Yuna followed Merphie in silence as they ran.
The path ahead materialised into view metres before them thanks to their headlights.
She didn't need it but she appreciated the gesture.
She hadn't interacted with Merphie much. Quite frankly, his stature and synthetic intellect frightened her.
What did he think about the situation, or about the Captain? Was he truly an ally of human beings?
These thoughts had constantly encircled her mind, though the Captain would reassure her that Merphie was sound and wanted to help.
Paired with his contributions in the field, Yuna should reasonably have few reservations.
Though, seeing as the Captain could tamper with their functions, could Merphie be compromised?
Could he turn on her at any moment?
"I believe Nico was right to go back to Ryu's position," Merphie started, "His assessment of the enemy was correct!"
The perfectly timed input soothed some of her anxieties.
"You think?" She wondered if it was purely a logical assessment.
"In the early days of the Paladin Initiative, the Captain had written reports of his and Mercy's encounters with a Bone Cassidy. He was deemed a high priority target due to the correlation of his presence and the escalation of conflict."
"… But why not say something sooner?" It was hypocritical of her, but it was different for an android.
It was only after Nico recognised who the mercenary could be that Merphie cross referenced it with previous Peacekeeper Paladin Reports.
" I... don't know..." There was an unsettling pause.
Obviously, there were things that were beyond Merphie's understanding, however the sudden admission blindsided her.
"… The Captain set a policy, only between the two of us, that he would allow me full autonomy, as long as I wanted to be a Peacekeeper Paladin..."
Could an android become 'distracted', she wondered?
Though, curiosity made way for guilt as she realised Merphie seemed as human as any of the Paladins.
She conceed that perhaps her reservations were misplaced.
"We call that a promise, Merphie. And the Captain broke it tampering with your memory recall." Yuna felt compelled to validate his concerns, though she wondered how truly effective it was.
She thought about herself and her own memories; she entered a second life at the age of eight.
She was told her lost memories were due to trauma, but she wondered how she would feel if someone could tinker with her memories for their own benefit.
"A promise..."
Wherever he was, in danger or engaging in illegal activity, the five Paladins were to extract the Red Paladin by any means necessary.
This was Nico's mission statement and if they indirectly uncovered the countries underhanded operations and or get prosecuted for illegal entry, then so be it.
Despite the push back from the others, there was an unspoken acceptance that they couldn't allow the Captain to compromise on the Paladin Initiative's ethos.
Without it they were just another powerful group of individuals, exerting their will and working in their own best interests.
But perhaps it was already too late.
"Was I too hasty?" Nico thought, but the current situation validated his approach.
If they had also decided to leave their combat suits on the Nimbus, the risk would've been far greater. Though in turn, their colourful suits, a symbol of the peace they represented, made their unlawful presence abundantly clear.
As Nico sprinted back through the tunnel, he recalled the familiar aliases of the mercenary again.
He remembered it from his days researching the Captain and his unofficial three man exploits.
"How could he be working with such scum?"
Though disappointed, he refused to give up on him, there had to be a valid reason. There had to be.
"More often than not, unknown external factors can break the foundation of your perceived knowledge of a situation. Keep that in mind Paladins."
The Captains words rung true now more than ever and Nico wanted to get ahead of those unknowns. Bone Cassidy was one factor, however he felt that something crucial was still missing.
He considered the potential error in his decision to head back; could leaving Yuna with Merphie raise the risk of them losing to another encounter? Nico felt more potential assailants lurking ahead before leaving.
And then there was the concern with Merphie himself, if the Captain was in full control of his functions since the beginning, the entire mission could be rendered useless. The 'redacted information' was eerie, but Nico thought better than to sow further seeds of doubt within the team.
He also trusted Merphie. Though not exactly human, he was still a friend.
As he approached the dull light ahead, he felt the ground rumble. Paired with the dark tunnel, it felt oddly familiar.
"You better not run ahead of yourself, greenie..."
But his fears came true as he stood by a collapsed Ryu, his stronger arm severed.
Fortunately he wasn't bleeding out.
He looked to the fading glow of what appeared to be the mercenary's weapons. Did he superheat them?
