.”

“Thanks,” Siyuakén replied. “…After this, I’ll have a few things to take care of, but then we can go track down whoever it is you want to recruit next.”

“You mean, you’ll join us?” Kevérin asked gleefully, but didn’t get an answer. Siyuakén had already taken off, grappling up into the higher branches.

The Pyrotechnic sighed and turned to Kaoné. “Well, you heard her. Let’s get started. You’ll have to lower the rock wall first, though.”

“…Yeah,” the Materiatechnic replied slowly before moving forward to lower the rock wall. “Let’s get this over with…”

---

The Next Morning

“Gah, what’re you making us wake up so early for…”

“You aren’t the only one who wanted to sleep in, but one of us has to be professional.”

Kevérin scowled; Siyuakén smirked in response. She then stepped up to her office door and opened it, allowing Kaoné and Kevérin to enter before she closed the door and moved to sit behind her desk.

“First of all,” she started, “thanks for helping yesterday.”

“The recon team didn’t seem to think so,” Kevérin huffed, “as soon as they arrived, they basically told us to shove it and run back to town.”

“This is a serious matter,” Siyuakén stated. “They may have seemed rude, but they were really just looking out for your own well-being. Historically, groups smaller than three or four don’t last long on the forest floor… especially not when that group includes foreigners.”

“We were doing just fine,” Kevérin protested.

“That’s what you think,” Siyuakén countered, “the recon team found at least thirty other infected animals within a kilometer of Lédia, and twenty more within five. I doubt you could have handled yourselves against that many.”

“They’re just animals,” Kevérin retorted.

Siyuakén glanced over at Kaoné, who had been silent ever since entering the room. “What do you think?”

“…I think it’s probably best that we stayed out of their way,” the Materiatechnic replied slowly.

“Mm hmm…”

“What… what did they do with the animals that I trapped?”

Siyuakén sighed. “I actually don’t know. They haven’t informed me. I suspect it may have something to do with me bringing you down to the forest floor without explicit permission…”

“Uh… sorry?” Kevérin apologized confusedly.

“No, it’s not your fault. This leads to what I actually wanted to speak with the two of you about, though. This, uh… Hell’s Math group of yours…”

“The actual name is Hero Machina,” Kaoné corrected before giving Kevérin an annoyed glance. He pretended not to notice.

Siyuakén smirked. “Right. Well, if I understand you correctly, you’re the first Chaotic squad in the soon-to-be-formed ‘Nimalian Systems Defense,’ which will take over Nimalia’s space fleets and Interstellar Gate network from Tekdecé, Nimaliaka, and the RPF?”

“Yes.”

“And for now, you’ll be investigating the Chaos Energy Quake.”

“That’s the idea.”

“Alright… Count me in.”

“Yes!” Kevérin exclaimed, and then paused. “Wait, just like that?”

“I wouldn’t say this is ‘just like that,’” Siyuakén refuted, “I mean, as coincidental as it was, it’s thanks to the two of you that we discovered how alarmingly wide-spread the infection has become — and with that in mind, I think it’s even better that I join you and try to figure out if the infection really is related to the Quake, and if so, how. Besides… I get the feeling I was about to get sent off to the Drakkar front. Best to jump ship while I still can…”

“I thought you said you were part of a research group or something?” Kaoné asked.

“Yeah, but we’re still a part of the Relédiakian military,” Siyuakén corrected with a hint of irritation. “I know I said earlier that both Rebehka and I can easily subdue the infected animals, but really, Rebehka’s the only one who can reliably capture them. It’s a lot easier to just freeze something through than it is to differentiate between stunning and killing voltages, which aren’t the same for every animal.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Kevérin replied. “Do you know when Rebehka will be back?”

“I think within the next week or two. We never know for sure with those expeditions, and there’s no easy way to contact her.”

“Speaking of contact — why couldn’t we contact you from Nimaliaka? The roster even shows your contact info!” Kevérin exclaimed, “why didn’t you answer?”

“When did you call?”

“Two days ago.”

“And when did you come straight here to talk to me?”

“…Yesterday.”

“So you didn’t really wait for me to respond, now did you?”

“Well… no,” Kevérin admitted, “…but Christeané responded immediately!”

“Christeané? Christeané Kolstén, from East Nimaliaka?” Siyuakén snorted. “Of course he responded immediately. He always responds immediately. That way he can tell people to go away as soon as possible.”

“But he said he’d join us in Nimaliaka…” Kevérin frowned.

“And he probably will, but did he say when?”

“When he finished with ‘urgent business’…”

“Which is just one of his excuses.” Siyuakén leaned back in her chair, a mixture of annoyance and amusement showing in her expression. “I’ve worked with him before, and this sounds exactly like him. I wouldn’t expect to see him for a while yet.”

