Late the following morning, after receiving the full detailed report from Danny, Sally, Maria, and Tai, Leader Julian sits in his private laboratory reviewing the notes he made. Milla had quite the adventure in the Western Empire, and the training she received from the Order of the Phantom will serve her well. Unfortunately, it's going to make it harder for me to extract the information I desire, as she'll now naturally be more suspicious of anyone asking her about the Shade Virus. Still, I'm sure I can find a way.

Sighing to himself, Julian files the notes away, exits his lab, fetches a small bottle of suanmeitang from the small refrigerator in the compact kitchen, and reclines on the sofa to ponder his next move. Can I continue my plans without learning what I need from her? After all, there are four others known to be infected with the same Virus: King Dail, Serpentine, and the two former Jade Alliance Grand Masters Tsubaki Moto and Kaede Himura. I can immediately rule out Dail because he's too busy ruling Shuigang, and any attempt to contact or visit Tsubaki or Kaede will be noticed… which leaves Serpentine.

Julian quickly downs a quarter of the bottle. I wonder if the vixen's up for a bit of hunting?


Deep in the heart of Rage Ravine, in a clearing hidden behind a bank of cherry blossom, lies a modest two‑storey part‑wood part‑stone house built into the base of cliff. However, neither of the resident married couple are inside, as they are currently in the garage attempting to fix a mysterious issue with one of their ATVs.

"I'm going to need a better description than that," Rob Stiil replies, his regular maroon vest and forest green trousers currently hidden by navy‑blue overalls with light oil staining.

"I don't know how to describe it any better," Hanna Skarlett explains as she idly grooms her magnificently bushy tail. "The best I can say is that there's random power drops at high revs."

"Are there any funny sounds when the power drops?"

"Now you mention it, it does 'ping' a bit."

"Which means it's likely an ignition timing issue," Rob concludes, deciding not to complain about Hanna not revealing that from the start. "Strange how it's only at high revs… I know I only did it a few months ago, but I'll change the fuel filter and clean, regap, and reseat the spark plugs. And if that doesn't fix it, then I'll take it to HQ and get the mechanics there to give it a thorough service."

"Need me to lend a hand?"

"No need: it's a one‑person job. Should be done in half an hour."

"In that case, I'll start thinking about what to do for lunch," Hanna decides. "Want me to bring you a drink?"

"The usual, thanks."

Hanna heads into the house, but before she gets to the kitchen, the phone rings. Fuck… Better answer it, I guess. Hanna picks up the phone. "Make it quick."

"Straight to business as always," the voice on the other end chuckles.

Shit. "Leader Julian! I uh… This is unexpected," Hanna replies, silently cursing at herself for being so rude. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all," Julian assures. "In fact, I have a mission for you."

"What sort of mission?" Hanna asks, her tail swishing happily.

"I need you to find someone," Julian informs. "You remember the viper that worked for Brevon, yes?"

"Serpentine," Hanna answers. "He was part of the Siege of Shang Tu as well, working for that bastard fuck Aquila," she recalls, the name of the alien dragon infused with hate. "Dead or alive?"

"Alive."

"Oh…"

"Disappointed?"

"Well… a little," Hanna admits. "Would have liked the chance to shred the fucker, but you have your reasons, I guess. Is there a deadline?"

"No, but I do want you to find him as soon as possible," Julian instructs. "You'll receive full payment no matter how long it takes, but if you do it quickly enough, I'll make sure there's a worthy bonus included."

"Do we have any leads?"

"None, but that shouldn't be a problem for someone as skilled as yourself. And before you ask, yes, you can include your husband."

"Excellent," Hanna smiles, then realises there's another question she wants to ask. "Is there a reason we're hunting him down?"

"You've never questioned a mission before," Julian reminds. "Why do you question this one?"

"Because it doesn't make sense to ignore the fucker for months then suddenly decide we need to capture him as soon as possible," Hanna explains. "That, and Rob's gonna ask the same question."

"Fair enough," Julian accepts. "We've recently received word that he may have returned to working with Brevon, who we know is still somewhere on Avalice."