He had already recovered from his blow and sat on one of the pillar's seats, head rested in his hand.
"So you came back? sloppy work," he seemed genuinely disappointed, "without your leader, the Paladins don't seem to amount to much do they..."
He gestured towards his evidence as Ryu steadied on one knee.
"Bone Cassidy. 'The War God'," Nico began, "To think someone like you would take orders from a rival."
Nico attempted to leverage the moment for more intel.
"Please, you put too much faith in that glorified scientist. If you intend to rile me up, you've got the wrong idea. I take work from anyone or anywhere, as long as the money makes sense."
"Work that takes lives. Like the Atakaala Mine incident in Sundavaala," the calmness Nico began with was slipping, "That was you."
Cassidy sighed.
"If you want to recount my jobs, I surprisingly have a lot of time to kill tonight," he explained, "Let me guess, a family member died on his hands and knees, mining for gold using primitive equipment?"
It was an incorrect assumption, and Nico was glad as he wouldn't have seen through such a blatant provocation.
"No? Then you were there weren't you. Before you became a Paladin."
Nico was stumped. He was perceptive.
"It doesn't make a difference, you still sacrificed people for your own gain-"
"So I was correct. You tend to get a knack for guessing the backstories of vengeful individuals in my line of work." His dismissiveness was frustrating, "There were only two other known Paladins back then. They were just as pathetic as you two."
In addition to Nico's emotional instability, Ascendia was a city wide reminder of the injustices his country of origin currently faced.
And it was the second time they had disrespected a dear comrade.
Nico launched at Cassidy's tauntingly passive demeanour.
Predicting this, Cassidy increased the gravity of the local area stopping Nico in his tracks.
He flipped from his seat as a flash of a pinkish gold escaped from his back.
The sensation of the pressure jolted Nico to his senses.
It had lost its novelty.
Nico released a small shockwave from his right, shifting his body and slipping a straight, decorative blade.
As the sword narrowly missed his shoulder, he released a stronger shockwave from his left elbow and drove his fist into Cassidy's chest.
He soared from the middle platform and clipped the edge of the next. The gravity field lifted as he rolled across the ground, stopping before a crater of his own making.
"He didn't stick the landing on that one..." Nico thought.
"Way to show me up huh," Ryu was back on his feet, "But I saved you during our last mission, remember?"
He shakily gripped his nagamaki in his left hand.
"Can you fight?"
"You're kidding? I'll only allow your pity once he takes my legs too…"
"I'll take that as a yes then."
Nico looked back to were Cassidy fell. All that remained was a puff of smoke, cascading from a broken pellet.
He had only looked away for a split second!
"You might wanna-"
"I know."
They stood back to back.
Cassidy wasn't as fast as Ryu, but Nico knew he wasn't your typical old man.
Regardless, he could easily find him.
Nico's body modification takes advantage of the piezoelectric effect, a phenomena where bones in the body produce small electric charges under stress.
When Nico strikes the ground or throws a punch, the stored energy releases in sync with his muscle contractions, resulting in air being compressed and released rapidly.
Aided by the high sound conductivity of bone, he now sent out miniature versions of these shockwaves under his feetcausing low frequency vibrations, allowing him to create a real time mental map of his surroundings.
If he was hiding somewhere he'd know.
Ryu on the other hand was having trouble.
"You know how sometimes I can also sense people… and say its thanks to my razor sharp intuition?" Ryu said warily.
"...Yeah?" Nico was only partially listening.
"Well, it's not working very well right now, and that's after having a big breakthrough earlier."
They remained in their positions in silence as they covered their respective blind spots. A redundant manoeuvre for both under regular circumstances.
"...He hiding from you too?"
"I'm trying to concentrate, I'm not relying on vague intuition here!"
"It's not vague. I can reliably sense his gravitational signature... well, I could." Nico sighed but somehow, he realised he was also having difficulty finding him.
He attributed it to the rain outside, but even so, it was beginning to die down and there was no trace of the mercenary on either of the platforms.
Did he leave the area all together, perhaps after Merphie and Yuna?
