A Soldier For All Seasons Ch. 21

"Yeah?"

Her face broke out into a grimace, an alien's attempt at a smile. "Thank you."

"You got it." He waved her away and made his way back to the dorms, a bounce in his step.

The whole room silenced once he entered.

"She's awake." Nate announced.

His team burst into cheers and whoops, still riding high on their victory.

"Whoo! That's my girl!" Lita shouted.

"Shall we go see her?" Hakeem clapped his hands together.

"She wants to rest," Nate forestalled. "Later, though, sure. She wants to collect her thoughts or something."

"Women, huh?" Graz bumped his shoulder.

"Women." Nate nodded.

Graz's smile dropped. "Hey, listen," He fidgeted. "I just wanted to say that y'know, like, y'know, I think you have promise. Think maybe your balls are growing in, so you know, you can be the team leader if you want to."

Nate gave him a genuine smile — the man finally admitting what they all already knew. Nate clapped his shoulder. "Thanks, Graz. You did some great work out there."

Graz grinned unashamedly. "Yeah, I really did, didn't I?"

The rest of them groaned in unison. Nate couldn't help but laugh.

***

"Are you sure about this?" Ana said nervously.

"Trust me, I've done this a lot."

"That's kind of what worries me."

"You think I'll kill him?"

"I think you don't know what you'll do to him."

Cora laughed loudly. "That's the game, sweetie. It doesn't work if they're not afraid."

"How do we get in?"

Cora gave her an odd look. "We walk straight in. It's an apartment complex, babe, it's not a military compound."

"Right." She exhaled a long breath. Cora's hair flipped into her face when she turned.

"You did that deliberately." Ana accused.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ana let it go. "Your hair's more glossy now."

"A little," dismissed Cora. "Come on."

The complex was tall and grey, just one of the ugly stubby skyscrapers that made up the residential district of Agua'lien. It was an iceberg scraper, something that had boggled Cora's mind — half of the skyscraper was submerged in water, half above, with a flotation circular plaza around its center, colored orange like a lifebuoy.

That plaza connected with rope-bridges and rafts to the other scrapers, to the other plazas, making up the waterborne community. Around them were pretty parks with holes cut within to allow for diving or foot-splashing. Wriggling fish jumped out of them and lay stranded on sidewalks.

Less lively fish were being barbecued in the foodstalls, the smell at odds with the salty sea air.

They were getting some looks for being overdressed; this was a place where people lived in swimwear and sarongs, loinclothes and unbuttoned shirts. Ana and Cora wore hoodies and sporty short-shorts, their one concession to fitting in. Cora couldn't take off her hoody — Ana had seen the array of weapons belted to her chest.

Cora strode into the complex, taking the stairs down. In the lobby, the news covered something inane — they'd been covering up the Prince's death so far. Hopefully, the news would take a little longer to break — Ana still wanted to put a bigger gap between them and the scene. And Agua'lien wasn't far from Watta-watta, which was why they were here.

A lot of pilots and ship staff lived here, close enough to be on the scene if duty called. And according to the manifest Ana had swiped from the Prince's ship, so did its pilot — Captain Vesstan Rofaren.

"There's an elevator," said Ana.

"Elevators are trouble." Cora replied, taking the steps two at a time.

Ana grumbled and followed, but her attention was caught by the scenes outside, the glass showing the underside of the clear water. Swimming Lunari, swishing powerfully for the water, as easy to them as walking. Tiny porous gills on their necks let them breathe.

It only reminded her that even among Lunari, they had many differences.

They spiraled around the central pole, a gigantic thick gnarled oak, that reminder of the true roots of all Lunari, descending down.

The swimmers dissipated in number, replaced by all manner of wondrous fish, lustrous prey suddenly snatched up by shadowed beasts lunging from the darkest depths.

"Ana, keep up!" Cora ordered.

"Coming," Ana snapped out of the scene. The deep sea would have to wait.

"I think this is the one." Cora murmured.

"Okay." She fidgeted.

Cora took three steps back and kicked the door in, rushing it with her blaster stretched. Ana followed dutifully, covering the angles Cora couldn't with her own sidearm, hoping her hoody covered her face.

She wished she had her stupid emoji-mask that sprung up from its collar, but that had caught shrapnel in their club in the sky adventure, and she'd never had the heart to tell Nate that she'd come so close to dying.

"Clear!" Cora called out. "Sunshine, get over here."

"Really, my codename is Sunshine?" Ana stepped into the kitchen to find Cora manuevering a terrified blonde down into the kitchen chair, a knife at her neck.

Cora glared at her, all business. "Where's your husband?" She asked her new hostage.

"H-he's out. At work." The Lunari stammered. She was pretty, Ana thought, even with the worry lines etched on her forehead.

"Really?" Cora crossed her arms. The woman wasn't going anywhere, even without a knife held to her neck. "He's a pilot for the Prince and the Prince's ship is docked, so how is he working?"

