The family of four were enjoying their meal, they were enjoying spending time together, there was no fighting, no dealing with crises or worrying about the safety of each other. Yua especially was enjoying the occasion. This was something she never experienced in the future after her father disappeared. Looking at Ch'en, the smile on her face reminded Yua before that dark time. This is how Ch'en was in the future before the doctor disappeared. Yua wanted to keep that smile on her mother's face, preventing her future from happening was the key to that.
Yua then turned to look at Amiya. She, too, was the picture of happiness. The cautus woman was talking with the doctor, more than likely about what she wanted to show them in her homeland. Yua knew that Amiya had her own goals to achieve: becoming the king of Kazdel and restoring peace to it. Amiya did not manage to accomplish that in the future because due to the seaborn threat. Fighting the seaborn and leading Rhodes Island were her priorities. Yua owed Amiya much for all she had done for her. Making sure Amiya ascended the throne would be the perfect way to repay her.
Finally, the white-haired lung turned towards her father. When she first saw the man after nearly a decade, Yua was a whirlwind of emotions. She wanted nothing more than to embrace him. She felt guilty for keeping the truth from him about who she really was. Talulah, however, convinced her that it was the right thing to do and tell him the truth. The white-haired lung would have to thank her aunt the next time she saw her.
Yua was certain that the doctor would do whatever he could to help in her mission. She wasn't alone anymore. The lung also remembered that the doctor had his own goal: to rid Terra of oripathy. He was adamant he would do whatever it took to cure oripathy, not matter how long it took, even if it took him the rest of his life. The man wanted to make sure it was no longer a danger to those whom he cared about and who also suffered from this disease. The man also wanted to make sure that future generations never had to live with it.
The atmosphere between them was calm and relaxing, until screams were heard from outside. This grabbed the group's attention, and they all went outside to investigate what was going on. Once outside, they witnessed a scene that was very familiar to the white-haired lung, "The seaborn?! What are they doing here?! Why are they attacking people?!" Yua's enemy, the seaborn, were across the coast and attacking any people they could see. The group could hear the screams of people begging for help, as well as seeing innocent people being dragged into the sea by the monsters. Yua's blood began to boil; she was enraged at the slaughter happening around her. She ran back inside the hotel to grab her weapon. The lung wasn't going to let the sea creatures get away with what they were doing.
Ch'en saw her future daughter head back inside and realized what she was going to do. She then looked at the doctor, who nodded. The man clearly understood as well. The blue-haired lung followed her daughter and went inside to get her own weapon. The doctor could see this situation was bad and would possibly get worse fast. The four of them couldn't fight the sea monsters on their own. The doctor knew that some operators were at the Copper Coast and that he needed their help. Also, many were still aboard the landship. Someone would have to get them.
The doctor turned to Amiya and spoke, "Amiya! Find who you can! Tell them that Yua and Ch'en will need help! Head to the landship and inform everyone what's going on! Hurry, Amiya!" The cautus didn't want to abandon the doctor and the others, but she knew that if she didn't leave soon, many people would die before Rhodes Island found out what was happening. Reluctantly, Amiya headed off to look for other operators. The cautus remembered where Hoshiguma and Swire were staying; that was her first stop before she headed to the landship.
The doctor surveyed the situation; it was deteriorating rapidly. More seaborn were approaching out of the sea. He knew help was needed fast; they would be overwhelmed if help didn't come quickly. He noticed footsteps behind him; turning to look behind him, the man saw Ch'en, Yua, and Shirayuki with their weapons in hand. The doctor concluded that either Ch'en or Yua must have called for Shirayuki to assist them in this fight. His future daughter stepped forward and asked, "What are your orders, father?" Through all of the screaming and panicked running of the civilians, the doctor quickly thought of a battle plan.
The man then relayed it to the trio in front of him, "Ch'en, Yua, I want you two to focus on rescuing civilians that are under attack by small groups of seaborn. Do not engage the larger groups until help arrives. Shirayuki, find somewhere high that gives you a good position to give ranged support. Focus on helping Yua and Ch'en, but if you see an opportunity to rescue a civilian, make rescuing that civilian your priority. I'll stay here and make sure the people inside stay in cover. I'll monitor the seaborn movement and any changes to the battle I'll shout to inform you. Don't do anything reckless and please...stay safe." The trio nodded and began to carry out the doctor's plan.
