Throughout the entire mission, I had Emilia use nothing but her saber.
In theory, she should have been keeping an eye on Yut thus learning a thing or two about the way he attacks, though sabers and spears are different weapons entirely, only time would tell if it worked. But there was another reason for that little rule.
"Whew! Nothing like a good workout to clear the mind." Emilia said as she lazily slid back into her seat.
Both of the kids seemed to have had a good time and Emilia's mood had been lifted, at least until she got that call.
"Hey, you guys. Got a sec?" The boss appeared on her communicator.
Emilia glared at the man and promptly cut the connection but it didn't take him long to call back.
"Emilia! Don't go cutting off your Comlink on me!"
"Em?" I crossed my arms.
She let out a sigh.
"You aren't still mad at me about before, are ya? Feh. You know what the problem about you kids is? You're kids!"
"Hey! I'd rather be a kid than a boorish, grumpy old sod like you!" She shouted.
"Bah..."
"Look, why don't you speak your piece and stop running up our com bill? Or did you just call to chew me out?"
"Hey, give me some credit. I got a job for ya. Get to the office, quick-like!"
"I don't want to!" She pouted childishly.
"You don't… what?!"
"If you got a job, why don't you bring it to us? What kind of job is it, anyway?
Let me guess. You want us to pay your bar tab. Or buy some smutty magazine? Or maybe just…. take out the trash!"
"That's about enough of that outta you! Don't forget who's the boss here, ya runt!" He rose his voice.
"Squeal all you want, boss hog. I know who really brings home the bacon!" She replied.
"Bah! I don't even know what that means! Kaz out!" With that said he was gone.
"Whew… I can't believe I said all that. Well, I feel perfectly rotten. I sure don't want to see Kraz anytime soon, and the feeling's probably mutual.
Why don't you go see what he wants?"
"Yeah, that'd be for the best," I replied as we headed back to Little Wing, and so I went to the office alone where Kraz and Ursula waited.
"Hey, you came. What about…. Emilia's not with you, is she?"
"Skip the chitchat and tell them why they're here." She replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get yer fatigues in a bunch. This request's direct from Inhelt Corp.
They need someone to run security at a test of their subspace generator" He explained.
"It's more than just a test. Their sponsors will be present. Think, big P.R. event, very sensitive. You get the picture." Said Ursula.
"Sound important…" I replied.
"You'll be on site a full day, keep any unauthorized anything away from the subspace generator-device thingamajigs."
I'm wasn't sure if I should have been concerned that Kraz sounded like he knew less about technology than I did.
"The tests will be taking place with the cooperation of the Communion of Gurhal at their facilities on Neudaiz.
We won't be the only ones on security, either. The Guardians, the AMF, and a few other civilian outfits will be joining us." My stomach sank the second she mentioned the Guardians, but I tried to hide my disdain.
"I've assigned Tonnio and Liina to another detail at the time, so it will only be you and Emilia on this job."
"Oh yeah, take that Yut kid with you, too. You're in charge of keeping him out of trouble, got it?" Krazz added. I don't think it would be much of an exaggeration to call me Little Wing's private babysitter at this point.
"Oh, and, er, speaking of Emilia, how's she holding up?"
"She's still pretty pissed," I replied bluntly.
"Figures. That kid's no end of trouble."
"Monsieur Boss! Oh, Monsieur Boss!" Suddenly Chelsea had come running in excitedly.
"A large cake for me, please!"
"What the- What are you talking about? Why do you want a cake?"
"For Emilia's birthday, of course! Ooh, I did not remember until only today. So busy, you see"
"What, her birthday's coming up?" He asked.
"Mais Oui! Oh, but you must keep my preparations a secret! No telling! Ferme la bouche! I will go get the cake, yes? And the receipt in your name is good, Monsieur Boss?"
Before he could reply she ran off.
"Huh? What! I'm not paying for- Feh. Whatever. What're you still doing here? You got a big job ahead! Go get ready!
We got a lot riding on this one, so don't screw it up, okay?"
Before we left I've sent a brief message to Emilia telling her the details of the mission and told her to get ready.
I've gone into my room and picked up a few things, but before I left I've placed the stuffed animal on the shelf beside my bed and asked Rose a favour, one that would make her unavailable for the duration of this mission.
With those things done I was all set to go.
Once we've landed, we've gotten a good spot to watch the subspace experiment.
We got to see what looked like a ship flying off into the blue cherry-blossom filled the sky,
The ship flew above the mountains leaving behind a thin blue light in its path.
Suddenly the ship had broken apart, each piece forming a circle in the sky connected by a light, this circle looked like some sort of portal to another world.
What was left of the ship was this tiny seed shaped pod that entered the portal and blasted off into what I assumed was subspace….
Or at least that's what I thought it looked like. I could be completely wrong about all of that.
"Wow, so that's a subspace experiment. Pretty impressive." Emilia said as I stood there in awe.
"Maghara isn't going to suddenly pop out of nowhere, is it?"
