A/N: Hey y'all. And we're back. And super happy to be! Sorry for the huge delay but I'm back to updating here. No TWs in this chapter. Just lots of dramz. Leave some love ~


He knew that it was going to be a terrible meeting. He knew they were going to berate him. He knew he was going to have to stand there silent, listen to it all without defending himself, and it would enrage him. But he was doing it for his team. The less resistance, the better the outcome. Take responsibility and hopefully, the punishment wouldn't be harsher than necessary.

Apparently, that strategy was misguided.

They had already announced that his team would be suspended, grounded from missions for the indefinite future. He had expected that; they did as well. But removing him from the BLADE council? No. That was too much.

"I understand that I broke protocol. But I did it to save an ally." He responded, clenching his hands into his fists behind his back. "It was necessary for our survival on this planet as a race. Without friends, our chances to fight and persevere against the Ganglion decrease significantly."

"Those are facts that we all can agree with," Elma said. As their eyes met, he saw a warning within them.

He wasn't going to back down.

"However, you should have waited for BLADE approval. There are seven council members, including yourself. We take a vote and the majority rules. You know that." Irina shook her head.

"There was no time. We didn't know if she was dead or alive."

"All the more reason to bring this to discussion." Vera sniffed. "You need to abide by the rules like the rest of us."

He was regretting his decision to vote for her inclusion on the council now. She dared to raise her nose at him when she could barely stomach the idea of battle?

"I would think that saving an ally — as I've mentioned — would be something that would be recognized. Especially when said ally led us to a decisive victory against the Ganglion three days ago."

"He's got a point." Vandham crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"It was reckless endangerment of his team though," Irina pointed out.

"They knew the risks. Those who wanted to join did."

"You are a loose cannon." Maurice hissed, slamming his fist down on the table. "You shouldn't have any authority if you're going to be cocky! You're a danger to NLA and the rest of humankind."

What complete and utter bullshit.

"I'm a danger? You're the one that wanted to treat all xenoforms as hostiles. If we hadn't ignored your moronic directive, we wouldn't have the knowledge of the Nopon and the High Entia," Dunban snapped, fire burning in his gaze. "We wouldn't even have a name for the Ganglion, you fool."

Maurice jumped up and jabbed his finger at Dunban. "You will be removed from this council!"

"Enough!" Nagi boomed. Dunban and Maurice continued their staredown, but neither spoke. "It will be put to a vote at the end of the week," Nagi continued, his lips creasing into a grim line. "Is there anything else you wish to add to your defense, Dunban?"

Dunban tore his gaze away from Maurice and met Nagi's eyes. "No. Are we done here?"

"Yes."

He pivoted and marched out of the room. Seething, his face grew hot and his body tensed. A spark had ignited in him, threatening to become a full-on explosion. Thoughts swarmed and crashed into his emotions, spinning up his chronic rage. What he had done was in the best interest of the people of NLA and their alliance with the High Entia. Did the imbeciles not see that?

Fuck it.

He slammed open the front door to the tower and exited out onto the concourse. All he could see was red.

He stormed around the corner, away from wide-eyed officers, and around a storage pod, and smashed his right fist into the wall. The steel yielded under his cybernetic hand, the vibration rippling up his arm. He winced as he took his hand back.

The violence within him shuddered and receded with the punch. Not the smartest way to exercise his anger, but productive.

He rolled his wrist and groaned. The pain receptors buzzed in his shoulder where his nerves were still alive. Hopefully, it would go away in the next few hours. Otherwise, he'd have to go visit Linada. And after she'd repaired his arm last week, he couldn't imagine she would be too pleased to see him again so soon.

He'd cross that bridge if he came to it. For now, he needed to inform his team of the results of the meeting.

After sending out a message, he made his way towards the clinic. He passed the BLADE mission board and exchanged pleasantries with a few of the senior ranking officers. No doubt they were aware of what he'd done, but no one seemed to care. In fact, a few congratulated him on the retrieval of the VITA. In another life, it would have made him feel accomplished regardless of what the council thought, but now he didn't feel anything. Just delivered a simple thanks and moved on.

