Rika and Devon are currently inside the changing room, getting ready to go to the hot spring located behind their base. As Rika was taking off her clothes, Devon hesitantly asks her a question. "Rika... are you sure you're okay going?" Her voice was out of concern to her, if possible, she doesn't want her joining them on the fun.
Hearing her concern, the girl smiles. "Yup, I'm sure. Don't worry, it's in the past anyway." She said as she continues to taking her clothes off, starting with the shirt. As soon as the shirt was placed down, her body was seen wrapped around with bandages from the collar bone to the waist, it's as if she's hiding something beneath.
Slowly, the bandages were unwrapped from her body. Devon's eyes immediately narrow, as she's still not used to the sight, no matter how many times she sees it.
On the back of Rika's body, was a scar of a word carving, that's seems to be from a knife. From a glance, it can be seen that it's been there for quite a while, possibly since before she was sent to the Specter Unit. The carving spells "Edifier Scum", with a few other slurs next to it. Not knowing what to do, Devon stayed silent.
Rika then chuckles. "Devon, I'm alright, promise. It's been almost six years since then." She said as she wrapped a towel around her body. Even though Rika assures her it's not a problem to her, Devon still feels like she's forcing herself to say "It's alright" just so she won't worry anyone. The girl looks behind her as she found another unuse towel. She takes it and gently places it on Rika's shoulder, which covers the scar on her back.
"I know it's alright, but... I don't want you to feel embarrassed about it, so leave the towel behind you, okay?" Devon spoke with a smile.
The girl grins, she slowly approaches and holds Devon's hand. "Alright, I will." They both chuckled, putting the gloomy atmosphere away.
⚔
On the Specter Unit, there are ten female Paladins, this includes Rika and Devon. The hot spring they're soaking in, thankfully can fit around thirty people, it's quite big for such a place to be placed behind their base.
As they finish changing their clothes, Rika and Devon finally made it to the hot spring, where most of the girls are already relaxing, with some of them still sitting on the edge only wetting their feet.
"Hey guys, sorry for the delay." Devon spoke as she places down her backup towel, followed by Rika. The girls greeted them both with a cheery tone. It seems that they are having the time of their lives, despite still being place on the closest unit to the frontline.
Pavlina, who's sitting next to Devon grins. "Devon, you and Nico seems to be closer than usual. I saw you guys sitting together a few nights ago." She said as she elbowed the person sitting next to her. Though, Devon didn't show any embarrassment, instead, she looked at her with a confident look. "I assure you, it's nothing like that." Hearing that, the girls around her weren't convinced. They gave her a look that's saying "Oh really? ~" A chuckle was heard next to her, it was Rika. Clearly, she's enjoying the moment.
Devon smiles, her gaze falls to Rika with a mischievous look. Instantly, she approaches her. "Rika, you may not show it, but you and Xander have also been bonding, right?" She smirks, enlighten with the situation. Hearing that, Pavlina gasp from the news. A few other girls were gasping as well, while the rest of them nods, agreeing with Devon.
Immediately, Pavlina approaches Rika. She mentioned, that Xander loves sweet things, and good thing that she knows how to make pastries. However, Rika brush it off, not denying nor agreeing with what they're saying. "" Disappointed, some of the girl pouts, while others are determined to find out about this next time.
As they were having a lovely conversation, another girl approaches them. As soon as Rika faces back, her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Olivia, where were you?" She asks as she taps the vacant rock next to her lightly, telling her to sit down. Noticing her hand gesture, she smiles.
Olivia sits down next to Pavlina with a thin smile on her face. "I have a question for all of you." As the words were uttered, the air became a bit chilly. "It's been a month; how do you evaluate miss Edifier?"
Hearing that, the girls stay silent trying to think of an answer to her question. It's understandable, since what she's basically asking is what they, as a Paladin, think of their commander, an Edifier. As they also know regarding the conflicts between the two ranks since more than ten years ago. All of them were treated horribly by Edifiers when they were sent to the Specter Unit. So, for their existence to be acknowledge, cherished and to be told have a meaning, by Ann, is surprising.
"I say... she's too kind for the job, but at the same time, I feel comfortable with her." One of the female Paladins spoke as she strokes her hair since it was a bit wet. Agreeing with her statement, most of the girl nods.
Devon stayed silent while hearing their opinions on the female Edifier. Truthfully, she doesn't know how to explain or words to be utter regarding their commander in battle. She's smart, strong will, and caring, and it's been a month without any major casualties under her command, but still, the lingering doubt wanders around Devon's heart.
