Someone won't be walking away from this…

A/N; Last chapter was rather short, so to make up for it I uploaded a bit sooner than usual. But expect the next update in roughly 2 months at best (3 at most), as I haven't been able to write as much as I would like to. I have to restrict how much I upload to have even the smallest semblance of a 'schedule' for y'all, and that's just writing new stuff! It's not even mentioning the time it takes to edit these chapters once they're done. A full time job does not lend itself to literary success, nor enjoying hobbies…

In the morning Aile woke up refreshed and content. The damp smell of home greeted her, the stale air surrounding her with familiarity. Aile looked around lazily and mused on the familiar surroundings. It wasn't a typical home for a teen, not by a long shot, yet she liked it that way; Aile often compared the dark place to an old cellar, or perhaps a squirreled-away library. Maybe it was an acquired taste, but as far as the brunette was concerned, it suited her just fine. The ageless calm and omniscient presence of untold centuries pressing down on her felt like a comforting blanket. Open air and brilliant colours and plenty of people meant being vulnerable, completely shelterless and exposed beneath the skies. There was always the risk of being seen, being chased, having enemies around that couldn't be seen until too late. Living under the cover of forests and caves suited her much better. An embrace of bedrock felt as safe as her father's arms, and just as immutable. Aile slowly stretched as she properly woke herself up.

Her father's chest rose and lowered with his deep, heavy breaths. Aile smiled, her head comfortably nestled on top of him, even though her so-called 'pillow' heaved with every inhalation. There couldn't have been a safer, warmer, more cozy way for her to wake up, and she loved it. Not to mention it was Aile's favourite privilege. Knowing that she alone could convince the God of Destruction himself to acquiesce to every cuddle demand she made of him? That was a secret Aile was all too willing to keep, a private boon she would greedily keep from all others. She could happily stay like this all day. Her father would probably even allow it, too, but unfortunately for her, Aile knew there was business to attend to. With an unhappy sigh she got up for the day, her tendons cracking as she stretched.

There was a small stutter in Omega's breath at the movement. He groggily opened his eyes to observe Aile as she readied herself, "...Hrm. You're energetic this morning."

Aile playfully leaned over and whipped an old stuffed animal towards his head. She grinned as he let it smack harmlessly into his face. There was a little whap as the dusty thing collided with the ground. Omega blinked with boredom. He hadn't even moved to defend himself from her unorthodox attack. Instead he merely gave her a little smirk as she teased him, "When am I not energetic every morning, Daddy? I'm the spitting image of vigour!"

"Not since you were twelve, you weren't," Omega taunted back, rolling to his lay on his stomach as he crossed his arms, "You decided you liked sleeping in one day and that was it. Remember that?"

Aile chuckled, "How could I not? You dragged my ass all the way to the training area, and I still didn't get up until you dropped a bucket of water on my face!" She finished stretching, waved her arms around a bit, then flopped herself on the ground right next to her dad.

Omega turned to her with a peaceful aura, languid like a cat, "And you went straight back to sleep after giving me a filthy look, too. Most impressive."

"Okay, I admit it, I'm not a morning person," Aile begrudged. Her father's lidded eyes gleamed with amusement. This leached out a little when Aile gave a serious huff and straightened her spine, "Today's gotta be a little different, though. I've got a mission to do today!"

"Oh?" Omega inquired, intrigued, "what's the plan?"

Despite being serious, Aile was still very positive as she kicked her legs about to shake out her muscles, "I'm gonna get to the bottom of things! I want some answers, and I'm gonna threaten whoever I gotta until I get them!"

"This is about what happened yesterday, I presume," Omega stated. He slowly sat up, lethargic, yet every movement felt like it was carefully calculated. A lion at rest was still a lion, after all. But seeing as this 'lion' was her dad, who was an extreme softie when it came to anything Aile-related, she merely sat down next to him and leaned into his side as he huffed in fond exasperation, "I take it you've decided to do something about it?"

Aile nodded. "Yup!"

Omega hummed, a tinge of concern in his tone, "You… will you be alright? Do you need my assistance?"

"Nah," Aile reassured him, "I got this one."