"There's no signs of such an occurrence as yer. The presence of Maghara is always heralded by a change in atmosphere.
Also, while this test appears to have been successful, it is still not ready for practical application." Mika replied.
And thus my sense of wonder vanished with this talk of the possible end of the world.
"Huh. Then this job might not be so tough after all." Emilia sighed in relief.
"As long as we just have to stand here watching them do what they do."
"Keep your guard up, Emilia," Yut said with a serious look.
"We Kasch say "turn your head and fall on your face." It means, keep sharp."
"Sound less like a saying and more like something you did once," Emilia replied, I thought it sounded somewhat wise until she said that bit.
"Whatever… I can't believe I'm spending all day today at work. What rotten luck."
"You're telling me." I've spent the last couple of days doing nothing but doing endless missions
and I doubted I put a dent in what I owed.
"Hey, you reading this?" Kraz called from her ComLink.
"Unfortunately, yes. What is it, Boss?" Emilia scowled.
"...Just listen, okay? Some creatures have gotten into the Communion of Gurhal testing facilities. They're causing quite a ruckus."
"What?! How'd they get in so easy?"
"Ha, Guardians must be slacking off…" I thought.
"Darned if I know, but it's up to you to get them out. Our team's the closest to the scene. Think you can check it out?"
"Huh? That's a weird way to ask. Whatever happened to "Bah! Get on it!"?" She said.
"This isn't some mop job. You'll be in real danger. You still up for it?" He replied in a calmer voice than usual.
Thinking about it professionally we didn't have much choice.
On a more personal note, it was an opportunity to show up the Guardians.
"We're on it!" I replied enthusiastically.
"Yeah, we're-hey! Aren't you supposed to talk these things over with your partner before just agreeing to everything?!"
"Alright, what do you think we should do?" I asked.
"W-well, I guess if we're the only ones who can go, we don't really have a choice, do we?"
If she agreed with the decision I didn't understand why she had to get worked up about it.
"But don't get the wrong idea, Boss! We're going 'cause we have to, not 'cause we owe you anything. Got it?!"
"Whatever gets the job done. Just let me say one thing." He said.
"If it's a complaint, you've said enough." She reached over to press the disconnect button.
"Don't get hurt in there, got it?"
"Huh?" Her hand froze in place as she looked at him with an expression of utter disbelief.
"I said don't get hurt! We clear?" he ordered.
"Y-Yeah, we're clear."
"Good. Then get to it." With that said he vanished,
"He wasn't just showing concern for us. Was he? Nah…. No time to waste! Let's get moving!"
"Yeah!" Yut replied and the two kids ran off ahead.
I didn't realize it until then but we've had a pretty good team,
Yut had impressive power, I've had my techniques, and Emilia was learning on both ends.
We've fought through enemy after enemy until we got lost.
I could have requested Rose find us a digital map or something but since she was busy with another request our options were limited.
"Darn it all! Why did it have to be so hard to find? Which way is it to the Communion facilities?!" Emilia complained, though, after the tenth wave of monsters
and making seemingly zero progress, I couldn't blame her.
"Can't say myself, but do you think there'd be a lot of people at this facility?" Yut asked.
"Well, it is called the Communion. Probably, yeah." Emilia replied.
"Then I think I know which way it is. Look at all the footprints."
"Footprints? Where? I don't see anything."
I've scanned the ground but couldn't find anything either.
"What are you talking about? They're everywhere! And they're all headed in the same direction."
"Is this one of those Kasch mind trick things? Okay, whatever. Lean on, Yut. Show us where those footprints go."
"Follow the prints? Got it!" And Yut ran on ahead with Emilia following after him. I shrugged and ran after them. Though it didn't take long for us to reach a fork in the road.
"Looks like the trail splits here," I said.
There was a path leading through a door and one that leads through a patch of grass.
"The footprints don't lead to the door," Yut said as he walked towards the patch of grass.
"Right," I replied as I followed Yut through the grass.
"Wait!" Yut and I turned towards Emilia who stood by the door.
"We're looking for a man-made facility, right? So, My vote's for the door. It's your call."
Both of the kids turned to me to make the final decision.
I understood Emilia's Logic, and this might just be me, but something didn't feel right.
"I'm going to trust Yut on this one."
"I'm with Sai! Gotta go with your gut." Yut replied.
I almost forgot that was the name on my partner card now.
After a few fights and a short walk,
Yut ran on ahead and pointed beyond the trees.
"See that big house over there?"
"Big house? Nope, not seeing it." Emilia replied. "Though the only big buildings around here are probably the communion's facility. Guess there's no harm checking it out.!"
If I didn't know he could see Mika I'd have called him crazy.
"Wait!" He cried out as he got his spear ready. "Something's here. Watching us."
"Urk? You mean, like when those intruders attacked us?" Said Emilia, I got ready to break my limiter in case the man in black was to appear.
"No. Something different. It's not even trying to hide its presence from us." There was a rustling in the grass. "here it comes! Look out!"