Not to mention her rude behavior the first time they met, when she directly confronts Ann regarding her 'suicidal' tactic on putting Arashi in the middle of the battlefield. In the end, she thinks that she doesn't have the rights to give her opinion about the female Edifier.
Noticing Devon's far gaze, Rika spoke. "She's a unique one, I tell you that. At the same time, if it wasn't for her, we won't be having this much free time enjoying this hot spring." She smiles to the girl.
As they continue to have a long conversation between themselves, the atmosphere lights up again from the gloomy question. Waters were lightly splash towards each other as they enjoy this free moment outside of the battlefield.
"Hey, this is a good catch. I'm surprised you came with me Felix." He whispered as they both hide from being seen behind a bush. Hearing the compliment from him, one would've thought he was joining him for entertainment, but rather, it's actually to stop him. "Nico, this is not a good idea." Felix replies as he slowly crawls back.
On Nico's hand, is a digital camera, filled with pictures from their first day as the Specter Unit members. Every moment was taken from that device, acting as a long-term memory for the unit. Currently, he wants to use the camera to have a snap on the girls... which Felix is trying to make Nico give up.
"You really think a pervert like you, can win Devon's heart?" He said as he smirks. Seeing his smug face, with him mentioning Devon, Nico immediately became flustered, feeling embarrassed, causing him to make a sudden movement.
Due to him being careless, the bushes move, causing a rustle which alerted the girls. "What was that?" Olivia asked. Not knowing how to answer, Rika immediately stood up, with the towel covering her body. She walks towards the bush. As she was closing in, both Felix and Nico panicked.
"Shit, Nico why did you move!?" He urgently asked. "Come on, you know I can't when you say things like that-" Nico replied, though his words were cut off as soon as the bushes were moved out of the way, revealing them both red handed. It was none other than Rika, who's currently standing right in front of them. Her face was carving a smile, but a deadly one. "Say, what are you boys doing here?" Her tone was firm and tight, not to mention, her right hand is currently forming a fist, probably ready to smack their heads.
As soon as those words were uttered, the girls appeared behind Rika with a face of mix emotions. With Devon's face, was as red as a tomato. "You two need to be discipline, hand me the camera." Rika said with a demanding tone as she takes out her hand, telling them to give the device to her.
Hesitantly, Nico gave it to her, while Felix stays hidden behind him. Though, the girls behind her weren't satisfied. "Shall we teach these two a lesson?" asked Pavlina as she cracks her knuckles with a straight face. Devon, Olivia and the other girls nodded, agree with her suggestion.
"Well, they've decided, I wish you two good lucks." Rika said as she starts to walk back near the hot spring water, leaving both Felix and Nico alone, cornered by the girls. Fearing for their lives, the two of them kneel down, begging for forgiveness, before they release their wrath.
"WE'RE SORRY!" They shouted.
⚔
With his sketch book on his hand, he continues to walk with Xander around their base. The pencil and eraser he used earlier was placed inside his pocket. The two of them slowly approaches a tree that's located not far from their training grounds. The tree was a bigger than any that were planted around here. Most of the time, Xander would take a nap here, when he wants to be alone.
Wondering why he brought him here, he asked. "Xander, why did you bring me to your safe spot?" Hearing that, the boy grins. He immediately sits down and leans to the tree log. He taps the grass next to him, telling Carl to sit down. Curious, he obeyed Xander's wish and sits beside him.
"Your question earlier... it should be obvious why I brought you here Carl." Xander said as his eyes were focused on the sky
"Obvious, what do you mean?" Carl asked.
The boy chuckles. He then lands his gaze to his partner.
"Miss Edifier. You're not comfortable with her, right?"
Carl's eyes widened in shock. Is it that obvious? He wonders to himself. It's true, ever since they met, he wasn't very fond of both Kazuya and Ann, not to mention their first encounter with each other. Though, it's only natural for him to feel that way, after everything that he went through thanks to the Edifiers.
Xander chuckled. He already planned this in the beginning right when Ann called and greet them in the morning. Carl's face expression was as bright as day to him, showing a sense of discomfort whenever she speaks. "Hate on the Edifiers all you want, Carl. I hate them too, but not all of them are bad. Some of them are like Miss and Sir Edifier." His gaze falls to the male Paladin who's only a year younger than him.
Noticing him looking, he frowns. "Fine, but if she goes overboard, I'll be the first to speak up." He crosses both of his arms with his hand still holding the book.
The sixteen-years-old boy smiles with his teeth showing. He immediately ruffles Carl's hair, as if he is a little boy, begging for intention from his seniors. "Alright, do what you want." He said as he looks to the window that's quite far from where they are. He can see a few of the male Paladins playing cards.
—His gaze falls on the person in front of him, "Joshua, I will win this."
