Chapter 28 - Dedicating

"Well, this is a surprise. What're you guys doing here?" Frederick asked, giving them one of his unfaltering, devilish grins. They'd found him slouched over in a chair, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. Behind his somewhat toneless voice, Karabell thought he a hint heard sadness.

"You never break character, huh..." the Captain smentioned. "I should be asking you the same thing. How come you're at Base Tau of all places?" He wasn't trying to throw salt to his wounds, but he also didn't want to make it sound like he already knew what'd happened. Well, their theories could very well be wrong.

"Base Miu's done for."

Hearing those words leave Commander Frederick's mouth, Lyra's heart skipped a beat. That one sentence was all it took. So her home was gone... She crumpled over the floor, fighting back tears. Alice laid Kei on one of the beds before kneeling down next to Lyra. She wrapping her arms around her. Alice knew that no words could ease Lyra's pain in that moment. She'd felt when she'd learnt of the Agency's destruction.

"The creatures began their assault at 11 p.m. on the evening of your departure. I'd ordered my brave soldiers to return to Base Miu. No exceptions. It was as if I'd had a premonition. No. If I'd known what was going to happen, I wouldn't have told them to come back. To my shame, I don't remember much of what happened. One of the captains barged into my office, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. What I saw when I got outside was nothing short of a bloodbath. We were outnumbering them three to one, but those creatures weren't like any Aberration I'd ever seen. The way they fought... It was a marvelous sight. It didn't look like humans fighting against beasts, no. it was a clash between two armies. And our army lost lost." At their blank looks, he went on, "Soon, almost a third of our fighters were dead, and we hadn't even killed half of the Aberrations. I thought to myself that I'd die there, together with the ones who'd followed me for so long. But they had other plans. The same captain who'd come to my office earlier brought me a horse. With a stern look in his eyes, he told me that I wasn't allowed to die. That I had to keep living. Now that I think about it, it kind of sounded like an order. Oh, well. We only had two horses at Base Miu. A mistake on our part. I never thought I'd see the day when we'd actually have to use them. And so, I escaped on horseback. When I arrived here at Base Tau, I had no choice but to send the poor mare on her way. The saddle still carried my scent. I doubt anyone else managed to get out alive." Frederick took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "And there you have it. Now, what're you up to?"

Alice asked them to continue their conversation in the other room. She just couldn't get Lyra to calm down. Shono didn't look so good either, but they weren't able to convince him to rest. Karabell agreed silently. Even during the assault on Base Yuna, only four people had lost their lives. For two hundred people to die in combat, all at once. What kind of Aberrations had they gone up against? Frederick helped Shono up, asking him if he helt any pain. What kind of question was that? Of course he did. The four soldiers left quietly, grim expressions on their faces.

Karabell explained the situation slowly, praying that Frederick wouldn't think he'd gone insane. He told him everything, including how the feathered Superior had warned him and Een about the attack.

"We've all experienced quite the strange things tonight, that's for sure." Frederick grinned. "Don't fret, I believe you. I spoke with Dante a few minutes before your arrival. Seems like that Superior and his friends won. They even gave the dead fighters a proper burial. Some other Aberrations will probably dig them out later, anyway. Apparently, the Superior also said that they'd join us soon enough. I generally don't stress over such things, but I wonder how we're going to explain that to the residents of Base Tau. Maybe we should just meet the creatures somewhere outside? I doubt they'll fit through the door, too." He let our a carefree laugh, lying down on a bed.

Karabell examined the Commander's face. Frederick was taking it surprisingly well. A bit too well, if he thought about it. Didn't he despise the Aberrations? For him to accept working together with them...

Een drew in a long breath, still trying to process everything that had happened. Why had that Superior only spoken to him and Karabell? The only clue he could come up with was the fact that it'd met them before. That dream was especially concerning. Telepathy... That would also explain how he'd managed to tell the other Aberrations what to do without making a sound. So, they had to work together to protect Frederick and Karabell. Een squeezed his eyes shut. It was too complicated. Sure they were two of humanity's strongest warriors, but he still found it hard to believe that just the two of them could somehow stop all Aberrations. Was that even the Superior's goal? Stopping the war... He glanced over at Shono. His wound was going to take a while to heal.

At last, Lyra fell asleep. She'd cried to the point where no tears had come out anymore. Despite all that, Kei hadn't woken up once. She really slept like a rock. Alice examined her sword. Its tip had gotten dull. They needed to get themselves some new weapons. The Upper District was scary. They hadn't been there for long, but it felt like ages since she'd defeated that Gargling all by herself... Alice didn't want Kar to put himself in danger anymore, but she knew that asking him such a thing would've been out of the question. When she'd seen all those Aberrations charging towards him, something had audibly snapped inside her. She didn't want to experience that again. But even so, they had to fight.

"We'll all protect him. It's just like Een said. we won't let Kar die, not matter what," She muttered. The words were almost a prayer. They all had to get stronger. For his sake.