The patrol around the originium mine was quiet, and there was no sign of any sarkaz mercenaries anywhere. "Hopefully, none of them decide to show up," thought Yua as she was patrolling the area along with another operator, Vanilla from Blacksteel. All of the operators from Blacksteel, Yua, Amiya, Hoshiguma, and all of the reserve operatives from reserve team one were the operators currently dispatched, with the doctor in command.
As they headed back to the camp on the outskirts of the mine, Vanilla asked Yua, "Operator Smokescreen, if I may ask you something, why did you want to hug team leader Amiya earlier? Do you have a history with her?" The white-haired lung was embarrassed by the incident earlier, seeing the person who in the future was her big sister, Yua had acted on reflex as the two of them always hugged when they met; Yua apologized to Amiya and the other operators present, explaining that Amiya looked like someone she knew.
Vanilla was not present at the time, but it looked like someone else had told her, probably Kroos or Jessica. Yua replied to her question, "She looked like someone I knew; that's all." The sarkaz accepted her answer as they were nearing the operators tent to swap shifts for the patrol. All of a sudden, an arrow landed near them, and that is when they realized they were under attack.
"Battle stations, everyone! We are under attack!" Yua shouted as she and Vanilla took cover. Suddenly, every operator dispersed from the tent, while Amiya and the doctor burst out from the command tent. "All defenders, get in a line! Close combatants, get behind the defenders! Casters and archers, take up positions on higher ground and provide cover fire! Hibiscus, stay in cover! Give aid when it's needed!" The doctor barked out as he took cover.
Doing what the doctor ordered, Hoshiguma and her fellow defenders formed a defensive line to give cover from arrows coming into their position; Yua and the other close-range fighters took cover behind them, while all the ranged fighters fired back at the attackers from wherever they could find a vantage point. As this was going on, more sarkaz mercenaries charged at the group. The doctor changed tactics. "Lava! Amiya! Use your magic to attack the group charging forward! Thin them out!" he ordered.
Following his orders, magic flew from both of them towards the group of sarkaz charging at the group; their magic connected and took out a few of the sarkaz that were heading towards Hoshiguma's group. This did not stop them from advancing, however, and a few seconds later, they engaged with the group. Not wanting his own operators to be hit, he ordered Lava and Amiya to switch back to their original targets.
The defenders couldn't hold everyone back, and some of the sarkaz engaged with other operators. Yua found herself in a skirmish with a sarkaz swordsman. The sarkaz man was swinging wildly at Yua, but thanks to her years of training, she was able to predict his movements. After the sarkaz man swung his blade down, it got stuck in the floor, and he was defenceless. Yua, with two strikes, took the man down, and he was dead.
Vanilla had just taken care of another swordsman but didn't realize another mercenary was about to hit her from behind. Noticing this, Yua got in front of the blow, Yua was hit across the stomach, and she screamed out in pain. This drew Vanilla's attention. Seeing that a teammate was hit by an enemy, Vanilla swung her battle-axe at the mercenary; he could only defend himself for so long, but as soon as his sword was smacked out of his hand, Vanilla drove the battle-axe down on him and another mercenary was done.
Seeing her injured teammate, Vanilla dragged her into cover and shouted, "Operator Smokescreen is injured! Request medical support!" The doctor heard this and ordered Hibiscus to go give Yua aid. Meanwhile, the defenders were starting to drive the sarkaz mercenaries back; more and more of them started to fall as the ranged fighters had taken out all the sarkaz bowmen and were firing at the mercenaries on the ground when it was safe to do so.
They knew they were losing the battle, so the sarkaz decided to cut their losses and retreat; they had lost too many people on this raid, so they would run, rebuild their forces, and hit another mine – one that hopefully Rhodes Island wasn't protecting. Seeing that all enemies were gone, Amiya ordered everyone to gather at the doctor's tent for a debrief. When everyone arrived, they saw Yua being treated by Hibiscus; her wound was deeper than originally thought.
Amiya asked "Operator Hibiscus, how bad is Operator Smokescreen's wound?" Hibiscus replied "It is not lethal, team leader, but it is deeper than I thought; she will need treatment back on the landship." Amiya nodded at this. The doctor then arrived and spoke up: "Very well, I will send her to operator Warfarin for treatment on the landship. We will all head back to Rhodes Island and have other operators take over this position just in case they decide to come back." The doctor then got on the radio and requested transport back to the landship.
While they waited for transport, Hoshiguma and Vanilla spoke to Yua, who was still conscious. Hoshiguma addressed Yua, saying, "You did good today, Smokescreen; you saved a teammate from potentially a life-threatening injury. I'm proud of you, kid." Yua smiled and nodded. Vanilla then said, "Thank you for today, I owe you for saving me. I won't forget this." Yua replied."It is no problem, Vanilla. I know you would do the same for me." Vanilla smiled, knowing she would do her best to repay the favour one day.
