Disclaimer: Don't own Freezing. Just a fan.

Inner thoughts

'Message text'

Chapter 3: A Degree in Responsibility

1600 Hours, June 18, 2068 (Military Calendar) / Mirai Army Headquarters, Central Command Center

The rhythmic chirping of the console was a calming but also infuriating distraction after a long day of work.

Major Yu-Mi Kim fought the urge to fidget and instead clenched her fists tighter behind her back while also straightening her posture in order to maintain an air of command. She had junior officers looking to her after all.

"Report, Lieutenant." Yu-Mi made sure to keep her tone stern but not overly so. It was not easy given that she wanted to be anywhere but on duty at the moment.

"Intel has proven solid so far, ma'am." Second Lieutenant Tanaka squinted at the holo-screen in front of her and typed in a few commands. The screen enlarged, allowing Yu-Mi and her officers to observe the targets more clearly.

The screen showed a café on the fancier side of the spending spectrum. A bright blue awning accented the pale white chairs and tables set up outside. Various civilians could be seen chatting and eating together, completely unaware of what was about to happen. The video feed closed in on one couple in particular. Two women sat speaking to each another near the front of the café, untouched drinks forgotten in the midst of their conversation.

The women were physically unassuming and not suspicious in the least. The one to the right was a young blonde in jeans and a tank top. Her black-haired companion was older and more conservatively dressed. She wore a brown jacket and tan khakis. Neither one fit the stereotype of international terrorist and military traitor, and yet that's what they were.

First Lieutenant Claire Rudder spoke calmly and nonchalantly, but her eyes scanned the surroundings with the subtly of a veteran Pandora. Warrant Officer Kaylan Matthews tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled, the very picture of a cheerful and innocent young girl. But her smile belied her tense shoulders and clenched fists.

According to intelligence gathered by Yu-Mi's subordinates, these two Pandora were agents of the Chevalier Remnants, sent to infiltrate West Genetics and steal any Stigmatic research they could get their hands on. It was about the only form of resistance the Remnants could muster anymore, direct combat no longer being an option thanks to the technology gap Dr. Aoi had created between himself and the rest of the world. Despite this difference in strength however, the last vestiges of the Chevalier remained determined to harass Gengo and his forces to the bitter end.

And as the commander of Mirai's Base Defense Force, the branch of the War Department tasked with policing Pandora and guarding West Genetics, it fell to Yu-Mi to hunt down these infiltrators and neutralize them.

Lieutenant Tanaka broke Yu-Mi out of her reverie and said "Major, we are receiving an encrypted message from the ground team. Shall I give Master Sergeant Williams the go ahead?"

Yu-Mi weighed her options before asking, "Are we absolutely sure that they have the package? I don't want to risk civilian lives on a mistaken hunch."

"We are past that point, Major."

Yu-Mi looked over her shoulder as a pale ghost began walking towards the group from its position leaning against the far wall. The silver-haired woman looked to be in her mid-twenties, and was beautiful in an ethereal sort of way. Her eyes were large, blue, and cold as ice. Her uniform marked her as a member of the Special Forces, and the Roman numeral four stitched onto her left bicep made it all too clear who she was.

Lucy came to stand next to Yu-Mi but did not divert her eyes from the screen.

"The guilt of these two has already been determined by those who stand above us," her tone was flatter than most corpses, Yu-Mi wagered. "Our only concern is taking them into custody and retrieving any sensitive knowledge that they have stolen from this organization."

Her tone rankled Yu-Mi, and she couldn't help but speak up. "Whatever they may have done, they are still fellow Pandora and deserve some modicum of respect. I just want to be sure we're not making a mistake."

Some of the younger officers in the command center nodded along to Yu-Mi's words and that made her feel righteous. Being a Pandora was about more than just swinging big swords around. It was about sisterhood and respect and trying to work together, even for Pandora on opposite sides of a fence.

Lucy sneered at her words and said "I have neither the time nor the patience for your misplaced sense of comradery. These Pandora are agents of the Chevalier and traitors to mankind. My father gave all Pandora a choice three years ago at the Grand Canyon when he struck the death blow to those arrogant fools. Either fight beside him for the future of humanity, or step aside for those who will."

Many of the officers began to fidget uncomfortably at Lucy's words. Gengo's relation to the Legendary Pandora was one of the worst kept secrets in Mirai. To hear it casually spoken of out loud though was discomforting.

Lucy continued, ignoring the discomfort of others, "I participated in that final battle, Major. At my father's words Pandora abandoned the Chevalier in droves. Those who remained made their choice, as these two traitors have."

Yu-Mi couldn't deny that she had been absent for the Battle of Colorado back in early 66'. She had been assigned to help coordinate the attack from the safety of West Genetics. Su-Na told her in detail what it was like though, having spearheaded the attack.

