Chapter Thirty-Five: The Battle of Altoona Province – Aftermath
Near the Roman Assembly Area
Task Force Therian
March 26th, 2246 – 0623 Hours
Korensky was with Helga as they both lifted up a piece of debris that was blocking the entrance to an air raid shelter in one of the villages near the Roman Assembly Area that had been shelled with the AIU canisters
"Hello is anybody in there?!" An APMSF Stormtrooper shouted into the shelter as he shined a flashlight down there as Korensky and Helga laid the debris piece down in a nearby ditch as the Stormtrooper went down into the shelter
"You know Helga, for a new kid, you're doing pretty well." Korensky said to Helga
"Well thank you Corporal." She replied, "You're not that too bad yourself."
"Get the engineers! We're going have to tear this place open to get these post-humans out of here!" The APMSF Stormtrooper shouted to Korensky over his translation collar's radio
"Copy that." He replied with his translation collar's radio
"I'll go with you." Helga said to Richie before they both took off toward the newly established Coalition FOB nearby where they landed as a Changewing was helped onto a Mallard
"Hi Richie…" The Changewing said to Korensky
"Fergus?!" Korensky asked him
"Yeah…I got jumped by one of those damn robots, but just like you I'll be okay." Fergus replied, "Just keep helping this people!"
"Well…take care of yourself Captain!" Korensky said to him as Fergus boarded the Mallard which took off soon afterwards
"Who was that?" Helga asked him
"A friend." He replied as they went into the camp and found Reaper, who was helping coordinate the mop up of the remaining pockets of Blackwater and SCS resistance
"Mr. Reaper, do you have engineers to spare?" Korensky asked Reaper
"Yeah, why you need them?" He asked him
"We need to make a larger entrance for one of the bomb shelters in the village over there." Korensky replied
"Okay, I'll get people over there." Reaper said to him
"Thank you." Korensky replied before he and Helga took off back toward the village, "So Helga do you have a boyfriend or anybody like that?"
"No…why are you asking?" Helga asked him
"Just wondering." Korensky replied
"Why? You want to go out on a date or something because I guess I'm available." Helga said to him
"Sure…what do you want to do?" Korensky asked her
"I guess you could show me how to do stuff." Helga replied
"Okay." Korensky said to her
Meanwhile Calvin was resting when an APM Mallard landed nearby and dropped off an APMSF Technician with a device
"Well hello there Mr. Karlson, guess you already know what I'm going to do with this thing." The Technician said to Calvin
"Are you sure it's going to work without killing me?" He asked him telepathically
"Not really." The Technician replied, "But Doctor Ward and Mrs. Haddock want you back at their field hospital helping the refugees they have there and it'll take you the rest of the day to get there in that form."
Calvin rolled his eyes
"Hit it." Calvin said to him telepathically
"Any specific form you want to be in?" The Technician asked him
"Default." Calvin replied
"Okay Monstrous Nightmare it is then." The Technician replied as turned on the device, a wireless transmitter for Calvin's nanites which initiate the transformation process, turning Calvin into a Monstrous Nightmare, "See nothing bad happened…didn't you have scars?"
"Huh?!" Calvin asked as he looked back at his wings and saw that the scars were gone as Valka and Cloudjumper landed
"See I told you there was nothing to worry about." Valka said to Calvin, "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just that my scars are gone." He replied
"Well isn't that a good thing?" Valka asked him
"Guess so." Calvin replied
"Also I believe you left this behind at the windmill when you turned." Valka said to him as she showed him his transformation device
"Oh I was wondering what happened to that thing." Calvin replied as Valka jumped down from Cloudjumper and placed the transformation device around his neck
"There." Valka said
"Do you still need me at that field hospital?" Calvin asked her
"Yes." Valka replied
Calvin nodded
"Then let's get going then." He said to her
Valka nodded and got back onto Cloudjumper before they and Calvin took off which allowed Calvin to survey the trial of damage he had left in his wake as a Bewilderbeast
"Holy shit…I did all of that?!" Calvin asked her
"Indeed, I guess it didn't seem like much to you when you were doing it?" She asked him
Calvin nodded
"So do you think you'll be able to change back into a Bewilderbeast without problems?" Valka asked him
"Don't know." Calvin replied, "So have you heard anything about my dad?"