"H-he does odd jobs at his cousin's shop, he's a good man. Please," She dropped to her knees, sliding off the chair. "Please don't hurt him!"

"We're not going to hurt him." Cora considered that. "Ok, we might hurt him. But we don't want to hurt him."

"We'll try not to hurt him." Ana said, throwing a look at Cora, who just held her hands up.

"Sunshine, go find something to tie her up with. And then see if they have any coffee — we're gonna be here a while."

A while turned out to be a long while. Ana never knew taking hostages could be so dull — she spent the whole time making coffee and raiding the fridge. Thankfully, Cora was slightly more receptive than she had been to her long wistful sighs and her constant staring at the skies above. Ana imagined she was awful company.

She wondered what Nate was doing at that exact moment. Probably winning some grand battle. Or a duel. Maybe he'd seduced that exotic Mediator. That thought cheered her up — she hated the idea of him being lonely, and he'd seemed so lonely.

"Stupid Judge program." She muttered.

There was a rustling at the door. Cora snapped to her feet. Ana's face slipped from where it had been propped on her palm.

The door opened. "Honey, why's the door-oh, fu—"

"Nuh-uh, hero." Cora jabbed her gun in his back, slipping the gun out of the man's holster. "Go take a seat before I blow your spine out."

"Who the fuck—"

Cora jabbed harder. "My associate has a gun trained on your wife — any resistance and we'll see how pretty she is without half her head." Ana swallowed the scorching coffee she'd just taken a gulp of, quickly raising her gun to do as Cora said.

She pushed him into the seat, where he stared at his red-eyed wife. She'd long since ran out of tears.

"Meria has been a lovely host." Cora said, like she was talking about the weather.

"Vess," Meria croaked, eyes wide. "Just tell them what they want to know—"

"Honey, they're not gonna hurt us, they've got the wrong people, it's just a—"

Cora smashed the butt of her gun on his head, causing his wife to cry out.

"Stop it, stop it! Please!" She wailed.

"I think you know we're not here for a misunderstanding." Cora corrected. "But we don't want to hurt you. We just want some answers."

Cora's barrel pressed against his cheek, his tears running down and around the cold metal.

"W-what?"

"Why did the Prince leave Tallaris?"

"What-what do you mean? The bugs were attacking! We had to get out!"

Cora smashed her gun against his cheek, a cut on his lip joining the one on his forehead, dripping slowly.

"Stop it!" Meria yelled, thrashing against her restraints.

"We saw the ship, fool." Cora growled. "The engine was shot up with a blaster. Looked pretty deliberate."

"We were exchanging fire with the bugs—"

Cora fired into the man's leg. A bullet from a gun, not shots from a blaster — he'd still walk.

"Agh, fuck, fuck, fucking bitch!" The veins on his mouth strained, his hands clutching his leg, blood pouring out.

"Vess, Vess-" Meria cried, her chair scratching against the flooring. Her eyes caught Cora's. "Please, please, don't kill him, don't kill him!"

"Stop wasting my time!" Cora exhaled a long breath. "Bugs don't randomly fire into closed engine bays. The next bullet goes in your wife's leg."

"I'm just a pilot, I just do what I'm told, I don't—"

Ana flinched at the next bang, looking on with wide eyes. Meria screamed and screamed, her hands red with blood.

"Stop! Stop!" Vess's eyes were bloodshot, his breaths short and gasping.

"They're just flesh wounds." Cora said dismissively. "The next one goes in your shoulder and the one after that goes in your wife. Got it?"

"Okay, okay, alright? Baby, it's okay. You'll be fine. Listen to my voice. Okay! Just let me get help, we'll bleed out—" He choked, realizing what he was saying. "Okay, I'll answer, I'll answer!"

"I'm waiting." Cora hummed.

"The ship, okay, okay," Vesstan said, talking fast now, even as he hissed out the pain. "We left early, real early, we got a warning."

"Through the holo network?" Ana spoke up. Cora shot her a warning look. Even her voice could be recognizable.

"No, no." The man shook his head wildly, eyes unfocused. "They blew the comms early, all the holo shit was down."

"But you had your ship ready to fly real early. How?"

"It was a star!" The man babbled. "A blinking star!"

"Are you trying to get your wife killed?" Cora asked dryly.

"No, I'm serious!" Vesstan pressed his hands onto his bleeding leg, squeezing hard to try and stem the flow of blood. "Don't shoot, don't shoot, I'm serious! After the comms dropped the Prince started looking at this star system, so I'm thinkin', what's the deal, right? And I'm looking over his shoulder and one of the stars faded completely and then comes right back. You have to believe me!" He begged.

Ana saw Cora glance back at her. "A ship?" She mouthed at the pink-haired woman, who was still wearing bandages over her eyes.

"Could be a satellite or a space station even, if the sunlight reflected in the right way." Cora mused out loud.

"It wasn't. It was a star! In the Aurelius constellation."

"The constellation of the insect." Ana muttered to herself.

