The Hunter paced back and forth in his cell, his mind moving at a million miles an hour. As it was wont to do, really.

First things first was what exactly he'd be doing now that he was basically a part of XCOM. Honestly, he was mostly in it for the fact of pissing the Elders off—it'd be a real riot for them to see him deployed on a mission, shooting at their own wannabe army. He'd take so much satisfaction in actively dismantling whatever they created when he was still with them. Sure, it would be easy to pass it off into something noble, but Mordenna was thinking more of personal revenge. Plus, his siblings would be viable on the shooting range, more so than they were before. It'd be hilarious for one of them to show up on a mission while he was there.

But, then again... there was a part of his genetic makeup that was screaming to gather what info he could, wait until everyone was asleep, then nab the Commander and steal away into the night. Might not even turn up at the Elders' doorstep with her. He never fancied ruling the Earth, anyway—the most he'd do with it is turn it into a game reserve. Free to hunt as he'd like... though he knew that, with almost everything, he'd grow bored of it.

So what was stopping him? He stopped pacing for a moment as he thought on that fact. "Can't be honor," he muttered to himself. He had a habit of narrating his own thoughts when he was alone. Mordenna had been easing into it while he was in his cell. Definitely couldn't be honor, in any case. The Hunter would swiftly backstab anybody lesser than him if it benefitted him, and it sure as hell would to jailbreak himself.

"... lesser than me," he deliberates, going over his last thought. Yes, ultimately this contract he was forging was with Eliza, the Commander of XCOM and whatever other titles had been laid upon her when he wasn't looking. If he was being stopped by something, the fastest thing he'd admit to it being would be that. "Maybe not equal," he said, tilting his head, "but... interesting. She's the Commander of XCOM, after all. Tactical genius. So coveted that the Elders wanted her in alive and had three specialized personnel sent after her to capture her—and apparently she's good enough to turn the tables on at least one of them."

Interesting, indeed. To be interesting to Mordenna was usually a death sentence... but Eliza was different. Killing her would be fun for a bit—to watch XCOM enter a death spiral without their greatest asset, to see the Elders' plans crumble, to watch the world burn, essentially. But then that would be it. No more Eliza. No more talks. No more debates. Killing her struck him as incredibly short-sighted, and not out of any morals.

"Fuck, she's a card," he said, shrugging. "Would be an awful waste to kill her." Yep, there was a part of him who wanted to be around Eliza, to have her entertain him like few could. But he didn't like to think on that part long, because it held some rather embarrassing notions. Yet, as soon as he thought on it, those damn emotions came to the surface. He groaned. "Not this shit again, Mordenna. What the hell?"

Yeah, he thought she was interesting. Hell, he knew her dying wouldn't be fun. That should be it regarding his feelings on the matter. But that goddamn talk she had with him just messed everything up. He couldn't process the fact that she cared for him like that. He knew she was privy to a few things that happened while she was in the tank, and that whole six months of info cramming, probably. But Mordenna hadn't ever accounted for her bringing it up, or for that to be her reaction. For someone else to look at what happened to him and just go "that's fucked up and that shouldn't have happened to you?" It was awfully humbling, and the Hunter wasn't one much for humble.

... and he would've lost that whole talk if him or his siblings brought her in successfully. A quiet thankfulness for what could have been crept up on him and he tried his best to quash it. He was the Hunter. He wasn't susceptible to the kinds of emotions that blinded humans, was he? You were human once, that part of his mind that was thinking over Eliza tutted, and he was tempted to swear it out of the room. "May have been human once but like any good individual, I got over that." Yet, wasn't it that humanity that was interesting about Eliza? He'd never seen her so... emotional. Almost all of his interactions with her were when she was in that tank, under the Elders' thumb.

He stopped pacing again. "Look, let's just wrap this whole thing up with 'I don't necessarily want Eliza dead,' alright? It'd be awfully pathetic if we thought on it any further. By god, I'll think of something else you can grill me over if that'll shut you up on this topic."

Mordenna didn't have to—the panel on the wall beeped and he turned towards the door as it opened. Speak of the devil! Eliza stepped in, remote in hand as the door slid closed behind her. Instantly, he was studying her. Her posture was a bit tense and the bags under her eyes seemed to have deepened a bit. Hair was a bit more unkempt, too—must've been running her fingers through it. But she didn't look too out of sorts. He judged the mission they went on to be stressful, but successful.

The Hunter grinned. "Commander! I trust the worst hasn't happened and I'm not doomed to pace this cube forever?"

