"Captain Tempest, the Chernobog migration has been successfully completed and all survivors have been rightly transferred to the respective evacuation sites all over the city." An LGD officer reported to Tempest who was currently writing a report inside a tent at the west gate of Lungmen.
"I see.." He plops the pen down as he slides his report inside an envelope. "Well that concludes our mission, you can all head back to headquarters. Hand this over to your platoon adviser too while you're at it." He hands the envelope to the officer.
"What about you captain?" He asks while receiving the envelope.
"I'll be meeting with Officer Ch'en and Chief Wei later for a verbal report." He said as he puts his sword in its wraps.
"Very well. Then I shall head myself out." The officer then left Tempest's tent.
He checks his watch and sees that it's five in the afternoon. After the hectic day of overseeing the migration, and after doing commander work for the sudden problems that arose during the time period, the day of his operation in Lungmen has finally come to its end.
He exits his tent and starts walking to the metro where he would give his report to chief Wei, to finally complete his contract. The afternoon winds brush his cheeks as the setting warmth of the sun strikes him.
.
Walking as his coat shingles and his hand sways, the man ambles his way towards the entrance of the building where he was going to do his report.
He walks up the steps, passes through the automatic doors, and reaches the main lobby of the building.
"Took you long enough."
He looks to his side to see Ch'en ambling towards him with her normal yet stern expression.
"The time to meet was supposed to be 6:00. And yet you arrived at 6:09, therefore wasting nine minutes of my time." She complains. "And you really shou-"
Ch'en stops her words as she was randomly kissed on the cheek by a smirking Tempest.
"Look, I love you, but please let this slide. Hearing you say those words bring back memories from the academy that i'm not fond of." He reminisces when she would always complain over the tiniest details from their spars or from hanging out.
The girl wasn't too happy from what he'd done, in fact, she was very angry for being caught off guard. Of course she wouldn't mind the sweet little show of affection, but being surprised by a bold move like that took it too far.
So as a result, her face became a hot red steaming mess.
"Hmm? Your face is all red~" He teases her as Ch'en started shaking. "Could it be, the ever so tough Ch'en is emba-"
*slap*
.
.
.
"...and that concludes the report of the operation." Ch'en informs the listening chief Wei who was smoking his pipe on his desk as the two give their reports.
"Excellent work you two. Now I believe that the operation has finally been complete and will now execute the second phase, rescuing that little Ursus girl." He said. "Oh, and Y/N, why is your left cheek so red?"
"Oh don't worry about this, this is from pushing my luck too far from a certain dragon." He answered while clutching hie left cheek, and Ch'en on the other hand scoffed while she had an unnoticeable flush of red. "So back to the matter at hand, Rhodes Island and the LGD are going to have a joint operation to rescue the daughter of an Ursus scientist which will happen in two days. And the girl's name is Misha to boot. I won't ask on why she's important but at least let me head back to Rhodes Island. Dr. Kal'tsit might not like me not having my regular clinical tests." He requests.
"Hmm, I guess that that there's no other way around that then. I'll let you head back to your homestead." He sighs willingly.
"Thank you chief Wei." Tempest bows.
"If I may.." Ch'en spoke up. "I would like to go with Tempest back to Rhodes Island." She said as Tempest looks at her with wide eyes.
"Oh that's no problem. As part of the operator consignment agreement, you can always go to Rhodes Island anytime as long as you don't neglect your duties at the LGD." He stated.
"Wait already?" Tempest asked.
"I've read the consignment statement, and i'm certain that I saw a portion consisting that I have the choice to do so Y/N." She said back. "Any problem with it?"
"Not really, just surprised that you would go so soon."
"Hoho, so I guess that there won't be any problems with the transfer. You both can leave tomorrow first thing in the morning." Wei stated.
"One last thing." Ch'en looks to Tempest. "You mentioned a Reunion squad named the Vortex squad who managed raise Reunion morale just by appearing."
Tempest had a sour face on when he heard her mention about Vortex.
"Ahh yes, do you know anything about that particular squad Mr. Y/N?" Wei added.
Displeasing as it may be, he steeled himself to tell them all he knows about Vortex and his squad.
"As far as I know, the Vortex squad is one of the top elite squads of the entire Reunion force. A feared squad who's known for their near perfect teamwork and their devastating use of arts." He explained. "There are seven people in that squad. But their leader, Vortex, is who you should look out for."
"Who is this Vortex person?" Wei asked intrigued.
"And how strong is their leader?" Ch'en added.
Tempest sighed as he started to answer, which was noticed by Ch'en.
"Vortex is a monster. His arts is comparable, if not stronger than that of Reunions main leader, Talulah. And that's not all, his skills with the double short swords are so great that he was the one singlehandedly massacred the 35th generation of Ursus generals which resulted in the dreaded 'Pantheon Massacre'." He said making Wei flinch.