“It would figure.” Kevérin scowled. “How about we pay him a visit next, then?”

“I don’t know,” Kaoné spoke up, “we can at least contact him, so we don’t have to visit him just yet. We should look into visiting someone who we can’t contact.”

“Who would that be?”

“Um… Davídrius Wrikax, from Treséd, and… Kievkenalis Yumach, from Riverana.”

“Wow, a Tresédian made the list?” Siyuakén replied, surprised.

Kevérin snorted. “That’s what I said.”

“He must be pretty good, if he’s on the international radar,” Siyuakén mused. “…Let’s just hope he’s not one of the thugs the continent is known for.”

“Apparently he’s a Velocitechnic,” Kaoné commented.

“…Oh. A speedster. I was expecting him to be a Chaostechnic or something…”

“Kievkenalis is, though,” Kevérin pointed out.

“Really?”

“That’s what the roster says,” Kaoné affirmed.

“So we should definitely go get him first, right?” Kevérin questioned.

“Maybe, but then again, maybe not,” Siyuakén countered. “Riverana has nice weather year round, but Treséd is harsh almost all the time. It’s usually most comfortable around the equinoxes — which is about now.”

“…So you’re saying we should go get Davídrius first?” Kevérin frowned.

“Unless you want to suffer through the worst of Treséd’s climate, yes, we should.”

Kaoné and Kevérin glanced at each other. Eventually Kevérin looked away with a sigh. “Alright. Treséd’s next, then.”

“Cool,” Siyuakén replied, “if you give me a day or two to wrap up a couple things here, then I can go with you. In the meantime you can take a look around Lédia, since it seems like neither of you have ever been here before.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan!” Kevérin stood up and turned toward the door. “We’ll meet you in a couple days. C’mon, Kaoné! It’s time to introduce Relédiaka to the Hazard Makers!”

Kaoné watched in wordless silence as Kevérin barged out of the office and down the hall. She then turned back to Siyuakén in exasperation. “Can I—?”

“Heh, of course you can help.” The Electrotechnic smirked, and then gestured for Kaoné to come around the desk. “Let’s see, what should we start with…”

“So… this is Relédiaka.”

“I had heard that the trees were big here, but— wow! You can barely see the ground from the tops!”

“Well of course you can’t see the ground. We’re stuck in an office,” Kevérin grumbled.

Kaoné silently glanced over at the Pyrotechnic, who was sitting slouched in a chair, sulking.

About a day had passed since the two were inducted into the NSD. They had attempted to contact as many of the five other Chaotics as they could the morning after speaking with Commander Nikéyin, but they succeeded only in reaching Christeané, who claimed that he would meet with the two of them once he finished “urgent business.” Unable to directly contact the others, Kaoné and Kevérin decided to visit the capitals of the other continent-nations where they would be able to ask the local military headquarters for the locations of the Chaotics in that nation. This quest lead to them boarding the next inter-capital flight out of Nimaliaka Central, which happened to be directly to the Relédiakian capital of Lédia; three hours later they arrived in the famous “Capital in the Trees,” so-called for its position in the literal treetops of Relédiaka’s massive forest. The trees grew to be hundreds of meters tall and well over fifty meters thick, providing a solid foundation for constructing tree-bound buildings and pathways — which the Relédiakians had done for millennia. Lédia was far from the only city built into the forest canopy, but it was certainly the oldest and largest, sprawling across hundreds of treetops and forming a dense urban mesh that nearly plunged the forest floor into darkness. Tourists could often be found wandering the outskirts of the city, marveling at the height of the urban neighborhoods over the actual surface of the planet.

But Kaoné and Kevérin had to content themselves with flipping through tourist brochures — as soon as they arrived, they were met by a Relédiakian soldier who led them to the nation’s military headquarters. There, they found the office of Siyuakén Wanléon, one of the Chaotics they were searching for. On the door to her office was a sign that read “out; be back soon,” so Kevérin and Kaoné decided to wait for her in the reception area.

That had been three hours ago.

“Why the hell are we still here?” Kevérin scowled, glaring at the blank far wall.

“We’re waiting for Siyuakén. She should be with us soon…”

“That’s what they said an hour ago. They also said that two hours ago. Oh, and three hours ago, too.”

“True…” Kaoné frowned. “I wonder what’s taking so long.”

“We could have gone to Riverana and back in this time. Who was in Riverana? Some… Kiev…”

“Kievkenalis Yumach,” Kaoné stated after pulling up a digital version of the roster on her glasses. “…He’s a Chaostechnic.”

“A Chaostechnic!” Kevérin exclaimed, “well why didn’t we go get him first?”

“You’re the one who barged onto the first inter-capital transport you saw, not me.”