Eliza's neutral line of a mouth went more towards a smile, and the Hunter couldn't help but feel... accomplished? God, you're pathetic. "No, we've found no reason to go back on accepting you into XCOM."

Mordenna nodded at the news, but his curiosity was burning. With the minimal info he had over the mission, he couldn't speculate over what they were doing. He had to ask. "Excuse me for prying, but you look awfully stressed, Commander. What was that mission you just went on?"

Eliza doesn't answer immediately. Her thumb runs across the remote in her hands and she glances down for a second. Oh, no. That didn't bode well. But after a second, she seemed to come to some sort of silent decision. She looked him in the eye as she answered. "Our most recent mission was a trip to the Blacksite, a facility that was being guarded by the Warlock. Upon some contextual information and some speech from him, we discovered that we had happened upon your Ascension facility."

Oh. Damn. As if he needed Eliza caring even more about him... then again. He was still working off of hypothetical knowledge of how much she remembered post-severance. "... how much of all that do you remember, Eliza?"

Eliza runs a hand through her hair. "Enough. Enough to know they were overloading you with everything I had gathered in nearly twenty years' time."

That brings about a heavy silence. For the Hunter, the experience was something he really didn't think on, often. It was one of the few spots where his brain actively repressed the distinct memories. All the tactical knowledge and know-how, he retained, but all he could recall beyond that was just the sheer stress and overloading he went under. Even then it was only vaguely. He counted himself lucky... and even then, not as much so. It changed him, even if he didn't fully remember what happened. Ascension wasn't pretty.

That final thought stuck out to him... and he felt compelled to share something. Something that he'd been largely keeping to himself, a few files that he was barely able to access even as an administrator on the Network. "... y'know, Liz, you were supposed to be one of us at some point."

Now that garners Eliza's attention. She fixed him with an interested stare, wordlessly saying to continue. The Hunter didn't remember everything about what they wanted to do—all the info he had come across was just in files, and those memories got damaged when he was severed. But he knew enough that some part of him was repulsed at the notion of her becoming a Chosen, and he couldn't pin a finger on why. "Once the Elders had the three of us under their belt, they apparently turned their sights on you. But, they had to really meter it out. A lot of the planned Ascension required removing you from the Stasis Suit, after all. They did do some prep work beforehand, but..." The knowledge escaped him. It was one of the holes, and he shrugged it off. "Network severance kind of damaged my knowledge there."

"So," Eliza said softly, "what happened?"

"Well," he continued, "they were planning to fully remove you from the Suit and start work, that much was going to happen. Then Gatecrasher happened. The day after was slated for your Ascension to start." He wanted to gesture using his hands, but he sighed. "You were this close to the point of no return, Commander. This close to becoming, according to your file name, The Siren."

A quiet horror seemed to overtake Eliza, and her free hand reached for her throat. What an odd gesture. Maybe she had been privy to some of the prep work they had done but hadn't figured out why it was there. Well, now she knew. "The Siren," she muttered gently.

"Kon-Hur Dessurik, to be precise. Depthssinger. God knows what they were going to do with you, my knowledge on the file is spotty nowadays." There was a thing or two Mordenna was holding back... but best to not splay out his knowledge all at once. "So, there's another Sword of Damocles hanging over your head regarding the Elders capturing you!" He paused. That... actually seemed kind of not funny. "... hate to bring it up, in hindsight."

Eliza shook her head. "I wasn't ever planning on returning to the Elders anyway, so that's just more of an incentive to keep fighting... but, I suppose I should thank you for the knowledge."

"Of course! You are ever so welcome, Lizzi." He grinned slyly, bouncing on his heels. "So! Can you release me from these cuffs?"

The Commander smiled and again rose those feelings in Mordenna's gut. He really wanted that to stop. "Just want to clear a thing or two first, to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible." She settles her hands in front of her, her free hand grasping her other wrist. "First of all, and I'm sure you know, but this is going to be quite the controversial move on my part, amongst my soldiers and staff. You don't have the best reputation around here, sadly, so me incorporating you into the crew is going to turn some heads. I will be clearing it with my soldiers before they see you in person, wandering the halls of the Avenger, so there's no risk of accidents there."

"Your point being?"

"I want you to be on your best behavior," she stated simply, "As much as I'm sure you would love to cause even some well-meaning trouble around here, I ask that you lay off of it until everyone's used to having you around here. Don't want people fostering resentment over the move. After everybody's settled with having you here, you can relax a little. But before then? Please keep it together."

