The two watched as an android with a medic patch quickly worked away on Shu's right arm. Shu's arm had been severed from the elbow and down, and was currently having a new one attached. The medic android had several tools that she used to connect the new arm to the old one; her face was one of concentration.
Jeanne was watching the medic's every movement, her eyes focused and her breathing steady. Her heart was pounding, and her stomach was turning, but she didn't look away; her eyes were locked on the medic's hands, watching the way the android's hands moved with extreme precision.
"Jeanne, please. Do me this one favor and try. I'm begging you. She won't listen to me..." Trevor said.
"Fine." She replied, her eyes never leaving the android medic's work.
"Alright... done." The android said as she put down her tools and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She looked at Shu and said, "Okay, let's see if we got everything right, raise your arm."
Shu did so, raising the new right arm in front of her. The medic then looked at her hand and said, "Good, now flex your fingers." She watched as the android moved her fingers.
"Give me a few hand signals."
Shu nodded, "Yes, doctor." Shu said she made a series of signals, each of her fingers moved in the right direction.
The medic android smiled and nodded, "Looks like it's all working so far. Now within one second, emergency release and reattach."
"Emergency release!" Shu said, the new right arm fell from her body and onto the floor. She quickly grabbed it and reattached it to the socket on her elbow. She looked up at the doctor, who was nodding her head in approval.
"Finally, your body is all good. Now get outta here." The medic android said and patted Shu's back. Shu smiled at the woman and then turned and walked away from her.
Jeanne and Trevor watched as Shu walked away, and then Jeanne turned and walked after her. "Hey!" She called out to her.
Shu stopped and looked at Jeanne; her expression was blank. "Hello." Shu said, and then turned and continued to walk.
Jeanne quickly ran up and stood in front of her, stopping her from continuing. Shu stopped and looked at her again; her expression was still blank. Jeanne took a deep breath and then spoke. "Listen, Trevor is asking if you'll come back with us. He really wants you to go back and live with him."
"That's a really bad idea." Yuren's voice came from the hall. Both Jeanne and Trevor turned and saw him walking towards them, his eyes locked on Shu.
"Shu's fragmented memory and the damage to her core is still a very serious concern, I'd feel more comfortable with her under the supervision of our battalion." Yuren explained. "If something happened, you'd have no way of getting her help. And if she were to transmutate, I don't think the Republic has anyone who could treat resonance induced trauma. As it stands, I am the only one that can reverse the effects of Resonance on humans."
"Shu is coming with me, Yuren," Trevor said, his voice stern. "She will live with me. That is the end of it. If something happens, I'll bring her to the border for your people to take her.
"You are catastrophically misunderstanding what I'm talking about. And you don't actually know what the high-density Resonance of her transmutation would do to you, Trevor. You're putting the lives of those around you at risk, for nothing more than your own selfishness." Yuren said. His expression was stern, and his voice was cold. "You can't protect anyone from the effects of a Resonance detonation like that."
Trevor glared at him, "What makes you so special, huh?"
"I am a Meteorn." Yuren replied, his eyes began to glow red.
Jeanne and Trevor froze. Their eyes were locked on Yuren. "W-What?" Jeanne stuttered. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her mouth was dry. "H-H-H-He's..."
"You heard me." Yuren said. He then looked at Shu and said, "I have a plan to help you but I need my own Resonance to recover."
Shu nodded, her eyes were blank.
"Now, go." Yuren said, and Shu left. He turned back to the other two, who were staring at him. He could feel their fear and sighed, "Listen, I'm not conflict prone. That's not how any of this works." He walked to a table and leaned on it, then exhaled as his eyes returned to normal. He looked up and saw that Jeanne and Trevor were still looking at him. He sighed, "Do you two know anything about the Meteorn?"
"N-no, I don't know anything about them." Jeanne replied, her voice shaking.
"I've seen them in the news..." Trevor muttered.
"Then I'll start from the beginning." Yuren sighed and took a seat in a nearby chair. He motioned for the two of them to take a seat as well.
Trevor clenched his fists, "So what, I'm supposed to just listen and believe whatever you're about to say?"
Yuren sighed. He was getting tired of the constant hostility and distrust. "I'm trying to explain something to you. You don't have to take it at face value, but if you can't at least listen to what I have to say, then there is no reason to even have this discussion."
Trevor glared at him, "You're all talk! Shu was your comrade right? How did you let that happen to her? You're still just treating her like she's some machine, some piece of equipment!"
"As if you're a man of virtue. First, you're endangering everyone around you by harboring a soldier that's an enemy to your nation. Second, you do not even understand the risks of taking an android like her into the city. Third, you're the one treating her like a prize to be kept and dehumanizing her. Fourth, you don't even understand the true depth of the situation. You are blinded by a naive fantasy. And you're being a real asshole to someone trying to hel-"
Trevor struck him. The punch landed on the left side of his face, but the boy quickly withdrew his hand, the knuckles bleeding from the impact of hitting Yuren's jaw, which didn't move an inch.
It was as if he had hit a brick wall. Trevor gritted his teeth and gripped his fist.
Jeanne was shocked at what she had witnessed. Her eyes were wide with fear, and her hands were trembling as she covered her mouth.
The red glow had returned to Yuren's eyes, and he stared at the man. He was angry. Then pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.