“…Touché.” He glanced at the personnel listing on the wall next to him for the tenth time that hour. “Why do we have to wait for Siyuakén?” he complained again, “she’s the same age as us, right? Like, around 21 or 22, right? There’s no way she’s so far ahead in the ranks that we have to wait this long for her.”

“She’s a Lieutenant,” Kaoné replied, with a pleased smile across her face. “Like me!”

“What?!” Kevérin jumped to his feet in indignation. “What are we waiting for a Lieutenant for? I’m a Transfer Captain! I—!”

“Outrank Lieutenants in any military, I know.” Kaoné rolled her eyes. “You’ve only told me that at least twice a week since we met.”

Kevérin gave Kaoné an unamused look.

“Why are you complaining so much all of a sudden, anyways?”

Kevérin grunted and sat back down. “I’m just bored. There’s nothing to do.” He glanced over at Kaoné. “Aren’t you bored?”

“Sorta,” she replied, and then tapped her glasses. “I downloaded a couple AR games, though. That helps.”

“…What games?”

“Have you heard of Dessert Destruction?”

“Sounds familiar—”

Kevérin stopped mid-sentence as he locked eyes with a pale-skinned young woman who had just stepped into the reception area. Her black hair was cut short, not even shoulder-length aside from thin strips of hair over her ears. Her brown eyes weren’t hidden behind glasses as was the case with most of society, and her height was a near-match for Kevérin’s. She wore a pair of brown boots, caked in old mud; white pants and green chaps that tucked into the boots; a brown cloth tied around her waist under her belt; a collared green shirt with short white sleeves; and a series of straps around her torso and arms that were attached to two metallic prisms, one on each of her forearms — forearms that were largely obscured by the large box of files and folders that she held in her hands.

The woman paused uneasily when she noticed Kevérin’s presence, at which point she glanced between him, Kaoné, and then over at the door beside them with the nameplate that read “Siyuakén Wanléon.”

Kaoné caught the glance. “Are you Siyuakén?”

“I’m Lieutenant Wanléon, yes…” She looked between Kevérin and Kaoné again, this time with a level of confusion in her expression. “…Who are you?”

“Figures no one told her we were waiting for her. Of course, I should’ve known,” Kevérin grumbled under his breath.

Ignoring his undignified muttering, Kaoné took it upon herself to do the introductions. “I’m Lieutenant Kaoné Densalin, from Nimaliaka.” She then gestured toward Kevérin. “And this is Transfer Captain Kevérin Tyrion, from Tekdecé.”

“Nice to meet you,” Siyuakén replied as she stepped forward and held her palm up to a metal plate by the office door. A second later something clicked and the door swung open. She stepped inside, gesturing for Kaoné and Kevérin to do the same. “So… what brings you here?” she asked as she set the box of files and folders on her desk and began rifling through it.

“If you didn’t know to expect us, you might not believe what we have to say,” Kevérin responded uneasily.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Siyuakén shrugged. “I won’t know until you tell me.”

“Alright. So… it’s not official yet,” Kevérin started, “but Nimaliaka, Tekdecé, and the Riveranian Protection Force are cooperating to form the Nimalian Systems Defense, a non-national organization that’ll handle all extrasolar matters.”

“My CO actually just mentioned that to me,” Siyuakén commented. “…Oh, so the two of you are who he was talking about.”

“So you know that we came to ask you to join Hazardous Memento?”

“Huh? That’s not our name.” Kaoné threw Kevérin an unamused glance.

“What? It’s better than Hero Machina,” Kevérin snorted.

“I don’t know about that…” Siyuakén replied.

“…So, are you in?”

“I hope you’re not expecting me to just drop everything and say ‘yes.’”

“No, but it’d definitely be easier for us.” Kevérin then glanced between Kaoné and Siyuakén, both of whom stared back at him disapprovingly. “…What?”

“We know it isn’t that simple,” Kaoné stated as she turned back to Siyuakén. “I’ll admit that neither of us even knew about any of this before yesterday.”

“So the two of you did just drop everything and say yes?”

“Whatever we’ll be doing as ‘Hero Machina’ has to be more exciting than sitting around on stand-by,” Kevérin claimed, “I know we weren’t busy at all. What are you doing that’s so important?”

Siyuakén sighed and gestured for Kaoné and Kevérin to take a seat. She then crossed her office, closed the door, and walked around her desk across from her two guests before sitting down in her chair.

“…That serious?” Kevérin questioned uneasily.

“Pretty much…” Siyuakén responded, “I’m going to guess that the two of you are looking for my friend, Rebehka, as well?”

Kaoné checked her roster quickly before asking, “Rebehka… Tchiréon?”

