The Whisperer
--
-Chapter 45-
Leonard stared out
into the blackness of space. Behind him was a view of earth that made
it seem like a beautiful lush planet. He could not see the other
crafts as they had become invisible immediately after taking off.
They were already a good distance away. He wondered exactly what was
out here that required them to come out. He was already displeased
hearing the information that Kaname had not made it. All he knew was
the craft she was in was destroyed but he knew she had not died. He
used resonance to make sure she was alive. Schneider sat farther
ahead with his wife. Apparently Leonard would have a real role when
they reached where they were going. Apparently they had something out
here. He just hoped they wouldn't be going to some lunar base or
something on Mars. He thought they might be moving to another point
on the planet but that didn't seem likely anymore. He was surprised
at how easily they had come into space, and didn't need to training
or equipment astronauts did. He was surprised once more when the
scenery changed. All of a sudden they seemed to be landing in a
hangar of some sort. A voice spoke over the speaker. "We have
landed at Origin Space Colony. Please remain seated until we tell
you." Leonard sat up suddenly. "Space…Colony?" "Yes."
Schneider had come back in time to hear him. "This is the main base
of Origin. We have just been preparing this whole time to come up
here. We have taken what we gained on the planet, and transported a
lot of it, as well as the information. Of course we also have things
up here we never had down there because of the risk of losing it. If
you noticed or didn't notice this whole colony uses the EIS system.
The perfected form of the ECS system. We found this searching deeper
into the minds of the whispered. We believe some whispered may
inherit the knowledge from other whispered. Some who were born
knowing of the ECS, and how it was incomplete were able to improve on
it and help make the EIS system. We remain completely invisible, and
can stay near the Earth." Schneider grinned and took the seat next
to him. "Seeing as you founded Amalgam and helped give us the
foundation for this project I have brought you along. Also I wish to
explore you abilities as well. You are very interesting." Schneider
smiled at him as he said this. Leonard felt a strange tingling in his
spine. "The tests are easy and don't hurt as all. The tests used
to figure out if one was whispered or not on earth was obsolete and
injured the patient mentally, and later they may injure themselves
physically." Leonard felt that he was using resonance. He found
himself slightly disturbed at how easily this man did such things. He
was also intrigued. "We will see. First I would like to see how
things flow." Leonard spoke in resonance as well. Schneider
chuckled a bit. "Well I glad I didn't have to bring Gauron here.
He was not a very agreeable person. Crazy even. But he was effective
in his time. I should have studied him more. Oh well." Schneider
shrugged not really bothered by the thought. Leonard realized he had
wanted to ask a question earlier. "Excuse but why did we have to
leave so quickly. As well as you sending all your men to one point."
Schneider's features darkened. "I will explain this further
later. We have had certain problems accelerating the whispers ability
rate. We have found useful ways to physically manifest such power but
it is much harder and requires time. In fact we do not have many who
can. I don't believe you met him but Col is our strongest in this
field. His mental and physical discipline is very exceptional. He has
been able to manipulate quite well. Sagara has proven to do similar
feats but is not as capable. Gauron was able to as well but only to a
point. Also considering we rebuilt his body, and regenerated him he
had to be lacking. It is only a test since we do not have perfect
study with enough whispered in this field. It was an excellent shot
though. We lost a lot of old patients in this test or just couldn't
bring others back. Sometimes we even exploded the body by accident.
Well back to what I was saying. We have some technology we cannot
activate. We had an arm-slave locked off except we did not make it.
The arm-slave was already there but we could not open it. Of course
we figured out what we could and used the knowledge and information
we gained to build arm-slaves with similar abilities. We also have
another arm-slave up here similar to the one below which we still
cannot open. But expect to unlock the secret to this soon. The
Raziels are actually prototypes for copies of the other AS, so being
powerful enough we left them on earth, most of them. Of course the
ARX system is very interesting and now we wish to learn about it. But
we have no research specimens. Well as I was saying that arm-slave is
very advanced and if we did not escape it could most likely have
destroyed use. I sent units to stop it and try to destroy it before
activation. The reports we receive will let us know what happened.
