Miles above the very scene was the command ship of Yggdrasil, a secret organization meant to deal with Mystery Quakes and the cause of it.

It was a beauty; state of the art, beyond anything else in the world except the Circuit Clock. Invisible with a unique design, it was enough to make any engineer want to come in here.

Right now though, it was a state of emergency.

Atlas, the Greek Titan who was condemned to lift the sky for his crimes had arrived. They’d done well, leading Cynthia and Nicole as best they could.

They’d devised a plan, where the duo lead Atlas to the bridge and they would destroy him. It’d worked out well, except for the minor fact Atlas was still going strong.

Luna examined the image of Nicole’s body.

Her circuits were completely degraded, as to be expected. However, that also left her body as nothing more than a pile of flesh.

Cynthia was strong, but she was better suited for support. Most of her Art was used for the maintaining of the time barrier, and her offensive capabilities weren't that strong.

“Show me the image,” a voice ordered.

Hugo projected the image of the Titan rising out of the water to the entire deck.

“He has an extremely high defense against Art,” the commander commented.

Hugo nodded. “Indeed. While the feats he has possessed do not add credence to the fact he once lifted the sky, he is still extremely powerful.”

“As he should be. Luna, what’s the status of Nicole?”

Luna checked. “Her degradation is at 98%. Any longer and the damage would have been permanent.”

“I see. Be as that may, Nicole has exhausted herself. She needs to rest. Unfortunately, the EMP from Nicole has damaged all the ships. They won’t be quick enough to make a recovery. Find the nearest safe place,” the commander ordered.

A lady Luna never bothered to know the name of stated, “Three kilometers to their left, there’s an old abandoned bunker.”

“I see. Judging from what we’ve seen of the fight, Atlas cannot sense people underground, nor does he have a keen sense of smell. If the two girls hid, they would be safe. On the other hand-“ the commander trialed off.

“Everybody else would die.” Luna supplied.

“Exactly. Check Cynthia.”

Somebody took a look and said, “Her degradation is at 67%.”

“Only about 30 more minutes of fighting if she keeps up the constant rate,” the commander noted. There was a pause. “What of Brisingr?”

“Scans indicate she is making her way, ma’am,”

“Figures, she likes to do things on her own,” the commander murmured. Out loud, she said, “The moment she gets into range, connect with her as well.”

“Understood.”

“Good. Now, the left quad of Neverstien has been completely evacuated. Have the signals flare activate from that direction. Atlas will be disoriented from the shock, and in his bloodlusted state, he will head for the light.”

Luna didn’t question how the commander knew all this. She seemed to know everything.

“Will do.”

“Have a med-patch sent through the tube. Nicole definitely needs it, and it won’t hurt Cynthia either.”

“On it!”

“Commander, the National Council is trying to reach you,” Gerald informed.

“Decline them.”

“But Comm-“

“But what? I am a commander and I must command. If I leave my post at a time like this to attend a useless meeting, I will be abandoning everybody.”

Gerald nodded. “I’ll tell them that.”

Luna watched as the commander took out a lollipop and stuck it into her mouth. “Now, let the games begin.”