"I'm afraid not." Valka said
Calvin sighed
"I hope he's okay, I didn't have the time to say anything to him before Barnes sent us to create the distraction." He said
"I'm sure your father's okay Calvin, just like you, he seems to be a strong and resilient man." Valka replied
Meanwhile back at the Coalition FOB, Henderson and Sheva were with Zephaniah as they discussed the Henderson family
"The main problem that our family had after the Civil War, or at the least part of it that I was familiar with, was that most of them had ties or connections to the Republican Party if they weren't directly involved in it, so when the war ended and the Republicans were forced to disband, most of them left the country or changed their identities because they were afraid they'd be knocked off by Reaper during the purges and to tell you the truth, I didn't even try looking for them." Zephaniah said to Henderson, "You're first other Henderson that isn't directly related to me that I've encounter since the end of the war."
"Well if you want any info from me, you're out of luck, my parents didn't tell me anything about our family after my great great grandparents who I guess descended from the ones that fled to Europe and came back after the Clan Wars ended and I don't recall going to any family gatherings or visiting or being visited by relatives other than the short-lived ones from my Uncle before my dad died." Henderson replied telepathically
"The only bad part about us meeting is now knowing that I'm related to that jackass, our family has always been a bit conservative, my father was a bible thumping senator who took me out of college to sign me up for the Republican Military when the Civil War started telling me that it I was my duty as an American and an Republican to serve, which I deserted less than a month after going to the frontlines when one my friends got a bullet put in their forehead by our units encouragement officer." Zephaniah said to him
"So what happened to your back?" Henderson asked him telepathically
"During Operation Log Cabin I was leading an advance unit when one of our fighters mistook us for a group of Republicans and strafed us, killing several of my guys and putting several pieces of shrapnel into my back, most of which the Doctors removed, but they couldn't remove the rest because it would risk paralyzing me from below the torso and ever since then I've had to use a cane like this one to help me walk." Zephaniah replied
"Have you tried asking a Doctor now because I'm sure there's better options now?" Sheva asked him with her translation collar
"I have, but the most suitable operation will take me out of action for almost two years, which is not an option right now since we got this whole war going on and I don't have anybody to take my place and there's still a small risk that it could paralyze me." Zephaniah replied, "But I'm finally starting to get tired of having to live like this."
Zephaniah sat down on a nearby crate
"Don't you have kids?" Sheva asked him with her translation collar
"I do, but I wasn't able to do much with them as they were growing up because of the injury which only meant more work for my dear Adrianna…I can't believe she put up with all this for all these years." Zephaniah replied
"Wasn't she like one of the APM's deadliest snipers during the Civil War?" Sheva asked him with her translation collar
"Yeah that's her, in her heyday all she needed was a good rifle, enough ammunition, and a good vantage point from which to kill people from and she was set." Zephaniah replied, "But she put her rifle down for good when she was pregnant with our first kid near the end of the war, I've tried to convince to go back into active duty so she has something other to do than take care of me, but she insists on it."
Zephaniah reached into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a picture of him and Adrianna
"This is the most recent picture I have of us, it was taken two years ago during a vacation we took to the Grand Canyon." He said as he showed Sheva and Henderson the picture, "Her family was originally from Poland, they came over after the Cold War ended and settled down near Whitewater where her parents bought a farmhouse and refurnished it…her mom used to make the best chicken and dumplings you ever tasted and she and our two daughters do too."