Travis is down there also to stop him. The man wants revenge and
seeing what happened I could not deny him his wish. He is piloting
one of the better arm-slaves, one of a kind. We have others that we
have but the Raziel was the earliest prototype of such machine. We
have already been producing better ones. We have a series for the
Raziel similar to when you had a series for Codarl. We also enhanced
you Arastol model and made better ones. They can follow more commands
and complete more complicated actions. Well I think that is enough
for now. I will explain and show you more later. For now we need to
set up, and then hopefully get some rest." Leonard eyed the man
curiously as he rested back into the seat taking a deep breath.
--
"Hey kiddo." The enemy AS pointed at Sousuke's. The enemy was a bronze color and resembled the figure of a powerful man. Like Sousuke's machine and the Raziels it seemed to be able to levitate. Also the pilot was very exceptional. Sousuke held Kaname in his hand a small protective force surrounding it. He found himself much more controlled and cautious with Kaname in his hand compared to his unnatural attitude moments ago. His attitude was different. He was now facing the man he needed to exact his revenge on. What he didn't know is he wanted revenge as well.
"Hey Sousuke. I'm here to kill ya so get ready!" The machine punched into its palm. "I'm going to make you pay for killin' Chris, and Erika."
"They were my enemies. They had their chance to withdraw at the beginning of the battle. For their lack of ability, and naiveté they failed and were killed."
Travis felt himself becoming angrier. His muscles bulged inside his cockpit his veins sticking out. "I saw how you killed them. You're telling me you don't feel any remorse."
"Affirmative." Sousuke's response angered him further causing him to attack. He moved to the side as the fist of light attacked him. "Bastard!" The bronze AS slammed into him. He grabbed the enemies shoulder and maneuvered past him limiting damage he took. He turned around to face his enemy who had surprisingly ceased his attack. "Do you know how those kids must have suffered? They went their trying to bring you back instead of killing you and you slaughtered them like animals. Now you don't feel remorse, they were children. You really are a heartless bastard." Travis voice echoed through the sky from the external sound system. Kaname's eyes widened in surprise hearing what he said. She looked up at the machine holding her a feeling of disbelief filling her.
'Did he really do that, and not care?' The thought bothered her. She found her feeling of relief mixing with what she felt from the words she had heard just now. Sousuke on the other hand was unaffected by the old mans preaching. He already explained the circumstances of the fight, and nothing would change what he thought. Besides right now he had to worry about the blue haired girl in his hand. He concentrated sending a wave of energy at Travis. He blocked it easily but when he went to look at his opponent he could not see him. He looked around and found him flying back down towards the earth. He quickly rushed after him. Kaname clung onto the hand of the arm-slave as they hurried down. The force she was feeling was uncomfortable. She looked down and she could see the island where they were before. The fighting had died down. She lost her breath when they stopped suddenly. She glared back at the machine adding another bad mark to his already growing list of mistakes and punishments. She wondered why they had stopped just hovering there as if he was waiting. The bronze AS had stopped as well the pilot wondering why he halted as well. Inside his cockpit he stared down at the island expectantly. All of a sudden he tossed Chidori high into the air. Turning around he clashed with the bronze arm-slave as he tried to slam him.
"Sir the pilot of the Eros wishes to contact you. Should I connect them?" Al's voice sounded within the AS. "Affirmative." Sousuke barely let out concentrating as he clashed with what he now knew was called Eros. He only had about 5.8 seconds he figured before Chidori started coming down which would only give him about 30 seconds to catch her. "Hey you bastard, looks like you found that toy we couldn't get going. You really are something. Let's see how long it lasts. Graham!" Travis grunted in the end putting out as much force as he could. Sousuke was surprised. He could feel the raw anger and hatred being thrown into the attack. He was actually forced back eventually moving away from his enemy. He found himself breathing deeply. "How did you like that? The name Eros comes from the Hungarian word for strength. I'm not the smartest guy and I'm too fun loving to concentrate well for long. My lambda driver feeds off my raw emotion and the signals of my mind. It's simpler for me to use it and mine is easier to put more force behind it. This doesn't mean I can't use it regularly. I noticed your deep breathing. I'm sure you must have felt my anger, rage, pain, and sorrow. It's more powerful because of what you did to my grand kids. Now I'll kill you with this power… Or I could take away something precious from you." The Eros pointed upwards. Sousuke noticed Kaname coming down. He looked back at Eros who was already preparing an attack. He launched upwards moments before the attack was released. The speed was fast enough to challenge him. They both reached her simultaneously the exploding light keeping any watchers from seeing the results. Eros watched expectantly as the light cleared. Sousuke's AS became visible. The right side was damaged from the attack. He held a raggedly breathing Kaname in his other hand. He ignored her screaming; only catching a few profanities and threats. He moved the control for the right hand checking if AS hand still functioned. "Sir this is perfect to see if the SRA system works." Sousuke looked up confused. "SRA system means Self-Regenerating system." as he said this information appeared on the screen in front of Sousuke. "The arm-slave uses stored metal, and mineral particles to repair damage so you can fight no matter how much damage you have taken. Of course more severe damage will take the automatic repair system longer to fix leaving the exposed area vulnerable of course. When the storage runs out it will no longer fix the damaged areas. It can be filled though. Apparently whatever mineral or metal it takes in is transformed into the material making the AS so it all is the same. I am currently trying to figure out how this is done. For now, examine the damaged area." Sousuke moved to look at the damage done. The damage was minimal and was already repaired. He could not even tell he had been attacked. "This is one of the basic automatic functions. It is far advanced compared to other technology but is simple here. I am looking into what I can." Sousuke sat shocked. This was definitely a surprise. He would need to spend a lot of time trying to figure out all he could about this AS.
