LXXV - Chip

~~~(LXXV)~~~

"You kids find anything in the cave?" Oxon glanced down at the group of four. They had said they found a cave, he just hoped it held some information they could use. The three that had not been with him looked up, their leader responding for them.

"Like we told Del, we saw footprints inside the small cave. Not Grimm, but human. They went inside a ways before coming back out, nothing else was found. Someone had been there since the last storm that rolled through the area." She pulled out her scroll and showed him pictures she'd taken. He had to give her credit, he wouldn't have thought to do so. "We can examine the tread and size to determine the model of boot or shoe. With the spacing and depth of the footprints in the snow, we can deduce a rough estimate of height and weight."

"Impressive." The girl preened at his praise. She easily deserved it, though it was mildly embarrassing to be shown as less competent than first years. "We can send that to Ironwood upon return, I'm sure he has someone who can put a profile together. Maybe they have data on when the last storm was and who has left the city since. You've exceeded my expectations, that's for sure."

"Thank you, sir!"

Oxon just stared at her. "It's Burgundy…" He wondered how many times he'd need to repeat that.

"Ah, right."

"Moving on." He gestured ahead to where the Grimm had come from. "It's not confirmed, but I believe the clues to the cause of Grimm incursion lie that way. We never saw any Grimm until just now. Whatever attracted them here, it's in there."

Probably.

The location itself looked mildly hazardous. He couldn't see the whole way through, but it appeared to be an old ice gully. He'd seen similar back home and they usually held branching tunnels and crevices. He wasn't an expert on glacial structures, but it looked stable. Of course he could be very wrong. Trudy would be the one whose expertise was needed.

"Bright, does anything about the area stand out to you?"

The girl glanced at him before giving the area in front of them a once-over. The quick look seemed to be enough for her as she gave a thumbs up.

Not very talkative, that one.

Shrugging, he took it as good news. "Sounds good. Alrighty then Birdies, let's move out. And keep your guards up, there could be Grimm that never came out of there." He got a chuckle from Blaise and a scoff from Donovan and Delaney.

Eh, can't win 'em all.

As one, the group of five moved through the icy gully, eyes looking out for threats. Unlike before, Oxon took the lead here; if there was a horde ahead, he would take the brunt instead of the students. It was narrow enough for him to be a barrier to the kids while also providing enough room for them to maneuver as necessary. He recommended Trudy stay right behind him to get a look at the area as they traveled. Her knowledge about cave systems was invaluable. Blaise and Donovan were next in line, both being mid or long range fighters. Delaney held up the rear as the other close range combatant.

As they moved forward, Oxon scanned the area for Grimm primarily. He also scrutinized the snow in hopes to find any other footprints. Either for good or for bad, all he found was Grimm tracks. He couldn't even make out what made them due to them all overlapping on the soft snow.

After a dozen or so minutes, the group found themselves in a more open area. It was far wider than the gulley they'd walked through and the open sky was visible to them. The group spread out slightly in order to comb the place over.

It was a mostly flat area with a few large blocks of ice and open air above. Some looked like they could fit a bullhead while others seemed big as houses. The tundra sure was impressive.

It didn't take long to find something that didn't belong. "BLBD! Over here!" Hovering over a chunk of ice was a strange sort of orb. The majority of its shape was colored black, and gray. The more troubling part was the clear upper portion. There was a faint orange glow inside that seemed to swirl as if moved by an unseen breeze.

He did not like it. Not one bit.

Oxon put away Bulls Breath and pulled out New Leaf. Oxon observed the thing while circling around it. There were no tell tale marks signifying who created it. There was no chess piece or fancy "W" engraved on its surface denoting it as Salem's, though maybe this was supposed to be subtle, not braggy like Cinder was. If it was Salem, then it was by a new minion of hers that made this. One that lacked the desire to claim it.