"Oh, me? Cause a little trouble? Eliza, where are you hearing these things?" His tone was innocent but his expression betrayed his joking. "Well, I'll see what I can do about it." A nebulous statement. It'd be hard to hold off from even a little mischief, in his mind. Given a ship full of boy scouts and one or two interesting marks? A lot to ask, if you asked him.

"All I ask is for an honest attempt. Second of all, as for right now, you're going to have to be sharing some space in the Barracks with everyone else, until we figure out a good bed situation for you—"

"Don't bother," he cuts her off casually, "Can't sleep, really. I mean that physically. Elders hardwired my brain that it really doesn't shut off unless you force it to. Psionically, anyway." He gave her a meaningful look as he said that and she chuckled.

"Alright, suppose that cuts some hassle." She straightens a bit. "Finally... and I do specifically clear this with you because I value your feelings on the matter, if I can capture your siblings like I have you, I hope to swing them to the side of XCOM as well."

That gives Mordenna pause. "Why you gotta do this to me, Eliza," he deadpanned, shaking his head, "The one place where I was sure I'd never have to collaborate with them again and you're going to corral them in here? You wound me, Lizzi."

Eliza seems to sober a bit, and the Hunter's eyesight picks up on how she slouches almost imperceptibly. "My empathy for you extends to them, Mordenna. I want to give them the chance, like I've given you. They've gone through what you have—granted, with a change or two here and there, but..."

The Hunter grimaces at that. Yeah, when he stopped to think about it—which wasn't often—he did realize that his siblings also didn't escape the horrible, horrible parents that were the Elders. They were still with them as they spoke, in fact. If he knew those bastards well enough at all, they probably pinned the blame on the Warlock and the Assassin for his capture. But, a part of his brain reminded him, the Elders "loved" them much more than they did you. They probably escaped punishment that you would've gotten were you in the same situation. That was all it took to suck most of his potential empathy out for them.

He sighed. "I can say that I'll try to play well with your boy scouts, but my siblings? No promises."

"Just don't kill each other," Eliza said, "but hopefully? I can help the three of you out."

"Alright," Mordenna replied. "Is that it?"

"For right now, yes," Eliza nodded. "We did manage to recover your weapons, by the way. They're down in the Workshop and Lily will be holding onto them for a bit while she studies them."

"Lily Shen! I almost forgot she was here." Lily was definitely a person of interest to Mordenna. Quite the brilliant engineer, though he'd never say that without a qualifying statement or two. Sure, he was somewhat miffed about his weapons being taken and studied, but hell, it gave him an excuse to go bother her. "Fine enough by me. Now can you release me from these?"

The Commander nodded and readjusted her grip on the remote, her thumb hitting one of the buttons on it. He could feel the bonds on his wrists loosen enough that he could slip out of them. The shackles on his feet similarly powered down and he quickly took the second to kick them off. Now was his chance, while he was freed. His left hand flew forward, giving Eliza no time to react—

—as it landed across her face, not even hard enough to sting. Eliza looked stunned for a second before the gears in her head turned. She then promptly burst out laughing, an action that made Mordenna smirk. "Well, Liz," he began, highly amused, "I wasn't about to pass up on that slap you agreed to."

Still laughing, but calming down, Eliza shook her head. "Fuck, give me a little warning next time! I straight up forgot about it."

He shrugged, hands out to his sides. He was kind of glad he could gesture with them now. "That's on you to remember, Liz. Now, what next?"

Eliza turned and tapped a button on the panel next to the door. It slides open and Mordenna's mildly surprised to find Bradford on the other side. Already, the man tenses and his eyes shoot to the Hunter's unbound hands and feet, as if confirming he was free. Oh yeah, Eliza's best boy scout. He hadn't expected to see him so soon, and he looked so tense. When Eliza moved closer to Bradford, the Hunter moved to the doorway, leaning on one side of it. "Oh hello, Bradford. Nice to see you 'round here. Seems I'm joining up with your little group of troops."

Bradford didn't look too amused, but not shocked, either. "I'm well aware, Hunter."

Hm. He was somewhat, but not entirely surprised. Mordenna was interested that she had managed to clear with plan with anyone at all, but her XO would probably be in the know. Everyone else? It'd be interesting to see the heads he could turn.

