Ultima Ratio

Chapter 18: Pier Pressure

Officially, Akira wasn't punished for her reckless overuse of her boosters. Unofficially, she knew that was a lie. Because while she steadily recovered in the two weeks that followed her regaining consciousness, she was forced to watch her team—minus Danya—go on missions without her, and Akira was certain it was simply a cruel method to make her repent for her actions.

Of course, no one was going to admit that to her face. Instead, the base parked itself in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, about five hundred kilometers off the coasts of India and Bama, and taunted her with the presence of land just out of sight.

The publicized story was that Sergeant Sam was kicking off a world tour to rally the "most important troops," civilians. The circulated rumor was that the UN had a new trick up their sleeve to start the final phase of the war. The reality was that Akira's team needed a way to get as close to as many enemy countries as they could without arousing suspicion. And apparently, they couldn't wait for her to recover.

In the meantime, her team would frolic throughout the various allied countries in Southeast Asia under the guise of being members of Sam's "Freedom Force," more commonly known as his protective detail. But while Sam was busy putting on propaganda shows and signing autographs, Akira's team would head inland, scoping out Concordia's largest ally: Great Mongolus.

No one expected to find any weakness in the vast country's defenses. Out of all of Concordia's allies, Mongolus was the most closed off and strictest of them all, and had been that way long before the war started. Nothing was allowed in or out, including information and communication; even most Concordians weren't allowed entry, as far as UN intelligence knew.

As such, there was likely no way for a small band of UN soldiers to sneak in either. Regardless, they still had to do their due diligence and scope it out on the off chance there was an opportunity hiding in plain sight. That's where Akira's team, with four remaining military personnel, came into play.

Even though Jivan, Akira's traitor of a second-in-command, assured her these were just reconnaissance missions, and they wouldn't dare to have any "real fun" without her, Akira found it difficult to believe them. Because while she struggled to regain her full strength to simply walk, her team reported to their debriefs with beaming smiles, inside jokes, and food stuffs from local street vendors.

Okay, maybe Jivan would be the only cheerful one out of the four-person recon team. And true, Elodie did bring back still-warm samosas for Akira on the second day. And yes, Akira was probably just bitter that her time stuck on Base was essentially wasted away because of her own foolish decision. And...that was it, really. Akira was sidelined, and there was no one she could blame but herself.

By the end of the first week, she was discharged from the hospital, but she still wasn't cleared for duty. Instead, she spent her days wandering aimlessly around Base, with Danya following her to ensure she didn't try to sneak in a workout of any kind. The most Akira could get away with was speed walking the base's perimeter, but as soon as she would go too fast, her shadow would hold her back by her braid.

After almost a week of this, Akira had enough.

"You seriously can't think of a better way to stop me?" Akira snapped, spinning around as soon as she felt her hair go slack again. "Maybe, I don't know, with your words?"

"Would you listen to me?" Danya said, more focused on examining the black hair tie in her hand.

Akira paused before glancing down at the end of her braid, now coming loose with nothing to hold it in place. Her sigh that followed sounded more like a low growl, but she refused to give in to Danya's antics, opting to cross her arms instead.

"Of course I would," Akira lied.

"Liar," Danya said, hooking the elastic band at the tip of her left index finger and pulling it back with her right hand. She closed one eye and aimed the projectile at Akira. "You'd hear me, but you wouldn't listen."