Although late by some minutes, with the due arrival of Nemeadas and Garmr, the core members of VGT Tyr had at least gathered.

"Look who's fashionably late," Yajinn commented as Nemeadas ducked his head under the doorframe. The elemental spirit had graciously taken off the horned headphones now to reveal quite the pointed pair of ears.

Instinctively, the Aslan shot a glare at Iteza, who had been slowly sliding off the chair he was sitting on. And just from seeing the way the Oni had twitched and averted his gaze, Yajinn had gotten all the context clues they needed to understand the situation.

"Ah… Tsk tsk. Ever the pitiful one, aren't you?" Yajinn clicked their tongue and shook their head hopelessly.

"Pst, hey, Yajinn, is this going to be okay? I know this pattern. I don't think this is going to end with just this. Aren't we kind of in a rush here? We have a briefing session to do right now, don't we?" Jackie whispered into their ear.

"Oi, watch your horns!" Yajinn flinched. "They poke, you got that? Just hush and watch. On one side, we have Chad, the walking embodiment of rage who can tear a man apart like string cheese, and on the other side, we have Virgin, the Oni boi. This will be great!"

As typical, they were just barely able to fight back a grin from tearing across their face. The spirits have always been told to be mischievous, and the actions of this one only served to reinforce this notion history had set in place about their people.

"Let me just set this straight," Iteza stood up, "I heard the alerts too, okay? But I was in the middle of streaming, what did you expect me to do? I don't know if you guys are aware, but I'm actually pretty popular online. I have an obligation to let my viewers know what's going on instead of just rushing off at the drop of a hat. We get plenty of rift alerts every week, but how many of those do we actually get called for? How would I have known that we would just so happen to get called to dispatch this time? Think about it from my perspective for once, okay? And just because I have a headset on all the time doesn't mean I'm oblivious to what's happening in the world. Unlike this midget, I actually have eardrums that I don't particularly want to rupture!"

"Think about it from your perspective?" Nemeadas echoed quietly as the embers to his fury began to spark. "Did I hear that correctly? 'Your perspective.' Boy, do you even understand the position you are in?"

"It's coming, it's coming!" Yajinn whispered excitedly into Jackie's ear. It was looking to be a bloodbath, and after that targeted last remark, they were beginning to feel quite parched.

"Of course I do, duh? I'm an elite operator who's made it big already! The cream of the crop! Far above all those loser SCs and SGs who couldn't make it in here even if they applied! Isn't that why we get paid more, have more benefits, and have an entire team of people under our beck and call?"

"Boy, do you even comprehend the words you speak with your own mouth? Do you really believe you are superior as a person simply because you are here? Do you truly think, in that head of yours, that they are inferior as people under the single metric that they do not handle themselves in a fight as well as you do? Let me tell you something. Anyone can 'fight,' but not everyone is prepared to risk life and limb to do so. Those in the scouts department have their role, as do those in the siege department—"

Iteza interrupted Nemeadas with a frustrated shout, "—It's always 'honor' this and 'honor' that with you! So I was a little distracted and didn't think we would actually get called to dispatch, big deal! I had enough, just drop it!"

"You…" Nemeadas was taken aback, albeit only momentarily. "I accepted your application because I saw promise in your abilities, but as far as any of us here are concerned, you have yet to prove if you are worth keeping around— you and the baggage you drag along."

"Please, will you just drop it already! I get it! I'll do better next time, yeah? Jeez, why do you always rag on me for every little thing when Garmr over there barely even wakes up half the time? She gets more special treatment than everyone on the team put together—"

"—Boy." Nemeadas snapped, his presence seemingly having grown twice as imposing as his figure loomed over Iteza.

"Ooooh, he done fucked up now, boi!" Yajinn was having the time of their life as they excitedly tapped on Jackie's arms. "What an idiot! It looks like Iteza still doesn't realize just where he sits on the totem pole. Rest in peace, mah boy. Your sacrifice for my amusement won't be soon forgotten."

"Yajinn, is this really going to be okay? Don't we have something really urgent to attend to right now? LIke, really really important?"

"Jackie," Krakjen said as he placed one of his many hands onto the Lagos' head, "this, is among the many trials of life young Iteza must go through before returning to present his life's experiences to Great N'gothla."

"Neme, you don't have to do this." Garmr pulled Nemeadas back. Her strength was tremendous.