Minutes later, he walked into the clinic and headed down the white sterile hallway towards a patient room. He arrived at the door and hesitated, hand hovering above the doorknob. He'd visited last night and the day before, but it didn't get any easier. The feeling of being helpless to assist only grew with each visit. It was enough to spark a bitter self-loathing; he could've prevented the situation they were in now. Steeling himself, he opened the door.

There she lay, eyes closed, unconscious on a silver patient bed, a blue blanket was drawn over her prone body. Her lavender hair spilled onto the pillow around her, cradling her head like a halo. Machines and monitors beeped around her, indicating signs of life, despite how faint they were. A dejected sigh escaped his lips as he took a seat next to Melia.

He took her in, silent, trying to find words. Expression of emotions wasn't high on his list of strengths, more so when he had a strong emotional connection to the person. Seconds passed and finally, he took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers.

He shut his eyes. He should've known better. He should've encouraged Melia to return to Alcamoth to get medical care. Now instead she was here and—

The door opened. Dunban slipped his hand away just as Reyn, Shulk, Fiora, Tyrea, and Riki filed in. He stood, offering his chair to his sister and took up residence in the back corner, affording him a view of each person.

"Okay, what's the news?" Fiora twitched her nose back and forth as they settled into various spots around the small room.

"As expected, we're suspended for now," Dunban said neutrally. "Shulk, you'll be in the labs with Lin. Fiora, the pathfinders want you to work on developing the Mira map based on the data from the probes. Reyn, you'll be helping to train new recruits. Tyrea and Riki...you're free to do as you will."

"Thank you so much for my autonomy. I truly appreciate it." Tyrea drawled and scoffed.

"What Dun Dun do?" Riki tilted his head to the side.

"They will vote whether or not to remove me from the council."

An uproar of indignation exploded in the room.

"We saved Melia!" "What the fuck?" "They can't do that!" "Riki fight them."

"I guess we did technically violate the rules." Shulk grimaced.

"Whose side are you on?" Fiora exclaimed and she smacked his arm.

"Sorry!"

It was kind of them to feel angry on his behalf. It reminded him of his time with his squad years earlier when he was in the military. How many weeks had it been? Two, three? Already they felt closer despite the short time.

But none of that was evident on his face. Dunban cleared his throat, calling for attention. "Regardless, keep your heads down and stick with your new assignments. That's the best way to get yourselves back on active duty."

"We have to do something." Fiora huffed.

"No. I'll take care of it," Dunban responded. He didn't have any desire to continue the discussion. He didn't want to stir up the anger that he'd successfully tempered. "Any news, Tyrea?"

Frowning, she answered, "No. The induced coma is keeping her stable but your doctors don't have any idea when she could wake up."

"Have you told the Emperor?"

"Of course I did. Do you think the bastard gives a damn?"

Reyn and Shulk looked away but Fiora reached a hand out and squeezed Tyrea's arm. Dunban could see the High Entia tense, but not move away.

"Kallian will be coming." She mumbled. "With a doctor. Hopefully, they'll know what to do."

"Let me know when they arrive." And with one last glance towards the comatose Melia, he departed.

He knew he ought to stick around to hear their concerns, but he didn't have the capacity for that. At the moment, he needed to be alone. Dunban exited the clinic and headed down the breezeway towards the far edge that looped around the border of NLA. With most of his anger restrained, he could calmly assess the situation. If he could manage to stay away from his team and colleagues, he might get through the rest of the day without snapping at anyone and come up with some sort of plan of attack for his predicament.

"Dunban!"

He closed his eyes and suppressed a groan. Not now.

Stiffly, he turned to see Vanea sauntering over to him, emphasizing the movement from her hips swishing left to right. She stopped in front of him, wearing an expression of concern. "I heard what happened."

"It is what it is."

"You don't have to be so tight-lipped with me." She lay a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

The gesture was meant to be comforting, but it took considerable effort not to flinch at her touch. He needed to be polite, but he was becoming tired of her attempts to reignite their relationship.

He took a step back, keeping his voice monotone. "I don't want to discuss it."

"Dunban…" she sighed. "When you do, you know where to find me." She leaned in, kissed his cheek and walked off.