With a poke from New Leaf, the item did not respond. A second poke emboldened him. "Well, it didn't detonate, I'll take that as a win."

Tossing the weapon to his left hand he reached under the thing to pick it up. They'd need to bring it to Atlas for the investigation. He looked over to the hovering robot and showed the orb to it. "This is Tim Burgundy requesting immediate exfiltration. I along with Team BLBD have located… something out here and will be bringing it back for identification." The thing beeped a few times. Hopefully that was a "yes" from Atlas.

It also meant it could have answered his questions earlier. But chose not to…

Ugh…

His curiosity morphed into unease as the orb began to hum slightly. That concern turned into a cute concern as it let out a pulse of energy out into the tundra. Gooseflesh spread over his skin as the strange wave passed through his body; it gave him a brief sense of terror for no explainable reason. The swirling orange mist seemed more active than before as well.

"That didn't feel great…" The strange light continued to pick up speed in its orb prison. Oxon quickly put New Leaf away and began searching the contraption for some kind of shutoff. He was no Ruby Rose, and certainly no Doctor Polendina, so his search was frustratingly fruitless. The gaps in the machining was too slim to get a finger inside; a knife was his next idea, but it too failed to pierce the steel shell.

His attention was pulled from the creepy orb as he heard footsteps. Turning to look over his shoulder, he saw the four kids convergence on his location. He was about to explain what he found, but was cut off by distant howls. Before they could speak, he yelled at the four.

"I don't know how, but I think this thing is bringing Grimm towards us! This place is the epicenter of that Grimm horde that's marching on Essen and it just turned back on!" He held the thing in front of him so they could see it. "I don't know what this is or how it works. Any of you good with technology?"

"I know guns."

"It's not a cave, therefore I won't be of help."

"I go to Blaise for computer trouble."

"I'm just good at looking for tips online!"

The five of them were useless… Shit… He was more of an analog guy as well, so he never bothered with technology beyond his scroll. Not like the damn thing was anything he'd seen before even if he did know more.

"Alrighty then!" Oxon dropped the orb, which hovered a foot off the ground, and pulled out his primary weapon. The inscribed ax-rifle glinting in the overhead sun. "Form a defensive position in the center of this stupid ice bowl. Someone needs to work on deactivating that thing while the rest of us work on protecting them. I'm hopeless when it comes to this, so one of you will need to step up."

"I called for pickup the moment I found the damn thing, not sure on the ETA, but let's think about it being at least twenty minutes. No need for a stealthy flight here if we've already kicked the hornet's nest." The four looked at each other and nodded.

Delaney slid over to the thing and began inspecting it. "I was good at puzzles as a kid, maybe I can find a hidden switch or something!?" Losing a frontliner wasn't ideal, but they were out of options in regards to time. He gave the girl a nod and looked over the environment. There were a few higher ledges that gave a good height advantage. He needn't have bothered as the blue haired girl yelled out.

"Donny! Ice perch above us!" Her eyes whipped from the gunslinger and onto him. "Mr. Burgundy, can you get him up there?"

He followed a finger to a wind carved ice ledge with no real way of reaching it. It was a few dozen meters from their current holding location, but he was confident in his strength. He gave a thumbs up before gripping the young man by the scruff of his jacket. "Upsie daisy, kid." With a quick flex of his muscles, Oxon threw the kid like he would a pulp log. The kid flew at a decent angle and just barely grabbed a suitable hand hold before he slid off. The kid pulled himself up and brought out his large gun, a fairly heavy duty looking machine gun with a drum mag.

"Thanks!"

"Mr. Burgundy, you're the most experienced and are physically the largest here, I need you to act as our vanguard." She seemed to pause for a moment before looking a bit sheepish. "Uh, I mean, unless you have a plan as well?"

Oxon snorted and gave her a pat on the head. "I'm not the leader type, so use me as you see fit. I can't say I'm complaining about your plan so far." She blushed and gave a firm nod, confidence returning tomorrow face and voice.