"Are you sure-"

"Yes I'm sure!" She chided, grimacing at the concern in his voice, "I'm a big girl! A young adult, even! I've got this. You've gotta let me do some stuff on my own every once in a while!" She nuzzled into his neck and gave a loving hum, "I know you just wanna protect me, daddy… But sometimes, the only thing I need protecting from is your own overprotectiveness!" She suddenly sprang to her feet and headed for the exit, "Anyways! Love you daddy! I'm outta here!"

"Just like that? Ungrateful little wretch," Omega growled, playfully throwing the plush animal at Aile. She easily dodged it and giggled at his paltry effort. "Overprotective my ass! Who am I, your babysitter? Get lost you brat!" Aile fluttered her eyelashes and cheekily blew him a kiss, and for the insult he gave her a quiet snarl in return. Of course, the whole act was full of bluff and bluster. They'd done this dozens of times. The fact that Omega was still splayed out on the floor attested to how seriously he was taking the whole thing. Which was, of course, not seriously at all. If he was genuinely concerned he'd have been up on his feet by now. Aile skipped through the tunnels as she made her way to the surface. Despite his casual posture, she mused, he had seemed a little bit more tense around the shoulders than usual. So clearly he was worried about her anyways, but not enough that he thought she needed to know. Which was good, because even if he had been worried she would have gone on her self-appointed mission anyways. It was still nice to know that he felt confident enough in her ability to take care of herself. Aile resolved to show him that his confidence was not misplaced. She'd get to the bottom of this mystery, and not have a single scratch on her to show for it! She was clever and quick like that.

The Imp of Cinq Ville walked outside in the crisp morning light. She took in a heady breath of air, though she gasped a little at the chill dew that shocked her lungs. That little mishap aside, Aile made great headway as she slunk towards the city. Most people stuck to the populated areas, so her quarry would probably be there too, right? The gates and guards were no obstacle as per usual. Aile wound her ways through alleys and shadows, sneaking between bushes and beside fences like a mink on the hunt, keeping a low profile as she pondered about her course for the day. Who should she interrogate first? Where would she go, what should she do?

Ah, hold up! The boy was a transporter! Someone must know something about them! What had the kid said the name of their company was… oh. Wait. He hadn't said the name. Well crap. Usually delivery businesses and their employees loved to plaster their brand everywhere, it was how they got business after all! But in the heat of the moment he'd not said a word, though Aile couldn't entirely blame him for letting that standard procedure slip. A lot had happened at the base of that cliff yesterday! Unfortunately for her, It didn't make her job any easier.

With nothing else to do she just gritted her teeth, buckled up (figuratively, she wasn't in her punk outfit today), and got down to work. At first she focused on looking at advertisements, posters and jobs boards and even a newspaper or two that she grabbed whenever she could. Once or twice a security personnel spotted her and stiffened up, but she passed by them and paid no heed. She went to her favourite pawn shop, demanded any info the lady might have, but left empty handed except for a small candy the woman had given her. How oddly nice! The sweet was so old that it was stuck to the wrapper and tasted a little stale, but anyways. Moving on.

Aile was walking down a side street when she suddenly heard some far-off explosions. A thin trail of smoke rose from the distance, closer to the centre of the city. A small security mechaniloid, which had been hopping after her on its oversized spring for the last three blocks, stopped dead. Guards in the area began to look nervous, or suddenly receive calls on their communicators, and the more experienced civilians were already disappearing from the streets. A maverick attack, in the middle of the city. Aile growled. Really? Of all the times-

Wait.

This kid was an idiot.

Knowing the brat's horrible luck, as well as his self-sacrificing nature and suicidal desire to be heroic, Aile knew what she had to do. She sighed, because of course things couldn't be easy, and started running towards the area under attack. "Ten bucks says he'll be right in the thick of it," Aile complained to herself. Ten bucks from the wallet she stole from him. The thought made her chuckle, even as she entered into the region by vaulting a shoddily-raised barrier that some security force knucklehead was in the middle of trying to erect. The cop's partner shouted at her from nearby, hands full with a fence post, but the words of warning went ignored. She followed along the road, and for a short time the area was entirely barren of people. There were abandoned vehicles stopped at regular intervals, and even a motorbike over there, but nothing much else. It wasn't until she heard the whine of a blaster that any other forms of life, artificial or not, became visible.