He shook his head. Sooner rather than later he would need to have a serious talk with her about boundaries. And the fact that he was tired of her taking liberties given their history. But that was not today. He had too much on his mind and frankly couldn't be bothered.

He turned back to the empty path that lay before him and sighed. Whatever peace he'd found was ruined. Instead what had bloomed was resentment. For what, he didn't know. Perhaps the carefree attitude of the BLADE officers around him. Sure they were all concerned about the survival of the human race. But simultaneously, they played at missions, trying to create some sort of normalcy about their reality which was everything but normal.

Perhaps he was too stuck in the past. In what happened. Perhaps he needed to let go.

The memory of watching Earth explode flashed before his eyes. And one of the alien battleships with all its fighters disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving the Ganglion to launch an all-out assault on the Arks.

That was enough to rattle the cage where he kept his rage. No, he wasn't letting go anytime soon.

He turned on his heel and headed for the shooting range.

Later, as he crawled into bed, attempting to ignore the throbbing in his arm made worse by the three hours of shooting — which he knew was overkill but it was the only way to exercise the fury — he replayed the events of the day over in his mind.

Did he actually care about the possible demotion? He was tired of trying to talk sense into them, tired of trying to fight Maurice all the damn time. Maybe if he left, the others would have to step up. And if he left, sure he'd have to answer to them, but the lesser responsibility would give him greater ability to focus on destroying the Ganglion.

His gut started to churn and he pushed the matter from his mind. Turning onto his side, the other situation he'd attempted to ignore floated to the forefront of his thoughts.

Melia.

All he wanted was for Melia to wake up. He couldn't imagine what it meant if she didn't. Didn't want to imagine it.

That too he put away. Relinquishing himself to apathy and numbness, he shut his eyes and waited for sleep to come.


The morning jog down to the beach and back to the east gate was enough to tire him out, but not enough to get his mind off of Melia. The running kept his emotions in check — the anger especially — but didn't stop the ruminations. All he could do was check-in with Tyrea and see if any progress had been made.

The unsteady terrain sent shocks through his body as he neared NLA. His shoulder groaned and the nerves in his left arm electrified, sending jolts all over him. Aftershocks from yesterday. Narrowing his eyes, he looked down at his arm. God, he hated it; it was almost more trouble than it was fucking it worth. But he deserved it after his failure.

"Hey there." He looked up to see Elma approaching him as he crossed the threshold back into the city.

He nodded. He didn't feel like talking to her much less anyone on the BLADE council.

"I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Heading to the lab. Need to get the arm checked." He responded, rotating his shoulder.

"Can I walk with you?"

He nodded again, covering up his displeasure with disinterest.

"I'm sorry about what happened at the meeting yesterday. I didn't stand up for you. I know you would have if I'd been in your position and it was the opposite of what a friend should do." She explained.

"Thank you."

"I want you to know I intend to vote to keep you on the council. So do Vandham and Nagi."

"Nagi? Really?"

"Don't be so surprised." Elma laughed. "He sees the reason behind your actions."

"That's good to know. I was worried our Commander was losing all sense." He grunted. It was a small comfort.

"Maurice is the problem."

"When is he not?" He snorted.

"He's persuading the others. I'm going to talk with Vera and Irina later today. Vera is easily swayed, but Irina thinks you violated the BLADE code and should be punished."

"What happens though if you don't convince them? I can't vote so it'll be a split." He glanced sideways at her and saw her brow furrow into concern.

"They're inviting the other division heads to cast their votes as well."

Dunban's lips collapsed into a grim line. That was eight other votes. Eight other votes that could affect his future.

The rational part of his brain said he should be campaigning for himself. Go seek out those others and convince him, but he wasn't going to. Maybe it was irresponsible but he didn't care. If they didn't see his value, so be it.

They reached the end of the concourse and Dunban turned to Elma. "I appreciate your help. But if they vote against me, they vote against me. I don't regret what I did."

"I know. And I admire you for that." She smiled at him.

"I'll see you later."

"Sounds good."

He turned away and walked into the lab.

