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!”