"What about her father?" Henderson asked him with his translation collar
"During the war he was the commander of Whitewater's garrison and later the 87th Missourian Infantry Division when we took the offensive and retired after the war." Zephaniah replied
"What happened to them?" Sheva asked him with her translation collar
"Like all other people they eventually passed on, they're buried in the Old New Lorimier Cemetery in Cape Girardeau where we visit them on occasion." Zephaniah replied, "You can tell Adrianna misses them by the way she talks about them and I do too, they were good people."
"Does she have any other family?" Henderson asked with his translation collar
"She has an older brother, Ernest Marek, he's an instructor at the APM Armored Warfare Training Facility at Fort Leonard Wood, in his heyday he was one of the APM's best tank aces and I believe he still has his old Abrams tank with him, which is probably the last one that still works." Zephaniah replied, "When we first met, we didn't get along very well because he thought I wasn't good enough for Adrianna, but after a while we became buds."
"Wow a lot of big names in our family." Henderson said to him telepathically
"Yeah including some who were big for the wrong reasons like my father, who's partly responsible for the scorched earth tactics that the Republicans were deploying on the East Coast as the war came to a close." Zephaniah replied, "I had things the complete opposite of you Jayden, I had a crazy conservative dad and a good uncle, who believe it or not ran a small pet food company before the war…which unfortunately didn't survive it along with my uncle who was knocked off by the Republicans when he tried to stop them from burning down the main factory as we were closing in on it."
"Jesus." Henderson said with his translation collar, "What happened to your dad?"
"He was captured when North Carolina surrendered and was executed with the rest of his Republican buddies after the war." Zephaniah replied, "Good riddance."
South of Silverton
Erwin, Margaret, and Julie were standing on top of a recaptured flak tower as surveyed the surrounding countryside which was littered with destroyed, disabled, and abandoned Roman and Blackwater vehicles and other wreckage including the smoldering wreck of the Trevor from which Coalition forces were extracting the unused AIU canisters still inside to be studied and eventually destroyed
"So how long will it take to dismantle that airship?" Margaret asked Erwin
"Months." Erwin replied as Manfred and Harrison landed on the flak tower
"We were told you guys were here." Manfred said to them with his translation collar, "You liking our handy work?"
Erwin nodded
"I think Emperor Salvius will think twice before he tries to put anymore of his forces on Isotxian soil again." He said to them, "So where are the others?"
"They're all over there helping pull out refugees who were trapped inside their shelters when they were turned into dragons by the robots." Harrison replied, "But after they're done with that, we'll be heading back to Charleston to help them take care of the refugees at the field hospital."
Erwin nodded
"Very good, what about General Casca and his men?" Erwin asked
Manfred sighed
"They're helping General Pompeius' forces clear out the remaining pockets of resistance." He said
"Well at least they're doing something helpful for once." Erwin replied, "And what Calvin?"
"He and Valka have already taken off toward Charleston where he's going to turn into a Bewilderbeast again and use his telepathy to help the refugees." Harrison said to him, "So any word from mom and dad?"
"Yeah, they're on their way now to take this out of my hands." Erwin replied, "So are we still going to Cape Girardeau?"
"Yeah, as soon as we're done helping the refugees at Charleston." Manfred said to him, "Think the other empire we're fighting will take notice of this?"
"Probably, it was hard not to notice it." Erwin replied, "To tell you the damn truth, this whole damn ordeal is an embarrassment because we were caught with our pants down and hit the hardest where it matters the most, the very thing we swore to protect."
"Well nobody would suspect that the Romans were going to go as far as hijack one of our airships." Manfred said, "But still, yes, this incident was as embarrassing as it was terrible and destructive."
"So what happens now then?" Julie asked Erwin
"For now we tend to our wounds, but later Marcus Salvius and his Roman Empire will learn the price of this attack." Erwin replied
"I can't wait for that." Manfred said
Chicago, Capital Province
Isotxian Self-Defense Forces Central Command
Prime Minister Vincent, Minister of Defense Jayme, and Clement Luque were gathered in a sound proofed conference room
"So it is over?" Vincent asked Jayme and Luque
"For the most part, yes besides a few remaining pockets of Roman and Blackwater resistance which are being quickly mopped by the forces that we and the Coalition have coming from the Viking Verse." Jayme replied, "But unfortunately, the extent of the damage that the battle has inflicted on Altoona Province's infrastructure is severe and will take at least a year to bring it back up to its normal capacity."