Passing cluttered work stations, Dunban spotted Shulk and Lin in the far corner, bent over a stack of schematics with various tools scattered across the tabletop. Dunban almost called out to the young cadet but thought better of it. Although he'd been grounded, Shulk appeared to be handling the situation quite well. He and Lin were hyper-focused, talking over one another, no doubt working to find answers to what the VITA was. At least one of them was enjoying the suspension.

He made his way past a few of the biotech labs, whose walls were transparent sheets of glass that afforded visibility into the experiments being conducted. As he passed an empty room, his eyes slid over the door and its placard. He did a double-take and stopped. His eyes narrowed as he reread the plaque: Gadolt Fleischman.

He did not like the fact that Gadolt had a dedicated workspace within the laboratory. But without any inkling of what the space was planning to be used for, he couldn't complain.

Not that anyone would listen to him right now as it were. Even if he were to say something, Maurice would only use it as fodder to turn the rest of voters against him.

What he wouldn't give to punch the smirk off of Maurice's face.

He'd after to keep his ear to the ground to find out what Gadolt was up to.

He continued on his way down the hall to the end of the corridor. He stopped in front of the last door and pushed it open to reveal another corridor. This time, the rooms he passed had opaque glass walls. They were offices and people wanted privacy. Finally, he stopped at the end of the corridor, where the last door filled the back wall. Pushing it open, he found Linada bent over a robotic leg, soldering a few wires together.

"If you're here for an update, Rizaka, I have about an hour to go before this is ready to be tested. Another hour if you keep interrupting me."

"Lucky for you then it's not Rizaka."

She looked up and smiled at him with laughter in her bright blue eyes. "Dunban. My favorite cyborg. Back so soon?"

"I'd prefer if you didn't call me that."

"Oh, I know. But since most of my cybernetic research was destroyed on Earth, I have to take small pleasure when I have victories when reinventing my technology."

"I've had some...adjustment troubles." He said, glancing at the arm.

She gestured for him to take a seat on the empty stool. "I need one second and then I can take a look at your arm."

Taking the offered seat, he watched Linada continue her work, using a steady hand in making the precise and necessary motions. If there was anyone he admired in NLA, it was Linada. She had an ironclad work-ethic, a no-nonsense attitude, but somehow managed to remain optimistic despite the dire predicament they lived in.

After tying two circuits together she sat up and admired her work. "Done. Now Rizaka can wait another hour before getting the final product."

"You know you're evil." He smirked.

"How else to keep the sexual tension alive?" She laughed. "It'll be our three year anniversary in a month. I don't want her getting bored."

"I guess that's one way."

"Alright, let's see what we got." She waved him closer and he placed his arm on her desk.

After pressing barely visible buttons on the back of his shoulder, the skin flap pulled back to reveal the mechanism beneath the surface of his arm where bones and tissue ought to be.

"I just saw you for your arm." She raised her eyebrows at him, unimpressed.

"I know."

Unsatisfied, she began her evaluation. He watched as she worked in silence, tinkering and studying the mechanical arm. He knew better than to prompt her for finding. Otherwise, she would happily lecture him.

"So tell me about the High Entia princess." She said as she used a pair of pliers to pull apart a few ensnared circuits. "She must be pretty special if you went rogue to go get her."

"She is an ally and she needed our help."

"Oh Dunban, maybe the rest of BLADE is stupid, but I'm not." She tutted.

"She's...a friend." Dunban acquiesced. Giving up some truth would be enough to get her off his back. "The first time I met her she saved my life too."

"Ah, so you're indebted to each other." Linada hummed. "Or maybe it's more of a twist of fate and the two of you are tied to one another."

Dunban scoffed. "I'm surprised you believe in that sort of thing."

"Two years ago I wouldn't have believed the earth would've gotten blown out the sky by aliens and yet here we are on a habitable planet. Out of all the planets we could've landed on we landed on, it was one that is most compatible with our survival." She replaced the tweezers with a magnifying glass. "I do think that science can explain everything, but fate is just the term we use until we can explain it."

That surprised him. Linada was a scientist through and through. He didn't entirely buy into the logic, but it was difficult to argue with. And the thought of himself and Melia being fated was crazy.

Pursing her lips, she looked up at him over her glasses. "You're putting a lot of stress on the arm."

"I'm a soldier."