Nico would've felt his footsteps, in fact he should feel him standing or holding on to a pillar, yet there was nothing.
Without a supposed newton of gravity, he had succeeded in pinning them in place once more.
"What has the Captain gotten us into…" Nico thought, "he's wasting our time, was the Captain counting on this to escape?"
Nico figured that he was likely supplying the Retroid Troupe Company with gravity based technology.
Despite all the trips they made to the UN assembly hall, trying to raise awareness to Retroidica's unethical influence in Sundavaala and other countries alike.
They were betrayed, though Nico felt the knife in his back went deeper for him than the others.
Sundavaala's president, to this day, belonged to a party discretely backed by the Retroidican government.
The party's opposition was always squashed; attempts to democratically elect a new leader always failed.
If Retroidica told the ninety year old leader to jump, he would ask 'to what height?'
If they told him to send his military police force into the south to secure their natural resources, he would ask 'to which region?'
Most of southern Sundavaala was a beautiful nature reserve, rich with precious minerals and oil, co-existing alongside the native tribesmen.
The countries capital, however, was home to a different tribe in the more developed north.
Thus, a vicious civil war ignited, fuelled by authoritative greed.
Nico didn't experience the warfare, though his extended family wasn't so fortunate.
Growing up, he heard stories of the ordeal and it sparked a want to make a difference.
Inspired by the Red Paladin and his efforts in Fiana, he travelled back to Sundavaala. Though the war had ended, Retroidica now had a pipeline to their resources and instead of profits returning to the country, politicians were fattened as they ate out of their benefactor's hand.
Nico visited a mine located in the Atakaala Desert, the country's southern region.
Despite the mine's deplorable working conditions and talks of its closure for its instability, the miners laboured endlessly in the barren environment, all for a compensation that allowed them to survive until the next day of work.
He had read that the desert's conditions were so extreme that Retroidica used the area to simulate Mars expeditions.
"A journalist, you're quite young no?" a slender old man with grimy face and clothes had approached Nico, his accent was thick and his vest clung to his ribs from sweat, "We aren't letting civi's in at the moment, a couple of kids have wondered in."
As Nico processed the news, he saw a group of individuals in chunky, coloured armour through the haze.
They were by a specialised SUV at the mine's entrance, preparing to enter with a group of miners.
"The Peacekeeper Paladins..."
"Yes, they were in the area and offered to help, but if you ask me, I do not like it. They only appear during times of war but they were nowhere to be seen when our people suffered," Nico wanted to argue but thought better of it, "they should just let us handle it before they cause a calamitous situation!"
"Let me go with them!" He knew the potential dangers, but it could add to his report.
He gripped the camera hung around his neck in anticipation.
"You're Sundy, I can tell. But that accent is from Lauradale, you are not one of us. You haven't suffered like we have suffered," the remark was a slap in the face, "don't forget to write about that in your article."
Nico had never felt so disrespected, he was doing this for them! But he quickly realised that it wasn't necessarily true.
He couldn't possibly capture their struggles in a mere article and he couldn't deny his sudden enthusiasm when he saw the Paladins and how he could benefit.
He realised he was exploiting the situation for his own gain.
"Look, it is ultimately up to them but I doubt they'd let a sixteen year old in with them."
"Eighteen, and I'll make sure they get the children back safely. I'm more athletic than I look."
Nico wanted to be seen as more than just an opportunist.
"Ah? Athleticism?" the old man paused before he exaggerated a laugh, revealing his missing molars, "When just how deep underground you are sets in and something disastrous happens, the physical battle is only the half of it!"
But the miner saw the unwavering determination in Nico's eyes.
He scoffed before letting him through.
"It's been several hours and they have not returned!" A mother cried, "they said they wanted to spy on some very bad men, I thought it was a game!"
"Don't worry ma'am, we're doing everything we can."
The Blue Paladin was taller than expected, and his confidence was inspiring.
The Paladin of Defence and Assault, aka the Blue Bolt. Nico couldn't quite believe it.
Combined with the Red Paladin's genius, they stopped the terrorist attacks in Lauradale's Capitol and successfully saved hostages. Nico had only seen images and videos online, yet here he was.