"Do not stop me, love. You have contributed more to the guild during your time here than this boy can ever imagine. For him to trample over those accomplishments is to spit in the face of your honor. Even if he is just a boy, this shall not end without his reprimand."

…

"—Erm… is this a bad time?" Sheng's voice could suddenly be heard in the room. A small projection of her as well as a part of the command center was now being broadcasted to the center of the room.

Nemeadas turned his head at the sound of the voice, and as he finally realized who it was that had just appeared, he swiftly returned to his usual demeanor. He said, "No, I apologize for what you had to witness. Please continue. We have been expecting you."

Iteza, just for now, had been let off his ire, and just as he was taking a sigh of relief, Krakjen gave him a brief word of advice.

"Young Iteza, think about your true purpose in this world. Video games are temporary. But dedication to Great N'gothla is eternal."

"Shut up Krakjen, nothing you say ever makes any sense. Not to mention I don't even worship your god!" Iteza growled back, but the Arunian chose simply to repeat his mantra.

"At the end of days, all shall return to Great N'gothla."

…

…

"Then, as I have understood it, we are to be dispatched to Choa Chu Kang Cemetery in District 24 to take care of the rift outbreak event consisting of one manticore." Nemeadas confirmed.

"Of the Zenikyra variety, a single one, yes." Sheng nodded twice as she then showed VGT Tyr the footage from the satellite feed. "See this absolute unit of a boss monster right here? Looks like if someone PPAP'd a lion and a wyvern and called it a day. It's a beautiful specimen if I've ever seen one— three meters tall, four tonnes, hide thick enough to bounce off high caliber rifle rounds, a bite force strong enough to explode a tree trunk, and claws that can shred through a 10mm carbide steel plate like a 1000 degree knife through butter. And that's what we'll be having you lovely gentlemen deal with tonight. Any questions?"

Immediately, the room burst into discussion among themselves. It was not often that they were given a chance to see an enemy before encountering it. Typically, they would already have been out the door right after scrambling to put on their exo-gears. But this time, they were given a rare opportunity for them to take on the situation from a far back perspective.

"Has the manticore done anything since it first crossed the rift?" Nemeadas asked.

"No, what I was showing you earlier was the live satellite feed. It's been prowling the cemetery, but it hasn't wandered out just yet."

"Oh, me, me next! I have a question!" Jackie raised her hand as her body danced up and down. "Does it breathe fire or anything?"

"No, the ones that do that are the Inspid Manticores. They have a snake for a tail and these big obsolete wings that they can't fly with, but they use it to shade themselves in the sun and it can also protect them from artes and projectiles. Oh, but that does remind me. Bossman wanted me to warn you especially about its tail. Careful, it's pokey. Just kidding, the spines don't just hurt if they hit you, they're covered with these microscopic glass needles that will come off even if you so much as lightly brush your fingers over them. And believe me when I tell you that it will inflict a pain onto you so great that it will make you pray to your god to relieve you from life."

"This, is creature of pure torment. Wonderful." Krakjen closed his eyes in joy.

"I'm not so sure about that one, man." Iteza looked on skeptically.

"It is worthy as toil of life to overcome on my long journey before returning to Great N'gothla."

"One last thing. As a hunting technique, some Zenikyra Manticores have been observed to shoot out their tail spines and hit a target accurately up to a football field away. You should treat these like high velocity rifle rounds. Please remain vigilant."

…

"Over here! Right here. Pick me next!"

"Yes, you cutie right there, ask away!" Sheng snapped her fingers at Yajinn's waving arm.

"Ooo, yeah! That feels good, praise me more, just like that!"

"Yes yes, you are so cute and adorable. I just want to take you home, lock you up, and study you up cen-ti-me-ter by cen-ti-me-ter.

"Heck yeah, is this a date you're calling for? Let's go, just you and me, next weekend."

"Go get a room!" Iteza grimaced in disgust at the two's flirting.

"You know what? That's actually a great idea, Iteza, thanks! Sheng, how about we make this date a two nighter?"

"Sure thing~ I want to go to that one restaurant again. You know, the one with the greenhouse terrace."

"Oh my god, forget it. I'm losing brain cells by the second just talking to you guys."

"Aw… little Oni boy can't handle watching the grown ups talk."