"Dear lord, to think that he was responsible for that horrendous tragedy." He grimaced.
"He caused the death of the five great generals huh, just how strong is he." She said in horror.
"But.." He cuts them off. "Six years ago, he mysteriously disappeared due to unknown reasons, thus leaving his squad altogether. Reunion tried their damnest to look for him, but failed to do so. And to this day, no one knows where he is or what he's doing right now. So rest assured, a well trained force is able to hold his squad in place and will minimize any casualties ." He explained.
"Hmm, how do you know so much about this Vortex person and his squad mr. Y/N?" He eyed him up.
"Let's just say that I came across them at an early point in time during my unholy years." He answered with a devoid tone.
"I see, well then. I guess that concludes this short meeting. You two are free to leave." Wei waves them off.
"Then please excuse us." The two reply in unison as they head themselves out.
.
.
.
The next morning, after getting the clearance from the LGD for a short two day leave of their senior superintendent, both Tempest and Ch'en enter the airship that came to pick him up, which will take them back to the technological landship Rhodes Island.
Inside the passenger seats of the air vehicle, Tempest and Ch'en sit idly by as they wait for them to finally arrive back to Rhodes Island.
The woman was eager to see the workplace of her beloved, she was expecting it to be very professionally atmosphered since the company was Terra's leading pharmaceutical highflier.
So she decided to ask the man beside her for a bit of details.
"Y/N-"
"Ahh, call me Tempest once we reach Rhodes Island. We usually call each other by our codenames instead of our real names to prevent any sort of unintentional mischance in the personal lives of the operators." He mentioned.
"Alright. Tempest, what's it like in Rhodes Island?" She asks him.
"Well, as a pharmaceutical company, expect the entire layout and theme of the place to be that of a very advanced research hospital. The people who work there are very diverse coming from different races and places, we keep close relations with each other to make them feel belonged. Most of them are good people, so you won't feel any malice once you reach out to them and get to acquaint yourselves with the others." He smiled as he explained his workplace.
"That's good to know." Ch'en nodded in satisfaction knowing that Rhodes Island is a good place to be.
"We are now nearing home base." The pilot announced through the radio speakers.
The two look to the window as they come to see the enormous scale of the Rhodes Island landship just stationed at the outskirts of Lungmen.
Dropping altitude, the airship closes in to the landing pads below as an operator near it guides the flying vehicle to it's landing positions.
And with its wheels hitting the concrete landing place, they have now arrived back at Rhodes Island.
The hatch opens as Ch'en and Tempest exits out.
"Wooh, glad to be back." He says with a gratified tone.
"Hmm, so far the place here looks decent." Ch'en compliments as she views her surroundings.
"Alright, first things first, let's head inside to register you as a vi-"
*boom*
An explosion suddenly occurs as Tempest, Ch'en, and the few operators with them suddenly flinch from the booming noise.
"What was that?!" Ch'en qeuried.
"I don't know, explosions don't usually happen here unless if it's one of Ifrits tantrums or...... no way, is he back?" He suddenly widens his eyes as his thoughts single out the other possible reason. "Follow me!" He suddenly starts running inside as Ch'en follows behind him.
.
Running through the white halls of the landship, the two run side by side each other as they make their way towards the source of the explosion.
"What do you think happened Tempest?" Ch'en inquired as they continued running.
"I have a feeling that it's someone's doing. I'm betting that my conviction is correct." He replied. "Cause if it is, then i'm hoping that he hasn't killed anyone yet."
Ch'en grimaced at his answer.
They soon turned a corner as they finally arrive to the main lounge where most of the people were grouped up.
Upon entering the site of the explosion, Tempest sees the place filled with a few smokes, particles of concrete and glass on the floor, and a gaping hole in the middle of the wall opposite of him.
"W-Woah man! That was just a joke!" On the ground near Tempest was a very terrified Ethan. "I swear that I meant no bad thing towards your smell! I was kidding!"
"Oh? Then I can see my self not liking your joke you hombre."
Tempest then looks back to the wall as he sees a sarkaz man with long messy hair with prominent horns, yellow eyes with corrupted originite crystals infecting the areas around his right eye, wearing a standard Rhodes Island caster uniform. His body being covered with sparking electricity as his expression looked very pissed off.
"You have messed with the wrong guy, suffer the pain of a billion volts." He said as he points a finger towards Ethan who was trembling. "Die you mongrel-"
"Delta wait!" Tempest yells as he goes in between the two.
Upon seeing him, the sarkaz man stopped the emitting oh his electricity.
"Y/N? Or should I say Tempest." He lowers down his attack. "Step aside, that lowlife deserves punishment."
"Look, that's just one of Ethan's horrible jokes. It's just part of his bad personality so calm down. He ain't worth the trouble Delta." Tempest explains.