"Right. But for you to keep using it to the degree you are, I'm going to have to increase the resistance in the metal. Which means...it's going to hurt for a while."

He looked away, annoyance curling in his stomach. Of course, it would. Because the fucking thing wasn't making his life harder than it was.

"Just do it."

"I can give you some pills to manage the pain too and help you sleep."

"Will they affect my ability to fight?"

Linada rose and moved towards her wall of tools, rummaging around. "They'll most likely affect your mood. Possible side effects include dizziness, dry mouth, increased irritability. All the general things that any medication might give you."

Increased irritability. That stuck out to him. He was already having difficulty containing his anger. He didn't need to make it more of a challenge.

"I think I'll pass."

"Are you sure?" Linada turned around, holding a variety of instruments. "I'll give you some local anesthesia for now in your shoulder but that'll wear off tonight. I'll give you the pain meds and you can decide whether to take them or not."

He shrugged. Unless the pain was intolerable, he'd grit his way through it. It wouldn't be the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last.


Kallian is here.

They're quarantining her.

Moving her to the unfinished wing for isolation.

He read the messages from Elma twice over before shoving his communicator into his pocket and rushing towards the clinic. It continued to ding but he ignored it. Any notifications not related to Melia could wait.

Walking into the lobby, he spotted Elma conversing with Kallian and Nagi. He strode over to them, and Kallian held out a hand in greeting as Dunban neared and he grasped it.

"Good to see you, Dunban."

"You as well." He said. "What's going on?"

"We were just talking about the plan for treatment," Elma supplied.

"I brought a High Entian healer with me to evaluate her and come to a diagnosis," Kallian explained.

"Good."

"Dunban, as you are suspended, you need to stay away from this," Nagi stated.

"What?" He narrowed his eyes. "You can't be serious."

"I'm not doing this because I want to, I'm doing this because certain members of the council will be convinced that this is a further example of your insubordination," Nagi said. "I don't want to give more fuel to the argument to eject you."

He didn't move. He and his team had rescued Melia. He was going to be there when she woke up for damn sure.

Nagi looked at him down the bridge of his nose. "Don't throw away what we've worked for. Elma can keep you updated. And we have a meeting to get to."

Nagi passed him without another glance and headed for the exit.

"I promise I'll inform you as soon as we have any news." Elma sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "And I'll keep you up to date about my conversations with the division leaders."

Dunban didn't respond. Anything he said would only be colored in simmering rage.

She departed, leaving Dunban and Kallian alone.

"I assume this has to do with the rescue of my sister." Kallian surmised, concern creasing lines in his pale forehead.

"Yes."

"I am sorry for the trouble that we've caused you. If there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask."

Stiffly, Dunban responded, "Thank you."

"If it's any consolation, you're not the only one being shut out. My father has banned Tyrea from Melia's side. Not that that will stop her, but the act itself is enough to infuriate her." Kallian ran a hand through his silver hair, resigned.

"You're not actually going along with it?"

"What I don't see, I cannot confess to my father." Kallian shrugged. "These days it's up to me to keep the peace in the family, whether that's facilitating between my sisters and my father or my mother and my father or whatever else it may be."

Complicated family, just as Melia had said all those weeks ago.

That didn't make Soren's actions right.

"I see."

"I can see you don't think much of that."

"It doesn't matter what I think." He said, though his voice dripped in bitterness. "It's your family business."

"But I do want your good opinion. Melia and Tyrea both hold you in high regard and I'd like us to be allies as well."

The second surprising thing he'd heard today. He didn't know how close Kallian was with his sisters. Given the small amount of information Melia had imparted, he gathered they had been close, but maybe were not so much anymore now that Ellison was gone and Kallian was the de facto heir.

Or maybe Kallian was trying to get on his good side. Dunban knew he had no reason to be suspicious of Melia's brother, but he had implied that he was beholden to his father's orders.

"I need to get back to Melia. But we should speak later."

"Where are you staying?"

"They are putting us in a suite in your BLADE tower."

"I didn't realize those had finished." Granted, NLA construction was Dunban's last priority these days. He let the other council members deal with infrastructure and offered his opinions when necessary.

And he'd been busy with the High Entia and Nopon.