"Trudy, you should hold the other side Incase of a flank. I will stand in the middle by Delaney and kill anything that gets past you both. I'll also work to support you with my dust from a distance!" The girl nodded before hopping back to stand near the girl that was frantically looking over the orb in annoyance. "Alright Team BLBD! Let's show Burgundy and General Ironwood what we're made of!"

"Heck yeah!"

"Yes!"

"You bet!"

The team seemed in high spirits. That was good. Though that mood wasn't meant to last as the first dark shapes poured into the canyon. Sabyrs, Beowolves, and some fox looking thing came over the edge. Above those were a few smaller avian Grimm, though Donovan seemed to take them out before they could land.

Speaking of the kid with the high ground, from his perch above. The boy was a good shot; what bullets didn't kill, they broke off bone armor for the finishing blow. Oxon heard growls behind him followed by sounds of combat. The miner girl was now busy it seemed. And he was about to be as well.

A quick check of his scroll had him at seventy six percent.

"Good enough for me." Oxon cracked his neck as the first foe stepped forward and pushed his aura outward. The kids were tough, no doubt, but it would be best for him to grab the bulk of the attention. His first opponent was a decent sized Beowolf, similar in size to what he'd seen many times before. It'll die just the same.

Oxon pulled out Bulls Breath and waited for the Grimm to make its move. The beast stared at him for a moment, seemingly sizing him up. He didn't have to wait long, for the bipedal wolf let out a howl and pounced at him; it's evil claws prepared to gore him. Oxon looked up in disdain at its confidence.

His heavy ax head swung skyward through its lower jaw and bit deep into the skull above. The creature faded to dust as the gun function fired a round through its brain. As quick as it died, the creature was quickly replaced by more. Saybers and other Beowolves scrambled over ice and snow to get a chance at him. He wasn't too familiar with the small Grimm that hid behind the larger ones, but he was sure Weiss had gone over it with him. It looked like a fox, or maybe a lemur?

Either way, they don't look like much.

Of course, once he was in the thick of combat, their true evil made itself known. "Stay still you gremlins!" Compared to other Grimm, they seemed to be more capable of dodging his swings. They were intelligent, that, he could tell. They would use the creatures with larger mass to hide themselves and jump out when he killed their cover.

He even saw one riding a Sabyr.

He shot that wannabe cowboy with Bulls Breath. "Nora will love to hear about that." A second shot killed the riderless mount. The things were tenacious in a more sentient way than he was necessarily appreciative of. They weren't quite like an older alpha, but still smart. Though at least they didn't have tentacles.

Fucking Menagerie…

"Ah!" The feeling of teeth biting into his aura brought him back to reality. A hand grabbed at the source but only felt small paws scuttling around his back. Another bit him on his heel. That one wasn't fast enough to dodge a spiked boot. The little fuckers seemed to be applying the 'strength in numbers' method. If they weren't Grimm, he'd be impressed by the tactics. Instead, he was greatly annoyed.

The larger claws of a Beowolf had to take priority over the needle toothed menaces. Ignoring the biting on his shoulder and legs, Oxon parried a swipe from the large beast before shoving Patris inside its mouth. A double tap to its throat ended it before it could bite down on his wrist. A Second tried to avenge its brother only to be pistol whipped and decapitated.

He'd be feeling fine about the situation if another small weight didn't find itself on his lower back. Little knives began stabbing through the less that ideal loaner gear. His own wouldn't have needed aura to protect it from the same attack. Stupid easily recognizable armor; stupid mediocre Atlas grunt gear. The things were nimble and quick. To his anger, they were more than able to avoid his hands and swings. Knowing they'd either drain his aura or distract him from a bigger threat, he called for assistance.