"Tempest man, that kinda hurt bro." He says with a downer voice.
"He pissed me off Tempest, that alone is enough reason to let me reign judgement." He said with a low growl.
"Look around you Delta." He points to their surroundings. "This isn't the right place to do it. You should know better not cause more ruckus in the landship, everyone hates you already and they will hate you more if you cause any chaos."
Delta flinches at what Tempest said, because what he said was true. Most of the operators in Rhodes Island actually hate Delta because of his nature and personality. He would often get very pissed thus he tends to hurt other operators to the point of having severe injuries.
"...fine." Delta sighs. "You, get out of my sight." He warns Ethan.
"Y-Yes sir!"
Ethan soon got up from the floor and proceeded to dash away from the scene.
That left Delta and Tempest staring at each other with intense gazes, sending waves of intimidation to the surrounding operators.
'Are those two on bad terms?' Ch'en though as she stood a few meters away from the two.
Then suddenly, the two men envelop each other with a hug much to her surprise.
"Glad to have you back Delta." Tempest greets with a pleasing tone.
"Indeed it is. Good to see you again, brother."
Delta replies.
'B-Brother?!'
"So you finished your long term mission at Minos?" Tempest asked as they withdraw from the hug.
"Yes, after two months of mercenary work. Didn't expect that it would take that long."
"Well, at least you came back without any troubles." He adds as Delta nods back.
"By the way.." Delta leans in to Tempest's ear. "Is Skadi here?" He whispers.
His question makes Tempest procure a smirk, he knew how Delta feels about Skadi but he's not the type to bug him about it so he decided to tell him straight.
"She should be back this week after dealing with those rockbreakers ravaging in the south."
"I see." He reclines back. "Now care to tell me the identity of that woman who's been staring at us this past minute?" He points to Ch'en who was now walking towards them.
"Was I imposing?" Ch'en inquired.
"No, but you were putting me off." He replied as she twitched.
"Now now you two. No fighting each other." Tempest warns.
"Tempest, who is he? And why is he calling you 'brother'?" She asked him.
"Well let me introduce you to him. This is Delta, an elite operator. He is also the adopted son of my uncle, I trained with him numerous times before enrolling at the academy in Victoria so we are basically like brothers." Tempest introduced to him. "And Delta, this is Ch'en. She's a good friend of mine whom I met when I left for Victoria."
"And?" Ch'en tapped her shoulders. "Say it."
"*sigh* She's also my significant other." He whispered.
"Really?" Delta scanned her up and down. "And here I thought that you would eventually end up with Blaze." He mentions.
"Blaze?" Ch'en said the name confounded.
"Uhh." Tempest started rubbing the back of his head as Ch'en glared daggers at him.
But before she could start interrogating him...
"Tempest!"
Abruptly, a woman crashed into Tempest as she latches herself onto his arm. It was none other than Blaze who was very jumpy on seeing her beloved back from an operation.
"Your back! Even though it was just three days ago since we've last seen each other, it doesn't matter anymore since you're back." She exclaimed as she snuggles up to his neck.
Tempest was surprised at her behavior since he never expected her to act like that in public. He could see many female operators around him looking at her with jealousy.
But he also noticed an intense glare coming from his side, courtesy of Ch'en who was extremely irritated to see another woman being mushy towards her man.
So as a result, she stomped her way to the two, grabbed Blaze's arm, and forcibly yanked her away from Tempest.
As Blaze stumbled to keep her balance, she looked at the woman who yanked her off from her mate with malice.
"Hey what's the big idea?!" She complained at Ch'en.
"I should be asking you that question! Who the heck are you to do that to my man!" Ch'en spat back as Blaze was stunned.
"Your man? What are you saying? You know I really don't mind sharing my hon, but you on the other hand? I think you should rethink what you did on pulling me away from my partner." Blaze said looking hella annoyed.
Ch'en then turned to Tempest as she forcefully gripped his collar.
"Is this the one who you fell for?" She demanded an answer. "Is it?!"
"U-Uhm, y-yeah." Tempest said as he shakes in fear over an angry Blaze.
"I'm not done talking to you!" Blaze gripped Ch'en's shoulders and pulls her. "I don't how you met him or how he thinks of you.." She then grabbed Tempest's face and quickly steals a kiss from him, she pulls away leaving a very red Tempest. "...but he's mine!" She hissed.
Every female operator in the room looked at them with deep shock over what they had witnessed. And for Ch'en, ooh boy she was not handling it well. A tick mark formed on Ch'en's forehead as she replayed the scene of Blaze kissing Tempest.
Delta on the other hand was watching the entire thing with amusement.
"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Him." Ch'en said with broken and angry words as she started to unsheath her sword.
"Try me, I bet a million LMD that you can't take me on!" Blaze replied as she revved up her chainsaw.
On the other hand, Tempest was sweating bullets over seeing his two girls about to fight each other.