Eliza seemed to note the exchange, but ultimately didn't comment on it. Instead, she turned to Bradford. "Bradford, we've reached a complete agreement. It's time to let the rest of the crew know." As she said that, her body language shifted almost imperceptibly—but it stood out to the Hunter's god-given sight. She tensed just a bit and a few of her wrist muscles from the hand holding the remote stood out. Was she nervous? It was hard to imagine the legendary Commander in such a way. But it didn't last long. She took in a slightly deeper breath and she slipped back into calm. "Gather the staff and soldiers—anyone who's not urgently working on something. I'll be making my address."

Bradford nodded without hesitation, his eyes flickering over to the panel on the wall. The one near the exit door, specifically. "Understood. I'll make an announcement to get everyone to the Bridge."

He couldn't see it because her back was turned to him, but Mordenna supposed Eliza smiled for the way Bradford seemed to relax a touch more. "I appreciate it, Bradford. After you make the call, could you show him the way to the Workshop? Once everyone's cleared into the Bridge, of course." Figures. Even if Bradford was with him, seeing the Hunter loose would probably create more of a stir than she'd like.

Her XO nodded to that too, giving Mordenna one last cautionary glance. Still, he looked uneasy. "If you don't mind me asking—" He held up a hand, presumably as Eliza was about to cut him off, "and I know you don't, but should we really let him get at his weapons so soon?"

Oh, Mordenna knew he should keep his mouth shut but comments were flowing out of it faster than he could stop it. "Bradford, why the concern? You act as if I'm some sort of loose cannon that's looking for an excuse to give someone a new nose piercing."

At that, Bradford grimaced and looked back to Eliza. She turned so she could look up at the Hunter and give him a bit of a huff, to which he shrugged innocently. "Mordenna here will be getting his weapons later, once he needs them. For now it's to familiarize him with someone he might want to work in tandem with if he wants to pursue his less lethal hobby."

Huh! Eliza remembered that he wasn't just a killing machine. Neat, and also kind of... something that made those feelings rise again and he hated that. So, just neat. "Engineering, eh? You giving me the chance to work with the legendary Lily Shen of all people, Lizzie?" He savored the look he got from Bradford at the nickname. "Why, you are just the gift that keeps on giving. I don't know why I didn't try to join up with you sooner."

She gave a short chuckle, crossing her arms. "Just play nice, alright?"

He scoffed, putting a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "First Bradford, now you? Does this train of accusations never stop? When will you see that I'm just here for the same kind of fun that the rest of you are—slaughtering hundreds in the name of a movement?"

Now that evolved Bradford's grimace into something more lined with disgust. That, he was fine with. Bradford was a bit beneath him, in his eyes. The biggest boy scout in Eliza's crew and probably the most blatant. But Eliza remained relaxed and easily fired off her retort. "If it's fun and games to you, this war will be over faster than I thought. After all, you like the sport of it all."

Well, Eliza had him pegged, and she didn't even seem fazed. Just another reminder of why he was going to enjoy his time with XCOM a lot. "I sure do, Commander. But if it makes things go faster, sure, I'll try to play nice. Try to."

Bradford shot Eliza one last concerned look before he stepped away to the control panel, tapping a few options on it in succession. Within moments, the AI of the Avenger's voice filtered over the intercom. "All available personnel report to the Bridge. All available personnel, report to the Bridge."

Eliza nodded thankfully. "Alright. The two of you wait for a bit here—I've got a whole crowd of people to break some news to." With that, she strode past Bradford and out of the room, the door closing behind her quietly. That left just Bradford and the Hunter left in the room, and Bradford looked keen on keeping his distance to the loose Chosen.

Still leaning on the door, Mordenna grinned at him, showing off his sharp, pearly whites. Bradford squinted at him in response. It looked like he wanted to fill the silence, as he spoke up. "I'm giving the staff about five minutes to clear up to the Bridge. That should be enough time for everyone to filter in so I can take you down to the Workshop without any interruptions."

A timer was set off in Mordenna's head. He'd hold Bradford to those five minutes. Mordenna was very good about keeping track of the time. "I'll hold you to it, John. You seem awfully calm for someone whose Commander has just admitted a bloodthirsty alien into her ranks." His arms crossed and he tilted his head up a bit. "You wanted to ask her if it was a good idea or not right there, didn't you. Probably 'again,' for all I know."

Bradford looked for all of the world like he'd rather be dealing with Mordenna while he was still tried up. Well, they didn't put a muzzle on him, so he'd have to deal with the Hunter's tongue regardless. "I've listened to the Commander and her reasoning. It's worth a shot, at the very least. Even if I still have some reservations." The way he said it, said reservations sounded very justified. Then again, with the person he was currently talking to, they very much were.