Our eyes turned towards the tall patch of grass awaiting the monster Yut warned us about, suddenly several beams of light shot out from the grass.
I've jumped forward blocking the beams but then two large balls of energy shot out, my resistance had little effect and the balls had sent me flying back passed Yut and Emilia.
What emerged from the grass was this huge monster, the bottom of this monster looked like a snail, the monster had 2 webbed claws over it and a head that made it look more like a sea monster.
I groaned in pain as I sat up and scanned the monster with my goggles.
"[Dakamazli / FIRE]" appeared on the top left of my screen.
Their power level was higher than any other enemy we've come across on this mission.
Yut ran towards the monster followed by Emilia.
I was about to ask Rose for advice on this enemy but reminded myself she had her hands tied at the moment.
Emilia and Yut got knocked back when the monster spun around with its claws spread out.
The beast had quickly spit out more beams towards them but they had managed to roll out of the way and continue fighting.
What I initially thought was a light attack I recognized as Zonde, an electric type technique, shot out in rapid succession.
"Hmm, a Zonde barrage..." I've thought then chuckled.
I found it funny that my style of casting seemed closer to that of a monster than most of the other forces I've come across.
But suddenly two more of the same monster had appeared from behind.
"It was a trap," I muttered. And we fell for it hook, line, and sinker despite Yut's senses.
I took a deep breath and prepared to push my mental limit.
Without Rose actively moderating the tech-mag it was more like a weight than something to balance instabilities.
"Barta!" I launched 2 separate trails of ice towards them freezing the two monsters in place.
I took another deep breath to keep myself in check before hitting them both with a Rabarta.
It's like the ice equivalent of Rafoie, just less destructive and has a much lower range, as well as blast radius.
It's still one of the most effective techniques one could use against a fire enemy.
Despite being covered in frost and having their movements greatly restricted they continued to shoot bolts of electricity but like before I had no difficulty blocking them.
"Still not enough? Fine... Dam-" Suddenly I've felt a sharp pain in my chest and the strong taste of blood forced it's way up my throat scratching it in the process. I covered my mouth and saw a little pool of blood covering my palm.
"Damn..." I cursed as I clenched my bloody hand.
To my surprise, Yut and Emilia had come rushing past me and attacked the ice-covered monsters.
Those two had taken down the monsters fairly quick.
I wiped my mouth and walked over towards them.
"Whew… That wasn't pleasant." Emilia exhausted sigh.
"I've gotten used to the fighting a bit. More than before at least. But I don't think I'll ever get used to ambushes! I guess that's why they're called ambushes, huh? Wish I had your second sight or whatever it is, Yut."
"It's not a sight, really. More like the land tells me things. Winds and sounds point to places, sand reveals tracks…" He explained.
"You lost me at the part about the land talking to you. All I understand is that whatever you do, I can't do it." She said.
"I just wish I had your experience. I feel like I know nothing." Yut replied. "I don't even understand the things my brother tried to teach me."
"Brother? You have a brother?" She asked.
"I had a brother. He went to join the Land-Mother."
"To join the… Oh. Sorry. I didn't know."
"Don't worry about it. My brother was the bravest of the Kasch. That's something I can be proud of." He replied.
"He said we grew stronger by "touching death." I still don't know what he meant by that."
Emilia turned to me.
"Maybe he means what happened to you at the relics site. I mean, not exactly, but that kind of thing."
I doubted it after I've died I didn't feel any stronger, I have actually felt a sense of relief at the time,
though It's not the type of thing I'd want to go around saying carelessly.
"What?! You've touched death?!" I turned towards Yut but the boy quickly rushed up and grabbed me by the shirt.
"Whoa! Why the sudden freakout, Yut?" She said calmly, despite the fact from my perception the situation was anything but calm!
"That's why you're so strong! You've touched death! You must tell me what it's like! What is death?! What is beyond death?!" As he shook me violently I've felt anything but strong.
"Sorry to burst your bubble but it was pitch black," I replied.
"Pitch black… like you were closing your eyes? You couldn't see anything? I don't understand…. I just don't understand!" The boy continued to shake me.
"Emilia, a little help!" I cried out.
"Yut, please! Yut! You have to calm down!" Emilia replied. "Why don't you two talk after we're done with this job, okay?"
"But I… All right." The boy put me down. "Let's finish this then, Emilia!"
And then the boy ran off on his own.
"That's better… Huh?" She noticed me staring.
"What is it? Did I do something strange?"
"I just wanted to say, Thanks... You really took charge." I scratched the back of my head.
"Really? I suppose someone has to take charge around here!" She smiled.
"What's that supposed to mean?! I'm still the- Nevermind…" This wasn't worth arguing over.
"but you know you were kind of like a big sister to him."
"A big sister, huh? I don't have any siblings myself. Maybe this is just what I needed," her smile quickly faded when she realized something.
"A kid brother who just ran off on his own! "
"Dammit…" I cursed under my breath.
"Yipes! Let's get going!" She said as we ran off after Yut.