Siyuakén nodded. “That’s her. She and I have been working on a classified project for the past few years—”

“Whoa, wait, classified?” Kevérin interrupted, “can you really just up and tell us about it then?”

“Sure it’s classified, but my CO said it was fine to share this with you,” Siyuakén replied. “The two of you, me, Rebehka — it’s not hard to tell that you’re looking to recruit the Chaotics born during the Chaos Energy Quake.”

Kaoné and Kevérin glanced at each other warily. “I guess that is pretty obvious, huh…” Kaoné admitted.

“I suppose now is a good time to point out that Hero Machina’s ‘official’ task is to investigate the Quake,” Kevérin stated.

“That’s good to know. That increases my chances of joining you.” Siyuakén sighed warily. “The project — well, the situation Rebehka and I are investigating, we believe it could be related to the Quake.”

“Wow. We’re making progress already!” Kevérin exclaimed.

“What’s going on?” Kaoné questioned.

“As far as we know, it all started about ten years ago,” Siyuakén began, “animals with metallic body parts have been showing up the world over. But it doesn’t look as though the metallic parts grew with the animal, or as if they were surgically inserted in place of the original body part. It looks more like an infection, almost. Like giant rashes. Giant metallic rashes… yeah, that’s probably the best way to put it.”

Kevérin grimaced. “That sounds, uh… pretty gross.”

“You can’t even imagine…” Siyuakén sighed again. “The poor things look like they’re in so much pain… but any animal infected with the metallic rash seems to go mad. They become extremely hostile and attack everything in sight. Even normally docile creatures will go crazy. It’s far from easy to subdue them, and there’s no known way to cure them, so usually… we have to put them down.”

“Aww…” Kaoné frowned.

“That’s sad…” Kevérin nodded slowly. “But… if these animals have been appearing all over the world, why haven’t we heard of them?”

“Because the governments don’t want a panic.” Siyuakén snorted in derision. “They’ve tried their damnedest to make sure the public doesn’t learn about it. It’s not hard, either. On any other continent-nation the infected animals are easily spotted and put down by local teams, and nothing is heard from them. Here in Relédiaka, though, there are massive forests to hide in. The infection is a bigger problem here since we can’t find the infected animals quickly enough to put them down and stop whatever this ‘disease’ is from spreading. But most of the towns are tree-borne, so people rarely see the animals anyways…”

“I’d heard stories, but I never imagined that the forest floor is actually that dangerous!”

“It’s pretty nasty down there, I’ll admit. Only Chaotics are allowed on the forest floor, and never alone,” Siyuakén stated. “General policy is to put down any infected animals on sight, but Rebehka and I are part of a group that tries to capture and study them to see what’s wrong.”

“Why you two?”

“Because I’m an Electrotechnic, and she’s a Cryotechnic. Our powers allow us to more easily subdue animals.”

Kevérin snorted. “By shocking or freezing them?”

“It’s got to be better than… er…” Siyuakén paused for a moment. “…What kind of Chaotics are you?”

“He’s a Pyrotechnic, and I’m a Materiatechnic,” Kaoné replied.

“Well it’s definitely better than burning them,” Siyuakén retorted before looking over at Kaoné. “Wait… you’re a Materiatechnic? Like, actually?”

“I don’t lie,” Kaoné huffed.

“Hmm…” Siyuakén mused, “…how good are you?”

“Huh?”

“Like, how finely can you control matter?”

“Um…” Instead of a verbal response, Kaoné held up her right hand. Her sleeve cuff detached from her sleeve, rotated 360 degrees, and then reattached itself seamlessly.

“…Wow,” Siyuakén replied as she inspected the sleeve, “…no seam. You’d never even know you pulled off the cuff…”

“It took a lot of practice to be able to do that,” Kaoné commented, “and, even then… I’ve got a long way to go, as a Materiatechnic.”

Kevérin snorted.

Ignoring him, Siyuakén asked, “how well can you use your power on moving objects? Living things?”

“I don’t like where this is going…” Kaoné responded uneasily.

“But, just think about it!” Siyuakén urged, “we’ve never had a Materiatechnic help us before. Your power could be key to getting rid of the metallic infection!”

“And what if I kill the animal on accident?”

“It’s what would have happened anyways.”

“I hope you aren’t ‘putting them down’ so gruesomely as removing matter from a random part of their body!”

Siyuakén drew away from Kaoné in surprise. “…Sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Kaoné quickly apologized, “I just… …I won’t do it.”

Kevérin pursed his lips as he glanced between the two women who were now sitting in awkward silence. Choosing to break said silence, he questioned, “so what does this ‘metal infection’ have to do with the Chaos Energy Quake?”

“That’s a little harder to answer.” Siyuakén turned to address Kevérin. “Our ‘evidence’ is pretty qualitative. This infection thing has only been a Nimalian issue — that we know of — for the past decade, but we’ve received reports of similar infections on planets in CSA space. Those reports go back as far as twenty years… but no farther.”