But staying in the BLADE tower meant that Kallian and the healer would be under close observation. No doubt Maruice's doing.

The thought splattered all over his mind, poisoning his gut. Maurice. The center of all the problems. The reason why he could be booted from the BLADE council. And if he was gone? Maurice could wreak havoc.

With a stiff nod, Dunban took his leave from the High Entia, looking to avoid saying anything he might regret later. He didn't want his words to be carried back to the Emperor.

Violence bubbled inside his gut as he tore out onto the concourse. His hands itched. The shooting range.

But as he turned down the breezeway, he spotted Reyn and Doug, the division leader of the Harriers, heading into the range. Generally, he wouldn't mind running into and joining them at the range. But now he just wanted to be alone.

Turning on his heel, he headed back in the direction he came, bypassing the clinic and heading to the overlook.

Ten minutes later, Dunban neared the edge where the concourse looked over the body of water that NLA had landed upon. As he drew closer, he could see a woman was pacing, muttering to herself in furious whispers, the feathers of her long wings rustling in the slight breeze.

Tyrea. Perhaps the one person right now who understood his anger.

"Tyrea." He called out.

She stopped and glared. "What? Did you get to see her?"

He strolled towards her, unperturbed by the rudeness of her greeting. "I'm on the outs, just like you."

Her jaw dropped and eyes bulged. "You? Why?"

"I'm suspended. And apparently, if I were to be around Melia, that would appear to be further insubordination."

"I can't fucking believe this. You rescued her. You and I deserve to know more than anyone else!" She snapped. "I could fucking wring his neck."

"You're not the only one." Dunban locked his jaw.

Tyrea clenched her hands into fists and groaned. "I need a distraction.

Dunban moved to the railing and peered down at the glittering water. "Normally, I'd say drinking but I'd prefer to be in full control should anything arise."

"That is a fair point."

Silence wafted between the two and the chirping of birds filled the space. She was right. He needed something to take his mind off of Melia and the nonsense with the council. But the gun range was out of the question and his suspension extended to the skells. He wanted some sort of action, and he only had a few more hours until the anesthesia wore off in his shoulder.

Then a lightbulb turned on.

"I have an idea."

"Do tell."

A quick bribe comprising of scotch and a Jimmy Hendrix record later, Dunban and Tyrea were streaking across the Primordian landscape in a compact speeder towards the beach.

"Isn't someone going to write you up for insubordination for taking out a speeder?" Tyrea mocked as Dunban parked a few feet from the edge of the sand line.

"Piers won't report us. I got him his first job in the military. And that's his favorite kind of scotch." Dunban popped the trunk. "Besides, we'll only be gone two hours tops. There are more than a few teams out today so no one will miss the speeder."

"Clever. Have you always been this much of a rule-breaker?" She taunted.

He glowered at her.

"Don't be so touchy." She pulled out one of the two rifles. "What is this anyway?"

"It's a manual rifle." He explained, grabbing the other, and then the two duffle bags.

"What does that mean?"

"One shot at a time. Straight pull and shoot." he shut the trunk and began walking away from the speeder, toeing the natural divider between the grass and the sand.

Following him, she scrunched up her nose. "I'm starting to think this was a terrible idea. Is this some sort of rudimentary game you humans used to play?"

"Just wait."

Once satisfied by the distance, Dunban dropped the stuff and began to set up, keeping an eye out for the forefexes that scuttled along the far reaches of the beach in the shoreline.

"So what are we doing exactly?" Tyrea tossed the rifle back and forth between her hands.

"Shooting things."

"Yes, I gathered that. But what?"

"It's called skeet shooting. We launch clay pigeons — discs — into the air and shoot them before they fall."

"And you humans do this for fun? How...quaint." Tyrea rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to be around people in the firing range. We can't go on any missions. If you want to go back and sit on your hands, be my guest." He snapped.

"Point taken."

"Sorry. It's just..." He heaved a sigh.

"Don't be. We're both on edge." Tyrea laughed without mirth. "What is it you humans say? Misery loves company?"

Dunban smirked. "That it does." He grabbed the other rifle on the ground and rose. "Pull this lever when I say so." He motioned to the machine he'd set up.