…

During this entire time, Nemeadas had been thinking about the Manticore deeply. This would not be the first time he had faced such a beast before, though the kind that he had dealt with spewed venom from their tails. Things were much different back then— more dangerous, and different tactics were employed as well. He could easily recall those days as if they had happened only yesterday… of how cheaply lives could be spent like currency in exchange for victory. Although a fresh memory in his mind, these were archaic tactics unacceptable in this current world.

For a manticore, the price for that victory would be the lives of thirty well seasoned soldiers with the caveat that there was an army to back them up. Just what did that number equate to? A mere drop in a bucket of ants to some, but several entire extended families worth of people for those who grieved. Did they have thirty people and an army to kill a manticore? Perhaps if they brought with them the SGs, then yes. But thirty to sacrifice? The answer was none. Not to mention most of the SGs nowadays were of the newer generation and not trained like seasoned veterans of war were, so that number would likely be greater for sure.

"What do you all think?" He asked.

"It'll be fine. The fangs, claws, spines, I can handle them all," Garmr said.

"How bad can it be? Even if we tempt fate, it's just a silly manticore. Worst comes to worst, we can just bombard the damn thing and call it a night. So let's wrap this up quickly and come back before breakfast, eh? Char Siu rice and some yakult, how does that sound?" Yajinn was not the least bit worried either. If anything, they were quite excited to test out their new VAF system that they had spent so much time working on.

"You are right." Nemeadas nodded. Sacrificing thirty people to kill a single manticore? Those estimations were made using the sensibilities of the past, and this was now the present. With the amount of support and equipment they had now, he believed that it was entirely possible to achieve a flawless victory, even with just the six of them.

…

It was at this moment that Nemeadas's pager rang again. When he looked at it, the light in his eyes shone differently.

"It looks like our exo-gears are finally ready. Sheng, thank you for your help. The information you have provided us has been greatly helpful. Tell Director Oryza that we will begin to dispatch right now."

"Good luck. I'll be watching you guys from back here." Sheng bid the group luck before her projection disappeared from the room.

"Everyone, let us make haste." Nemeadas then looked at Iteza. "And you, boy, I will let you off with a warning this time, but tread carefully— for next time, you may not be as fortunate."

…

…

Although it was fairly close by, all the members of VGT Tyr still ran to the fitting room in a hurry. Once they arrived, the fitting of their exo-gears began immediately.

The exo-gears were unintrusive mechanical exoskeletons that had been developed by Æ, a leading aethertech developer firm based in Scandinavia and who dealt exclusively with guilds affiliated with the United Nations. It was a technology that combined the functionality of traditional exoskeletons with the liquid metal thaumaturgy of the Scholarly Republic of Aquae, the barrier artes of the Tortolas, and the body strengthening artes made famous by the warrior monks of a certain mountainous region of Arca Archa.

It functioned as armor, yet it was easy to wear like clothing, and most importantly improved the overall physical performance of the wearer. Traditionally, the production of such equipment was painstakingly done by hand with embroidery and had limited functionality, and that was not to mention how prohibitively costly it was as well.

While Nemeadas did not understand the finer details, his exo-gear had been tuned more towards strength and power enhancement and from what he understood after wearing and testing it out exhaustively, it was able to improve his performance metrics by a rough 40%. And for someone who was already at the level that he was, that was a result that impressed him deeply.

The fitting lasted for five minutes, but once done, Nemeadas rotated his shoulders and began to test out the full motion of his body through the stances and forms of his martial brawler specialty. Right now, he looked vaguely similar to one of those spandex warriors from the superhero shows that Jackie liked to watch during her downtime, though it was nowhere near as colorful or tacky, nor was it skin tight. However, this was all just a transitional look as their exo-gears were meant to be worn underneath other articles of clothing, which they all had waiting for them in their lockers once the engineers were done with them.

"Left elbow joint, right hip on a leg pivot, back of the neck on a left turn," one by one, he began to list off the areas that needed additional adjustments, "and there's a slight pullback on my right arm when it is fully extended like this."