“That’s not exactly a solid connection.”

“Which is why I’m considering joining you guys. If you’re going to investigate the Quake, you may discover some things about this infection, and you might be able to establish an actual connection. If nothing else, I’m sure I’d get a chance to check out the non-Nimalian infection reports. Hmm…” She paused for a moment before suddenly standing up.

“Where are you going?” Kevérin questioned as she briskly walked around her desk and to her office door, “after all that, you’re not just dropping everything and joining, are you?”

“No, not just yet, at least,” Siyuakén replied as she opened the door and gestured for the other two to follow. “An Electrotechnic, a Pyrotechnic, and a Materiatechnic… we should be safe enough.”

“…You want to show us one of the infected animals, don’t you?”

“So that you’ll at least know what to look for, whether I join your squad or not.”

Kaoné frowned warily. “I don’t feel too good about this…”

“Don’t worry,” Siyuakén replied. “…As much as I don’t want to, if it comes down to, it I’m sure I can stop anything that decides to attack you. I’m sure you can help too, uh… Transfer Captain.”

“My name’s Kevérin.”

“Right. So, are the two of you with me?”

“…Will you join us if we go with you?” Kaoné asked.

“Maybe.”

Kaoné and Kevérin glanced at each other uneasily. Kevérin followed the glance with a shrug and turned back to Siyuakén. “Sure. We’re in.”

“Alright!” she exclaimed, “let’s go!”

---

“Er… the ground didn’t look quite so far away when we flew in…”

“Relax,” Siyuakén replied as she readied the lift to the forest floor, “this lift may not see much use, but it’s still reliable.”

“How often do you go down there?” Kaoné questioned.

“Probably once a week or so,” Siyuakén answered, “but Relédiakians don’t use the lift. The lift is for foreigners like you who don’t know how to use swinging gear.”

“Use what?”

Siyuakén held up her arms, forearms forward, showing off a metal prism strapped to each forearm. At the end of each prism closest to the elbow was a cylindrical canister, mounted with its bases parallel to the sides of her arms; the other end of the prism was sloped away from her hand, and a single spike appeared to be mounted within.

“Oh, so that’s what those are…” Kevérin nodded. “…Wait, how do you swing with those?”

Siyuakén glanced at the lift control panel to see how much longer they had until it arrived. Seeing that there was still plenty of time, she held her right arm out toward the dense treetops, away from the city behind them. There was a small spark and the spike shot out, revealing that it was attached to the prism by a cord. Then, almost as soon as it had shot out, it retracted, snapping back into its mounted position.

“So it’s like a grappling hook?”

“It is a grappling hook. Once it extends out a certain distance, hooks open outward, out of the spike.”

Kevérin whistled. “Not bad. How do you power something so small, though—?”

“KRAAAAAAAWWWW!!”

“Wha—!?” Kaoné jumped, startled.

“Damn it!” Siyuakén glared into the distance, scanning the treetops for the source of the cry. “I just had to go and wake up a dragonbird, didn’t I—?!” She froze as a massive bird-like creature dived out of the leaves some distance away and began rocketing toward the three Chaotics. Then she scowled.

Kevérin caught the expression. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s infected!” Siyuakén replied, “…the infection’s reached the birds, too? Damn— hold on!” She stretched her arm toward the bird. “Avert your eyes!” she exclaimed just before a bright bolt of lightning jumped from her fingertips to the dragonbird. It immediately seized up, all of its muscles contracted; however, while its wings were no longer flapping, it still maintained its forward momentum.

“It’s coming this way!!” Kevérin yelped.

“Watch out!” Siyuakén shouted, grabbing both Kaoné and Kevérin by their shoulders and pulling them to the side. She succeeded in keeping all three of them out of direct harms way, but she wasn’t quite fast enough to keep the giant bird from scraping against Kaoné, who stumbled over, unprepared for the animal’s surprisingly large mass.

“Whoa, whoa—!”

“Kaoné! Get— shit!” Kevérin exclaimed, quickly reaching out for the Materiatechnic. But he was too late; she tripped on the walkway and toppled over the low railing, falling straight down to the ground below. However, as a Materiatechnic, she had nothing much to fear — when she judged she was within a couple seconds of hitting the ground, she quickly liquefied the dirt and made it reach out to her, disabling all surface tension as she fell into the liquid-like blob. As soon as her downward speed slowed to nil she ejected herself from the dirt blob, allowing it to re-solidify as she hastily removed the leftover dirt splotches on her body.

“Eugh…” she groaned. “Disgusting—”

“KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWW!!”