Moving a few steps away, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder.

"Before you shoot, I guess I should check for Melia's sake that your arm is fine or whatever." He glanced over his shoulder at Tyrea, who was purposely looking away. "If I didn't ask and you injured yourself she'd be angry at me forever and I don't have time to deal with that."

She put up a tough front, but it was clear to him that she wasn't just asking for Melia's sake. Dunban was reminded of Kallian's words earlier and he smiled.

"I'm fine. But thank you for checking."

"Right. Great. Let's do...whatever this is." She waved her hand dismissively, still avoiding his gaze, and put her hand on the lever.

He turned around, lodged the rifle in his shoulder and brought the gun to the sky.

"Pull!"

The disk shot into the air. He aimed the rifle and pulled the trigger. The disk burst into clay pieces, showering down on to the beach below.

Tyrea gasped. "Now this is my kind of game. My turn."

He laughed and switched places with her, and soon they were switching off, pulling and shooting one after the other. Quickly it evolved into a good-natured competition. A few hours later, they ran out of discs.

After packing up the equipment, Dunban and Tyrea ambled back to the speeder.

"You're not a bad guy, Dunban," Tyrea remarked.

"I wasn't aware I was one."

"You know what I mean," she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I'm not great though." He looked towards the sea, internally touching the sleeping rage in his heart.

"Alright, stop with the self-deprecation."

"You saw a hint of my temper. I'm not denying I have some problems to deal with." He reasoned, rolling his shoulder, testing to see if it hurt. It didn't. Not yet anyway.

"At least you protect your people." Tyrea sniffed. "That's more than you can say for most."

"So do you." Dunban popped the trunk of the speeder and dropped the duffles inside. Tyrea added the rifles and he shut it.

"I don't have people. Besides her."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." He rounded the speeder, opened the driver's door, and slid in.

She looked at him with questioning eyes as she did the same on the passenger's side.

"The team believes you're one of them. I think so too." He flipped the on switch and the speeder roared to life. He gave a side-glance and saw her looking down at her hands, the barest hint of a smile on her lips. He smiled inside, put the speeder into drive, and began racing across the plain.

"So, you're "with" my sister." Tyrea leaned back in her seat, curling a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"If you think this is a conversation we're having, you need to know it's not." his mouth creased into a grim line.

"I'm not interested in any details and you already know that if you hurt her, I hurt you." He snorted and she continued, "Look, after what she just went through… I'm not sure what's going on up there." Tyrea tapped her left temple. "She's not the same." She paused, then looked at him. "We have to protect her."

Images of Melia's bruised and battered body flashed through his mind. His hands tensed around the steering wheel. He would never let something like that happen to her again.

"I agree."

"And…" Tyrea hesitated, "I need to thank you. If you hadn't helped me, then Melia might not be alive."

"Of course." He glanced over at her.

"Now that's out of the way, let's go blow up a Ganglion base. I'm certain Maurice will be forced to award you a medal of honor for your efforts and he would so enjoy that." Tyrea snickered.

Dunban laughed.

By the time they arrived back at NLA, the sun was setting and the heat of the day gradually receding. He hadn't received any updates from Elma and Tyrea split off to go annoy Lin in the lab (what he interpreted as her lending her knowledge about High Entian culture that might assist in unlocking the VITA).

He stopped by the clinic, only to learn that Kallian and the doctor were in with Melia and not to be disturbed.

Frustrated, he headed home. Maybe he'd have a drink and put on a movie, then head to bed. Anything to ignore the fact that Melia lay unconscious still and he was allowed nowhere near her.

As he jogged down the grassy knoll towards his house, he spotted two figures walking along the outer edge of the residential district together. As his eyes adjusted to the oncoming darkness, he saw golden spikey hair and auburn hair on each of the figures respectively.

Shulk and Fiora.

Maybe this was their moment finally. He smiled at that. If anything good could come of their suspension, maybe it was the two of them finally getting together. And Fiora deserved to have a little joy, especially after the struggles she'd undergone both growing up and in the past two years. He wanted his sister to be happy, and if Shulk could give her a little piece of that, then Dunban was all for it.