Vincent sighed
"And what about the refugees…the post-human ones?" He asked
"They've been gathered at a refugee camp at the local airport in Charleston where an element of Task Force Therian has set up a field hospital to help take care of them." Jayme replied, "We're also pulling more of them out from the bomb shelters in the villages surrounding the rift where they were trapped when they were turned by the AIUs."
"And what about the remaining AIUs? Have they all been disabled?" Vincent asked
"The Coalition has specialized teams searching for them, if there is any of them still out there, they'll find them for us." Luque replied
"Good because I want all them destroyed before they turn even more of our people into dragons." Vincent said to him, "Speaking about which…how goes the preparations for our conversion program?"
"We're ahead of schedule." Luque replied, "And I think the refugees could provide a good source of recruits as well once their medical needs are taken care of."
Vincent nodded
"What about the Eastern Empire? Because surely they couldn't have missed hearing about this travesty." He asked Luque
"Unfortunately they have taken notice, but they didn't have any active agents in the area, so they weren't able to do anything before the battle was concluded." Luque replied, "But I have no doubt they'll be making more attempts to contact our new enemies and we are taking the appropriate measures to prevent that from happening."
"Good because the last thing we need is the Romans, Drago Bludvist, General Walker, and the Eastern Empire forming a united front against us and the Coalition." Vincent said, "But in the meantime I want to strike back at the Romans for this attack as soon as possible."
"We're working on it plus Salvius' brother, Tullus might prove to be a crucial ally in this conflict because his influence was crucial in bringing the battle to an end." Jayme replied
"I agree, unlike his brother, Tullus is no fool and openly acknowledges that his people cannot defeat us and Coalition, if we can get him and his supporters more publicity it may weaken his brother's support amongst the Roman people." Luque said to Vincent
"Indeed, but he cannot help us defeat Drago Bludvist and General Walker, whose forces from what I've heard have already taken advantage of the situation in Altoona Province to seize control of the islands in the Baltic Straits and attacked several of our airships in that area." Vincent replied
Jayme nodded
"They won't have them for long, plans to retake those islands are already in the works and we're adjusting our tactics to make our airships a bit harder for them to take down until we can start refitting them with better defenses, which probably won't be happening for a while and we might be better off designing and build new ones." She said, "And I think the Coalition is thinking of forming another Task Force similar to Therian to take them on."
"What about Drago's Bewilderbeast and fleet, have we been able to track them?" Vincent asked them
"Not as of yet, but we and the Coalition are working on it." Luque replied, "But in order to take that thing down we're going to need a naval presence of our own because it's became apparent that our airships are too easy for them to track and we've already lost two airships not including the ones that were damaged when we first entered the Viking Verse and in the engagements over the Baltic Straits."
Vincent nodded
"I agree, we can't afford to lose anymore airships at this rate." He said, "And speaking of the Coalition, I think I will be going to Cape Girardeau to join Foreign Minister Korensky in his upcoming meeting with the Coalition leaders so I can finally meet these people myself."
"Well it is still planned for Task Force Therian to continue on their way to Cape Girardeau after they're done with helping the refugees, I guess you can join them." Jayme said to him
"And I think I will, make the arrangements." He replied
Charleston – Airport
Task Force Therian
Later that Night – 1721 Hours
Calvin was back in his Bewilderbeast form using its telepathic abilities to help the Isotxian post-humans locate their loved ones and calm their nerves as Valka and Ward continued to help the injured while the rest of Task Force Therian rested as the USAS Cape Girardeau hovered overhead as its crew finished the repairs on its transitioning drive
"This was a good idea Valka, these people are much calmer now with Calvin around helping them." Ward said to Valka as the latter place a bandage on a wounded post-human Deadly Nadder
"I'm glad you like it because it's much harder than it looks." Calvin said to Ward telepathically, "But I think I've almost got everybody back with their families."