"Yeah, I remember him," Hanna sighs, recalling when she came face‑to‑face with the alien warlord after the Gotoshi Naisen. Fuck… I hope we don't run into that oversized cockroach.

"You OK?" Julian asks.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, just… thinking," Hanna replies. "It's not easy to say this, but Brevon scares the shit outta me."

"With luck, you won't have to face him," Julian assures. "And if you do, I'm confident you have the skills necessary to overcome him."

"Lilac only bested him through sheer luck, and… well, you know my track record against her."

"In exhibitions," Julian reminds. "In a duel to the death, only you would be willing to go the distance."

That seems to cheer Hanna up a bit. "In that case, I accept."

"I knew you would," Julian replies. "After all, you never turn down a mission."

"Just doing what I do best," Hanna quips. "I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks, and may the Ancients watch over you." Julian ends the call.

Hanna returns the phone to the hook, grinning mischievously in anticipation. This is going to be a lot of fun! Just need to figure out where to begin… I'll prep our kit while I think.


In his sanctum, Leader Julian relaxes, confident that his assignment will be completed quickly. If they bring him in within a week, I should have enough time to learn what I need, and I won't need the hound. And now I'm wondering why I didn't think of this before; I could have had the answers months ago. Doesn't matter though: my plans are still on course, so there's no point worrying about it.


Half an hour later, Rob returns to the house to find Hanna sat on the sofa polishing his sai. "Ah, that explains why the tea never materialised," he quips humourlessly.

"Leader Julian phoned," Hanna explains. "We're to hunt and capture Serpentine."

"Oh… Why?"

"HQ suspects he's working with Brevon again."

"Huh… Why did Leader Julian phone us directly?"

Hanna shrugs. "Bypassing red tape, probably."

"I find that hard to believe," Rob replies. "The Scarves don't have a bureaucracy to bypass."

"True, but missions usually filter down to us through the Seniors," Hanna reminds.

"Including captures," Rob replies. "What makes this one so different?"

Hanna thinks a moment. "Maybe this is a test to see if we're ready to be promoted to Seniors?"

Now it's Rob's turn to think a moment. "The Leaders really think you're ready to be a mentor to recruits?" he asks, a little confused.

Hanna fixes him with a hard stare of annoyed disappointment. "And why wouldn't I make a good mentor?"

"Oh, the short temper, the lack of patience, the ill‑discipline, the copious foul language, the… 'exuberant' combat style, little things like that," Rob shrugs.

As much as she hates to admit it, Hanna knows Rob is right. "Fine, you win that one," she sighs before returning to polishing his sai. "Of course, not all Seniors mentor new recruits, and I have helped in plenty of training sessions already."

"Fair point," Rob accepts. "Though the infirmary did eventually notice the uptick in admissions after every session you helped with, so it didn't last that long," he recalls.

"In my defence, only four were admitted with broken bones," Hanna counters. "…but I accept your point: I'm not fit to be a mentor."

"You just need more self‑control, that's all," Rob assures, sitting next to his wife. "Also, I think I found the problem with your ATV," he adds, showing Hanna the spark plug in his hand has a long crack in the ceramic exposing the electrode within. "I'm guessing at high revs it was prematurely sparking to the cylinder head and igniting the mixture early."

"How the fuck did it crack?"

Rob shrugs. "Manufacturing defect, most likely. Probably a bad batch. I replaced all the plugs just in case, so you shouldn't have any more power issues at high revs."

"I hope so. We might be away for a while, and I don't want it to die on me."

"It won't."

"Good. Oh, by the way, just so you know: we have no leads on his position."

"Seriously‽" Rob exclaims. "How can HQ know he's working with Brevon, but not know where to begin looking?"

"Asks the one who found where I was hiding when I ran away to create the New Elementals," Hanna reminds.

"You were hiding in the same place the original Elementals took‑" At that moment, Rob realises what they need to do. "…huh. Shoulda thought of that myself, to be honest."

"Yep."

"So, which place shall we check first?" Rob asks.

"Robot Graveyard," Hanna answers. "After all, that's where the Dreadnought wreckage was moved to once the useful shit had been stripped out, and it's also where all of Brevon's old robots have been dumped."