As she slowed down to watch for enemies, Aile noticed something a little odd. Someone else has already been through the area and blown things up. Bits of maverick robots were scattered here and there, rubble splayed across the ground, and some structures cracked and broken. Some of it was still smoking and warm. A few cars showed signs of getting caught in the crossfire. One van on the side even had an open door, its handle smashed. Aile peeked inside the apparently empty vehicle, only to find that its occupant had never left it. Not everyone had escaped the maverick attack. Aile's face scrunched up in disgust, but she quickly and efficiently looted the remains. The troublemaker didn't spend a lot of time there of course, as she had better things to do than fiddle with a corpse or rummage through the glove box. She popped out of the van just in time to meet eyes with a small maverick. Or at least, she'd thought their gazes had met. It immediately turned around and went elsewhere. Had it missed her? She decided not to let this stroke of luck pass, so she booked it down the road, staff at the ready.

As she moved on, Aile realized another very curious fact. She was approaching the Slither Inc headquarters, of all places? Had the mavericks finally become bold enough to attack the city's protectors at the heart of their operations? Really? Though maybe it was about time, she snorted. It's not like Slither Inc's incompetent fighters deserved the kind of aversion the mavericks had been giving them. This was something she wanted to see.

Aile ducked behind an overturned barrier when she noticed some people up ahead at the Serpent building (a place she should really be avoiding, as they had a massive bounty on her). The sounds of a fierce battle echoed out over the area. Aile risked a glance from behind her shelter, the obstacle currently hiding her, and saw flashes of an energy sword, gun blasts, and streaks of blue and red.

Was that Vent? Had she found him?! Hah! Her intuition was right!

Her intuition was also telling her that she had a snowball's chance in hell of stopping whatever brawl was going on. She would have to wait it out. Thankfully it wasn't long until the sounds of fighting died down. Aile stealthily watched the fallout of the fight occur, started to eavesdrop on the conversation, when a thunderbolt suddenly cracked through the air. Following that, a situation unfolded before her that Aile couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams. She ducked behind her shelter as she tried not to gasp in shock.

Pandora. Prometheus. And… Serpent!?

Okay whoa, hold up. What? Aile gathered her courage, offended by the implications that were being revealed. She peeked around the barrier and strained her ears to try and figure out what the hell was going on.

"...Reputation precedes me. You'd do well to remember me, blue Mega Man!"

The addressed Mega Man snarled with rage, "You're the one behind the Mavericks, and what happened to Boss!"

Aile observed as things rapidly escalated, no, he wasn't that much of an idiot, was he? Outnumbered and outmatched, the blue warrior should have been grabbing his friend and bolting. Instead of playing it smart, Vent raised his arm to shoot, but was promptly shut down. Aile winced, her hands clenching. Shit. Was she already too late?

Serpent boasted as he stared down his nose at Vent, "Chosen ones like us, who can control the Biometal's M.E.G.A. system and transform. We are called Mega Men. The chosen few are the shepherds for guiding the flock in a new world. But you've proven, with your pathetic abilities, that not all Mega Men are fit to rule." Vent yelled in pain and collapsed when another bolt of thunder crashed down. Aile was unable to discern how it had been cast. Shit! She couldn't risk getting any closer! Serpent continued mercilessly, "Pull the password data out of them."

Too far away to see the details, Aile could still see when Pandora did something to the two bodies collapsed on the ground. She looked to her side when a scuff of metal against concrete caught her attention. A maverick, no, a group of mavericks, were approaching the group. This was bad. Aile couldn't do anything with Pandora and Prometheus in the way, and especially not with Serpent there, because she had no idea what he could do. Aile readied her staff anyways, coiled like a spring, ready to do whatever she had to do if she could. Logically she should have just run. Escaped with her life, and warned someone about Serpent's betrayal. Maybe the Guardians? Then again, who would believe her? Who would ignore the words of the city's most beloved company, or the saviour who owned said company, over the accusations of the lying, cheating, mischief-making Imp of Cinq Ville? Aile wanted answers anyways. She couldn't get those if Vent was dead, and by the way the mavericks were acting, the pair on the ground might have still been alive.

Barely.

That's when Serpent left with Pandora. Prometheus followed shortly afterwards. Aile was off and running without a second thought, her spear knocking a galleon's head clean off its shoulders and the groans of the wounded driving her onward.

Vent spoke first, "My body... won't move…"

"Never... give up... You still have something... you must protect," said the elder of the two victims. Fucking asshole. It sounded like he thought they were both dying, and so was struggling to spit out a final request as though he knew his time was up.