"Keep on it, you're doing a great job." Ward replied telepathically
Meanwhile Tullus was with Ulpia as an APM Doctor checked her over with a medical scanner
"How is she?" Tullus asked the Doctor with his translation collar as he finished scanner her
"According to this thing she's going to be alright, she just needs a lot more rest." The Doctor replied
Tullus nodded
"Thank you sir." He said to him with his translation collar as the Doctor left him and Ulpia
"Where's Aemilius?" Ulpia asked Tullus
"He's with his men up on the Cape Girardeau, it's too dangerous for them to be down here with all these refugees." Tullus replied
Ulpia sighed
"Have you met Clodia?" Tullus asked her
"I have." She replied, "So much has changed, I guess your brother must have really messed things up."
"Oh he has…" Tullus said, "But at least I have you back."
Ulpia smiled
"I just wished I felt better than this." She said
"Oh trust me it can be a lot worst." Calvin said to her telepathically
"Who was that speaking in my head?" Ulpia asked Tullus
"Probably Calvin, but don't worry he's mostly harmless." Tullus replied, "Just one of the interesting people I've met these past few days."
"Clodia mentioned something about him." Ulpia said him
"Okay enough talking, you need your rest." Tullus said to her
Ulpia sighed
"You can at least lay down with me." She said to him
"Okay." Tullus replied as he laid down next to Ulpia and placed one of his wings over her
Meanwhile Barnes, Reaper, Catherine, Manfred, and Pentrov were with an APM Doctor as he used a microscope to look at a sample of Tullus' blood which he had injected with a small dose of the "antidote"
"Does it work?" Barnes asked the Doctor with his translation collar as he pulled his eyes away from the microscope
"It appears so." The Doctor replied, "The results are similar to what we found in Ward's blood, all nanites dead. They must have used her as a test subject."
"So for once, Gene Corp has done something helpful, but how much of this stuff do we have?" Reaper asked the Doctor with his translation collar
"Each canister holds enough for fifty people and we have eight of them, so that's enough doses for 400 people, which it is only enough cure all you guys and a small fraction of the refugees." The Doctor replied, "But of course some of that number has already been used to cure those steel mill workers that the Romans were rounding up, so that brings us down to less and I also need to send one of the canisters to a lab to be studied so we can learn how to make more of it."
Barnes nodded
"We'll use what's left on us and the refugees that have families, everybody else can wait." He said with his translation collar
"So does this mean we're all getting those transformation devices that Calvin, Emily, Erwin, Margaret, and Julie have?" Pentrov asked
"Yes, because quite frankly I think some of us might have gotten too used to being dragons and some of us haven't even been human once." Barnes replied
"Not to mention that we'll need our dragon forms to make freeing other post-humans easier." Reaper added
"I guess I wouldn't mind being able to turn a dragon whenever I wanted to." Pentrov replied, "Plus I think I've gotten used to having a second head."
"Pentrov, go gather the others so we can tell them the news." Barnes said
Pentrov nodded and left the hangar
"This is huge Barnes, with this antidote, we can almost completely undo some of the worst damage Gene Corp has done in this war and the last one." Reaper said to Barnes
"But we need more of it first and we still need to end the war and not to mention that we have another enemy to worry about along with a possible third one in this world." Barnes replied
Manfred nodded
"The Eastern Empire has no doubly taken notice of these events, so sooner or later, we're going have to be dealing with them one way or another." He said
"With the weapons I've seen you guys deploy these past few days, I can't help but to dread thinking about what kind of weapons the Eastern Empire has in their arsenal." Reaper replied
"The weapons that we designed our weapons to counter." Manfred said to him
Meanwhile outside Calvin was sitting just outside the chain-link fence that surrounded the perimeter of the airport as he continued using his telepathy to help the refugees as he felt somebody landing on his head
"Could've said hi at least before you landed up there." Calvin said to Emily telepathically, "What are you two doing down here?"