"Bugs have a sense of humor, who knew?" Cora snarked.

"It wasn't bugs!" Vesstan insisted, writhing back and forth as he clutched his leg, eyes wild. "The Prince would never consort with the bugs. It was divine inspiration, for he can speak directly with the cosmos, for he is the next Taranasar! He will bring our people together, he will unite—"

Ana was moving before she knew it, marching straight up to him and butting him unconscious, angry despite herself. "I've seen the real Taranasar, and believe me, he's much better."

"Vess!" Meria had wriggled to the floor, still bound, trying desperately to reach her husband. "Are y-you gonna kill us?"

"No," Cora snorted. She leaned down and pressed her knuckles to the woman's neck, a low hiss exhaling as she injected something, a little syringe hidden in her modded knuckles. "I'll call for help, you'll both be fine." She looked over at Ana. "Let's get out of here."

"S-sorry." Ana apologized, though she wasn't sure what for.

"Why? We got what we came for. Come on, let's not get arrested — if we have to try and breakout of a perimeter underwater, you're going to get your hair wet and I'll never hear the end of it." Cora quipped.

***

Nate looked up at the rock cliff. That familiar obstacle course — the same obstacle, even if it was a different cliff, even if this activity was technically a timed relay race. This time, he wasn't even nervous. They were winners now.

Winners in duels.

Winners in skirmishes.

They'd started a pattern. Losing was contagious, but winning was too. And they'd been shooting up the leaderboards, especially with the Snakes suffering with the loss of Xavier.

Even Lunar had recovered and had been throwing herself back into the action with a ferocious attitude, desperate to make it clear she belonged. To be frank, Nate was a little frightened — the day prior, she'd beaten a man into pulp and then looked straight toward him for his approval.

He'd nodded hesitantly and she'd been thrilled. She'd taken to following him around asking for combat tips and stories. Oddly, Graziano was the only one who sympathized — the mafia heir had told him that Mediator's took the leadership of the team extremely seriously.

"It's like you're her boyfriend, her father, her mother, her best friend, all at once. Honestly," Graz leaned towards him. "It freaked me out so I just told her to keep on doin' what she's doin'"

Nate wasn't quite as hands-off but he was still studiously avoiding her gaze as he looked up at the cliff.

This time, he had a plan.

"Alright, Nate, you're up. Try not to break the rope this time." Rivero jabbed. She slapped the relay baton into his hand.

Nate smirked — with Xavier gone, he was pretty sure he wasn't going to get any more assassination attempts. He still wasn't going to use the rope though.

*Light me up, Isabelle.* He asked.

*Calculating depth levels, soil decomposition levels from previous environment interaction, calculating your jump and reach levels, optimizing path...and complete. I'm so great!*

Nate grinned as the ledges and hangs of the cliff lit up green, amber and red, a path to follow.

"Three, two, one!" Rivero announced.

Nate shot off, ignoring the rope completely and bounding up the cliff, swinging himself upward, completely confident. Isabelle had his back.

He was at the top before the sweat even started dripping. Again, Carmichael stood at the top, smirking.

Not this time.

Nate swivelled on his ankle and stared down below. Rivero, standing on her rising drone, the flying referee.

Carmichael began his charge from behind, but Nate had already bent his knees. He leapt down, the air rushing through his air, a moment of weightlessness.

He smashed into Rivero, knocking her completely off the drone, sending her flying to the ground.

He didn't care — she'd be fine. She always was.

Nate almost tumbled off the drone himself. The crowd yelled from below, but he tuned them out as he tore open the top panel and threaded his armguard into it.

*You in, Isabelle?*

*Archaic flight model, but I'm in.* She grumbled.

They were already rising. Nate shot a cheeky salute to the flabbergasted Carmichael as they rose above him, high into the sky. Below, Rivero screamed something. He was in trouble.

But not yet.

First, he had a course to win.

Mud-runs, barbed wire, a gel slide, zero-g ball game — he flew over all them, enjoying the cries of anger below him from his fellow trainees, the drone his surfboard.

Below, Lunar waited for him, ready to enter the next part of the timed race — the caves. He was glad he didn't have to fly his drone in there — he'd end up impaled by a stalagmite.

She looked at him with wide eyes as he tossed her the baton.

"Shortcut, go already!"

She shot off, leaving Nate to rest against the cliffside, hands behind his head, idling away the minutes before Rivero tore his balls off.

*I'm sure she won't be that mad. Will she?* Nate wondered.

*Auditory replay suggests she hit the ground with a very heavy thump.* Isabelle said helpfully.

"Great," He muttered out loud as he saw the white-haired woman approaching on another drone. She hopped off, a furious scowl on her face, stalking towards him.

He gulped. "Hey, listen, Ma'am."

Rivero got in his face and poked his chest. "Good fucking job, trainee." Her face broke into a smile. "Win at any cost.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, ma'am."

Her smile dropped. "Do it again and I'll break your neck."

He swallowed. "Yes, ma'am."