"Al is there any way to take Chidori to a safer location. I cannot find a way to get her in here and I cannot place her on the island."
"Why not?" Al asked with a questioning tone. "Mithril is supposed to blow up that facility. That is why I decided not to put her down. But it is not safe to continue doing this." As he said that Eros came upon him. Sousuke was able to dodge or so he thought. He missed the body but Eros grabbed the ankle of his arm-slave and pulled him with him. Sousuke's AS forced against it flipping back and kicking, sending the Eros up forcing it to release its grip. He flipped back to a balanced position. "I'm not feeling so good." Chidori said woozily as he barely clung to his hand. Sousuke looked up stretching out his right hand. Light erupted from it flying towards the Eros. Travis caught his balance and dodged it. When he looked down light was still pouring from Sousuke's AS hand. He looked up and saw the attack heading towards him again. He moved back and once again the attack followed. He gave up dodging and punched against it. He fought against the snake of light as it slowly wasted itself against his fist. When he looked for Sousuke's AS he could not find it in its former position. He was able to look back and catch him as he approached. He held his hand out forming an axe made of light. He swung as Sousuke's AS approached. He grabbed the blade with his free hand and kicked the Eros. He quickly recovered and prepared for another attack. Chidori was getting very uncomfortable but was being quiet finally. Eros rushed towards him. He moved back, and dodged as Eros continued to strike. Finally Eros was able to strike him attacking the side Chidori was on. He then slammed the AS down, followed by sending an attack after him. He made contact with the wave but maneuvered off it negating himself from taking damage. He looked down to check Kaname. She looked very uncomfortable. He felt she deserved admiration for staying so calm. He was worried having her on the outside while fighting. Eros last attack confirmed the danger considering he had put Chidori in danger with the side he attacked. He looked down noticing she was focused on his AS currently. These conditions were not good for protecting her and his enemy already made it obvious he had a vendetta he was very serious about and would seemingly do anything to fulfill.
He looked up and found his enemy rushing at him. He didn't hesitate to return the attack. He rushed upward; light starting to rip in front of him as he flew. "Chidori hang on!" He called out. "Okay!" Despite her situation she reacted quickly clinging onto one of the fingers that closed in to help keep her in place. Both AS clashed fiercely but only for a moment as Eros was thrown back instantly. He was hit again before he could recover flying further up into the atmosphere. Eros was able to hold back his next attack, but still slowly ascended as he was pushed back. "Soooosuuukee." Sousuke barely heard Chidori's voice straining. He looked down at her and realized with the altitude she was probably getting cold and her air was becoming limited. He tried to escape but was grappled by Eros. "I see the girl looks like you made a mistake in coming up here. It's unfortunate but I gotta kill her. I liked her but you gotta suffer before you die." Eros gripped as hard a she could. He was also successfully keeping Sousuke from breaking free using the lambda driver. He made sure he couldn't let her fall either. He had him stuck in a bad situation. Sousuke was trying as hard as he could but could not break free. He could see Chidori starting to gasp for air. Suddenly attack fire began to hit them including a missile which was all stopped by an invisible force. Sousuke took advantage concentrating on protecting her. He was able to get some space but Travis proved to be holding him with just as much force. He could see Chidori losing it. She had already fallen unconscious.
