Don Kuat

This could be it. This really could be it. I swallow hard as the Coalition bulwarks start closing in on Nock and that beast girl adopted daughter of hers, the implications of their conversation rocking me to the core. I pull out the monocle again and focus on the beast girl, letting the device get a read on her level of affinity toward divine energy.

There's a buzz and the monocle spits out a holographic read out with the results. I click my tongue in annoyance as I scrutinize the monocle's assessment of the beast girl. She's got a very high affinity toward divine energy, but so do most beast women. Nothing exceptional there. But the conversation between the priestess and the Coalition pilots indicates otherwise. If this beast girl, Sara is truly capable of directly accessing Foundation Four, that can only mean one thing.

Sara's the saint that everyone has been looking for. Could this encounter be purely happy coincidence? Of course not. The grubby hands of the Divines are all over the affair. The Rose team had been discreetly guided towards Sara, whether they realize it or not. Unfortunately for them, a wild card had been shuffled into the deck.

Nock.

I don't know what the priestess is playing at, but Nock had clearly become an unpredictable factor in whatever plan the Divines had put into motion. Instead of delivering the beast girl to the Rose search team, she had summoned the Coalition in an attempt to keep Sara by her side. Too bad instead of regular pilots, Nock had the bad luck of running into operatives from the Blue Ocean Initiative. In a twisted kind of way, this outcome was only natural. The only people who could oppose the will of the divines were those that wield equal power. By setting up this betrayal, Nock had made encountering Blue Ocean inevitable.

More worrying was the revelation that the Divines were aware of my last ditch plan to simply attack the Rose camp out in the concrete desert. Granted, it didn't take a lot of brain power to come to the conclusion, but its still a good thing that I decided to hold off on the assault and just hit the patrols instead. If the Divines were ready for my arrival, the smart money would be on a really nasty surprise waiting in the Rose camp, just for little old me.

But now there's a new problem. How to deal with the presumed Saint when there are hostiles all over the place.

"I'm not going to let you touch her!" Nock shouts defiantly and with a surge of divine energy, her robes tear away, peeling off in shredded strips, revealing her fully garbed in her standard issue Valkyrie bulwark.

Alright, there's Nock and that survivor from the Rose squad. That's two rank A Valkyries that I need to contend with. Nock might be fresh, but the dual wielding survivor's machine is already damaged. I rate them as troublesome, but nothing I can't handle.

The Champion of Regina is out of the fight and that Mari woman is missing her deployment earring as well as her ear. Neither of them are a threat. The mystery Citadel Auxilia is still hanging back, not taking any action. I'll need to keep an eye out for him, he might become a problem later, albeit a minor one.

The real problem are the Blue Ocean operatives, all twelve of them. I can't deal with so many operatives at once, the numbers are simply too heavily tilted against me. And they're clearly interested in securing Sara rather than just eliminating her, meaning I'll have to go through them to complete my mission. Meaning I have two real options.

Option one, flee now and intercept Sara later. This is certainly the safe choice, but Sara will no doubt be placed under heavy guard. I could ask Wu to make his way here to assist in the attack, but I have no idea what schedule Blue Ocean is working with. For all I know they might decide to take the beast girl north tomorrow, forcing me to attack without reinforcements.

Option two, just throw caution out of the window and take a shot at Sara. I rush the beast girl now and gun her down where she stands. Then I escape as fast as my augmented bulwark can carry me. And that's plenty fast. But to take the shot, I first need to breakthrough the Blue Ocean encirclement. And with twelve enemy operatives arrayed against me, I'm not too confident of my chances.

Damn it, what should I do?

"Sara, stay back." Nock mechanically barks from her bulwark, interposing herself between the beast girl and number 69. But the presumed Saint remains unbowed.

"I believe." the girl declares, fire blazing in her eyes, "The Divines would not abandon us like this."

"And we mean no harm to you." 69 answers calmly, his squadron closing in on their quarry, "But we need you to come with us Sara. You'll understand everything in due course."

"I prayed at the station before we left. For the Divines to smile on us." Sara says, drawing a long breath, "Instead Iros opened my eyes. I saw, but I didn't understand. No, I didn't want to understand."

"Sara -" Nock mutters as she pushes the girl back, away from the approaching Blue Ocean operatives. The dual wielding Valkyrie hurriedly takes a position next to Nock, his weapons covering Sara.

"I wanted to stay with you, mother." Sara says sadly, "That's all I wanted."

"Then you know as well as we do that it is impossible." 69 concludes for the girl, "Come, Sara. Only with the Coalition will you truly be safe."

Then to my surprise, a man's voice squawks from the loudspeaker of the dual wielding machine. A male Valkyrie?

"You told us not to give up! So please, don't give up on yourself either!"

Shit, I might not recognize that voice, but there's only one male Valkyrie in existence. My, or rather Don's, good younger brother, Hiro. Sent here by the Divines as additional insurance against me? But as far as I know, Hiro is something of a defective product. Useful sure, but not actually able to perform up to spec. Comes with the territory of being a man. Divine energy is strongly tied to the essence of life. Its what keeps worlds in balance and running.

So it should really come as no surprise that women would always have a greater affinity for Divine energy than men. Most women thanks to their 'equipment', can carry at least twice the amount of life than their male counterparts.

Hiro is nevertheless a triumph in the act of creation, packing more than double the power his biological body would theoretically be able to handle. Impressive, but nowhere near the amount Don's body can channel. The Divines have consistently lagged behind our progress in the manipulation of divine energy. After all, earth had developed the denial fields, the apex in this area of technology.

To effectively break the law, one must first master it. I raise the threat meter up a notch, but Hiro is still small fry compared to the Blue Ocean posse.

"Iros knew." Sara weeps, rubbing her eyes, "She knew all along. About this ambush. Even about your betrayal, mother. I refused to believe it. I really wanted everything to be a lie."

"Don't you worry your head off." 75 picks up the conversation, "I'm sure the Coalition will let your mother tag along with us on the journey north. Ain't that right, 69?"

"Indeed. Take it as a show of good faith from us, girl." 69 affirms, "Are you ready to stop this foolishness then?"

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Sara refutes stubbornly, "Its too late anyway."

"Oh?" 69 harrumphs, a note of irritation entering his amplified voice.

And what Sara says next sends a shaft of surprise right through my heart.

"The Directorate is here. Iros told me." Sara announces, "They've already been in Rais Land for several days, searching, just like you. This ambush will draw their attention."

There's a long pregnant pause, broken by Hiro's bleat of ignorance.

"What's the Directorate?"

69 doesn't bother with the moron and quickly starts gesturing silently to his fellow operatives, most likely communicating via secure line. Several of the Coalition bulwarks take off and begin fanning out, scanning the area from their vantage spots in the sky. 75 and the remaining pilots immediately point their rifles squarely at the priestess and Hiro, all business.

"Move. Now." 69 orders without further explanation.

I fall back and begin heading deeper into the warren of streets, but I realize that this is only delaying the inevitable. The patrol sweeps conducted by Blue Ocean are rapidly catching up with me, and there's no way I can run faster than they can fly. And with their augmented optics, those bulwarks will sooner or later spot me, no matter how I hide. From the distance, Sara's voice drifts over again.

"There's a place I need to be -"

Above me, the Coalition machines drift steadily closer, like a tightening web. I clench my fists hard, fingernails biting into my palms. Betting everything on a single roll of the dice. Is this my only option? The icy coldness of my deployment ring offers no answers to the question.

Guess there's only one way to find out then. I take a deep breath and feel the serum begin to churn within me.

We kicked Blue Ocean's asses back on earth.

Its time for an encore performance.