"Pitch! Freeze me!" Over the chattering of the creature's, he heard the vocalizations of a person in the distance. More of the bastards joined their brethren in an attempt to weigh him down; he could grab them now since the numbers were so high, but killing one just made room for another. Theirs was a bold yet futile strategy since he could handle far more weight than was on him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a light blue beam heading towards him. Oxon took a step forward to angle his back at it, letting the attack hit the Grimm first. It wasn't long until his body became encased in a decent layer of ice. Knowing his semblance would fail to stop a non-kinetic hit, he grunted through the sudden change in temperature. It was oppressively cold, but he felt the little freaks stop moving too.

Grunting, Oxon flexed every muscle in his body to crack the ice. It worked, but not fully, his joints were free, but his limbs and torso still had ice on it. A stomp forward and a stretch of his arms removed the rest. The Grimm-cicles fell off of him and landed at his feet. A few shattered on impact, the rest were stomped or cleaved into icy shards. A slam of a gauntlet on his helmet removed the ice from his face and the eye holes of the mask.

"Are you okay!?" The girl who'd frozen him skated by on a gust of wind. He'd seen Weiss do a similar move, though hers was usually made of ice. "I just saw you covered in Swindlens! How's your aura holding up?"

So that's what they're called. Oxon looked at his scroll quickly and saw the number. "'Bout sixty seven. It'll do." He could easily fight on for much longer. He could do so even without aura if he had to. He'd done so before and could do so now.

"That's good, do you have any idea on the ETA of our pickup?" A quick use of burn dust wiped away the remaining ice chips and brought quick warmth back to his skin. How nice.

"Not sure, can't be long. How's it coming with the Grimm bait?" Blaise gave an unhappy look back at her teammate. The girl had begun gnawing on the thing.

"Right…"

"It's going…" The girl valiantly tried to defend her teammate, though she clearly knew it wasn't a good look for the girl.

A snarl from behind brought their attention away from the faunus. A large Beowolf ran over a few of those lemur- Grimm on its way to two potential meals. Oxon got his ax ready while the girl switched dust crystals.

A quick hand movement had her hand glow deep purple engulfed the Beowolf crushing it under a purple haze. Seeing the chance, Oxon kept forward, executing it with his ax. The girl then replaced the purple crystal for a yellow one before she zapped a group of Swindlens; electricity arcing between the close knit group.

"Del can't find any visible button or means of popping it open. Whoever made it knew what they were doing and did it well."

There was a loud sound that rang out from his scroll. He left the incoming Grimm to the young leader while he answered it. She could take 'em.

"This is Atlesian Manta Victor Alpha-88. We received your message and are en route to your location. Distance is close enough for live comms. Our predicted time of arrival is seven minutes from now. Hold on tight." The news was good, it seemed like the bot was worth having after all. They would just need to hold out a little bit longer.

Oxon placed the scroll closer to his face so he could speak into it. "Manta Victor Alpha-88, this is expedition leader Burgundy. Creatures of Grimm are currently pouring into our position from the surrounding tundra. We have identified the source and are working on taking it out, however it is still actively bringing Grimm in." Oxon one hand fired Bulls Breath at an approaching Creep. With his limited ammo tube, he knew he'd need to reload soon.

"Can you quantify the amount currently in the area?"

"Hell if I know!?" He didn't have the time to take a damn census. "It's not incursion level, but they keep pouring in. You can get us out of here when you land, yeah?"

"That is a negative, Burgundy, our craft cannot land if high amounts of Grimm are still present. They'd tear the ship apart. Please focus on the source of their advance. We can clean up stragglers as we approach. How big of a threat is the source?" Oxon glanced at the orb. It was not moving, nor was it defending itself against the knife Delaney was jamming in any gap she could find.

"On its own? I'd say minimal."

"Then get rid of it. We're warming up our weapons in preparation for a live fire entrance. Good luck, Burgundy. See you soon. Manta Victor Alpha-88 over and out."

Seeing the call go dead, Oxon looked between the numerous Grimm being fought and the reason for their presence. They now had a time to be out of this mess. And it wasn't a long one. Sprinting over to the girl and the orb. He pulled her up by the back of her armor; much to her vocal displeasure. "Finesse isn't working. Go support your leader on the front while I break the damn thing."