"Oh, Eliza's opinions and thoughts are all well and dandy," Mordenna followed, waving his statement off, "but I wanna know what's going on in your head, Central. What do you think of me joining your merry band of ne'er-do-wells? What's your opinion?" To him, besides being beneath him, Bradford was a parrot on Eliza's shoulder. Sure, he might've brought up the occasional question to make sure Eliza was still thinking straight, but all he ever seemed to do was agree with anything Eliza wanted, in Mordenna's eyes. Where was the fun in that?

Bradford straightened. "That is my opinion now. The Commander and I have talked at length and she's shown me her thinking. I wasn't for you at first. But she convinced me that you're worth a chance, at least." Hmm. Well, of course he wouldn't want Mordenna on at first. The thought would be hard to swallow no matter who you were. Then again, that led the question back around to Eliza—and Eliza had already told the Hunter why she wanted him around. It still felt kinda humbling, which he didn't like.

"Interesting." He held out the beginning of that word, almost in sing-song. "You must think awfully highly of her if you're willing to let her sway your opinion. Then again, it could be just because she's your superior officer—in a time where law isn't backing up her position. You humans cling an awful lot to the old world." He leaned his head against the wall, looking down his nose at Bradford. "My point being, it must be awfully personal between the two of you. What's she to you?"

At that, Bradford hesitated, and the Hunter could swear he could spot the whole thought process he was going through. He didn't fancy himself a mind reader, but he could tell an awful lot about what a person was thinking based on every twitch of facial muscle, every glance of their eyes. Bradford looked like he was on the edge of even continuing the conversation, and rightfully so. This was a mindfield and the Hunter was leading him to the biggest ones. The best move would be to not play, a line from Eliza played in his head, and he couldn't help but agree.

But, eventually, Bradford seemed to come to a decision—and that was to answer the question. "The Commander's a forward thinker, to me. Always has the future in mind and takes in account everything from the past. Even so, she remembers the people under her command as she moves forward, and spares her thoughts for their wellbeing." His mouth pressed into an uncertain frown. "Maybe she's a bit soft for her own good at times, but she always makes good calls, and doesn't back down from the more ugly decisions."

Mordenna grinned. What an interesting character summation at the end, there. Too soft. The leader of XCOM was too soft. It made him wonder if she was always this way. "So, Bradford. You think I'm a good call?"

He sighed at that, eyes flickering towards the door. Their five minutes was nearly up. "We're going to see about that.

"... and he will be considered just as much of a soldier as the rest of you. Granted, there are still boundaries to be set. But I believe that, with time, he will become a valued ally and a force to be reckoned with."

Eliza was wrapping up her speech to nearly the whole staff of the Avenger, soldiers included. The Bridge was big and held all of them with little difficulty, and Eliza knew how to project her voice so it was heard clearly. She had her audience at rapt, but cautious attention. She wasn't blind. She could see that there was some nervousness among the faces she was speaking to. Eliza didn't blame them one bit. Breaking this news wasn't going to happen to 100% smiling faces—news of this magnitude never did. But there wasn't outright rioting in the streets, so she counted it as a good thing.

She took barely a second to take in a breath. "I value your questions and opinions, as you know. I'd be glad to hear your questions and concerns, even if they seem obvious." That last part, she felt was needed. Of course someone was going to want to speak up and say "I don't like this" or "this seems like a bad idea, Commander." She was fine with it, questions gave her an opportunity to lay down solid answers on topics she might've not covered.

A hand went up, and from her place on top of the Holodeck, Eliza could spot that it belonged to Roland. "Roland, your question?"

"Commander, with all due respect," he began shortly, fixing her with a hard gaze. His expression was a bit hard to determine past the repurposed Muton mask but she could get a good feel for his mild paranoia. "But this Hunter was one of the Elders' top lap dogs. Doesn't he have every advantage of playing along for a bit and then betraying us? Even if not that, we all know how much of—to put it bluntly—a prick he is. What's to say that behavior won't continue?"

Eliza nodded as his hand went down, thinking honestly over it. "I've talked with him and I've had my impressions even before Bradford sprung me from the tank. The Hunter is not the type to please the Elders. He holds a very large amount of resentment towards them and it's what drove most of his agreement to his defection. He doesn't have much motivation to betray us for the Elders' sakes." As for personal motivation? Far be it from Eliza to make the observation, but Mordenna seemed to be interested in her. In such a manner that killing her was most likely off of his agenda. Couldn't get much amusement out of a corpse, she figured.