"Sir we can…" "Be quiet!" Sousuke interrupted Al. A strange sound shot through the air. Eros felt himself losing his grip and threw the enemy AS farther up. Sousuke's AS flew up to the point where Chidori had no chance. Travis looked on angrily as the Sousuke's AS gained its balance and stared back. He was surprised to see the machine standing fist closed calmly at its sides. "What happened to…?" Travis could not finish before his enemy rammed into him knocking back to earth at an incredible speed. He began pounding Eros further down as he struggled to block each blow. Growing frustrated he was finally able to release an explosive wave sending Sousuke's AS back up, but he was uninjured. Eros stared into the challenging eyes of his enemy's AS.
Inside his AS Sousuke breathed deeply attempting to calm himself down. He had been in a very dangerous situation but he was relieved it was over…mostly. He looked down at Chidori's unconscious form. Her head was rested in his lap as she sat between the leg controls. "Chidori wake up." He repeated three times until she finally roused from her unexpected sleep. She coughed and sucked in air rapidly. She coughed, breathed more until her lungs were refreshed and satisfied. "Wha- where am I?" Kaname looked around as her eyes focused to the darkness except for the dim lights. She looked up to find a familiar face. "Sous-ow!" She rubbed her head taking in the limited space she had. "What happened?" She asked sorely. "You were in a dangerous situation and I had to make a critical decision. Seeing as I had no where to place you that I was sure was safe I held onto you. Your actions during this time were commendable. When we reached a critical point where your life was in serious danger I was finally able to bring you into the AS. However the way you are situated was not expected." She looked around and realized she was between his legs. Red crept up her neck into her face. "Chidori be careful." She felt as the AS moved avoiding an attack from outside she could not see. She hit her head as well as was knocked around slightly. "Jerk you probably put me here on purpose." She said as he rubbed her head. Now Sousuke blushed momentarily. "Chidori I…" He stopped when she rested her head in his lap and clung to him. "Do-Don't get any ideas. I just thought I would be okay right here." She said looking sideways. "Roger." This was confirmed when the next motion did not cause her to move around so much. She smiled slightly as she nestled her head into a spot. "I missed you." She said in an almost whisper.
"What?" was all he said before he moved again "Chidori I am going to continue engaging in battle." "Okay." She closed her eyes and clung tightly knowing this would be uncomfortable. He prepared himself to finally battle his opponent. Eros was not hesitating in its attack or pulling any punches. Sousuke could feel the man's rage as he attacked. He grabbed his next punch and slammed his elbow into the abdomen of the Eros. He dodged Eros counter and flipped over him. He pointed his finger putting a stream of light through Eros's shoulder. Eros retaliated fiercely damaging Sousuke's AS as he hit him with a hammer. The force was felt violently in the cockpit. Kaname ebbed her way closer to his waist trying to reach around him. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable himself. He blocked Eros next attack. His opponent's resolve was powerful making him stronger. Eros pulled its hand back. Almost instantly it flared up; energy circulating around the lower right arm. "Die kiddo." Travis said as he thrust towards Sousuke. He in turn thrust towards Eros. They sped towards each other quickly. A small aura formed on the right hand on Sousuke's AS. The energies clashed violently. They were both consumed in the force of the attack. Any onlookers only saw an explosion in the sky like fireworks. It quickly disappeared. Both AS stood in the air. The arm-slaves imitated their pilots showing each one was breathing deeply. The bronze paint of the Eros was torn off mostly. Only half of the face and the left side had any color left. Aside from this the right arm was damaged seriously. The metal skeleton as well as other internal parts could be seen. The armor on the right side was damaged or destroyed. The eye was larger having the face damaged as well. Sousuke's AS was not nearly as damaged having already repaired itself meaning his damage was minimal to begin with.
"Huff Nice…shot kiddo huff." Travis said tired from the fight and force he had been outputting. "..."Sousuke said nothing before moving to finish him. He was stopped just before finishing him. He stared surprised at what was in front of him. Half way up his arm was cut from the point between his fingers. He could not identify what had caused it but Eros stood there motionless. Suddenly he brought his left arm up. He was knocked down; light flashing where his arm was. He caught his balance and looked up. He saw nothing. "Disappointing. I will be going now Sagara. Travis let's go." Sousuke recognized Col's voice but could not see him. "Sir he is using EIS." Al informed him. "No I want to kill him." Travis shouted. "We need you for a little longer. You can come or I can force you. If you wish to die so badly I'll kill you myself."