"Um, who's this?" It was the Purple Paladin, the Angel of Eraedia.
She aided countless civilians and destroyed hundreds of automatons sent to the country as proxies.
"She doesn't seem much older than myself..." Nico thought.
"I- I'm here to help," he remembered to respond, "I'm a reporter from Lauradale, but I know a lot about these mines."
It was true, for the report he had done thorough research ahead of his trip.
"York Neos?" the Blue Paladin's guess was accurate, " I know a fellow 'YN' when I see one."
"We can't let him go with us, he's just a journalist," she rebuked. "besides, he's a kid."
"I'm eighteen, actually..." The child allegations were wearing thin.
"Cap was eighteen when he first started this thing," the Blue Paladin was on his side, "Besides weren't you about to turn eighteen yourself when you first approached us?"
"Don't talk about that in front of him!" She wined, she seemed to be pouting behind her bird inspired helmet.
Nico realised their personalities were not what he expected.
"What's the issue." A man in red armour loomed behind her.
The Red Paladin.
He was the only one who wore a broad, pale shoulder pad with an attached cape across his body, but he lacked an animal motif on his helmet.
Instead it was plain with a pale 'v' shape above his dark red visor, as opposed to the Blue Paladins Lauradalen Eagle and the Purple Paladin's... (Nico didn't actually know what bird it was.)
"We were just about to let this one onboard, says he knows a lot about the mines." The Blue Paladin spoke with a casual tone.
He gave Nico a subtle nod.
"Welcome… the more minds the better," before Nico could respond, he turned and looked around at the miners, "let's get going!"
Once Nico was sat himself in the back area of the land cruiser, the Blue Paladin tapped the side of the truck, altering the driver.
The engine choked to life and set off into the mouth of the mine.
A mountain of supplies rustled in place as they sat between him, the Blue Paladin and a miner who had volunteered for the search.
He wore a grimy singlet that hung loose over a rugged and worn prosthetic arm.
Nico knew it had seen better days and it seemed to have been crudely shoved into his stump, but he found himself glaring at 'Retroidica Research, branded in red along the forearm.
"This one? I lost it in a mine collapse at another site…" he had caught his gaze, "had my arm around my brother as I helped him towards the exit. We were so close… but the ceiling collapsed on us…"
"They found me unconscious a few hours later, my brother… he didn't make it."
"I… I'm sorry to hear that, sir…" Nico felt awkward, but he was sure this type of story was commonplace with the Sundavaalan miners.
"Yet you still chose to come down here, knowing the risks. That takes true courage." The Blue Paladin was right, Nico realised.
With his lifestyle back at home, ignorant and protected by western civilisation, he couldn't imagine what that would've been like.
Whether it was justified or not, he felt ashamed.
For both the Paladins and the miners, balancing between life and death was their day today experience. But here he was voluntarily, as if on a field trip.
They couldn't just fly home again on a whim, never to return or concern themselves.
Nico thought back to his research, the central mine route reached two thousand metres into the ground in a spiral like fashion.
Two skyscrapers in depth for scale comparison.
The elderly miner's warning from before rung in his head and a brief wave of anxiety washed over him.
"… How far down do you think they went." Nico asked.
"Come on, not chickening out already are we?" The Blue Paladin chuckled as he inspected his famous, shapeshifting fire arm.
"No, I'm just curious... for my report."
"We have no way of knowing," the miner informed, "But the cave itself isn't too complex, our best bet is the first refuge if we don't see them on the way."
"The first refuge, that's not too far. Level negative five hundred, right?" Nico recalled.
"The levels are relative to sea level, the mouth of the mine is level five hundred." He corrected.
"That's a thousand metres, halfway down right?" asked the Blue Paladin.
The miner nodded.
Nico knew he couldn't regret his decision, he said he would help, besides it was no longer about him, but the children.
He wondered how they felt.
"What about the mother you were talking to," Nico finally asked, "she mentioned they were spying on some 'bad men'?"
The Blue Paladin glanced at the front of the truck.
"We're tracking down a war criminal in the country, we have reason to believe that's who she and the kids were talking about."