Before she could respond, Lucy spoke again "We have wasted enough time on trivialities. Give the order, Major."

Yu-Mi gritted her teeth in anger. It didn't surprise her that Aoi's daughter was as overbearing and insufferable as he was. Turning back to her subordinates, Yu-Mi gave the order for the operation to commence.

Lieutenant Tanaka entered the command code and waited for a response. After a moment, her console beeped in agreement. All eyes then turned to the holo-screen in preparation. Rudder and Matthews had finished their calculated stop and were likely about to head to their scheduled flight at Chubu Centrair International Airport. From there it was unclear where they planned to go, though Yu-Mi would bet money on the US.

Not that it mattered though. They were never going to make the flight.

The two Pandora stood up from the table and began to make their way to the exit. After stepping through the doorway, the duo took a right and the video feed adjusted to compensate. What happened next was supposed to be a textbook bag and tag op.

Just as Matthews turned to tell her companion something, a pair of arms wrapped around her neck. Yu-Mi recognized the Mirai Pandora choking her as Master Sergeant Williams, a dependable Pandora famous for her thick cockney accent and speedy reflexes. Matthews twitched and flapped in a desperate attempt to get free, but the arms around her neck might have well been made of steel.

Rudder's reflexes were better and she leapt away as soon as she saw Matthews had been caught. She bolted forward with a Double Accel, but stopped dead when two Mirai Pandora appeared to block her path. She turned to flee the way she came but the sight of two more Mirai Pandora stopped her again.

Yu-Mi prayed that she had the good sense to stand down. There were fifteen other Pandora waiting in the wing to take Rudder down. She had committed a third of the Base Defense Force's strength to this operation. It was foolish to resist anymore.

Rudder summoned her Volt Weapon, gave a roar, and charged.

Master Sergeant Williams blocked her path, having dealt with Matthews quickly. Rudder raised her weapon, a doubled-bladed axe, and brought it down directly onto Williams' head.

The weapon shattered on impact, not evening dirtying the sergeant's face.

Williams rammed her fist into Rudder's stomach. The rogue Pandora doubled over and immediately vomited. A backhand sent her sailing over twelve feet in the air into the wall of the café. Yu-Mi flinched at the sickening crunch Rudder made when she landed. The Remnants no longer had the technology to produce any high-quality Stigmata, thanks to Dr. Aoi, and thus had to resort to equipping their soldiers with older Stigmata. It was always a slaughter whenever Mirai forces clashed with the Remnant in combat. They just couldn't keep up.

Yu-Mi watched as her forces quickly prepped the targets for transport back to the academy. All in all, the mission had been successful. "Lieutenant, tell Williams and her team that they did good. Drinks are on me later."

"Aye, Major!" Tanaka smiled broadly as the rest of the officers congratulated each other and began preparations to receive the prisoners.

Reluctantly, Yu-Mi turned from her team to face Lucy. She was here as a representative of the Special Forces, who often participated in the regular forces' counter-insurgency operations against the Remnants. Although it was usually Su-Na who represented her department. This was the first time she had missed an operation. Her current assignment was classified though and Yu-Mi had no idea where she was.

Lucy's face was an emotionless mask as she spoke "Your results have been most adequate. As per our agreement, your forces shall handle the interrogation of the prisoners. Do not forget to return the information they stole to the Department of Science."

Without further comment, Lucy turned and left the command center. Yu-Mi let out a relieved breath, honestly unsure what she would have done if the Legendary Pandora had been unhappy with the results. Gengo practically ruled the world like a king, so pissing his daughter off was the equivalent to spitting on a princess. Yu-Mi honestly didn't have the patience to deal with the consequences of doing so, no matter how satisfying it would be.

Glancing at the time, Yu-Mi cursed. It was getting late and she still had a ton of duties to complete.

Three hours later, Yu-Mi climbed the steps to Major General Lindman's office in the Department of War's main building. This meeting was the last on her to-do-list for the day. She'd spent the last few hours going over troop deployment and assignments. In order to foster a sense of unity in the army, a foreign platoon of Pandora was rotated into West Genetics on a monthly basis. They would then conduct drills with active-duty Mirai Pandora, and it was her job to make sure the drills went smoothly. To say the drills were hectic was an understatement. Aside from West Genetics, Mirai also controlled Genetics East, UK, Panzer, LTD, and Chakra. All other academies had closed due to lack of funding. The tanking of the United States' economy after the war had crippled the infrastructure of many a foreign nation.

Margaret's secretary waved Yu-Mi in, too busy fiddling with her holo-phone to care. The major frowned, but said nothing and let herself into the office. Kids these day had no work ethic.