"Didn't feel comfortable sharing an airship with Casca and his merry band of assholes." Emily replied, "Clodia told me all that happened down here, I also heard you kicked some serious ass."
"Well I didn't do it all by myself, I had some help from the others." Calvin said to her telepathically, "So how's Milo doing?"
"Oh he's just fine." Emily replied, "What about you though?"
"I've been better, my mind is so cluttered with other people's thoughts right now that I'm just struggling to hear myself think." Calvin said to her telepathically
"Well are you almost done?" Emily asked him
"Almost." Calvin replied telepathically
"Well just let don't all that talk inside your head drive you bonkers, because I can't marry you if you go nuts on me?" Emily said to him
"I won't." Calvin replied telepathically
"I also heard something about an antidote that can help turn everybody back into humans, do you know anything about it?" Emily asked him
"It's all that everybody's been talking about this past hour." Calvin replied telepathically, "But they don't have enough of it to go around, so they're only giving it to the others and the refugees that have families."
"What about our parents?" Emily asked
"They're having it done too, but they and the others are getting transformation devices." Calvin replied telepathically
"Okay." Emily said, "So how's your dad?"
"He's fine, the round missed his lung by inches." Calvin replied telepathically, "Casca didn't bother you did he?"
"Not at all, he was too distracted by his kids to notice me." Emily said, "So I guess this means we're allies?"
"And only that." Calvin replied telepathically, "Ready to go home?"
"More than ever." Emily said to him
"Same here." Calvin replied
Cape Girardeau, MO – Coalition Verse
APM Command Bunker
Paxton was reading a report about the Battle of Altoona Province from General Smict on his tablet while Twones sat on the chair in front of his desk
"So this antidote that Task Force Therian found has been proven to work?" Paxton asked Twones, who nodded
"They've used most of it on themselves and some of the refugees, but they're saving the rest to be studied so we can learn how to mass produce it." Twones replied as Paxton placed his tablet down on his desk, "So what are we going to do about Tullus and Casca?"
"Don't know, that is something I need to discuss with the other Coalition leaders, but I have no doubt Tullus is going to push to create a Roman state of his own to fight his brother's regime." Paxton said
"And what would be a bad thing how?" Twones asked him
"I never said it was a bad thing." Paxton replied, "But I don't know if we can fully trust Tullus."
"He seems to be pretty trustworthy to me." Twones said to him, "I'm more concerned about Drago Bludvist and General Walker due to their attacks on the Isotxians over the Baltic Straits which sent several Isotxian airships packing with severe damage allowing their forces to secure the islands there, which has denied our naval forces direct access to the Baltic."
"I haven't forgotten about them and they will dealt with soon enough and I'm sure the Isotxians have their own plans for them as well." Paxton replied as an APM General came into the Office
"Mr. President, here is the latest report of our progress on the mainland." The General said to Paxton as he placed a folder onto his desk
"Thank you general." Paxton replied as the General left
"So what do we do now?" Twones asked Paxton as he opened up the folder to read the report inside
"Keep on fighting." Paxton replied, "Also have we made anymore discoveries relating to the incident at Camp Lejeune?"
"Unfortunately…it turns out those generals were not only just keeping Sergeant Henderson down, but were also giving out weapons that were being stored on the base to a unidentified third party." Twones said to him which made Paxton lower the folder
"What kind of weapons?" He asked him
"Enough small arms and light weaponry to equip a small army and this has been going on for a while apparently and we think Sergeant Henderson's uncle is involved." Twones replied
"Where is he?" Paxton asked him
"We…don't know, he somehow managed to drop off from the Europeans' radar no doubly using bribes after the whole thing was blown and when the EIA decided to check on him in his home, it was completely deserted." Twones replied
"Son of a bitch." Paxton said, "How the hell did this get under our radar?!"