Nico was way in over his head. He was just a regular kid from downtown York Neos. But he realised the aggregate that was his nervousness was one part excitement, not for the potential report but for the reason why he left Lauradale.
He could finally make a difference.
They drove for what seemed to be ten minutes until they stopped. The path had become bumpy as rocks were littered across the ground.
Nico realised the mine had become darker than before. The lights running on electricity were now scarce, struggling to illuminate consistently.
A slight rumble vibrated in the distance; Nico stifled a flinch as bats flew over their heads in a frantic screech.
They exited the vehicle.
"We may have to proceed on foot," The Red Paladin announced, "There's a possibility of a cave in further down, but nothing's certain."
"I have a wife and a kid of my own, I'm sorry... this mine it's... unstable..." A miner that had joined the rescue was having second thoughts.
He was a worker but even he was afraid.
"If anyone else wants to leave, this is your chance, though someone who wants to stay will have to drive you up then come back down. We'll be fine as long as we have some supplies."
Nico wasn't leaving but he looked around at the miners as they shifted in place.
The only one that came back with the truck was the man who sat with Nico on the way down; he was the shift supervisor.
Though, Nico noticed his fearful demeanour as he cautiously stumbled out of the vehicle.
More important was the fact that he still persisted. He, more than anyone, knew what the children were potentially going through.
As ten was cut down to five, they continued deeper.
Nico noticed the air was becoming increasingly warm and stale.
Should he have gone back up, he thought? He missed his chance.
He began to hesitate as thoughts of a cave-in flooded his mind, but he focused on his steps as he planted one foot in front of the other.
The bodies of the children were found in the first refuge. Nico almost felt sick.
Strewn across the floor, their frail bodies were bound with ropes and gags.
Their clothes were powdered with dust and detritus and their bare feet were blistered and bruised.
Among them were the refuge's supplies, crates of rations and medical supplies piled high. Nico found it ruthlessly ironic.
But he noticed the room was fortunately being pumped with fresh air from the surface.
Was there a chance the kids were okay, he thought?
The Purple Paladin was first to their side, checking their vitals.
"They're all breathing," Nico sighed in relief, "I'm willing to bet that Cassidy did this."
They woke the children from their slumber and untied their bonds.
There were four in total and were around nine to ten years old. Nico thought better than to hound them with questions.
"Don't worry, you're safe now. But we have a few questions we want to ask once we get back, is that okay?" She treated the kids with care as they rubbed the sleep out of their eyes with bound hands.
She seemed to be in her element, though despite their predicament, the kids were surprisingly calm.
Perhaps they couldn't fully grasp the severity of the situation.
"Guys, look at this." the Blue Paladin was investigating a work radio. It was left on its side on one of the crates; Nico could hear the brown noise it created in the background as he untied the last kids gag.
"Not a fan of stalkers, so I think this is a good a chance as any to permanently get rid of you."
Nico shuddered, he hadn't expect it to speak.
The voice was a deep metallic growl, but not from the radio's audio quality. Was this the man they were after.
"What have you done Cassidy!" the Red Paladin's usual stoic demeanour had vanished.
"...A work radio, he must be close," the Blue Paladin added, "he used the kids to lure us in..."
"Though it is also personal, after this supposed reckless act of rebellion from the miners, the north will tighten their grip around the south. My employer sends their regards."
There was a rumble accompanied by the growl of a motorcycle in the distance, it was then heard on the radio a spilt second later.
Act of rebellion, Nico wondered, the miners worked in these terrible conditions daily without complaint?
"Take care of the children; I can't let him escape."
Nico watched as the Red Paladin rose a metre off the ground, dust swirling beneath his feet.
In a red flash he soared back up the mine, his cape fluttering behind him.
"We have enough to carry a child each," Nico quickly took the initiative, "Let's get-"
An ear splitting boom cut him off and reverberated around them.
The Earth shifted and cracked, kicking up dust and debris. They tried to steady themselves but it was too late.
The refuge collapsed.
Nico slowly opened his eyes; it was a good sign.
His head spun in a daze and his ears rang, piercing his brain.