The transport then arrived to carry the personnel back to Rhodes Island, everyone getting on with Hibiscus still treating Yua on board. After a short drive, they arrived at Rhodes Island, everybody got out and headed to the entrance. Once there, they were met by Doctor Kal'tsit, seeing Yua injured she asked the doctor "What happened? Why is operator Smokescreen injured?" The doctor explained what happened from what he was told and that he would be sending her to see Warfarin.
"I will check on her soon," The ancient feline thought. Eventually, everyone else was sent away, and the doctor said he would get replacements sent out to protect the mine. Hibiscus took Yua away to Warfarin's office for treatment. When they arrived, they saw the sarkaz vampire looking over some documents. When she heard people arriving, she turned her head.
"Hello operator Hibiscus and operator Smokescreen, what is the problem?" Warfarin asked. Hibiscus replied "Hello operator Warfarin, operator Smokescreen suffered an injury out in the field, and the doctor sent her to you. Warfarin nodded and then said "Right, Operator Smokescreen, do you want to get on the bed and show me your injury? Operator Hibiscus, thank you for bringing her here. You are dismissed." Hibiscus nodded and left the room.
Warfarin then asked, "Before you show me what is wrong, tell me what happened." Yua spoke, "I got hit by a sword meant for Operator Vanilla. I didn't realize it was as bad as I first thought." Warfarin nodded to show she was listening. Warfarin then said, "Okay, now show me the injury." Yua then lifted her shirt to show Warfarin the wound on her stomach. Warfarin saw the wound still bleeding, but she was just looking blankly at it. After some time, Yua was starting to get uncomfortable as Warfarin was just staring and not saying anything. Yua was about to say something, but before she could, Warfarin pounced on her.
Yua did not expect this and was struggling to keep Warfarin off her. Looking at her face, Yua could see a look of hunger. Warfarin looked like she wanted to eat her. Her strength failing her, Yua could see Warfarin was getting closer to her wound, unable to get her off the white-haired lung shouted, "Get off of me!"
Kal'tsit walked toward Warfarin's office; she wanted to know about Yua's injury and find out how bad it was. On her way there, however, Kal'tsit heard a shout: "Get off of me!" Hearing this, Kal'tsit ran toward Warfarin's office. When she arrived, the ancient feline saw a sight she did not expect—Warfarin was on top of Yua, looking as if she were trying to feast on the girl. Realizing what was happening, Kal'tsit shouted, "Warfarin! What do you think you are doing?!" Remove yourself from her right now!!"
Warfarin came to her senses upon hearing the voice of Kal'tsit. She saw herself on top of Yua and Kal'tsit at the entrance. Horrified by what she had almost done, the vampire got off Yua and ran right past Kal'tsit, unable to face either of them because of what she had nearly just done.
Kal'tsit was still in shock, thinking to herself "What was that about? Why did she attack Yua?" Seeing the girl still on the bed, she asked the lung "Are you okay? What happened?" Seeing who asked that question, Yua calmed herself down and explained to Kal'tsit. Once Kal'tsit understood the situation, she then told her "Very well, I will treat your injury for now; I will deal with Warfarin later."
After a small procedure of cleaning the wound and stitching it closed, Kal'tsit ordered Yua back to her room and told her to rest for the next few days. Yua thanked Doctor Kal'tsit for her help before leaving to return to her own room. When Yua left, the ancient feline was left wondering, "Why did Warfarin attack her? She has always been able to control herself around other operators when they have been injured." Kal'tsit then remembered, "Wait… there is only one person she couldn't control herself around; the doctor. That's why I needed to put that restraining order on her."
Kal'tsit continued her train of thought, 'No way… They couldn't… Could they?" Kal'tsit also recalled how the lung had been acting around the doctor, "That might also explain the girl's odd behavior." The ancient feline had a theory she wanted to confirm. Wanting to confirm a theory she wasn't sure was correct, Kal'tsit headed toward Gavial's office. When she arrived, she discovered Gavial wasn't there. "This will make things easier," she thought. Walking over to a medical drawer, Kal'tsit searched for a blood vial; after a quick search, she found the one she wanted and took it.
Kal'tsit walked with purpose, heading back to her office she shared with the doctor. She really hoped the man wasn't there. Upon arriving, she opened the door, entered the office, and breathed a sigh of relief as the man was not there. Wanting to get the results of her theory as soon as possible, the ancient feline walked up to another medical drawer in her own office, opened it, and pulled out another vial.
With both vials in hand, Kal'tsit then walked up to a machine and inserted them. She then entered a few commands and the machine whirred and beeped to life. Knowing this was going to be an agonizing few minutes, Kal'tsit decided to make a cup of coffee while she waited. After making the coffee, Kal'tsit walked back to the machine and waited. The machine then beeped and a sheet of paper came out.
Kal'tsit then grabbed the paper and when she saw the results, her eyes widened and her mug dropped to the floor and shattered. The sheet of paper had a result on it which changed everything.
DNA Match...One hundred percent...