'Crap, what do I do?!'
"Come on! I don't really like fighting with no good reason, but i'd be damned if someone tries to take Tempest away from me!" The surrounding air around Blaze started heating up from her arts.
"What's mine is mine... Whoever gets in the way of my relationship should be prepared to face the consequences..." Even Ch'en started unsheathing her Chi Xiao, which was also willing to be unsheathed for some flipping reason.
But before the fight could even start...
"Stop this nonsense."
The group looked behind them to see who was talking, and what they saw was a very pissed off Lynx.
"Dr. Kal'tsit!" Tempest yelled in relief over his savior.
"C-Crap it's Kal'tsit!" Delta said with fear.
The doctor looked around her to see the mess that Delta made. And she also saw the two women in their battle stances ready to lunge at each other.
She sighs as she went to Delta who was slightly shaking.
"I though I made it clear to not cause more damage every time you arrive back from a mission." She reprimanded him with venom.
"But-"
"And don't you dare shrug it off with the excuse of not being able to control your anger. You're not a kid for christ sake, Hellagur would be disappointed in you." She added more salt as Delta now looked very down as he now resembled Hashirama who got berated by Tobirama.
"You two." She then went to Blaze and Ch'en who were glaring at each other. "Take your catfight elsewhere. Blaze, I expected you to handle yourself with your level of professionalism, and looks like I was wrong." She sighed.
"Ugh.." Blaze felt bad due to her comment.
"And you Madam Ch'en, I never would've thought that you could lose your cool over a very stupid matter."
"Are you implying that fighting for the love of the man who I want be with is, stupid?" Ch'en glared.
"Need I remind you that you are not supposed to raise trouble between fellow operators?" She said with a raised eye as the dragon girl flinched. "*sigh* Blaze, escort Madam Ch'en her to her personal quarters, and make sure to properly introduce yourself with one another."
"But-"
"I don't want to hear it. Go, now." She demanded.
Seeing the stern expression that Kal'tsit had, the two girls lowered their weapons and started to walk away. Though they were lightly bickering as they leave, which kinda troubled some of the operators around them.
"T-Thank you for that doctor." Tempest said.
"And you." She now faced him. "Medbay, now."
"Yes ma'am!"
Tho both of them left for the medbay as Delta was still sulking at the corner, muttering to himself.
.
.
In the medbay, Kal'tsit scanned through the health vitals of Tempest on the screen while the said man was currently sitting on a desk, thinking.
"Your body is still under normal conditions, no sign of originium contamination in your cardiovascular systems, and your body still has no signs of growing originium crytals." She relayed. "Once again, you're in maximal health which yet again surprises me."
She looked at Tempest and noticed that his gaze looked very tense.
"...doctor, are we really not going ahead with the extraction process?" Tempest said, causing Kal'tsit to look at him with scorn.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I will not allow that operation to go through." She immediately replied with an authoritarian tone.
"You've seen the results! I have perfect symbiosis with the originium inside me, I showed no symptoms of Oripathy, and my enzymes hold neutralizing factors to combat the disease. I am immune Kal'tsit! Why not experiment on my body?! Maybe the key to the cure is-"
*slap*
The sound of her slap echoed inside the room as Tempest held the mark with shock.
"Stop being irrational! We have no clue whether the operation would be a success. You could possibly die having your body be tampered with!" She scolded him. "Think of the consequences of when things would go wrong. If you die, would the ISA stand independent? Will the operators close to you not feel anguish? You're the hope of Rhodes Island Y/N. You are immune, we know that. But, if we push through the extraction process on your body without knowing the outcome and with many risks of damage to your well-being, we'd end up losing our only hope to find a cure." She explained.
Tempest felt very frustrated, frustrated at the truth. The sign of the cure is there, yet still not enough considerations to harness it.
"Sorry." He apologized.
"*sigh* Take a break for today. You still have an operation in tomorrow, i'll have you and Madam Ch'en partner up with Delta to assure the success of the operation." She stated.
"...right." He stood from the desk and headed to the exit. "Please excuse me." Was the last thing he said as heads out.
Now alone, Kal'tsit looked around her workstation, trying to find something. Under some paper, there she saw her transceiver.
She picks it up and puts in on her ear, dialing someone while she was at it.
"..."
'...hello?' The person at the other end spoke.
"Sorry to disturb you Silence." She said.
'Not to worry Dr. Kal'tsit. I was currently running some diagnostics on my medical drone so you weren't disturbing. What do you need?' Silence asked.
"...I think we need to start considering on building that extraction cradle."
▌│█║▌║▌║ To be continued... ║▌║▌║█│▌
A/N: You like Skadi? If so, let me grace you with her coral coast skin! Scroll down!
Thorns: "Haha, you were expecting a hot pic of Skadi's skin. But it was me! Thornified Skadi!"