No way. Not on her watch!

The blue male moved slightly at the noise, "Boss! You're awake!

The answer came in halting, pained breaths, "Model Z, listen... Don't worry... about me…" Aile was almost there when he finished speaking, but other mavericks were honing in on the pair as well. One galleon went down with a spear through its chest, another nearby whirled towards her. It seemed confused at the sudden loss of its comrade.

Aile smacked its gun aside, breaking it, and moved on as a new voice, one she'd never heard before, joined the conversation. "Do you know what you're asking? Your body is already beyond recovery. If you transform back, you will not survive the wounds…"

The voice in her mind was concerned. So was she. Almost there. Almost!

A maverick aimed its gun at the pair. With his last breath, the blonde man reached towards his comrade, "Please... lend your strength... to-!"

"RRRAAAAAAGGH!" Aile leaped onto the scene with a warcry that startled everyone present, even herself. The primordial shriek apparently petrified one of the purple humanoids that was cornering the pair, as it locked up in place at the sound. A second enemy adjusted its sights towards the newcomer, sensing a new combatant, even though it paused when it saw what it was aiming at. It was right to consider her a threat. Aile barreled towards it, baring her weapon ruthlessly. It shot at her, but she dodged under the slow-moving energy blasts, slid along the ground, then launched herself upwards. Her weapon found purchase in the robot's neck. She used it as a lever to launch herself, landed on its shoulders, and immediately flipped through the air towards the first maverick. Her victim was nearly beheaded as the formerly fear-frozen enemy smartened up and aimed at her, but it shot too early and too low. Aile came down with her spear whistling death as it cut through the air. It made an audible crack as it impacted the thing's face. The robot reacted in pain, moving its arms to cover its head, but this left its middle exposed. Aile took ruthless advantage of this and impaled its unprotected stomach. It fell to the ground as Aile dodged another spray of shots. These, too, were too slow to hit her as she easily rolled under the blasts. They simply spread out lazily behind her until they harmlessly fizzled out of existence in the distance.

Hah! Was this all they had? Her dad's Messenkou technique was a hell of a lot scarier than that!

Aile took down another three mavericks in quick succession before the area was clear. She didn't want to bank on her luck holding, however, so she dashed back to the bodies on the ground. The blue kid was the first to attempt to struggle back to his feet, "Who-?"

"Fucking idiot! Outmatched as hell, and you still went for it! Stupid!" Aile dragged him to the barrier she'd been hiding under earlier. With his metal armour and slightly-taller-than-her size, this was no easy task. She gasped with the effort as she made it to their destination. A quick survey of the area showed no other mavericks, but she wasn't going to count on them being absent for long. "You got a communicator or something? Stop gawking like a fish on land and call in help!" She looked over to the other male, still in the clearing, and saw that her luck had run out. Another maverick had appeared and was taking aim, "Now!"

She had no idea if the imbecile was obeying her, but she didn't have the time to care. Aile returned to battle. This other guy had been all but ready to sacrifice himself to save the teenage twit behind her and some small, almost forgotten part of herself didn't want such a selfless act to go unrewarded. She yelled again, trying to bring the maverick's attention towards her. It only partially worked. It fired half its volley of usual shots before turning to face her. One of those shots hit its mark, and Aile grimaced at the unhealthy noise it made as it blasted its target. She could only hope the man's armour, similar to her father's, had managed to take the worst of it.

The new maverick was no issue to dispatch, and before she knew it Aile was already dragging the other survivor towards cover. A broad red trail followed them. The staff-wielder grimaced at how unresponsive her current burden was. The bastard better not have died on her, she frowned to herself, or she was going to kill him. She'd put way too much work into rescuing him for him to quit now! Soon enough the man was unceremoniously dumped into safety, admittedly a bit rougher than Aile would have liked, but her own exhaustion was working against her.

"Guardians are on their way," Vent managed to say once she'd arrived. He saw who Aile brought with her with a morbid expression, struggling as he reached for the man, "G... Giro…?" Failing to move enough to reach the blonde man, he instead gave the still form of his comrade a harrowed yet hopeful look, one that Aile promptly ignored.