"Alright. Let's take the vote. If you are in favor of removing Dunban from the council, say aye. If you wish to keep him on the council, say nay." Nagi announced, standing at the head of the conference table. "Understood?"

A chorus of affirms filled the air. Dunban observed the proceedings from a spot in the far corner. The table was too crowded with both the council members and the division leads seated. Besides, he had no interest in being in the thick of it. If he was going to watch them decide his fate, better to be separate. And have an easy way out.

"Elma," Nagi said.

"Nay."

"Vera."

"Aye."

"Vandham."

"Nay."

"Maurice."

"Aye." He sniffed and sent a smug glance in Dunban's direction.

Anger rolled in his stomach. His gut strained and it was all he could do to remain quiet.

The vote continued. One by one each member voted. Two leaders per division out of eight divisions plus the six council members, not including himself came out to 26 votes. As each person voted, he kept count in his head.

Finally, the vote moved around the circle to the last: Nagi. "I vote nay." He fell silent, looking at each of the faces of the BLADE member, his expression neutral. "The majority has spoken. Dunban will be stripped of his council title and demoted to captain."

Before any more could be said, he slipped out the back door. Now called for a drink.

He sat on his balcony, second bourbon in hand, seething. Maurice had convinced enough of them to turn against him. Did they really think him reckless? Did they really think he would endanger NLA? He had saved them all for fuck's sake.

His communicator beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it inside onto his bed without looking. No doubt the news of his demotion had spread. He didn't want pity.

He wasn't the danger to NLA. It was Maurice. Maurice knew how to be charismatic and manipulative. This victory would embolden him to make other preposterous plans that would no doubt hurt their agenda: survival.

A dark thought slithered into his mind. It bloomed and grew, capturing his attention, encouraging him to turn it over and examine it from various angles.

No. If he started truly considering it, then it would mean the end of civil society.

"Dunban!? Are you here?" Fiora shouted from the ground floor.

Knocking back the rest of his drink, he walked into the house and onto the landing.

She looked up, her eyes frantic. "I've been texting you!"

"And I haven't been reading."

"You idiot! The Emperor is here."

He stopped dead. Emperor Soren was here. Melia's father was here. That meant her condition was more severe than they thought.

His stomach dropped out and he could feel his blood freeze in his veins.

She fumed. "I know that you're upset over the vote and I'm furious too but he's here to help Melia so get your ass in gear!"

Nodding, he jogged down the stairs and grabbed his coat. He strode towards the front door and pulled on his boots.

"Let's go." He swung open the door.

Fiora gunned the speeder across NLA to the clinic. Once they arrived, Dunban hopped out and went straight to the quarantine unit, ignoring the shouts of the staff. If he wasn't on the council anymore, he'd be as insubordinate as he wanted to be.

He turned the corridor and sped down the hall to where Kallian stood outside the room, watching through the glass window.

"What's going on?"

Kallian looked at him with concern. "The doctor did what he could but Melia still hasn't awoken though her vitals remain stable. I'm not sure what my father intends to do but it sounds like he has an idea."

Dunban turned his attention to the patient room. Inside, Soren spoke with the doctor. In the blue, cold light of the clinic, Dunban could see a haggardness on the High Entia's face that he hadn't encountered before.

He was worried about his daughter.

Soren took a seat next to Melia's bed and placed a hand on her forehead. He closed his eyes and Dunban thought he could hear humming.

Then...

Alarms screeched. Melia's body spasmed. She started to seize.

"What is he doing?!" Dunban looked at Kallian, who watched blank.

Dunban turned back: her vitals were crashing. The doctor was pumping something into her IV. a nurse stood by watching, horrified.

"He's killing her!"

He raced towards the door but an arm pulled him back. Kallian.

"Wait."

"He needs to stop."

Kallian held steadfastly. But it was his left arm and Dunban pushed him off, using his inhuman strength.

Dunban flung Melia's door open. "Stop!" He demanded.

But Soren didn't look up. His eyes remained closed.

And then one long beep hit the air. Dunban's eyes glanced at her heart monitor. It read zero.

The breath left his body. He felt weightless, numb, hollow staring at the number.

Zero. She had flatlined.

She was gone.