The roar of Ironveil's impulse cannons had faded into a distant background hum, almost drowned out by the high-pitched whistles of ether projectiles and the bestial shrieks of the nemesis.
"Clover, this is Ironveil, respond!" Serin's voice was hoarse, choked by dust and adrenaline.
A nearby explosion made her duck on instinct. A wave of scorching heat washed over her. She looked up. A beetle-carapaced nemesis the size of a horse burst apart under concentrated fire from two of her hunters. Chitin shards flew everywhere.
[Clover here.] Captain Vanpelt's voice. [Status, Ironveil?]
"The Boss is engaged. Captain Borin's fighting it." Serin glanced toward the central clearing where flashes of black and golden energy tore through the darkness. The ground shook in bursts. "It's tough. High regeneration, remote ether control. The Captain wants you to focus your forces on containing the secondary waves and securing the perimeter."
A light, crystalline laugh crackled in her earpiece. [Already in trouble, the great Borin? I thought he'd have squashed that monster before breakfast.]
"This isn't a normal target. Initial readings were wrong. Its threat level is…"
[S+, maybe higher, I'm guessing?] Vanpelt cut in, tone still breezy. [Fine. Clover's redeploying. We'll clear the east and tighten the net. But tell your captain that if he gets swallowed, I'm not risking my company to pick up the pieces.]
"No chance of that," Serin snapped. "And Jaeger? Their comms are silent."
[Ah, the Jaeger crew…] Vanpelt gave a theatrical sigh. [Try again.]
Serin ended the call with Clover and frantically dialed Jaeger's channel. Nothing. Just static. She tried the emergency line. Still nothing.
'They're ignoring calls? During an S-rank operation? Ridiculous. Were they overwhelmed?'
She'd seen the reports, the scathing reviews, but even Jaeger couldn't be that incompetent… Yet radio silence in an active rift zone was never a good sign.
"Captain Vanpelt, this is Serin. No response from Jaeger. I'm afraid they're out of the fight."
Vanpelt's reply was instant. [Out of the fight? My dear, you're new to the division, aren't you? Try the vice-captain's channel. And add the consolidated authority code: two stars, captain plus one.]
Serin blinked, her overloaded brain processing it. Consolidated authority protocol… used when a captain was considered unavailable or compromised, letting another captain/vice-captain pair take tactical command. She entered the code, adding Vanpelt's credentials and—after a hesitation—her own as Ironveil's vice-captain to relay the request.
The channel opened with a faint crackle.
[…how do you even eat in this environment, Captain?
— My guts are made of steel, Vice-Captain. And if I don't eat, I might fall asleep. Which would you prefer?]
Serin's jaw dropped for a second. "This is Serin, Ironveil vice-captain. Secure channel, two-star protocol."
Silence.
Then the woman's voice, suddenly professional: [Vice-Captain O'Connel here. Status?]
"You… you deliberately ignored our calls," Serin blurted. "We're engaged with an S-rank."
A lazy male voice cut in. [I don't see why I should answer calls while I'm getting my ass kicked. I could die talking, you know.]
"Captain Mercer, your sector?" Serin asked, forcing herself to stay calm.
[Secure. We cleaned house. It's quiet—we're watching the fireworks. Well, your explosions. Pretty show.]
Serin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'Don't smash the terminal. Don't smash the terminal.'
"The Boss is still active. Captain Borin's dueling it, but the threat's serious. We're redeploying to Clover's sector to contain secondary waves. Do you need support in yours?"
[Support?] Elias gave a muffled chuckle. [Nah, we're good. But let me get this straight: Ironveil's pulling back to Clover and leaving your captain alone with the big bad? New tactical doctrine?]
"We're following his orders! We… we'd only get in his way."
Vanpelt jumped in on the shared channel. [Translation: you're not up to it. Your captain's fighting without having to worry about you getting stepped on. Smart call, Vice-Captain. Stings, though, doesn't it?]
Serin's fist clenched so hard her nails dug into her palm. She looked around. Her people were exhausted, wounded. And they hadn't even touched the real fight.
"We're redeploying to Clover," she repeated, voice flat and hollow. "Hold your position, Jaeger."
[Copy that,] O'Connel replied, perfectly polite. [Good luck, Ironveil.]
The channel cut.
Serin let her hand drop, the earpiece suddenly feeling like it weighed a ton.
"Vice-Captain!" Draven was shouting at her. "We moving or staying? Reinforcements incoming!"
"We move!" Serin yelled, snapping out of it. "By teams—progressive retreat to Clover's position! Hold formation! Draven, your team covers the left flank!"
Ironveil started moving, slowly, leaving behind the main battlefield where two titanic forces clashed.
Serin couldn't help one last glance back.
Borin wasn't alone anymore. Six perfect doubles surrounded him, each wielding a blinding white spectral ether hammer, encircling the Boss. The air crackled with impacts. The Boss traced sooty glyphs in the air with slender fingers. From each glyph sprang a long, sinuous black ether blade. They hovered around it, then shot forward too fast to track.
One double was skewered by three blades at once and dissolved. The real Borin took a punch from the Boss on his energy shield, boots carving deep trenches in the dirt. He countered with a hammer blow to the gut that doubled the creature over, then summoned two fresh doubles to replace the lost one. His face—visible through his helmet joints—was strained with effort, but his eyes burned with almost joyful excitement.
Serin turned away and ran to rejoin what remained of her team.
'It stings a lot, yeah.'
—
The pile of corpses was three meters high.
Elias sat cross-legged on top, a slice of chocolate cake balanced on his knees. He chewed slowly, watching the horizon where golden and black flashes lit the night in bursts.
Mara stood at the base, arms crossed, staring at the same horizon. Her uniform was splattered with black blood.
"Borin's handling it well," Elias remarked appreciatively. "You underestimated him, O'Connel."
"He's handling it," Mara said flatly. "That's all."
Elias glanced up at her.
"As long as the Boss lives," she went on without looking at him, "the Rift stays open. The nemesis won't stop." She finally turned. "You and Captain Vanpelt should join Borin. Finish this thing."
Elias took another bite, chewed, swallowed.
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Ego."
Mara frowned. "Ego? You're just lazy."
"Could be." He pointed his fork toward the horizon. "But Charlotte isn't. Protocols, efficiency, optimal results… She's like you on that, if not worse. So why isn't she moving? Why's she sticking with Clover to mop up the small fry instead of charging in to help Borin?"
Mara opened her mouth. Closed it. Words failed her.
Elias smiled. "Because Borin said no. Because he claimed the Boss for himself. And touching his prey would be an insult."
He stood, brushing crumbs off his pants. "Captain ego, O'Connel. We're all the same. Borin wants to prove he can do it alone. Charlotte respects that, even if it's tactically stupid. And me…" He shrugged. "I respect it too. In my own way."
"By sitting on a pile of corpses eating cake."
"Exactly."
A golden flash lit the horizon. Then a black one. The ground shook again.
Mara clenched her fists. "And if Captain Borin falls?"
"Then Charlotte will step in." Elias hopped lightly down the mound. "But until then, we let him dance. It's his show."
He walked past her, patting her shoulder. "Relax, Vice-Captain. The show's just getting started."
Mara watched him head toward the rest of Jaeger, methodically clearing the last nemesis in their sector. She turned back to the horizon.
The flashes kept coming. Gold. Black. Gold. Black.
'No one to catch the other.'