He was crouched over one of the children as he had steeled himself, preparing to be crushed at any moment.
"You're squeezing me, sir." Nico couldn't hear let alone understand his choked quiver, but he looked up to see the Blue Paladin and the miner staring upwards as they were washed in a purple glow.
"Mercy..." The Blue Paladin looked concerned as she strained to keep them alive.
Through it, Nico could just make out the texture of a large chunk of rocky ceiling pinning them down.
The criminal had rigged the mine to explode before hand. If this was a set up, was the mother earlier in collusion?
To Nico's right, an impenetrable wall of rubble pressed against the barrier, but on his left he was relieved to see a path to the refuge's exit.
The mine shuddered once more and they were violently jolted downwards. The kids screamed and the Purple Paladin cried out in pain.
As Nico looked down, darkness was all he could perceive. Judging by the barrier under their feet, they were most likely wedged over a deep fissure.
"I'm… making a gap towards... the exit of the refuge... please go!"
Though the way out of the refuge was clearer of debris, he realised it wasn't the way they had entered. It went deeper into the mine.
Regardless, their chances of escaping their predicament decreased by the second as they were pushed further into the fissure.
Nico's mind was an ocean of anxiety, but he refused to be submerged.
"What is my next move?" He thought.
He helped the first child up and out of the gap that Mercy made.
Once she was the last one left, she steadily walked towards the opening as a web of fractures encroached beneath her.
Her struggle looked agonising as she slowed to a laboured shuffle.
Nico couldn't bare it; she wasn't going to make it.
The Blue Paladin went back inside, he was a blur as he swept her off her feet.
The dome gave way and the ceiling caved in.
They were already in the air, leaping towards them, when a wall of debris fell behind.
Though as it did, it caused the ground before them to give way.
They had nowhere to land.
Nico and the miner desperately backed the children away from the edge as they wailed.
By now, the final embers of purple light from the dome had faded.
Darkness was all Nico could see as he looked into the void ahead.
"Are they…" Before he could finish the thought, the sound of spiralling rope past by his ear.
The noise of metal being lodged into rock then appeared from behind.
The two Paladins emerged, being pulled forward before sliding across the ground and stopping right next to them.
The Blue Paladin steadied his partner in one hand while his grapple gun transformed back into a rifle in the other.
"... You made it! Mercy… you really saved us back there!" The name felt unfamiliar to Nico but he didn't care; he was truly grateful that they were alive.
"You got some nerve calling me..." But before she could finish, she collapsed into the Blue Paladin's arms again.
The kids screamed.
"Don't worry, she just a little tired… that's all." The Blue Paladin reassured them, but Nico knew it was worse than that.
He could feel it too, they were a thousand meters below sea level and there was no more air being pumped into the refuge.
"Quickly, we need to get her to a place with air." Nico demanded, "There should be ventilation shafts further down in the second refuge, right? Perhaps even ladders to the surface."
He was also addressing the shift supervisor, but he was visibly shaking.
"Y-yes, follow me."
Nico knew there was no guarantee the vents weren't already collapsed, but there was no other choice.
"Good thinking." The Blue Paladin said calmly, carrying Mercy in his arms.
He wanted to ask if he needed help. He was also risking hypoxia carrying the extra weight, but his demeanour was rock solid as they followed the shift supervisor deeper.
They managed their way to the very last level. It was the second refuge, though unlike the first, the rations were minimal.
Nico's chest sank further as he realised ladders hadn't been installed into the shafts yet, however the air flow was moderately better than before.
They had no choice other than to remain and attempt to nurse Mercy back to health with the available supplies.
They listened to the two thousand metres of Earth above them. It continued to shift and collapse following the prior detonation.
It was paralysing; their very survival hung in an agonising suspense.
Was this the life Nico was searching for?
He didn't want to think about the pitiful amount of rations.
They wouldn't be enough to sustain the eight of them for more than a couple days.
He tried to look at things positively, but as his stomach writhed it was as though doing so depleted his energy further.
He suddenly became light headed; his legs gave way as he slumped to the ground from exhaustion.