Sousuke's AS was gripping its right arm as he listened to the conversation. With a reluctant sigh the Eros headed off into the sky. "No enemies detected. I apologize for failing to notice the other enemy in time."
"It's not a problem. I should have noticed him as well." Sousuke said sitting back into his seat. He was glad the danger was over for now. He looked down at the blue haired girl who was uncomfortably situated between his legs. "Chidori it's over. Are you alright?"
She looked up slowly her face red where she was resting on it. "Really? Did you kill him?" She sounded a bit shaky. "Negative. He escaped with the help of an ally."
"Oh" was all she said before she began moving. She rubbed against him and rose higher. "Chi-Chidori what are you doing?" He asked worriedly. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm moving up to get more comfortable. You try sitting between someone's legs in a cramped cock-pit." She said as she struggle to move up. "Actually I can open up the space. This arm-slave is very unique and complicated. I can even make chair space. One moment." Chidori was already sitting in Sousuke's lap as the space seemed to increase. She checked down below and it was true. She could fit and maneuver better now. "Why didn't you do this before?" She asked. "He told me to be quiet." Al said as a hand on screen pointed to Sousuke. Kaname turned to look at him. "Chidori wouldn't you prefer to sit elsewhere. Al said he could…" "Nope! I'm comfortable where I am. And it's Kaname. "She said as she rested on him while already seated in his lap. "So what now?" She asked leaning her head on his. "We should meet up with Mithril. We will head to the TDD-1 now."
They slowly descended. Al having taken control. Sousuke made sure Chidori was comfortable as she slept. She suddenly fell asleep before he could answer her. He was not surprised. As he descended he noticed a familiar ship. "Al see if you can get that ship's frequency."
"Done!" he immediately replied. "Is this the Mahrae?" He asked already sure it was.
"Yes. Hey son, how you doing?" Nicholas greeted him. "Was it you that attacked us while we were fighting?"
"You mean against the Iron Man, yeah. You looked like you could use some help so we fired at ya and used a missile. You seem to be okay though."
Sousuke sighed. If they hadn't been protected Chidori would have taken the most damage from those attacks. He decided not to mention it. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh well to explain it I have to go back a bit. You remember your last little fight and the way Mithril helped us out. Yeah well you never came back or told us about anything. So we stuck with them. We are official members of Mithril but we will have our own jobs to do. We came by you guys as an accident and decided to help. We'd like to talk more but we still have business to attend to. We'll talk to you another time, maybe get some fishing in. See ya." Sousuke said his goodbye as well just before the Mahrae sped off to continue what ever mission they were on. Sousuke heard a beeping sound then Al saying he was connecting to something. The bridge of the TDD-1 appeared on the screen, but it was zoomed into the area around Tessa making her and Mardukas visible only.
"How are you Sagara?" Tessa asked; at the TDD-1 Sousuke's head area in the cockpit was visible on the screen in the TDD-1. "I'm fine Captain. I have successfully recovered Chidori Kaname. She is resting currently" "I-I can see that." She said with a slight blush. The crew on the bridge could see her head resting against him on the screen.
"Captain I request permission to be accepted onto the Tuatha de Danaan so Chidori can be properly examined."
"I'm fine." Sousuke looked over at her. Her eyes were barely open and she spoke in a low voice. "Chidori are…" "I said it's Kaname, and I'm sure I'm fine. They didn't do anything to me I'm just tired. Looks like the plan they had failed." She said as she nestled her head against his shoulder and neck trying to get comfortable. "Understood." He turned back to the screen. "Captain what happened to the destruction of the island?"
"We found some things and decided it would be a waste to destroy two of the enemy's facilities. We're going to secure it and discover what we can. Maybe we can use some of their information."
"Roger. I will land on the island then." As he said this his AS lowered towards the facility. "We will pick you up when we go to secure the others. We need to contact Merida Island base and let them know what is going on. They will most likely send units to secure this location, continue where we left off. We should be picking you up in about thirty minutes. Currently we have units on the way to inspect the area. If you wish you can bring Miss Kaname back on one of those." Tessa suggested.