Shirayuki disappeared, and the ninja then reappeared just above the hotel. She began throwing her shuriken at the seaborn that Ch'en and Yua had started fighting. The pair of lungs engaged the smaller groups of seaborn, avoiding the larger groups like the doctor had ordered them to. People were getting dragged into the sea by the monsters, and both tried to stop them. However, civilians were running around all over the place, which made the job of the pair difficult. The seaborn attacked and killed any civilians in front of them. It was difficult for them to prioritize who to rescue. Through all the chaos and confusion, they managed to rescue several civilians who got surrounded by small groups of seaborn but couldn't help everyone. There was simply too many seaborn to contend with.
Atop the landship, the future Skadi was watching the destruction through the eyes of her kin. She could see the massacre taking place, but she didn't care. The future aegir was only interested in killing Yua and Ch'en and was looking through the carnage trying to find them. Eventually, she managed to clock sight of them through the seaborn, "There they are, my kin, those vermin! I demand you to kill them!" she telepathically ordered the seaborn to destroy the lungs, this was her chance to be rid of them.
The seaborn stopped attacking the innocent civilians and all headed in Yua's and Ch'en's direction. The doctor noticed what the seaborn were doing and shouted to the mother and daughter pair, "Yua! Ch'en! You need to move! All the seaborn are heading right towards you!" Both of them looked around and saw the incoming horde approaching rapidly, "Sorry father! I know we can't take them all on! But we can't let any more innocent people die!" Yua was going to stand her ground. The white-haired lung wasn't going to let the seaborn kill more innocent people. Yua got into a defensive position and was practically telling the seaborn to come at her.
Ch'en saw what Yua was doing and stood right next to her, she felt a sense of pride that her future daughter wasn't going to run, she was going to stay and fight to protect the innocent. The doctor was screaming at the both of them to get themselves to safety, but neither of them listened. The seaborn got closer and closer to the pair, and his screams became more panicked. Just as one of the seaborn was about to lunge at them, a huge metal shield got in the way and blocked the attack.
Looking at who was their saviour, both Yua and Ch'en could see long green hair. Hoshiguma had arrived to give them much needed help, "Sorry I'm late, guys. Me and Swire had to fight through these things to get here, Amiya told us what was happening." The oni said to the lungs. Next to Ch'en and Yua, Swire had appeared. The feline had her weapon drawn and was ready to stand with her friend and her daughter.
Seeing that some help had arrived, Shirayuki was still giving them ranged support, so the group of operators started to cut down any approaching seaborn. More and more seaborn kept approaching their position, no matter how many they killed, another one would take its place. They were relentless. While the fighting was talking place, the doctor managed to notice a peculiar observation in the seaborns behaviour, "They seem to be targeting Ch'en and Yua, but why? They are ignoring Hoshiguma and Swire. They only attack them when Swire or Hoshiguma attack first." The doctor thought to himself while observing the battle.
He was glad that Ch'en's friends had arrived, but the seaborn were still coming at the group, specifically his future partner and daughter. They weren't interested in fighting the other two; they only retaliated when Swire and Hoshiguma struck first. Taking full note of the seaborns behaviour, the doctor started to think of a plan. If Yua and Ch'en were their targets, he could use this to his advantage and turn the tide of the battle in his favour.
"Ch'en! Yua! I know this may sound crazy, but I need you two to run towards the landship!" The man shouted out to the pair. Both Yua and Ch'en had looks of complete shock on their faces when they heard what the doctor wanted to do, "Father can't be serious! He wants me and mother to run! And leave these people to die? To abandon Hoshiguma and Swire to die? Why, Father?! We can't do that!" Yua thought strongly against her fathers order.
Abandoning innocent people was something that herself and Ch'en were dead set against doing. The doctor could see they were against his plan but shouted at them again, "I know it's difficult for you both, but trust me! Everything will be fine!" Ch'en and Yua still weren't convinced. That changed however, when they saw Hoshiguma and Swire, they had confidence in whatever the doctor was planning. Seeing this, the two reluctantly decided to leave and run towards the Rhodes Island landship.