With a quick snap of his fingers, Trevor and Jeanne were back outside the Eisendrache within a split second. Jeanne fell on her knees, the world spinning around her. Trevor stood in shock. Yuren had teleported them outside of the ship so casually and without any effort whatsoever.
"You're lucky he's softhearted." Garra's voice spoke from behind them.
Trevor's head was spinning. He turned around and looked at Garra and Eri. "I-I just..." He muttered. He couldn't finish his sentence. His mind was racing.
Garra continued on her way without a word.
"I thought you two were with Vince?" Jeanne said.
"He returned to the cabin." Garra replied without looking back or stopping.
"Oh... I see." Jeanne said. Her heart was still pounding in her chest.
"Even with my cybernetics... he wasn't even fazed..." Trevor said. He was in disbelief at how the hit didn't do anything at all; he had hit the man as hard as he could. He felt a shiver run up his spine as he remembered the red glow in the Meteorn's eyes.
Trevor looked back at the ship. He felt helpless and weak. He had lost. He had been passively beaten by the very man he had wanted to hurt so badly. And now he felt defeated, powerless, and small.
The rest of the day had gone by without any major events. Yuren had not shown his face since then, and the battalion was busy making sure everything was ready when the time came to move out.
****
Yuren sat in silence. His thoughts were racing. The door swung open, "Yuren! This is important, our supplies are shorter than we expected." Ester marched right into the bridge, not even noticing Yuren's silence. She stopped in front of him and placed her hands on her hips. "You need to figure out how we are going to make up for it!"
"Right..." He mumbled and continued to stare out the window of the bridge.
"What the heck? You've never been this quiet." She asked, tilting her head.
"Our defection isn't widespread news, perhaps we could get supplies from a union ally?" Bei said as she walked onto the bridge.
"It's likely spread through the military networks by now, and they are probably on alert. It'd be better if we avoided that entirely." Lina chimed in. Sitting at a console, she turned and looked at Yuren. You're being really quiet, Commander. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just thinking." Yuren replied.
Ester crossed her arms and looked at him. "The battalion's account isn't frozen you know, we still have a wealth of funds. We could have the supplies delivered to any of the union's ports and just pick it up from there. We wouldn't need to worry about any of that mess at least." Ester stated.
Yuren shook his head. "That seems too good to be true. They can't track us, so that's probably one angle they hope bears fruit. They probably hope we'll fall for it. That or the port is under heavy guard, and we'll get captured the moment we set foot there."
"Argentia isn't crazy enough to plant troops in allied nations of the union to catch us. They wouldn't risk a dismantling of the entire Schreadel Imperial Union over us." Ester said. "Naiola, please tell Yuren we do have an option."
"HMIS-014 is correct. The Szenveir Kingdom has posted an open trade exception for the 701st. Attached to their notice is a request for diplomacy as the regency wishes to speak with you." Naiola replied in her monotone voice.
Yuren's brow furrowed as he looked up at Ester, "This is... hmm..." He paused as he thought about it, his eyes wandering around the room.
"I do not foresee an issue with working with them. The Kingdom has withdrawn from the Union is now a neutral nation, and has a reputation of being very well defended. If they are permitting the transportation of Union supplies through their territories then we shouldn't have any issue obtaining what we need." Naiola added.
"Exactly. We have the perfect option right in front of us," Ester said, crossing her arms. "We should take advantage of this. They aren't going to try anything against us, especially not while we're within the borders of the kingdom."
"Naiola, can you look into my account and see if there's any strange activity?" Yuren asked, turning to the android.
"Yes. I'll do that now," she replied and paused momentarily. "Your account has not been frozen. It has received an additional payment for the current year's operational funds. Furthermore, it has been moved from the military branch into the more secured and less monitored nobility branch. It appears this change was requested by the Empress herself."
Yuren tapped his chin, a change which was certainly unexpected. He thought for a moment. Why would the empress do this? It didn't make any sense, especially given that he and his battalion had defected. Considering she executed the grand council, there was likely some sort of internal feud within the Agentia government's structure. But what? Perhaps the empress had her reasons for wanting to help them out. Maybe she knew something that they didn't, or maybe she was making moves that'd secure her position within the Argentian government. Regardless, there must have been a reason she did this. And he certainly wouldn't waste an opportunity like this.
"I'll accept the request for diplomacy from the Regency. Ester, write the supply Order and send Bei the expense form." He finally said.
"Yes sir!" Ester and Bei said at the same time.
"Lina, I need a mockup for the new uniform, armor, and insignia designs. We'll have all these things done by the Kingdom, and it'll allow us to move around more when we no longer have any Argentian identification."
"Yes sir!" Lina replied and quickly turned to her terminal to get started on the work.
Yuren then looked to Naiola, "Naiola, what are our chances of getting into a fight in Szenveir?"
"My calculations show a less than point three percent chance. The Szenveir Kingdom does not tolerate any aggression in their borders. Those who violate laws are dealt with immediately and swiftly." Naiola replied.
"Excellent." Yuren replied, his thoughts now turning to his guests.
He then stood and walked over to his chair, "Alright, I'm posting a notice to the battalion. Half will come with us and half will remain. Those staying behind will have a mandatory R&R and the usuals on patrol will maintain a security detail for the three republic civilians and area outside our camp's zone. Reila, prepare for take-off."
"Sir! The ship will be ready for launch at your discretion!" The girl said.
"Right, got it." Yuren nodded and then turned to face his terminal.