"I will await their arrive-"He stopped when Kaname's hand slapped itself over his mouth. "I said I'm staying here baka! Why don't you listen to me once in awhile, maybe bad things wouldn't happen! If you listened to me before I wouldn't be here jerk!" She began to strangle him. Mardukas lowered his head sweat dropping. Tessa giggled slightly. The bridge members each followed one of their actions. "Heh, we can disconnect. Contact the other units." Tessa informed them. "Roger." They began communicating the rest of their forces.
Sousuke sat on the beach side Kaname resting on him. They watched the ocean go back and forth as they sat. His AS was sitting next to them. He noticed the arm was almost fully generated. The split had gone far up so it was taking awhile to repair itself just as Al had said. "When are we going home?" Kaname asked.
"Soon. It would be conspicuous for people to see an arm-slave flying. If I cannot store my arm-slave on the sub then I will locate elsewhere to put it. Perhaps Akutsu Mari will let me use the abandoned warehouse in Sengawa." Kaname pushed off him. "You're not serious. You can't trust her."
"Perhaps you are right. But maybe I could put it in EIS or in a container." He placed his hand under his chin to think. "Oh Chidori I'm glad to inform you that Gauron is dead."
"Really what happened to him?" She sat up looking at him. "I am not allowed to distribute the details to you." He said looking completely stiff. Kaname eyed him curiously. "You killed him…" She watched him for any facial changes but all he did was relax. "Affirmative." He continued to stare at the ocean his facial expression indifferent.
"And the kids? What was he talking about?"
"I engaged in battle with children not long ago. They failed to defeat and I killed them like any enemy."
"But they were kids right. Why would you do that?"
Sousuke sighed finding himself annoyed with how many times this topic was coming up. "I grew up very differently from most people Chidori. Living on battlefields and fighting my whole life. Joining Mithril, going to school, and you, all made me weaker. Of course I gained other strengths but it made my job harder in some ways. In my time separated and my contact with Gauron I realized this. If necessary I have to kill an enemy that endangers my life or those I'm protecting, even if they are children. No matter how others may feel." His expression remained emotionless. Kaname frowned silently looking at him. "Were they trying to kill you? The kids I mean." "Affirmative." Kaname gained a thoughtful expression then stretched her arms in front of her. It was a horrible thought but if he had too, she preferred him alive despite his actions. "I'll forgive you then. I don't like it but I can't do anything about it. If what you said is true you had no choice right?"
"…"
Kaname looked at him suspiciously once again. "Right…" She sounded seriously enraged right now. Her voice was held between her teeth and in her throat but the anger was evident.
"Affirmative." He finally said.
"What took you?" She still sounded suspicious of him.
"I was thinking. Yes at the last moment they attacked me again so I was right to finish them, or be killed. It's not a problem." Kaname's expression neutralized. "Fine. Let's forget about it. I just want to rest for now." Kaname pulled her legs to her and clutched them resting her chin on her knees. She had forgotten about the darkness of Sousuke's world and him himself in the time of peace she had. Though she wasn't reacquainted with it personally, she was glad she hadn't with what she heard. She glared at him from he corner of her eye. "You know this is your fault."
"You have repeated that multiple times and I have taken responsibility. You do not need to keep repeating it." The second he finished a loud 'Fwap!' echoed across the island. "I can repeat it all I want! You didn't see me ditch you and get you captured. Hell when you left before I actually chased you to Hong Kong." Sousuke stared at her surprised. As well as wondering how she always pulled her harisen out against him no matter where she was. "But Chido-""It's Kaname dammit!" She said pointing the harisen at him again. He moved back cringing against the thought its sharp papery feel. She put her infamous weapon away. Sousuke could not catch where it went. She looked down at herself still in her dress and sandals. "Let me sit on you lap I'm ruining my dress like this."
"But Chi-." He stopped when she glared at him. "But Kaname…" He stopped and stared a moment. "Roger." She took up a position on his lap as he moved so she could sit without injuring him or cutting of his circulation. She leaned against him. Sousuke was still unsure and not used to acting in this strange manner. He placed on hand around her shoulders and let the other rest on her. She interlocked their fingers with the hand on her and let the other rest on him as she leaned. He thought it would be better to get up and leave but did not disturb her. "We'll leave in a little bit, just give me second." She said as if reading his mind. He continued to stare at the ocean as she rested.
--
"Captain bad news. The location of the organization S.O.W. was attacked and obliterated by the enemy." Mardukas began relaying the information in the report to Tessa.