The office was medium sized and plain. A large window overlooked the intersection outside and Yu-Mi could see the Central Command Center from across the way. Near the window was a large desk, where Major General Margaret Lindman sat, reading reports. She looked up at Yu-Mi's entrance, gave a tired smile, and said "Good evening to you, Major Kim. I hope your day has been more pleasant than mine."

Yu-Mi remembered the sound Rudder had made when her body was smashed against the wall. "As pleasant as a day can be in our line of work, Sister Margaret."

Margaret gave a light chuckle at that and waved Yu-Mi towards one of the chairs arrayed in front of her desk. She took the seat and proceeded to hand Margaret her holo-pad. The general took it and began reading, the crow's feet around her eyes crinkling as she looked over the information. Yu-Mi noticed there were was more grey in Margaret's hair then the last time the two had spoken. Margaret looked up from the pad and nodded at Yu-Mi to begin her report.

"The capture operation was a success. Both Pandora have been taken into custody. As soon as they took the data from our system, the automatic encryption kicked in and locked it down. They got nothing from us." Yu-Mi straightened her spine in pride. A job well done indeed.

"I'll have to recommend First Lieutenant Porsche for a commendation. Her encryption skills really saved us this time." Margaret was scanning her report with a critical eye, making sure nothing was missed.

Yu-Mi nodded as her superior spoke again, "And we are sure they had no contact with any of our Stigmata?"

The younger Pandora shook her head, "Any contact they had would be negligible. The two of them joined Mirai a year ago, claiming that it was their duty to come out of retirement and help stop the Nova. We thought it sounded fishy, so we've kept them on linguistics detail and maintenance this whole time. They never so much as touched a Plasma Stigma. I think that's why they chose now to steal the data. Thought they had wasted too much time doing nothing.

Margaret snorted at that. "Or whoever sent them grew impatient with a lack of progress. Anyway our forces shall handle their interrogation, yes? I trust there were no objections from the Special Forces?"

Inwardly, Yu-Mi groaned. She had to word this very carefully. "They were more than happy to leave the matter to us. Ms. Lucy was pleased with the operation and the performance of our troops as well."

Margaret scoffed loudly. "I'm surprised she didn't demote you for refusing to torture the prisoners. That is the preferred information gathering method of those deemed "special" by this organization, if I remember correctly."

Yu-Mi cleared her throat uncomfortably. She was getting real tired of being stuck in the middle of these arguments. "General, Su-Na apologized for her behavior and was reprimanded for her actions. What's done is done. Shouldn't we be focusing our energies on moving forward?"

Margaret gave a bitter laugh at Yu-Mi's suggestion. "Reprimand? Don't insult me, Major. Dr. Aoi gave Lee a gentle scolding and that was the end of it. No disciplinary action was taken, hell what she did wasn't even put on file. Now, are you going to sit there and tell me that Lee getting off scot-free after the Mayflower Incident doesn't bother you in the least?"

The Korean Pandora shifted uneasily in her seat. The Mayflower Incident wasn't something she liked to dwell on. Not many Pandora did. Around a year ago in the summer of 67', the Chevalier Remnants tried one last assassination attempt on Gengo Aoi. Changing tactics, they declined to use Pandora and instead sent in normal humans to kill the professor. The assassin team infiltrated under the guise of maintenance workers. It worked perfectly, as Mirai was still busy recovering and consolidating its strength. Yu-Mi didn't have all the details, but it was common knowledge that one assassin, Mary Mayflower, managed to corner Gengo in his office. Details on what exactly occurred were unclear, only that the professor was injured in the scuffle. He likely would have been killed, had Su-Na not intervened. Rumor had it her fury had been a terrible thing to behold. Elize had shown her the medical photos from the scene and they were….graphic, to say the least.

With Gengo incapacitated due to injury, Margaret had taken command of Mirai. She had locked down the base and sent troops to find the assassins. As Margaret's second-in-command, Yu-Mi had helped lead the search. They rounded up all but one of the assassins quickly and without further incident. That hadn't been good enough for Su-Na though, who had throttled one of the captives until they revealed where the missing assailant was. She then took two of her subordinates and hunted down the last assassin, injuring a few civilians and causing a public panic in the process.

Margaret was still looking at her expectantly though, so Yu-Mi replied "To be honest, I'm not happy with how a lot things went down that day. But it's in the past and we have to move beyond it. We have the future to look to."

Yu-Mi saw Margaret consider her words for a long moment, then nod. "A fair point, Yu-Mi. We must look to the future, if we are to survive what's coming."

Her words put Yu-Mi on edge immediately. There was something in her tone that shouldn't be there.

"There have been…..rumblings lately. Dimensional vibrations that Dr. Aoi and Ohara have been tracking." Margaret's face was grim and severe.

"Meaning?" Yu-Mi prayed to God she was wrong.