"Which means it's where he'll go if he wants to build himself a new set of arms," Rob concludes.

Hanna finishes polishing Rob's sai and places them on the table next to his tranquiliser pistol and her nunchaku. "I think that's all we need."

"Not planning on taking any rope?" Rob asks.

"We won't be away that long," Hanna answers. "I can give it a miss for a week or two."

Rob shakes his head in amusement. "Honey, I love that you're into that now, but I didn't mean for you, I meant to prevent Serpentine escaping when we capture him."

"Oh… Heh," Hanna blushes in embarrassment, though she recovers her composure quickly. "Well, we could, but how do you tie up a snake?"

"I'll figure out how," Rob assures. "After all, you know how good my ropework is."

"Ah, well, y'see babe, I kinda went and totally forgot, so you'll have to remind me," Hanna smirks seductively.

Rob sighs in fake exasperation. "And you criticise others for being insatiable… I'll be right up once I've disposed of this spark plug."

"That can wait," Hanna decides, taking the broken spark plug and tossing it onto the table before taking Rob's hand and leading him upstairs.


Several hours later, with the clouds bringing increasing darkness earlier than clear skies would, Hanna and Rob arrive astride their ATVs at the edge of the Robot Graveyard. Both are prepared for the cold temperatures in this corner of the Shuigang Snowfields, with Rob adding a thin maroon sweater to his outfit, though Hanna remains in her usual crop top and capris which do little if anything to shield against the stiff chilling breeze.

"How are you not cold?" Rob asks once their engines are shut off, noting that Hanna's showing zero signs of being affected by the wind.

"I do have Fire affinity," Hanna reminds. "It must be keeping me warm."

"I hope so. But in case it doesn't, I packed you a sweater and leggings."

"Thanks, but I won't need them. Let's just get on with finding that bastard viper."

"Once we've found a place to shelter," Rob replies, looking up at the cloud cover. "The weather should hold, but I don't want to take the chance."

Hanna puts her eagerness to complete the mission on hold briefly and quickly surveys the landscape in front of her. "That looks promising," she informs, pointing to a larger mound of scrap metal that looks like it covers a modest yet suitable 'cave'.

Rob quickly finds where Hanna's pointing. "Let's check it out."


Hanna's instinct proves correct: the mound does indeed conceal a 'cave' that's easily large enough for two ATVs with enough space left for Hanna and Rob to sleep in comfort and hold a captive securely. And once their ATVs are secured and Hanna has sent a concise update to Leader Julian, the two Veteran Scarves begin their mission.

It doesn't take long to find their target.


An hour later, with Hanna leading the way thanks to her sharper eyesight and highly sensitive hearing, the couple are just a few feet from the crest of one of the largest mounds when the vixen signals to stop, her ears twitching frantically as she tries to pinpoint the sounds she's hearing. Rob stops immediately, keeping his breathing as shallow and silent as possible to give his wife the best chance at pinpointing the sounds.

Hanna slowly and silently creeps up to the top of the mound, peeking over just enough to get a good view without exposing herself unnecessarily. I know you're down there: it's only a matter of time before I find you. As her ears continue to twitch and narrow down on the source of the noises, her eyes roam over the terrain below, looking for any signs of the viper or a place he could be hidden.

After just a few minutes, she sees something scurrying into a makeshift shelter, concluding it's their target despite the low light making its form tricky to discern. There you are.

Responding to his wife's signals, Rob follows her over the crest and down the slope on the other side, both taking care to move as quickly and silently as possible, pausing behind a section of the Dreadnought's hull to make sure their target remains ignorant to their presence.


Inside the shelter, the person Hanna spotted conceals themselves under a large piece of black cloth. They think I didn't see them, but I did, and I will send their bodies back to their masters just as I've done every time before. And maybe this time they'll finally get the damn message.


A minute later, unaware they've already been spotted, Hanna signals the all‑clear.

Rush‑down? Rob signs.

Rush‑down, Hanna confirms. On my mark.

On Hanna's signal, she and Rob charge straight into the shelter to find their target in an unexpected condition.