Ultima Ratio

Chapter 44: First Stages

West of Bordeaux, France

Akira squinted at her earpiece's projection as if that would magically make the sensor detect the expected anomaly within the forest before them. As expected, the only thing that appeared was a familiar presence pressed against Akira's back.

"Let me guess: you can't see anything yet," Danya muttered as she leaned her elbows on top of Akira's shoulders.

"They'll be here," Akira said before activating her comms. "Aegis Two, status report."

"No sightings," Jivan replied before sighing irately. "Disrespectfully, I haven't the faintest idea why we're out here. If Concordia really is about to target Sa—correction, Beacon One again, shouldn't we be with him?"

As much as she wanted to remind Jivan to keep their personal feelings out of the mission, Akira was also worried about Sam's wellbeing as he continued his tour five hundred kilometers away in Marseilles. Besides, her team's morale had lifted significantly since everyone heard the Bardejov townspeople all safely returned home a few days ago, and Akira didn't want to be the one to ruin the mood.

"We have good intel," Akira said instead. "The least we can do is see where it leads."

"You mean Ex Deo and Dizzy Izzy provided the intel," Jivan said. "But what if they're wrong? I mean, it's been ages since Concordia attacked with their ground troops first. And if they really are targeting this tiny city, which they shouldn't be, shouldn't we be in there instead of out here? Getting ready for whatever tech they throw at us this time?"

Jivan had a point. Concordia's old strategy was to infiltrate their target with ground troops to take out the UN's land defenses, giving their aircraft a chance to initiate their deadly storms unhindered. But since their latest upgrade in weapons technology, their attacks didn't need the extra support, and Concordia's ground troops merely served as the post-disaster destruction crew. With this development, the UN had started preparing for their own change in strategy.

That is, until one Doctor Isaac Cardoso developed a game-changing theory: Concordia could only use their newest attacks with one of their allies stationed nearby. With Madagascar and Intermarium now in the UN's hands, Concordia's reach was slowly slipping away.

At least, in theory. The UN had yet to prove or disprove it; that's what the Aegis Squad was for.

"I'm sure...we could make it back in time if that happens," Danya chimed in over the comms, stepping away from Akira's back to move to her left. After, she turned to Akira, eyebrows raised and hopeful.

Ever since their talk on the Crusader, Danya had seemed eager to make up for her actions. Akira found the gesture to be both sweet and unnerving, with the latter being a byproduct of the former since it was regarding Danya. But at that moment, Akira found it difficult to decide between the two when all she could think about was how her back now felt empty and exposed without Danya there.

During Danya's couple weeks of isolation, Akira had been so concerned about her team's crumbling dynamics that she hadn't realized how much she had missed the woman's comforting presence. Now that she had experienced that loss, Akira found herself oddly on edge over losing it again.

So after briefly hesitating, Akira shifted her weight to her left leg. And if her arm happened to nudge Danya's in the process, then so be it.

"I understand your concern, Aegis Two," Akira said, grateful that Danya didn't move away from her touch. "I'll send a squad back to the city if we don't get a ping in five minutes. If anything, at least the city has its defense system on standby."

"I'm ready to go whenever, Cap—Akira," Quyen added from behind her, off-comms.

Akira turned to acknowledge her willingness—after all, it was the least she could do.