"But if it's destroyed, we might not have enough clues left to figure out who made it. Wasn't that the point of the mission?"

"Mission second, survival first. You can't make the kingdom proud if you don't return." Well, they could. But a posthumous award wasn't something he was trying for. Redemption wasn't possible if he was dead, after all. "If Ironwood gets pissed, I'll take the heat."

"If you say so." The girl gave one last glare at the evil Grimm orb before linking up with her leader.

Oxon grabbed the thing and shoved the orb in a snowbank. He didn't want it ricocheting to the other end of the area when he hit it. Bulls Breath came up in a log splitting form. He had a lifetime of perfecting this move and he wasn't about to screw it up now. With a quick exhale, the head swung down and impacted the device.

The ax skittered to the side. The roundness of the thing was going to be a pain. He kicked it so that the glass portion was facing upwards, if one part was going to fail, it was the nonmetallic section.

The second swing gave much better results. The sharp edge bit into the glass with an immediate result. The ominous mist began to spray out and a bit of it came in contact with his arm. Immediately after the contact, the cold chill of terror he'd felt before invaded his heart once more.

Oxon hopped back from the thing, cold sweat running down his spine. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't. The situation was fully under control and he had no reason to have felt such emotions.

It's just the orb. Grimm are obsessed with negative emotions. So the orb must produce those emotions and that substance is affecting me in the same way.

Even if he could rationalize it, he still didn't like it. Pushing past the brief moment of unnatural emotions, Oxon stomped forward, weapon raised. With a snarl, he began to mercilessly chop the thing; more of the most came into contact with him, filling him with that foreign dread. It seemed like the power of the orb was disabled and darkened while the cracks and holes he made forced the orange mist to fully leave its vessel.

That should do it.

"Look out!"

Oxon spun in place and placed Bulls Breath in a defensive position. Just in time. A very large Beowolf crashed into the weapon and snarled at him. The beast roared in his face only to be silenced by a swift headbutt. Oxon saw a few of the fangs crack from the blow. Pushing out any lingering fear, he replaced it with anger.

Some bastard created artificial fear. They created a tool so vile with the purpose to wipe whole populations off the map. Oxon pushed the incoming claws aside with fist and ax. The beast attempted to gore him, but the beard of his ax pulled it off course. If this isn't Salem… then just who else out there wants to destroy a kingdom? The White Fang? No, they're gone… it doesn't matter, whoever it is is just as bad as Cinder.

Oxon swung at the Grimm's head, only for the thing to leap back. Its hackles were raised as it glared at him. The beast bounded forward, fangs bared. Oxon underhand swung his weapon, aiming for the unprotected throat. When it dodged again, he fired a shot at its head. The round only broke the mask slightly.

Looking at it closely as the two fought, he saw the beast had more armor than the usual Beowolf; not to mention its greater size compared to the others he'd seen today. This wasn't an ordinary Beowolf.

"Ah, an alpha, just my luck. I bet you came for that mist, or from sensing what it did to me." The intense terror he'd felt was gone along with whatever caused it. No other beasts seemed likely to break the kid's defensive line and they seemed fine as well for the time being. This one must have surprised them. "Sorry to say, but I'm not as weak or afraid as I seemed."

The Grimm didn't answer, at least not vocally. Rolling his shoulder, Oxon got ready to fight the older, smarter shadow wolf and waited for it to make the first play.

Kicking up a plume of snow, the beast charged him with murderous intent. With his right hand gripping Bulls Breath at the hallway point, his left pulled out New Leaf. The smaller weapon was quicker and more suited for deflecting blows; he was able to prevent any from solidly impacting him. A few glanced off his armor, but they didn't cause much aura drain, especially with his earlier blows charging his semblance.