"Good. They actually know what they're doing, unlike Serpent's… Unlike that rat bastard's cronies," Aile snarled. She was still blown away by the revelation. Serpent was a bad guy all along! That utterly wretched, slimy-faced, shit-eating wanker. She should've known! Aile had always thought his overly-smarmy hero act was a ruse all along, and damn it, sometimes she hated being right. Who would have suspected that his security forces were incompetent for a reason? Okay, she thought, fuck him, and fuck those goons of his. Aile told herself that Pandora and Prometheus were definitely on her shit list, not that they weren't already, but she sure as hell promised herself to make their lives as miserable as she could. And Serpent, oh man, it was ON. She looked at the two males nearby. She knew, without a doubt, that she would try to save these two idiots no matter what it took, if for no other reason than to spite the three Model W Mega Men.

Ugh. Being nice was a pain in the butt.

Aile quickly tried to check the man for a pulse. She had no idea how to do it, what the proper procedure was or if she could even take a pulse through his form-fitted armour, and hoped that this was the reason she found nothing.

She needed a distraction, and one came. Enemies were zeroing in on her location, obviously intent on the destruction of her and the critically weakened males she was protecting. Aile had to fight off yet another wave of mavericks before help arrived. To their credit the Guardian soldier looked at her, spotted the wounded fighters, and instantly got his priorities straight. He leaned down to grab the blonde, while Aile got Vent over her shoulders. Other Guardians began to appear in droves, as well as Slither Inc's civilian security forces, and they shot at any remaining enemies. A medic dashed towards them. Aile tried to lay Vent on the ground, but when he struggled against this effort she helped him sit on a wayward tire instead. "I-I'm alright," he insisted when the medic looked at him, "focus on Giro."

He was most definitely not alright, Aile noticed, but the other male, Giro, definitely needed more help right now. If he was even alive, that is. The soldier that had helped them dashed off to attend to something else, and the Imp of Cinq Ville was left to her own devices. She felt odd at being surrounded by the Guardians and other security forces, especially since they were seemingly ignoring her, but she forced herself to focus on more important matters. "Are they both going to be okay?" Aile asked the medic. She tried to keep her voice neutral, but there was definitely some concern that slipped into her tone.

She did not receive an immediate response. The man examined his patient. Carefully prodded the still form sagged before him, checked vitals, and gently felt at wounded areas. No response. He pushed a little harder. Gently slapped the man's face. Then, only then, against all odds… the patient made a sound. It was a pretty pained noise, but it was a sign of life all the same.

Giro was alive.

The medic gave a relieved sigh as he looked between the two males, "I think so. Mega Men are a bit tougher than your average joe. As long as they're off the battlefield and still alive, we should be able to get them stabilized… I hope. But we're not out of the woods yet. Especially not with this one."

"Good enough," Aile growled. Then she turned to Vent, who was sagging with exhaustion and unadulterated relief, "Now. You."

The boy seemed taken aback that he was being addressed so bluntly, "Me?" he asked, eyes wide with surprise (and, If Aile knew any better, more than a little incomprehension at everything that had happened. What a mook). Aile only needed one look at his stunned and innocent expression to realize just how pissed off she was at him.

"Yeah, you! You absolute fucking moron!" He snapped to attention, but any retort he might have had was cut off by a wince of pain and Aile's merciless tirade. "You mindless idiot! I saw what you did! I saw you jump right in front of that snake earlier, rush into a stacked fight, and got your ass handed to you! How could you be so stupid!?" How dare he, Aile thought to herself, how dare he risk his life so foolishy after how much effort she'd put into finding him!

The boy reared back as if slapped. Clearly insulted, he replied, "I'm not stupid! I couldn't… I couldn't just stand back and let him get away with this! The mavericks… I lost my family to a Maverick raid... I never saw them again. If the security forces had reached us in time… No, it must have been his fault! That traitor! Serpent!"

"So you should have run away! Escaped and got back at him later!"

"You want me to just sit back and watch people die?" he accused her hotly.

Aile wasn't at all affected by this hostility. She took her anger and dressed him down with it, "Maybe! Yeah! You nearly got you and your friend here killed with your foolishness!" Her voice rose in fury at his ignorance, "I can't believe you! You knew your family died from mavericks, survived only because of luck I bet, and instead of realizing that it's a good idea to run when you're out of your league, you learned THE EXACT OPPOSITE and decided to run towards them guns blazing? You bloody idiot! What use is dying like a mook!?" She roared, "Your dead family would be ashamed of you! Idiot! Worthless! I bet they probably hated you for being so stupid-!"