Seeing the two lungs fleeing through the eyes of the seaborn she was commanding the future Skadi ordered her kin to pursue them, "Do not let them escape! Kill them! Tear them apart!" she was telepathically shouting at them. Skadi was not going to let her two most hated enemies escape. She wanted them both dead. Meanwhile Hoshiguma and Swire prepared themselves for more seaborn to attack them, however once Ch'en and Yua had started to run they noticed the creatures were following them, they ignored the both of them and any civilians in the area, "What is this? What's going on? These creatures were killing anyone in sight. Now they aren't attacking anyone. They are following Ch'en and Yua. Is that why the doctor ordered them to run to the landship? Did he notice this? I see now doctor...no wonder you are seen as an incredible tactical mind." The oni was impressed by the doctor's observation of what was happening. She could see now why he ordered both lungs to run to the landship. He was using both of them as bait to lure the creatures into an ambush...
Ch'en and Yua were running towards the landship with the seaborn horde following them through the streets of the Copper Coast. The pair still didn't agree with this plan. Many people were screaming and running in many different directions when they caught sight of the seaborn. Ch'en was shouting at them to get to safety. Several people, however, ran into the direction the seaborn were coming from.
While running the blue-haired lung turned her head to look behind her, she expected to see a massacre. What she saw, however, confused Ch'en. The seaborn were ignoring the civilians, they weren't registering that people were in front of them, they completely disregarded them and carried on following the pair of lungs. Seeing this, the blue-haired lung realised why the doctor had told herself and Yua to run towards the landship, "So that's why you told us to run, isn't it, doctor? That's what you could see. They are after us. I don't like myself and Yua being used to set a trap, but if this works them, so be it."
Ch'en wasn't happy that the doctor used herself and their future daughter as bait, but she understood the situation now. The blue-haired lung promised, however, that she would have words with the man later. These monsters were after them, and they didn't care about anything else. The two kept running until they came to a junction, a voice was then heard that shouted, "Attack!" and a blast was heard behind Ch'en and Yua.
Looking behind them, they could see the remains of a seaborn had been hit by what looked like magic. More blasts started to pound the other seaborn as they approached Ch'en and Yua. Looking at where the blasts were coming from, the pair could see Amiya, Andreana, and many other operators on top of buildings firing upon the seaborn, while other operators were approaching from the ground, led by Gladiia.
Once Gladiia saw the seaborn, she ordered the other operators with her to attack. They did so, and just as the seaborn had massacred innocents earlier, this was now happening to them. Seeing their fellow operators fighting the seaborn, both mother and daughter nodded to each other and charged into the battle. They wanted to dish out some payback for what the seaborn had done earlier.
Skadi could see her kin being destroyed by Rhodes Island. She ordered them to retreat. However, their escape route was blocked off by more operators that had arrived. There was nowhere for them to go. Before she decided to sever the telepathic connection to the seaborn, the future aegir saw Yua and Ch'en cutting down the seaborn just like she had seen in the future, Skadi was angry that her plan had failed. The aegir then broke the connection and left the seaborn to their unfortunate fate.
Today had been lost. Skadi was angry with how today had gone, it this was her chance to get rid of Ch'en and Yua. She had acted irrationally in her attempt to get them gone, and she realised who was responsible, "Oh doctor, how I wish you would submit to me. You don't need those disgusting creatures in your life. You only need me. They don't appreciate your compassion, your incredible mind, none of them are worthy of your presence." The future Skadi knew it was the doctor who foiled her plan. It was because of his incredible mind and her own shortcomings. Because of all that had happened, despite not achieving her goal, the future aegir was reminded of why she loved the doctor so much.
The future aegir would have to think of another plan for another day. More opportunities would come to kill the lungs. Skadi however, would have to do it without the doctor or Gladiia knowing. Now that she occupied the present Skadi's body, she had to be careful not to raise their suspicions, but she could play that role; she was the present Skadi once before.
Realizing that Gladiia would find it suspicious that she wasn't fighting the seaborn, the future Skadi decided to head to where the other operators were. Before she left the top of the land-ship, the future Skadi could hear the voice from the present Skadi begging for her to release her body; she simply laughed. This body was now hers, and soon, the doctor would be hers as well...