The older wolf lashed out with both paws. Oxon formed a cross with his weapons and blocked the blow; his eyes widened at the follow up. Jerking his head to the side, he avoided the great jaws from clamping on his head and instead took the blow on his shoulder. His semblance broke at the initial blow and his aura flared as it continued to dig its teeth into it.

The downward force being exerted on his arms wouldn't have normally been difficult to shove away, but with the creature having both leverage and a grip on him, it wasn't as easy.

With a technique he'd used when in a sword lock with his father, he stopped resisting and let his legs collapse. The unexpectedness of the move caused the Grimm to fall as well and once it was unbalanced, Oxon flared his aura to force the jaw open wider before bringing it back to normal. The move allowed him to escape from the sharp fangs. On his way up, Oxon threw a heavy armored punch at the creature's jaw.

They never expect me to go boneless.

The Alpha rose up quickly and gave a loud howl. It was clearly upset at its prey escaping and hurting it.

Oxon met a claw slash with New Leaf's blade, the head sinking a few inches into the black paw. A flick of his wrist had the edge cut half of it off, leaving it with only a thumb and one finger left on it. The beast howled in pain and anger before attacking with its other arm.

Ax met flesh once more, but the beast grabbed the weapon instead of following through on the blow. Its large paw full of claws wrapped around the end of his weapon and yanked it aside. The unexpectedness of the move surprised him and then infuriated him when the gun was removed from his grip. Oxon watched his reminder of a weapon lodged itself in a nearby block of ice. The Grimm didn't come away unharmed as it leaked black blood from the wound it gained from gripping a sharp blade.

That same claw came back in a backhanded swing and caught him in the temple, breaking his semblance but not his stance. A kick from its sharp feet impacted his chest, pushing him back a few feet. Further from his secondary weapon. "So that's how you want to play, huh?" Both him and the Alpha were down a bit of their offensive capabilities, but at least Oxon had other tools. The bastard wasn't about to grow a new set of claws any time soon.

He ducked beneath a double armed swing and rolled between its legs. Bulls Breath swung from his feet and over his head in a great arc before crashing into the beast's left calf. Try to kick me again you stupid mutt! The Beowolf spun and swung at his throat in retaliation only for his armored fist to punch the limb away. His semblance was up again and gave him confidence. Leaving his weapon lodged in its leg, Oxon drew Patris out and fired at its remaining paw. He blew off three with a single shot.

The beast was on its last legs, to finish it, Oxon jumped vertically and gripped it hard on the throat. It let out a strangled growl as Oxon let his weight force the wounded creature to the ground. His right hand continued to constrict the Grimm's neck while his left hand pulled Fratris free. The beast scratched at his semblance as Oxon emptied the cylinder into its chest.

The fatally wounded monster didn't have the energy to stop his spiked boots from caving in its skull. It finally faded away.

Getting his breath back and after retrieving New Leaf, Oxon watched as the kids worked hard to maintain their defensive line and cull the remaining Grimm. Compared to the last few minutes, there seemed to be less pouring into the canyon. Oxon reloaded his guns as he jogged back to the remains of their mission objective.

It wasn't in great shape, the upper third of it had caved inwards from his actions. The shock dust circuits seemed to have shorted when they met with snow if the black scorch marks were anything to go off of. Well, not like there was any real choice about it.

"This is Manta Victor Alpha-88 to Burgundy and company. We're going to be there in T-minus sixty. What's the situation with the horde?"

Oxon pulled out his scroll and answered. "The source of their numbers is dealt with and we're cleaning up the rest of the bunch now. I recall you promising aerial support?"

"Affirmative Burgundy. Air to ground Rockets are primed and ready. We'll help clear the site on our arrival."

"Perfect." Oxon shoved the broken thing in his pack before pulling Bulls Breath back out. He took a relieved breath before moving to support Trudy. She'd been doing well holding out with support from Donovan, but an extra pair of hands never hurt.

The lever cranked forward and back loudly.