“It’s still coming?!” She whipped around just in time to see the dragonbird throw itself at her. She quickly dove to the side before rolling over and jumping back to her feet, unconsciously reaching her hand toward the bird. No, wait, no—! she panicked, no, don’t kill… it?… Her panic turned part-way into confusion as she noticed the dragonbird stomp the ground and turn back to face her. Wait, just now… she thought to herself uneasily, my… power…

It didn’t work!

– Sundia, Nimath 1, 8034 –

“Where is she…?”

A young man stood in a small tool shack, holding the door open just enough to peer into the world outside. Several hundred meters to the east was a long line of cliffs that dropped off to a sprawling city and the coast, while to the west and south, mountains towered over a series of conservatively decorated buildings, painted to blend in to the grass- and tree-covered mountainside — which presented a stark contrast to the military vehicles parked all around the complex. The man regarded the vehicles with annoyance, but then he glanced down at his black boots, slacks, and black, white, and gray dress jacket: the uniform of a Tekdecénian Transfer Captain. Can’t very well complain about tanks on a military base, he thought to himself, …but I can complain about how long I’ve been waiting. Where is she? Seriously… He distracted himself by dusting off his uniform before glancing at his reflection in the shack’s window; a pale face with narrow brown eyes, bounded by short black hair on top, a rounded chin on bottom, and glasses in front, stared back at him. He stood just over five and a half feet tall and his build was decidedly average for the 21-year-old man that he was, rounding out his rather unremarkable appearance.

“Too bad I’m not a shape-shifter,” he muttered to himself, just before the sound of footfalls on grass reached his ears. He snapped his attention back to the shack’s door and scanned his immediate surroundings, soon laying eyes on a passing young woman with olive skin, brown eyes covered by glasses, and long, wavy black hair. Her uniform shared the black boots and slacks of the man hiding in the shack, but the rest of her outfit was a significant departure: a blue waist-cloak draped from her belt, while she wore a white shirt over a long-sleeved cuffed blue shirt, and a blue shawl around her neck and shoulders. But aside from her outfit, her short stature stood out the most, as the top of her head wasn’t even five feet above the ground.

“There she is… finally!” The man in the shack smirked to himself as he watched the woman cross the grounds unawares. “Alright, Kaoné… I’ve got you this time!”

He took a deep breath, rubbed his gloved hands together, and then…

BANG!

“Hah!!”

The shack’s door slammed open and a blast of fire rushed outside, rolling over the surrounding ground before rising up into the air and fading away. The man leaped through the doorway and quickly inspected the smoldering terrain around him, his eyes coming to rest on a small rocky mound to his side just as the ground beneath him exploded upward, nailing him in the chin and knocking him over backwards. As soon as he hit the ground, the dirt jumped up and grabbed his wrists and ankles before transforming into steel and binding him to the ground. He immediately began struggling and only looked up when the rocky mound he spotted earlier rose out of the ground and disintegrated, revealing the short woman from before.

“…Damn it!” The Pyrotechnic scowled. “I almost had you this time!”

“Kevérin!” the woman protested, “you almost killed me!”

“Oh please, you would’ve been fine,” Kevérin replied. “You’re a Materiatechnic! You’re practically invincible!”

“Controlling matter doesn’t really make me invincible…”

“Come on, Kaoné. I wouldn’t have killed you. I couldn’t have killed you! I’ve never even been able to scratch you before!”

“Fire doesn’t scratch.”

“You know what I mean.” Kevérin tugged at his bounds meekly before glancing up at Kaoné. “Uh… mind letting me go?”

She sighed in annoyance. A moment later, the steel bindings disintegrated and Kevérin clumsily pulled himself up into a standing position. He stretched for a couple seconds before turning to face Kaoné and smirking. Pointing at her waist-cloak, he quipped, “on second thought…”

She glanced down at the singed article of clothing and sighed again. “What would your CO say if he heard you attacked a Nimaliakian?”

“Tch, that was more of a test, not an attack,” Kevérin retorted, watching out the corner of his eye as Kaoné’s uniform seemingly repaired itself. “We’ve been stationed here for weeks. Months? I forget which. I’m just trying to make sure we don’t get soft.”

“I know, I know. You don’t have to attack me without warning, though.”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise attack if I warned you.”

“Then don’t surprise attack me.”

“Hmph.” Kevérin idly glanced around at his surroundings as he considered the difference in power between himself and Kaoné. Both of them were known as “Chaotics,” a term for people who possess some kind of supernatural ability — and all Chaotics were dependent on Chaos Energy, a mysterious resource that pervades the galaxy and allows for all kinds of physics-defying feats. Kevérin and Kaoné at least had that in common, but their actual powers as Chaotics set them in different leagues. Kevérin could control flames and heat, but Kaoné could control and alter all matter itself. The Pyrotechnic sighed in irritation; it would take more than a mere ambush to make up for the gulf of power between him and his friend.