"We don't know, but it's apparent that Martin Henderson is more resourceful than we and the APMSF originally thought and the war has no doubly emboldened him, his followers, or whoever else is supporting him." Twones replied, "I have already ordered an increase of security at all strategic military and government facilities including your upcoming meeting with the Coalition leaders and the EIA has already seized all his property and assets, including his rather large bank account."
"Good." Paxton said, "What about Martin's nephew?"
"Sergeant Henderson? He's defiantly not in league with Martin since I've been told he hates him with a fiery passion for something he did to his family after his father died and we've also taken the liberty of reopening that case because there's some evidence that may indicate foul play." Twones replied
"What did he do to Jayden's family?" Paxton asked him
"According to Jayden he took all their money, including the money that his parents had set aside for him to go to college, and left him and his mom out to dry." He replied, "And then to make matters worse his mom committed suicide shortly after."
"Jesus." Paxton said, "Is there any way we can get that money back to him?"
"I'll talk to my friends in the EIA to see what we can do." Twones said, "But if anything I think Jayden and his family could be one of his targets along with the rest of Task Force Therian because killing them would strike a serious blow to our operations."
"And those all refugees they have with them too…" Paxton said, "As of right now, Martin Henderson is now an enemy of the state, he is to be found and terminated with extreme prejudice along with anybody with him, I'm not going to let some hot headed conservative radio talk show host start another civil war."
Twones nodded
"If he tries anything, we'll know." He said, "We should also consider the possibility that he might be receiving support from Rome, Drago, Walker, or even this Eastern Empire that the Isotxians keep blabbering on about."
Charleston, Altoona Province – Airport
Task Force Therian
One by one, the members of Task Force Therian were receiving doses of the antidote from APM Doctors inside one of the hangars while the lucky refugees got their doses in the nearby hangar
"Hold still, this will only sting for a second." One of the Doctors said to Korensky as he injected the antidote into his neck via autoinjector
"Thank you." Korensky replied as the Doctor pulled the autoinjector out of Korensky's neck and threw it away into the nearby trash bin as Korensky moved on so that Vasili, who was behind could get his dose while Helga received her dose from another Doctor before running to join Korensky as he left the hangar
"Still want to go on that date?" Helga asked him
"What about we wait until we can switch into our human forms?" Korensky replied
"Sure!" Helga said to him, "When does that happen?"
"When we get to the Coalition Verse." Korensky replied
"We're going to their world?!" Helga asked him
"Well duh, that was where we were originally heading before the navigation contraption on our airship malfunctioned." Korensky replied
"Well I guess that could be cool." Helga said as they were joined by Fergus
"Hi Korensky…who's your lady friend?" Fergus asked Korensky
"Fergus this is Helga." Korensky replied
"Hi." Helga said to Fergus, who nodded
"So how does it feel not having hundreds of little machines floating around in your blood?" Fergus asked Korensky
"Not any different really." Korensky replied, "How are you doing?"
"Just fine besides the fact I can turn invisible and spit acid now." Fergus said to him
"The former is why they call you a Changewing." Calvin said to Fergus telepathically
"I knew that!" Fergus shouted to Calvin
"Is he alright?" Helga asked Korensky
"Yeah he's fine, dragons can talk telepathically and I guess Calvin said something to him." Korensky replied
"Whoa, how can I do that?" Helga asked him
"Just say something to somebody in your head like you're talking to him." Korensky replied
"It's that easy?" Helga asked him telepathically
"That easy." Korensky replied telepathically
"Wow." Helga said to him, "I'm starting to get the hang of this."
"It's not that hard once you learn the basics." Korensky replied as Erwin and Margaret, both in their Skrill forms landed in front of them
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to get in your way." Erwin said as he and Margaret stepped out of the way
"It's okay General Schnitter." Korensky replied
"General Schnitter?!" Helga asked as she looked at Erwin, "You got turned into a dragon too?"