"We don't know. But in the name of caution, we should assume the worst case scenario. I won't lie to you Yu-Mi, we could be looking at another Three Week War."

Yu-Mi shivered violently. The Three Week War was the name given to the worst Nova incursion in human history. On November 1st, 2066, the Nova had launched a full-scale attack on West Genetics. Every day for three weeks, they arrived en masse and attempted to destroy the academy. Mirai had fought back with its full strength, as well as calling in aid from other academies. Even with the reinforcements, it had been a close thing by the third week. They were so exhausted by the end that instructors like Yu-Mi were forced to sortie as well.

"I want you to begin getting our forces ready for a possible attack. Keep what I've told you confidential though, we don't want to start a panic." Margaret's gaze was stern and Yu-Mi knew better than to cross her in this matter.

"You can count on me, Major General Lindman. Tomorrow I'll start war games in order to get the troops prepared," Yu-Mi hesitated but added "What about the Special Forces? Are they preparing as well?"

"Dr. Aoi handled Colonel Lee's debriefing himself. Her current assignment is part of his plan to counter the coming threat, whatever it might be."

Yu-Mi nodded, then stood at attention and saluted. Margaret dismissed her with a waved hand. As she left the room and began walking down the stairs, Yu-Mi wondered just how many Pandora would die in the coming fight.

By the time Yu-Mi made it to her room, she was hungry enough to eat a horse. Punching in her security key, she walked into the suite and made a beeline to the fridge. Cracking open a beer, Yu-Mi downed half of it in one go, the cold beverage hitting just the right spot.

"Drinking without me?

Yu-Mi jumped, nearly dropping her drink in the process. After righting herself, she poked her head into the living room to see who had gotten the jump on her.

Chief Medical Officer Elize Schmitz sat crossed legged on her couch watching the news feed on a digital display. There was a half-filled glass of wine in her hand.

Yu-Mi made her way into the living room. "You're one to talk. That better not be from my bottle of 22' Mably. That stuff is expensive."

Elize twirled her glass and smirked in return. "Don't worry, it's from your 36' bottle. Not too expensive but not too cheap either. It's just right."

Yu-Mi sat down next to Elize on the couch, grumbling about moochers. The green haired Pandora made room for her friend, and the two watched the news together in comfortable silence.

After a while, Yu-Mi switched off the interference and turned to Elize. "I swear the old man must have a lot friends in the media. They still talk about Mirai like we're conquering heroes."

Elize raised her eyebrow at Yu-Mi. "We did conquer the Chevalier after all. Speaking of which, how did your mission go today?"

"It went great, if you discount beating the tar out of Pandora who can't even defend themselves." Yu-Mi saw the look on Elize's face and added, "Please, no lecture today. I got enough of that from Aoi's daughter."

Elize kept silent, but extended her hand and gave her a pat on the shoulder. Yu-Mi took Elize's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. She said "Enough wallowing, how about some food?"

"Already ahead of you. There's grilled chicken and vegetable soup in the microwave. Dig in, Major."

Elize you are a god-send.

Yu-Mi tore into the food with gusto. She managed to inquire about Elize's day in between bites, making her friend laugh. She reported that everything was business as usual. Treating Pandora and Valkyrie cadets for injuries didn't make for the most exciting work, but it was entertaining every once in a while.

"I think we're rushing the training curriculum too much. Some of these cadets can't tell the difference between the top or bottom of their Volt Weapon."

Yu-Mi remembered Margaret's warning of the coming battle, but kept it to herself. They still had time and there was no need to make Elize worry. Instead she said "Hopefully they learn fast. Regrowing fingers gets tedious after the first few times." Elize laughed in response.

Putting down her utensils, Yu-Mi started rubbing her right shoulder. God, was she tense. She probably needed a new bra.

Elize put down her wine, smiled, and offered "Shoulder rub?"

"I was waiting for you to make the offer."

Yu-Mi turned her back on Elize, who promptly started kneading her shoulder muscles. Yu-Mi couldn't help but groan in relief. "You know, you really should take better care of yourself. Don't try to take on so much responsibility alone."

"I'll get right on that." Yu-Mi rarely lied so completely.

Elize hummed in response and continued her ministrations. Yu-Mi leaned back and let herself completely enjoy the massage. She couldn't help but think that nothing could ruin her mood in that moment.

Naturally, the universe conspired to prove her wrong.

'Type 1 alert status! I repeat this is a Type 1 alert status! This is not a drill! Code N2 and N3's have been confirmed! Multiple contacts inbound, all Pandora to battle stations!'

Ending Note: And there you have chapter three. I'll admit it, but I'm a bit of a Yumi/Elize shipper after the author dedicated a Pair Love Stories chapter to the pairing. Can also be interpreted as a strong friendship if you want. I'm not great at fight scenes so I'll try my best next chapter.