She ran a hand through her hair. "As for behavior, I'm hoping to keep an eye on that and hold him accountable to his actions. I want to make that last part clear, too. This isn't a 'he's here, deal with it' sort of situation. Things are going to be very touch-and-go regarding all of it. But I have confidence that all of you will handle it in a mature fashion and not give him valid reasons to act out." Keyword there being valid. She knew he might pick something small, but as long as her troops didn't feed the fire intentionally? It'd make things easier on her. "Is that clear?"

The Commander got a strong "yes Commander" affirmation from the crowd and gave a solid nod. She could see a few people had some excitement to them. After all, this was quite the asset they were going to have on their side, if things went smoothly. But largely, there was a sense of slight unease. Better than it had been before Roland's questions, though, and she counted his willingness to question her decisions as a good thing.

She clasped her hands behind her back. "If nobody else has questions, you are all free to return to your schedules." When there was a pause for questions and nobody seemed to have any, the gathered crowd started to disperse. Eliza watched as they filed out, and when about half of them were gone, she descended from her place on the Holodeck. Hopefully that had given enough time to Bradford and Mordenna.

The duo of Bradford and Mordenna were just now leaving for the Workshop, thanks to a time extension on Bradford's part and more probing questions on Mordenna's part. He had to give Bradford credit, he didn't crack under the barrage he went under, though after a while his responses started getting more and more clipped. Probably didn't want to slip so much to him in such a short amount of time. Which, fair. At least Bradford wasn't stupid. It'd be too easy if he was.

Their tardiness meant that a turn down the hall made them meet up with a group of three soldiers—and Mordenna really didn't take the time to size them up. He had far more important things on the mind. But, he vaguely registered that, judging on the gear and the species of one of them, that it was a Sharpshooter, a Specialist, and a Skirmisher he was somewhat aware of.

Bradford nodded to them. "Herod, Vlad, Samhien. Embarking on the action?"

The Skirmisher, apparently known as Samhien, nodded chipperly. A bit too chipperly, in the Hunter's opinion. "Yes, sir. We were all geared up before the Commander called us in for the meeting. We have done our weapon checks and we are fully ready to make the trek to the location Betos specified."

"Alright," Bradford nodded, continuing to walk. The soldiers walked with them, presumably going to the same place that they were. Curiosity captured Mordenna and he couldn't help but ask.

"Now, considering I'm 'part of the team' now, you mind if I know what exactly you three are going to be up to?"

The two human soldiers looked at each other uneasily, but the helmetless Skirmisher gave him a warm grin. God, just looking at him gave Mordenna sugar aches. He only could imagine what his sister would feel. "Of course! You are one of us, Eliza said as much. Central, may I explain?"

"... fine, but keep it minimal," Bradford replied, looking like he was on the edge of saying "no." But he didn't, and Samhien continued.

"We are currently going to go scout out the exact location of the Nightmaiden's stronghold."

"Interesting! Going to knock on my sister's front door, are you?" Mordenna grinned, an action that Samhien didn't seem put off by. "Mind if I join you? I'm already popping by this Workshop to make sure my weapons are in good hands."

At that, Samhien shook his head. "Sorry, but we are going to be a party of three at max. Any more troops sent with us and we risk increasing our profile as we make the trek. But," he said, still giving Mordenna that smile, "I would enjoy talking with you when I come back!"

It was interesting to see someone so on-board with him so early on, especially considering it was a Skirmisher he was talking to. It was almost cute. "Alright, Sammy. Good luck. My sister doesn't take too kindly to intruders."

The nickname of "Sammy" made Samhien positively light up, and he nodded appreciatively as they reached a doorway. Sammy took the helmet from under his arm and fixed it on his head, giving Mordenna a thumbs-up. Looks like they were close to their destination.

They all stepped through the door, and Mordenna could definitely see that it was the Workshop. One half of it was engineer tables and equipment, the other, netted-down pallets and crates of supplies. If he knew his ship models correctly, this was the back of the ship—confirmed by the open ramp that led to the outside. The soldiers stepped past the equipment and made their way down the ramp. The Sharpshooter spoke "got a long trip ahead of us" to nobody in the group in particular, to which the Specialist nodded.

But what Mordenna was more interested in was who was standing in the Workshop. It was none other than Lily Shen herself, who spotted the Hunter coming towards her. Her eyes fixed on him, and beneath her hesitation, there was a kind of excitement. Good, he thought. "Chief Engineer, huh?"

Lily sighed. He was sure she knew this was going to be a long day.