"He has a transformation device like we're going to get in the Coalition Verse." Korensky replied
"Oh." Helga said
"What have you two lovebirds been up to?" Fergus asked Erwin and Margaret
"Is that really any of your business captain?" Margaret asked him
"I can't say that it is…sorry." Fergus replied
"Come on Margaret, let's go find your parents." Erwin said before he and Margaret started to go toward the hangars
"You met a lot of interesting people haven't you?!" Helga asked Korensky
"You can say that." He replied
Meanwhile, Henderson was receiving his injection from one of the Doctors inside the hangar while Sheva waited for her's behind him
"Oh okay Mr. Henderson, you're good to go." The Doctor said to Henderson, who nodded and stepped aside so Sheva could receive her injection
"So I guess, it's back to being a Monstrous Nightmare for you?" Henderson asked Sheva as the Doctor injected her with the antidote
"No, I've gotten too used to being a Stormcutter now plus I have you now as well." She replied
"Yeah it's grown on me too." Henderson said to her, "But we also have Ellie to take care of."
"Well good thing we're getting transformation devices so we can switch back and forth." Sheva replied, "You think I'll be a good mom?"
"Sure you will, might need a little bit of practice, but at least you have me to help you learn the ropes." Henderson said to her, "Plus Ellie is already calling you mom."
Sheva smiled
"Still not used to that." She said to him
"You will eventually." Henderson replied, "It took me about a year I think."
"Okay you're good, NEXT!" The Doctor shouted after he finished injecting Sheva and motioning in the next post-human after her as Margaret and Erwin came into the hangar to find Reaper and Catherine, who had already received their doses of the antidote and were laying together in a corner of the hangar
"There you two are." Reaper said to them when he saw Erwin and Margaret coming into the hangar
"Yeah he got caught up at work." Margaret replied as she motioned to Erwin, who snorted
"So how are things going down there?" Catherine asked them
"They're quieting down, the last of the remaining Blackwater and SCS troops are being mopped up now and cleanup is already beginning to start." Erwin replied as he and Margaret laid down next to Reaper and Catherine, "So when we are going to Cape Girardeau."
"After the others have all received their doses of the antidotes and Calvin is doing helping Ward and Valka at the hospital." Reaper said to him
"So I guess you two are going back to your human forms?" Erwin asked them
"No we're getting transformation devices like everybody else…plus we have great grandbabies coming along." Reaper replied
"Speaking about which, how's Anna doing since she's up there all by herself with Casca, his men, and a bunch of refugees who are no doubly not happy to see the former two up there with them." Erwin said to them
"Casca and his men are in the other hangar so we don't have worry about any incidents." Reaper replied, "But Preston is up there with Anna, he's put off getting a dose of the antidote until after the babies are born."
"After we get to Cape Girardeau, we're going to need to start rehearsing for the wedding because we'll been slacking off on that." Catherine said to Erwin and Margaret, "And I mean all of you…Calvin."
"Why am I not surprised that you knew that I was listening?" Calvin asked her telepathically
"Because I just know these things." Catherine replied, "Speaking of which how are you doing out there?"
"Just fine, Emily and Milo are sleeping on top of my head now and I think we're about to get a special visitor from the Isotxian government." Calvin said telepathically
"Who is it? I wasn't told about any government officials coming here!" Erwin asked him
"Your Prime Minister." Calvin replied telepathically
"Shit! MANFRED! HARRISON!" Erwin shouted to his brothers, who rushed over
"What is it Erwin?!" Manfred asked him
"We need to get everything here as orderly s we can, the Prime Minister is coming here!" Erwin replied, "How much time do we have Calvin?!"
"He'll be here with those airships are coming here." Calvin said to Erwin, Manfred, and Harrison telepathically before they left the hangar
"And there they go…I swear he can't hold still for even a second without having to do something." Margaret said
"And you're the one to talk." Calvin said to her telepathically
"Oh shut up Calvin." Margaret replied