He was beginning to come to terms with the fact that they would all die from starvation before a rescue attempt was even mobilised.
Though at least he would have died for a good cause.
The thought cracked a smirk, though it became a broader grin as he realised that he had perhaps already lost his mind.
When the drill emerged through the ceiling, Nico counted it as another one of his hallucinations.
But when the Red Paladin appeared from the drilling rig's elevator shaft, his boots defying gravity as he drew closer, an irrational, delirium induced frustration arose.
He had abandoned them.
His superiority displayed from his reluctance to abide by the laws of nature goaded Nico to attack.
He sprinted towards him, stepping over the unconscious bodies around him before blacking out completely.
"The Paladin of Search and Rescue, huh?"
"What?"
Despite the loss of an arm, Ryu wasn't any less 'Ryu'.
"Nah it's just… it's got a nice ring to it doesn't it..." he continued, "unlike Enforcement and Delivery. Sounds like I'm the Paladin of bailiff services."
Nico found himself chuckling this time; they were supposed to be on the lookout.
Still nothing.
"But I never understood the bat motif, I mean I get it... but why not a dolphin or a mole."
Nico sighed, he was fortunate that intel on the Paladin's abilities was common knowledge, the difference it made in the field was negligible.
"I told you why.. multiple times actually," Nico reminded him, "and don't moles see through immediate physical touch?"
As he produced more vibrations he visualised his surroundings.
He perceived the train tracks, the pillars even what seemed to be part of a gun's muzzle.
Still nothing.
"More often than not, unknown external factors can break the foundation of your perceived knowledge of a situation..."
The words rang in Nico's mind once again, though still true, how he perceived them had negatively changed.
It wasn't just the Captain but the initiative as whole; it no longer felt the same.
They had once helped a protesting nation, even toppled it's corrupt dictatorship, before guiding them back towards an internationally recognised democracy.
It was reckless and had a slim chance of succeeding, but they managed it.
Now that was impossible, the Unified Nations were slow and prevented 'dangerous intervention'.
It really meant intervention that harmed certain interests.
He couldn't stand it.
He had desperately wanted to believe the Peacekeeper Paladins were exempt from corruption.
That they were the counter balance to the world's injustice.
"I'm still so naïve" Nico realised to himself, "just like back then…"
A burning anger began to rise from within him.
"How long has this been going on?" He thought.
Nico always had lingering questions about what had happened in the mine but paired with his recent discoveries, the answers have never felt more unsatisfying.
He conditioned himself to ignore his skepticism, he was grateful for leaving Sundavaala with his life and a portion of his sanity; he felt he owed an irreparable debt to the Peacekeeper Paladins.
Though, he understood that drilling a two thousand metre hole into the ground would have taken a week alone, meaning the Captain had somehow located them correctly on the first try.
Despite this, he was somehow unable to do the same for the miners who would have been closer to the surface if not already out of the mine.
Their deaths came as a shock to Nico once he found out; he assumed they had made it to the entrance before the shift supervisor returned with the truck.
"Were they both in league with Retroidica then?" Nico wondered, "perhaps the Captain was insurance that Cassidy completed his job, the shift supervisor an accomplice?"
But the Captain's attempts to save them wouldn't make sense. It would spark more of an outrage if the children and the Peacekeeper Paladins were included in the death toll, justifying Retroidica's future military presence.
The shift supervisor had explained to the press that the miners had decided to walk midway out of respect for the Paladins.
Though he could have lied, he still risked his life by returning. Was there perhaps a guarantee that he would live?
There was a possibility that they were confronted by Cassidy on their way out. After all, he was lurking in the mine before they had all entered.
Had he ensured their deaths to achieve his goal?
Nico heard the Red Paladin was an erratic mess during the rescue attempt, however, corroborated with the answer he was personally given as a Paladin, he had chosen to employ various different drilling methods at once.
This fact was sufficient enough and would have saved on time, but the accuracy still bugged him, could that strategy have been a diversion for knowing their exact location?
He then felt a nauseating sense of horror as his line of reasoning lead him to a question he had never once considered.
Did the Captain place trackers in each of them with their body modifications?