"We'll see." Replied Haulo.
"You two are very competitive." Complained Lanei while holding two cards up.
In Specter Unit, there are three groups or what's called divisions. Arashi's the Captain for the first division. While second in command the vice-captain, Xander is the leader for second division with Rika as the lieutenant, and leader for the third division.
Joshua and Haulo are currently eighteen-years-old. The two of them were sent here not long after Xander. Meanwhile, the twenty-years-old male Paladin, Lanei joined not long after the two of them. Joshua and Haulo are gunners in the second division. They would often join Xander on defending the rear while the melee users do their job.
Lanei on the other hand is in the third division. Just like Rika, he uses a sniper rifle where he personally customized to his liking, such as changing on the barrel, scope and the base. Though the three of them aren't a Deviant or Tarviant, their skills on the battlefield are exceptional.
"HAH!" Joshua slammed the card on the table with a smirk on his face. Haulo's eyes twitched as he faces the reality that he just lost two times in a row. He slammed his hand to his forehead with a sense of defeat. Lanei who was sitting on a chair near them walk towards Haulo—despite he was the first one to lost out of three of them, taps him on the shoulder. "You'll win next time kid." Hearing that, he turns his head, "Lanei... we literally only have two years gap."
Both Lanei and Joshua chuckled. They're voice all of a sudden became quieter as they heard footsteps.
"Ouh, captain." Haulo said as he stood up, greeting him. Both Lanei and Joshua lower their heads, showing him respect—despite Arashi being younger than the three of them. Though, as always, the boy is still the same unresponsive and straightforward person. From their point of view, Arashi is the strongest person in the unit, hence why they think they can always rely on him. However, he always tells every member to never let their guard down even if they are taking advantage on the battlefield.
Arashi sits down, followed by the three Paladins. "I'm currently in a call with miss Edifier. She said that we'll be going on a mission tomorrow, it'll most likely be a two-point-one magnitude scale. Lanei, Haulo, Joshua, please bring our vehicle to the workshop." He said while lowering his head a bit.
Lanei chuckled, "Don't worry Arashi, we'll get that done. Also, say hi to miss Edifier for me." He immediately grabs Haulo and Joshua's back collar and drags them outside, leaving the card they used earlier on the table. Arashi only gave them a stare as the three of them leaves the room.
The reason why the room was so quite because while they were playing cards, the other male Paladins went outside to practice with their weapons, with some of them also went to the workshop to inspect their vehicles in advance, leaving Joshua, Haulo and Lanei alone playing cards on the room.
"... Miss Edifier, are you certain about tomorrow?" He said with a calm tone.
Surprised, she replied. "Of course, is there a reason for me to not be certain?" Her face was carving a smile that only she knows.
The truth is, Arashi's a bit hesitant to let her, an Edifier that never face death before to take charge on one of the deadliest attack scales with the max being three-point-five magnitude scale. Meaning, death on the battlefield tomorrow is certain, but how many is the question. "... It's nothing. Will sir Edifier be here tomorrow?" He said while gazing through the window.
She nods, "Yes, he'll be here tomorrow. So, we should do our best. You should also go and rest captain." Her tone clearly shows a sign of her worrying about the captain's well-being, since he hasn't had any sleep for the past few days.
"It's still the morning, I'll just sit down-" His words were cut off as the slide door slams open. The curious Arashi peeks at the door, only to find a bunch of girls, still in their towels, dragging both Felix and Nico. The two of them seems to be worn out after a lot of 'talking' with the girls that caused their face to be fill with slap marks.
The captain asks, "What happened?" His tone was nonchalant, but a sign of concern was there.
Pavlina immediately answered his question, while pointing her finger at them. "These two tried to snuck a picture of us in the hot spring captain." Her voice was as sharp as knife as she accuses the two of them doing something that counts as a violation.
He blinks twice, as he was quite surprised with her words. "Oh, I see. Treat them how you see fit then." He replied and continues to take a book and opens it attempting to read it.
Given the green light by their captain, all of them, except Devon and Rika, drags them to continue their beating.
"WAIT, NO!!" Screamed the two boys as they meet their demise.
—Rika and Devon headed to their room to change their clothes, leaving Arashi reading alone in the living room. The refresh feeling soaking themselves on a hot spring after a long week in the battlefield, won't be forgotten anytime soon. It has in fact been a while since the two of them able to take it easy.
While they were changing their clothes, Devon asks Rika a sudden question.
"Did you have fun?" She smiles thinly.
"Mhm, I had a lot of fun." Rika replied with a smile even wider than hers.
The two of them chuckled, amuse with both of their facial expressions.
