C327 - Slipping
"Can you use this?" Khan asked while carefully placing the servers on the ground.
Grant was still too shocked by what he had seen to hear the question. Khan had literally walked through rivers of dirt and smoke while carrying a heavy object as tall as him. He had resurfaced during an earthquake that had made a whole district crumble underground, and his appearance didn't help Grant recognize him.
Khan was a black figure that revealed his true colors only on the spots cleaned by his tears. The smoke had covered his teeth with soot since he had opened his mouth from time to time. His eyes were also red and half-closed due to the pollution inside the underground structure.
Many would struggle to recognize Khan right now, and Grant's surprised state only slowed down his thoughts. The specialist kept moving his eyes between Khan and the tall item without understanding what was happening.
"Grant?" Khan called as he clapped his hands in an attempt to remove part of the dirt on them.
Grant finally recognized Khan, and his focus went on the item after replaying the initial question in his mind. The servers were broken, dirty, and far from usable, but they remained clues that the earthquake didn't cover.
"This-," Grant exclaimed before gulping and resuming his statement, "This is good, really good. The data might be impossible to recover, but the sole presence of servers in the Slums confirms the involvement of a family."
"Are they so unique?" Khan asked before spitting on the ground to remove the dirt from his mouth.
"Not all servers," Grant explained while approaching the tall item. "Yet, these are too good to be accessible by someone without a connection to the families. They are quite good."
"Hopefully, they are good enough to store information even in this state," Khan replied as his attempts to clean himself failed miserably. "Hey, is your uniform clean? I really need to wipe my eyes."
"I have a tissue," Grant responded while taking a clean tissue from his pocket.
Khan finally had the chance to remove some of the dirt bothering him. He could only continue to spit when it came to his mouth, but his eyes finally obtained some relief, and his fingers also became relatively decent at the expense of the tissue.
"There were more servers down there," Khan revealed as he turned to inspect the cloud of dust and smoke growing thinner. "The area also had containers of synthetic mana and other machines. I couldn't confirm much else, sadly."
"No, no, you have already done a lot," Grant announced. "You saved the mission."
"Did you catch the rogue Tainted animals?" Khan questioned.
"I handled my side," Grant stated. "We must regroup to know how the others fared."
"That might take a bit," Khan sighed as he did his best to inspect the cloud with his itchy eyes.
The area involved in the earthquake had been quite big, and the machines had also released a lot of smoke. An entire quarter had fallen underground, completely hiding the surface. It would take some time for everything to become clear enough to see the consequences of that destruction.
Grant took his time to inspect the tall item as the dust settled. He was too afraid to touch the exposed gears and wires, but he still did his best to remove part of the dirt from the intact surfaces.
His action didn't lead anywhere, but they kept him busy until the area became clear. Khan and Grant could finally inspect the aftermath of the earthquake, and the situation turned out to be worse than they had imagined.
Khan had understood that the lab was underground during his climb, but the earthquake had pushed it toward deeper areas. A shallow gorge filled with piles of dirt had replaced houses and streets. Khan could easily guess that it would take the Global Army an entire week to uncover everything hidden under those dunes.
Still, the disappearance of the cloud also allowed Khan and Grant to inspect the areas handled by the other teams. Familiar figures appeared in the distance, and they didn't hesitate to run toward the two soldiers when they saw them standing on their spot.
"Khan!" Amber and Cora shouted at the same time as they approached Khan. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers gathered around Grant and the servers. Only the two two-legged robots remained behind.
Khan inspected the two women briefly before taking Cora into his arms. They were both fine and without the slightest sign of injuries. Their uniforms had some blood, but that didn't come from them.
"How did the fight go?" Khan smiled as Cora dug her face into his chest, uncaring of his dirty state.
"We took care of every Tainted animal on our side," Amber happily replied.
"Our side is also clear," Ethan added.
"Same goes for ours," A first-level warrior from the last team exclaimed.
"What happens now?" Khan asked while turning toward Grant.
"Well," Grant sighed as he scratched the side of his head. "This whole area needs a fixed perimeter, at least until the experts confirm that there is no risk of infection. As for us, we need to deliver what you retrieved down there."
"Wait, are these what I think they are?" Ethan questioned while pointing at the broken servers.
"Indeed, Khan carried them out of that mess," Grant revealed.
"That's great!" Ethan announced. "We might get actual clues now."
"You can leave the servers to my barracks," Cameron joined the conversation. "We can take care of delivering them to the city."
"We won't leave something so important in your hands," Grant commented.
"Especially after seeing how you handle your side of the Slums," Ethan continued, and his tone carried clear annoyance.
Cameron didn't deny those accusations and nodded before voicing a question. "What about the investigation then? Will you come back after delivering the evidence to the city? Will someone remain here in the meantime?"
Grant and Ethan found themselves exchanging a hesitant gaze. The servers might be too broken to have any value as clues. Yet, the group had exhausted their leads now that they had found the labs. The area hidden by the piles of dirt could provide more answers, but digging them up wasn't part of their job.
"I guess we don't have much else to do here," Khan spoke, forcing the two specialists out of their pensive state. "Unless the Global Army wants us to stay here and wait for the excavations to begin."
"That's unlikely," Grant declared. "The Global Army will probably set a camp here to inspect everything that reaches the surface. We simply aren't qualified to help there."
"We don't have other options then," Khan stated before turning his focus on Cora.
Ethan and Grant were still unsure about that conclusion, but Khan had already understood that they couldn't do anything else in Reebfell's Slums. He lifted Cora's face and wiped out some of the dirt she had caught from his uniform before teasing her a little. "Silly girl, you are getting all dirty."