As the engineers got to work, his eyes began to sweep across the rest of his team. They were wrapping up for the most part as well, with the sole exception of Krakjen, whose six arms required just that much extra attention. As a warrior monk who was on a pilgrimage to experience the greatest toils life had to offer, the time he spent with them here was just another part of that— though the things that oftentime came out of his mouth raised an eyebrow for passersby and those who did not know him well. It was quite the normal thing as far as Arunian culture was concerned though. But because of his background, he was quite the proficient weapons specialist. Using those six arms, he was able to wield an assortment of weapons that covered both short and intermediary distance. As a result, his exo-gear had been tuned towards a more balanced loadout that covered all his bases.

Moving on from Krakjen, he saw Jackie leaping up and down and doing flips to test out the fitting. Her exo-gear was focused on improving her speed, balance, and protection, and he estimated that it had increased her performance in those aspects by over 250%, an astonishing number, but also understandable as she was young and still had much to grow. It seemed that she did not have any further adjustments that needed to be made, as she walked over to her locker to put on her uniform. And then one by one, she began to equip the more than dozen specialty daggers that she typically switched out over the course of a battle.

And then in the corner of his eye, he saw Iteza test drawing his bow, but not actually firing. His exo-gear was fairly simplistic, with the area of strengthening focusing primarily on his arms and back. Yet as an archer, this was all that he needed, because by narrowing the focus to this extent, it granted him the capability to use his signature weapon— a carbon nanotube composite bow that had the equivalent draw weight of two ballistas. This, combined with the specialty arrows made to withstand the stresses of being shot from the bow, let Iteza pierce through the natural defenses of even the toughest creatures of Arca Archa.

Still, Yajinn's exo-gear was even simpler. As a support caster, it was rare for them to be in direct combat, so aside from the most basic functions, there was no need for any additional specifications to be made.. However, just the existence of the exo-gear's frame was greatly helpful to them, as with just a little bit of innovation, modern circuitry, and laser etching technology, Yajinn was able to retrofit it as a replacement aether focus in place of something more traditional and unwieldy. "This baby can fit in so many features!" Yajinn had once proudly boasted in front of everyone, especially to the engineers from Æ.

And then his gaze found her last. Garmr had just finished the fitting of her exo-gear and was sleepily gazing over at her sword in the corner. This sword was something that never left her sights, and although it was tall and nearly as heavy as she was, she actually did not require the support of the exo-gear to carry it around with her. And unhesitatingly she would do just this, to wherever she went. If there was a place that denied her entry due to this, then she would simply not go. It was the one thing Garmr would never compromise with.

She had her own set of circumstances, as did most other people. It was with luck that she had been allowed special privileges by Director Oryza on the account of her long standing contributions to the guild and Singapore, with the caveat that she would always have to be wearing her guild issued uniform even during her days off and she had to act in a way that would not undermine the reputation of the guild while in public.

Her exo-gear in particular then, was even more simple and single minded than anybody else's. Its only role was to protect her from harm and as a result, traded in everything else in order to take the barrier artes of the Tortolas to its uttermost limits. He remembered her reasoning when asked about these specifications. "I can't fight if it doesn't feel like I'm moving my own body." Although perplexed by this, as the main selling point of the exo-gears were their ability to enhance the wearer's overall performance to superhuman levels, the engineers from Æ nonetheless complied with the request. Regardless of the strangeness of the requests, the customers' needs were the most important after all.

"Oh," Nemeadas let out. Garmr had noticed his watchful gaze, and from the distance she smiled back at him. He shook his head and then smiled back. He had unintentionally zoned out and it was thanks to her that he realized. His adjustments had long been done, and after testing out his motions one more time to find everything was good, he hurried to put on his uniform and got ready to finally dispatch.

…

…

Sitting in the ADV as it burst out of the garrison, Nemeadas checked his watch. It had been an hour on the dot since the rift alerts first sounded. It had been right on his estimation, but should they have tried to be quicker anyways? No, they had been as quick as they could have been given the circumstances.

"Don't worry too much, Neme," Garmr said gently as she leaned in onto Nemeadas's arm. "You did what you could, so now I just have to do what I can. I will swing my sword and fight until the fighting is over."

When he looked at the rest of VGT Tyr in the vehicle with him, it seemed he was the only one with anything to worry about. And watching the usual exchange between his team members, especially with the Impish Yajinn as the center of chaos, it had brought a soothing touch to his nerves.

"Yes…" Nemeadas muttered softly back into her ear. Garmr had been right. There was no use in lingering about what he could or could not have done. With a job that took top priority before them now, to think about anything more would just be an unnecessary distraction.

…

…