As he continued to muse about his situation, Kevérin’s gaze turned to the cliffs overlooking the sprawling city below, and then up to the mountains that occupied the entire southern horizon. “You know,” he eventually remarked, “as beautiful as this place is, I’m starting to miss Tekdecé…”

“You’ll probably go back soon. Things have calmed down since that one incident with the Interstellar Gate,” Kaoné stated, “Tekdecé doesn’t have a lot of reason to keep soldiers in Nimaliaka. I’m surprised you’ve stayed this long, anyway.”

“Probably the stupid conflict between the Drakkars and the CSA. Never know when they might attack each other again, and we’ll have to hop through the Gate and put our lives on the line for some galactic federation that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about us.”

“The Core Space Alliance isn’t a federation.”

“You’re correcting me a lot today.”

“You’re being wrong a lot today.”

Kevérin scowled. “…We should probably go back to our quarters now.”

Kaoné glanced at the western horizon, where the sun was rapidly descending toward the mountaintops. “Yeah… in fact, that’s where I was heading before you jumped out of that shack and ambushed me!”

The Pyrotechnic grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Kaoné grinned back. “It’s okay. Just don’t be surprised if the ground starts tripping you a lot.”

“Oh boy…” Kevérin groaned before turning around, just in time for another soldier to round the corner.

She suddenly stiffened and saluted. “Sir! Ma’am!”

Kaoné and Kevérin saluted back. “What is it?” Kaoné questioned.

“Sorry about the timing.” The soldier glanced at the sunset. “Commander Nikéyin would like to see you.”

Kevérin snorted. “More fetch quests, I bet.”

“Kevérin,” Kaoné reprimanded as she elbowed his side.

“Fine, fine.” He rubbed his side tenderly before looking back to the soldier and nodding. “You can go now. Tell the Commander we’re on our way.”

---

“Come in!”

Kaoné slowly opened the large door to the Commander’s office. She then stepped inside and let go of the door, leaving Kevérin to awkwardly catch the doorknob before it could nail him in the stomach. He glared at the Materiatechnic as he stepped through the door and stood next to her, but she pretended not to notice. Then he snapped his attention forward as soon as the chair on the other side of the desk swiveled around, revealing an olive-skinned woman with shoulder-length black hair and a ponytail. Her uniform was the same as Kaoné’s, with the exception of golden decor sewn into her waist-cloak to demonstrate her high rank. On her face were the folds of age which, when paired with her glasses and her hardened — yet serene — resting expression, confirmed the many years of experience that her uniform claimed as she turned her attention to the two guests in her office.

Kaoné and Kevérin both saluted. “Commander!”

Commander Nikéyin stood and saluted back. “Lieutenant Densalin.” She nodded toward Kaoné, and then glanced at Kevérin. “Transfer Captain Tyrion.” She sat back down and bade for the two Chaotics to do the same, though they had only stools themselves.

Nikéyin eyed the two as they fidgeted in their seats. “Slow times, hmm?”

“You could say that,” Kevérin admitted.

“It’s not bad though,” Kaoné commented. “I’d rather be bored than have to fight.”

Nikéyin sighed. “If only things were always so easy…”

Kevérin’s eyes widened with interest. “Does that mean we have an actual mission?”

“You won’t be fighting anyone, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“Aw… Why do we have to stick around the base? We’re literally the only non-rookie Chaotics in the entire region! Everyone else is off helping on the Drakkar or Riaxen fronts!”

“Do you want to be shipped to the war fronts?”

“Well… no,” Kevérin admitted. “It’s just… I hate having nothing to do!”

“Maybe if you’d stop complaining, you’d learn of what I want you to do?” Nikéyin smirked as the Captain’s face fell. “Wipe that frown off your face. You may not be seeing action, but I think you’ll still be pleased with your assignment.”

Kaoné and Kevérin glanced at each other in confusion. “…What is it?” Kaoné questioned.

“I’ll start by briefly explaining the background,” the Commander stated, and then looked over at Kevérin. “You’re from the Tekdecénian military. I’m sure you’re aware of the movement to place all of Nimalia’s extrasolar military activities in the hands of a non-national entity.”

“I am,” Kevérin replied. “I’m not against the idea, but it wouldn’t be fair to take the space fleets from Tekdecé and the RPF if Nimaliaka gets to keep the Interstellar Gate.”

“Don’t worry, that’s been considered. The Interstellar Gate won’t be moved, but the facility it inhabits will be established as one of the first non-national grounds.”

“…You’re talking like this is already happening,” Kaoné commented slowly.