"Not here," Cora whispered as she hid her smile in Khan's chest again.
Khan caressed Cora's hair before moving to his students. Only two of the four recruits had blood on their uniforms, and Ashley appeared a bit shocked. Still, they didn't say anything and respected that intimate moment that Khan was sharing with Cora.
"I want to hear everything once we get back to the habitation," Khan declared. "Congratulations. You survived your first real fight."
"Thank you, Professor Khan," The four students shouted while performing a military salute, and Khan limited himself to nod at that gesture.
Grant and Ethan eventually accepted the undeniable. The two specialists grabbed the servers carefully and carried them across the Slums' streets as the group left the area.
Elsie couldn't hold back from talking about the battles, so Khan ended up receiving the four students' reports during the walk. He even made sure to hold Cora's hand and exchange a few jokes with Amber while going back to the habitation.
The mission had been quite important for the students and Amber. They didn't have to struggle much due to the poor level of the rogue Tainted animals and the help from Cameron's platoon. Yet, that day's events remained their first real experience on the field, and Khan could confirm that they had done decently.
As for Khan, he did his best to focus on his group, but his gaze often fell on his feet. He couldn't help but experience some discomfort now that he was forced to walk, and that sensation never went away. He became used to having it in the back of his mind as a constant reminder of what he could achieve.
Cameron's platoon and Khan's group split up after reaching the habitation. Cameron had to coordinate the reinforcements to send on the pit while Khan and the others decided to rest and contact the Global Army.
Grant acted as the middle-man between the superiors in charge of the mission and the group. The Global Army couldn't send everyone back right away, but it did request detailed reports to review the state of the investigation.
Needless to say, the group wrote the reports together to avoid differences in their stories. Khan wanted to keep his promise to Cameron, and the two specialists didn't complain at all. They didn't even try to take some merit for retrieving the servers.
The investigation team could only wait after sending the reports. It had already been late when the group returned to the habitation, and dealing with their duties had made the depths of the night arrive quickly. A fast meal and a series of baths were enough to put everyone far past their bedtime.
"You have been great out there, as always," Cora stated once she and Khan found themselves naked and exhausted under their sheets.
"My students told me that you have also done pretty well," Khan whispered as she pulled Cora on his chest and let her use that spot as a pillow. "Even Amber couldn't keep up with you."
"Don't be hard on her," Cora scolded. "She had never been to a real battle before. I would have wasted the last year if I couldn't do better than her. Besides, she has done well too."
"You are so protective toward Amber," Khan joked. "Should I have hope for one of my fantasies?"
"Stupid," Cora giggled, but her expression turned serious when she recalled something. "Did you hurt your feet down there? Why did you keep glancing at them?"
"How did you notice that?" Khan laughed. "I thought I was good at pretending."
"You are good," Cora admitted, "But I can see you anyway. I've learnt to look at you properly."
"Someone is obsessed with me," Khan mocked.
"You know I'm yours," Cora whispered before leaving a kiss on Khan's chest.
"You won't let me dodge the question, will you?" Khan sighed.
"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," Cora replied, but it was clear from her tone that she wanted to know more about the matter.
"Let's see," Khan exclaimed. "I think I've had a taste of what I'll be able to do with my martial art in the future. It simply felt off to get back to my previous level."
"Do you mean when you jumped on the smoke?" Cora asked.
"I wasn't jumping on the smoke," Khan explained while waving his free hand in the air. "I was using the dense currents of mana as footholds."
"Is that part of your martial art?" Cora wondered.
"Not really," Khan responded. "Well, my martial art doesn't explicitly forbid it, but I think I'm growing in that direction due to my qualities."
"Growing toward the advanced proficiency level already," Cora muttered.
"I'm still far from that," Khan declared, "But I think to have found the path toward that goal."
"Currents of mana," Cora repeated. "You have learnt to sense them on Nitis, right?"
"Every soldier can develop sharp senses toward mana," Khan chuckled. "But, yes, Nitis made me grow a lot in those fields."
"And you are still focusing on those fields," Cora sighed. "Nitis must have been unforgettable."
Khan turned toward Cora. He saw the timid hesitation in her expression, but she avoided his gaze. Her eyes remained on the bandage around his shoulder as deep thoughts ran through her mind.
"You know it was," Khan announced. "I've never hidden that from you. You have even noticed that on your own."
"I'm not accusing you," Cora explained as she tightened her grip on Khan's chest. "I accept that you don't talk about your tattoo or your time on Nitis. I even admire you for pursuing alien paths together with human training methods. I'm just… scared."
"Why would you be scared?" Khan asked as he made sure to hug Cora tightly.
"I feel that you are slipping away," Cora whispered.
The entirety of the relationship with Cora crossed Khan's vision. He reviewed everything while wearing a frown, but he couldn't find changes in his behavior. Khan felt pretty sure that he had done his best with Cora.
"Is this because of the times when I leave at night to train?" Khan eventually questioned.
"No," Cora muttered while hiding her face on Khan's chest. "Leave it. You didn't do anything wrong. I just felt something strange when I saw you on the field today. It was as if you were going somewhere really far away."
Khan didn't know what to say, so he remained silent. Cora's intuition wasn't off, but Khan didn't feel the need to address it. Words were useless since she had already understood the core of the issue.
The two slowly fell asleep, but the morning arrived quickly, and it brought happy news. The Global Army had declared the investigation on Reebfell's Slums over.. The group would have to leave the area that same day.
To be continued