As they were enjoying their conversation, the door was knocked by someone from the other side. A girl most likely, since the area is restricted females only in the building. "Devon, Rika, are you two done changing? Let's head to the garage and inspect the vehicles if you're done!" The voice was from Olivia, who recently done changing to her casual attire.
With their clothes easily fits through their bodies, the two of then answered in unison. "Alright, we'll be out in a second!" The two immediately finish up, and grabs their personal belongings.
⚔
Smells of engines were full in the garage. Jeeps were all lined up next to each other, while getting repaired by the mechanic team that was sent by the Edifiers. The head mechanic, Mr. Satou is currently inspecting the jeep that was used by Arashi's division. The base is damaged by the captain's reckless driving, driving straight to a group of Atraxes last time in the battlefield.
"I swear, this kid doesn't know how to hold back when driving." The man mumbles as he clicks his tongue
"Good morning, Mr. Satou!" Greeted Devon while waving her hand, followed by Rika and Olivia.
Mr. Satou leaves a deep sigh as he faces the girls with a tired facial expression. Without replying with any words, he heads back to the jeep, immediately showing the damages caused by Atraxes.
As the three girls stares at the vehicle, they chuckled awkwardly in unison, understanding what the man is trying to show them. For the past year, Arashi has been driving recklessly in the battlefield, causing his jeep to be damage almost every time they go on a mission.
The man crosses his arms, "Bring him here, and let me smack that head of his, never obeying my warnings." His eyes twitched due to the unsatisfied feeling.
Finish with the "heart to heart" session, he brought the girls to take a look on their jeeps, one by one to show them new upgrades and the defense, not to mention new weapons loaded in the trunk.
"I've installed the new armor for the base, it should keep you from any harm by those filthy creatures for a while. New loads of guns are in the trunk, you should use it, but DON'T break it." He said with a fern tone.
Obeying the man's wishes, the three of them salute with their faces carving a smile.
Finishing up with the vehicle check-up routine, they then went to Devon's personal vehicle, a motorbike, specifically a CBR. When she's on a solo mission appointed by Arashi, she'll use her motorbike to supervise the battlefield to give a report regarding the Atrax's movements, and if there's any new creatures lurking around amongst them.
With the reason is to blend with the surroundings, her motorbike was painted black, since she often went scouting at night time, to hide herself from being targeted by the Atraxes. "WOW, THE NEW COLOR IS BEAUTIFUL!" Shouted Devon as she gently strokes the surface of her bike.
"She really loves bikes, huh?" Spoke Olivia.
"Yep, she adores it." Rika replied while nodding.
The girl continues to adore her vehicle, whilst both Rika and Olivia observe her from afar.
Minutes passed, the three of them then heads to the weaponry, to inspect their weapons that's currently handled by Xander and Carl, who recently finished their rounds around the base. Upon entering the room, the two boys can be seen cleaning the rifles that was placed on the locker.
Ammos are scattered all across the tables in front of them. "Wow, you two really did a mess on the ammos." Said Olivia as she picks up one of the ammos from the floor followed by Devon. Rika, on the other hand, picks up the magazine that was unloaded from the ammo box that was near the weaponry room door.
Noticing their presence, both Xander and Carl chuckle awkwardly.
"Yeah, we were trying to separate the damaged and the perfect condition ammos, we ended up scattering them all on the table and some of them fell on the floor." Explained Xander while he cleans the barrel of his rifle.
The three girls nodded while they finish cleaning up the scattered ammos. Carl, who's cleaning dozens of muzzles that was dirty due to the last mission. "I only reached half of the muzzles that was dirty, I think it should take around half an hour to clear up everything." The boy mumbles as his hand continues to wipe one of the muzzles.
Hearing that, Devon and Rika chuckled, while Olivia carves a smile, amuse with his shenanigans. —The captain, who's currently on the yard, taking a break after all the paperwork he had to report from the last mission, is sitting on a bench while wearing a black turtle neck, with his scarf wrapped around his neck. As the day reached afternoon, the temperature there can be a bit colder that the temperature this morning.
Arashi's been sitting there since the female Edifier left the call to attend her duties meeting the commander. Forty-five minutes have passed since then.
"Arashi, never forget to cherish the people around you..."
The boy blinked twice, as he plays the sentence by the previous captain on his head. He crosses his arm, while staring to the horizon, with the wind blowing, causing his hair to waver. His eyes narrowed, with his gaze became intense than earlier. Out of the blue, he stood up, with his eyes still lock to the blue sky. "It's time..." He whispered.
"... It's time for me to fulfill my promise to you..." He continues his words while he strokes the black fabric, that acts as an eye-patch on his right eye.
"Alice."