~~~{LXXV)~~~

The door to Ironwood's office slid shut, and with it the man's slight smile. The young team was gone, leaving him and Oxon alone in the room.

He and Team BLBD had finished giving their report to the man as well as handing over the photographs of the suspicious footprints and the orb. The general seemed confused by the thing until it was explained. Needless to say, the general had become agitated at its dangerous nature.

As far as the kids went, Oxon had sung their praises, much to their bashful attempts to downplay themselves and not look to be bragging. To him, there wasn't any real fault to be found in how they acted aside from the loud entrance of one member. The general, who likely would watch the footage of the mission, took his word as fact and gave his own words of praise to the four.

That had been fun to watch.

Now though, the real debriefing was about to start. With the kids gone, he could finally remove his helmet. It hadn't been so bad in the cold since the temperature offset the mugginess. Inside the airship and the academy however, he'd been dying. Oxon pushed his bangs back out of his eyes after a quick shake of his head. It felt incredible.

"Did you find any signs of Salem or her people?"

Oxon shook his head and shrugged. "Hell if I know. Cinder liked her Queen piece and while I never asked, the virus she used in the CCT had a cursive "W" on it. So that was likely someone else. But I never met Hazel or Tyrian until Haven. That orb had nothing decorating it, so I can't say."

"Well, we can't always expect our enemies to give us clues." The man looked over the item they brought back. It wasn't in good shape, which the general accepted due to its effect on the Grimm. At least they had it after all. "Something like this can't be created just anywhere. The level of technology is beyond Vacuo and Mistral, Vale has a few high end manufacturers, but I can't see them creating something like this given what happened to them. We're looking at either an unknown manufacturer or that this was made here in Atlas."

"Why would Atlesians destroy other Atlesians?" Sure, the general had more experience and knowledge, but it didn't make sense to Oxon. Surely the people of a kingdom would stand together against common threats, not conspire against each other.

"Not every heart is filled with the same love I have for this kingdom, there are others out there that wouldn't care if the kingdom burned if it meant they were better off. We've stamped down harshly on those people since the attack on Beacon. And from your testimony, it was the right thing to do." The man clasped his hands behind his back and looked at Oxon with a stern face. "Cinder either strong-armed or made promises to the Valean underground in order to bolster her strength and cause the city great harm. I will not let that happen here."

As one of those she'd strong-armed, he had to say, he liked the proactive approach.

"You have done well, Adhmad. I took a gamble by letting you lead the mission, and I can't say I'm dissatisfied with the results."

"I'm glad I could help." The man hummed a little at that. The man observed him for a few seconds before muttering something to himself. Oxon was about to ask what was wrong when the man spoke up.

"I have one final task for you today, to deliver this object to Dr. Polendina." His left arm moved from behind him to gesture at the broken weapon. "I do not know who in the kingdom is behind this, but I cannot imagine Pietro being a part of it. He has too much riding on the kingdom's survival."

"That sounds about right."

"Penny was heading there already, so I will have her pick both you and this device up." Penny? "I want you to tell him what you told me. How the orb acted and of how it affected you. That unnatural creation of fear is troubling."

"Yes sir." Relaxing shower will have to wait, then… fine…

The man placed the device in a sturdy steel case and motioned for Oxon to take it. Nodding to the man, Oxon gripped the handle and placed it under his armpit. His free hand placed his helmet back on his head. He didn't have that long to enjoy breathing with it off since he had to travel to Mantle.

Walking outside, there were two soldiers who nodded at him before escorting him to the landing pads. They didn't look hostile or upset at him. Not everyone knew his identity, thankfully.

Though the girl he was meeting did. Her and her father knew him, and it wasn't exactly a friendly history they had…

Fuck…

~~~(LXXV)~~~

I can't wait for this job to end. It's been really draining my soul lately and it doesn't help that my manager flip flops from cool to an ass daily. It's really wearing me out…

But only one week left! So that's good!