“That’s because it is.” The Commander smiled broadly. “Nimaliaka, Tekdecé, and Riverana are coming together to form the Nimalian Systems Defense — the NSD. A non-national organization that will take control of all extrasolar activities. Well… at a later date, at least. The NSD hasn’t been officially established yet.”

“Alright, so this is cool and all…” Kevérin frowned. “But if it hasn’t been established yet, then why are we here?”

“Just because it hasn’t been officially established doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been effectively established,” Nikéyin declared. “While we work through the politics and bureaucracy to make the organization official, I still have a useful task for you two – oh, I suppose I should mention that I’ll be the NSD’s Commander.”

“Congratulations!” Kaoné smiled warmly.

“So… what are we supposed to do?” Kevérin questioned.

“Form the NSD’s first Chaotic squad, recruit further members, and then investigate the cause of the Chaos Energy Quake.”

Kevérin whistled. “That’s a tall order.”

“Hasn’t the Quake already been investigated by countless organizations?” Kaoné pointed out, “I don’t know what we could find that hasn’t already been discovered…”

“That is true,” Nikéyin admitted, “but I’m sure the two of you are aware of your relation to the Quake.”

Kaoné and Kevérin briefly thought back to the event that occurred over twenty years ago. One day with no warning, all of the Chaos Energy in the galaxy became inexplicably erratic, frying Chaos Energy-based technology all across the galaxy and sending countless Chaotics berserk. And then — just as suddenly — Chaos Energy became completely unusable, rendering all of the technology that had survived useless and making faster than light travel and communication practically impossible. The galaxy was thrown into disarray until Chaos Energy mysteriously became usable again a year later. The civilizations of the galaxy have since largely recovered. However, aside from disabling all manner of advanced technology, the Chaos Energy Quake had a second lasting effect: the birthrate of Chaotics during the year-long period plummeted to almost zero. The galactic birthrate itself remained relatively constant, but of the millions of children born on the Nimalian Homeworld during that year, only seven went on to develop supernatural abilities — to become Chaotics. Kaoné and Kevérin were two of those seven.

Kaoné frowned, failing to understand the Commander’s implication. “Our ‘relation’ to the Quake won’t really help us figure out what caused it, though…”

“The two of you are two of the only Chaotics on this planet to have been born during that entire year,” Nikéyin refuted. “Normally, several thousand of the newborns on Nimalia in any given year go on to develop Chaotic ability. It would be understandable if no Chaotics were born during the Quake, but that the seven of you were — it’s confounding.”

“I still don’t know how we can help with this, but if it means actually doing something that isn’t standing around here, I’m sold!” Kevérin leaned forward in anticipation. “Where do we start?”

“Ultimately, that will be up to you,” the Commander stated before pulling up a roster on her glasses’ AR display and sending it to the two Chaotics. “But to start with, your task is to recruit more members. I’ve already spoken with your respective superiors; they know to leave you be. You just need to get the people on that list to join up.”

“…So this is a fetch quest,” Kevérin drawled.

“Oh shush,” Kaoné replied as she looked over the roster Nikéyin had sent to her. “…Wait, I recognize some of these names.”

“I would hope so,” Nikéyin replied, “they’re the other five Chaotics born on Nimalia during the Quake.”

His interest piqued, Kevérin began looking through the list himself. He then scowled, and began to complain. “These guys are all over the place! And a Tresédian? Really? You want us to recruit someone from that backwards place?”

“Davídrius Wrikax is one of Treséd’s best Velocitechnics,” the Commander asserted. “Everyone on that list has significant skill as a Chaotic, in fact. You’d do well to not underestimate them.”

“Why do only Siyuakén Wanléon and Christeané Kolstén have contact information?” Kaoné questioned, “how are we supposed to find these people if we can’t even contact them?”

“You’ll need to visit them in person,” Nikéyin responded, “it’s probably the only way most of them will even consider joining you, anyway.”

Kevérin scowled. “I knew this was a fetch quest…”

“You’re really representing your home nation well.”

“…Tch.”

“I guess we can start by calling up Siyuakén and Christeané…” Kaoné mused, “once we hear from them, we can decide who to ask next…”

“Sounds like you’re developing a plan already! I knew I could count on Hero Machina.”

“Hero… Machina?” Kevérin echoed slowly, and then grimaced. “Don’t tell me that’s our—?”

“Call sign? Actually, it is.” Nikéyin smirked again when Kevérin let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s really not that bad.”

“Right…” Kevérin muttered. “…I almost want to go back to just standing around.”

“Too late for that,” Nikéyin replied as she stood up, prompting Kaoné and Kevérin to hastily stand as well. “You understand the task you’ve been given, correct?”

The two Chaotics nodded in response.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it. Meanwhile, I have some other things to attend to.” The Commander saluted. “Dismissed!”