"Don't you dare!" Vent cried, genuine tears in his eyes, "I won't let any more of that filth come out of your mouth!" He tried to stand, wobbling as he rose, "Don't you DARE talk about my mom and my sis like that! Mom was loving and kind, and Aile was always supporting me, and, and… What would you know about them? Nothing! You don't know anything about them, and I won't let you drag their names through the mud like that!"

He continued to berate her, but she didn't truly hear the rest of what he said. Aile dropped her weapon in shock. No. His name wasn't a coincidence. Could it be? Were her fanciful suspicions right all along? They had to be!

Vent, this Vent, was her brother.

He wasn't dead. Far from it. He was alive, in front of her, and screaming at her with hatred in his eyes. His accusations stung, even if the rest of what he was saying was lost upon her. The specific words escaped her, but Aile knew a self-justified rant when she heard it. Her anger was instantly replaced with utter shock. A sludge of guilt and audacity and horror choked her throat and clamped down on her heart.

"-I can't even begin to fathom what is wrong with you!? Both of us are injured! Would it really kill you to-!?"

She couldn't handle it.

Aile raced to pick her staff back up, nerveless fingers unable to get a proper hold. Vent stopped, perhaps in shock or confusion, when she suddenly surged to her feet and stumbled over herself as she ran. He clearly hadn't been expecting that sort of reaction. The boy watched dumbly as the stranger who'd saved and insulted him rushed away from the area. A small group of Guardians, who had been approaching while she was distracted, startled at her sudden retreat. Some turned to follow her while others tried to figure out what was going on, but none of that mattered to Aile. She bailed without a second thought.

She needed her dad. Now.

Back with the medic, Vent seemed unnerved by the whole event. He watched as the weird, cruel girl ran away. Had he overdone it? Did he just scare her by yelling at her, trying to lecture her on why she was being a bad person? And her expression… despite only seeing half of her face, since the rest was hidden under an odd mask, the pain was all too clear. Guilt began to swallow him after his bout of anger. He didn't think he should feel bad about what he said, because she'd been unnecessarily nasty about lecturing him for his mistakes (mistakes that nearly got him killed, that nearly got Giro killed, Giro could have been dead right now could still die no he can't think about that no no no, not right now-!), and yet… had what he said been too much? He felt dread creep into his heart. Had she been right? And did he do the wrong thing when he scorned her away? Or maybe she'd run because the other Guardians had showed up? He watched several mill around, apparently caught off guard by her retreat. A couple of them chased after her, yelling, while others tried to get ahold of teammates elsewhere in the city. They had their weapons, and Vent even saw a few with handcuffs. Wait. Was the girl a bad guy too? Had the appearance of the Guardians chased her off, now that her duty was done in helping him and Giro survive? Er. That was totally it. That must have been the cause, Vent reasoned to himself, only mildly pacified when he heard one of his fellow peacekeepers say something about "imp" or "arrest".

His mind was a blur. The events up until now… What had happened back there?

Vent tried not to think too much on what the girl had said. She was apparently a criminal, right? The Guardians wouldn't be so suddenly concerned about it if she wasn't. So there was no reason to ruminate on her words when there was so much else that had occurred already, so many more important revelations to deal with. Despite this conviction, her words pounded through his head as he watched a medic attend to Giro.

"How could you… you and your friend… killed with your foolishness… family… ashamed of you…!"

There was no reason to think about it at all. Yet it haunted him more than he'd like to admit.

It was Serpent's fault that everything turned out like this. It was Serpent's fault! All his fault! It had to be, right? Sick anger, fear, and revelation bloomed inside him as he curled in on himself. With no one paying attention to him, Vent let himself cry at everything that had occurred.

So much had happened. Too much for one day. He had much more important things to worry about than what some random brutish female had spouted off. Giro's chances of survival, what Serpent did to the pair of them, what he was planning to do with the Model W, or even the purpose of the passwords or what it meant for him and the biometals now that Serpent had obtained them… No. There was no reason to think about what she'd said at all. Much more world-shaking events had to be prioritized. They were just words designed to hurt, words spoken in anger and terror borne of the chaos of the maverick attack. Her accusations were nothing more than hollow insults, Vent tried to convince himself, no matter how true those words might have been…