Leanna and Prism made it back to Red Wolves HQ a bit after noon, taking the underground vacuum tubetrain that completed the 500 kilometer trip in only thirty minutes. Just as they’d expected, Prism was made to undergo an emergency physical examination shortly after stepping off the train platform beneath Mt. Kyero. As Dr. Liam was off-base at the time, the physical was instead carried out by Dr. Taskeda, the Lieutenant Commander of the Red Wolves Company’s Science Division.

  “I’m more of a researcher than a medical doctor, but I am licensed for physician work.” She told Prism when he asked a few probing questions. “I’ll do my best to expedite this process. I suggest that you hold off on any such transformations in the future until after you’ve began your missions.”

  “I was a bit impulsive about this. I’m sorry, Dr. Task.” Prism said sheepishly to the full-bodied, middle-aged woman.

  Dr. Task, as she liked to be called, moved her salt-and-pepper dreadlocks from out of her face as she leaned over to pick up a living imaging device from an instrument stand that Prism felt was a bit too low to the ground. She then used the green vibrating object to scan Prism’s new face into the base’s bio-computer database. Prism watched her light-brown eyes narrow as she carefully held the small device steady. The smirk on her face revealed the simple joy she found in performing the mundane task. As her face hovered near Prism's, he saw that a small set of black moles ran down the left side of the doctor's light-brown face.

  "That will do for now." Dr. Task said when she put the scanner back down on its table. "I'm aware that we can't get any cellular samples from you because of your uncanny abilities, so there's no need to waste time trying."

  Prism nodded to her and rubbed the bristly hair atop his head with his large right palm, taking in the new sensation of doing so. The oddly satisfying sensation sparked a random question in his mind.

  "How is it, working with Dr. Liam? You seem so different from him." Prism asked as he placed his palms on the back of the rotating backless stool he sat upon. Even though he was sitting down, Prism was eye-level with Dr. Task.

  "I rarely ever see him, to be honest. I spend most of my time at the Lyceum."

  "That explains why I've only seen you one other time."

  "The Lyceum would love to examine you one of these days. Many of us have theorized methods for analyzing your tissue without our results being scrambled by your energy manipulation powers."

  "Energy manipulation powers? That's a very scientific way of describing magic." Prism said with a chuckle. "Is that what you all call it at your fancy little research institute?"

  "Most of us. There are some scientists at the Lyceum who choose to call it magic. The rest of us do our best not to ostracize them." Dr. Task said calmly. She softly rubbed the moles on her face with delicate strokes of her fingers.

  "Is that policy there? Not to ridicule one another?"

  "Unofficially. We encourage out-of-the-box thinking, as that is what often leads to innovation. Discouraging creative thought is antithetical to our goals. Therefore, we don’t ridicule our colleagues."

  "That’s logical. Dr. Liam wouldn't do well there, from the sounds of it." Prism said with a wide smile.

  "Liam can be quite well-behaved when the situation warrants it. He didn't become the commander of my division at such a young age by accident."

  "How old was he when he was voted in?" Prism asked. He suddenly realized how little he knew about Dr. Liam. The man had done little to endear himself to the elementeitan; quite the opposite, in fact.

  "He was 32. He's 37, now."

  "That is young. It must've been hard for him to have that much responsibility." Prism said, trying to make sense of Liam's mercurial nature.

  "He'd been through hell." Dr. Task said with a solemn shake of her head. "He'd spent 10 years in prison for killing a drug dealer who'd killed his mother as a form of retribution. Liam became a licensed doctor in that prison."

  "My goodness!" Prism said loudly. He covered his mouth and stared wide-eyed at Dr. Task, who stood calmly in front of him, holding herself as though she were chilly.

  "Liam had been just a boy struggling to care for his sick mother. The drug dealer had given him work as a chemist after noticing how smart Liam is. Liam had seen the man as a surrogate father. So for it to have turned out like it all did..."

  "I can't imagine..." Prism said as he lowered his gaze to the floor between the two of them.

  "He has come a long way. Right now, he's at a free clinic in Wolf City that he started several years ago. I wish that you could see him there. He's at his best when he's helping others."

  "But you said that you rarely see him..." Prism said coyly.

  "I see him enough. We are partners, after all." Dr. Task said warmly, until she saw the grin growing on Prism's face. "Partners in work, I mean. I'm his lieutenant, but we treat one another as equals." She quickly clarified.

  "I understand. That's how most people treat each other here, like equals. It's refreshing to see, especially within a military organization."

  "We have ranks, and we have titles. We even have leaders. But the purpose of those things is to ease decision-making and to quickly indicate one's accomplishments, not to dominate or degrade. Hierarchy for hierarchy's sake is a path to sloth at the top and to suffering at the bottom." Dr. Task said with a greater intensity than she'd spoken before. Prism saw the educator come out in her.

  "You sound like you're speaking from personal experience." Prism intuited.

  "Let's just say that the school I graduated from in my home nation of Disdüt could learn a lot from the Red Wolves."

  Prism left the examination room a few moments later with two security guards behind him, Dill and Dy. Prism knew them well, as they'd been tasked with looking after him when he'd first come to the base. The officers had been sitting outside the door of the room, waiting to escort Prism to their commander. They both held black PAWs in their hands.

  "That was quick." Dill said. "Dr. Liam would've insisted on keeping you for hours, probably."

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  "She's efficient." Dy then said coolly, his chin high as he looked down his nose at his partner, whose blonde curls peeked down from his helmet.

  Both of them were kitted out in dark-red combat gear that covered their entire bodies. It was so dark that it could be mistaken for black, the norm for Security equipment. Their armor was sleek and breathable, but not as comfortable as the armor RED-1 wore. The gear’s slight discomfort helped to keep the security officers alert.

  "I like her." Prism said, stroking his chin hair. "She's wise and intelligent."

  "A rare combination." Dill opined.

  “She should be running the Science Division, not that ex-felon Liam. She’s an actual scientist.” Dy’s face contorted as if he was going to spit while he spoke.

  “Come on, Dy,” Dill said with a lighthearted shove of his elbow against Dy’s plated forearm. “Commander Liam has his faults, but he’s a good person. And he’s made loads of medical discoveries. He helped cure a plague, he di–“

  “He’s not a scientist. He’s a doctor. It’s called the Science Division, not the Medical Division.” Dy said dismissively.

  "Medicine is a form of science." Prism said, turning his head slightly to look behind him at Dy. "Finance being lumped in with Security, however...now that's a stretch to me."

  “Commander Liam was voted to his position by his division’s most accomplished scientists. I think they know better than any of us who is and isn’t a scientist.” Dill said, leaning over to get in Dy’s face.

  “Fair enough…” Dy said quietly with a wave of his hand in Dill’s face. “He’s still a murderer, though…”

  “We’ve both killed people.” Dill narrowed his eyes and said to his partner.

  “That’s not the same. Not at all.” Dy rolled his eyes at the comparison.

  "I'm probably holding everyone up." Prism said with a glance at the simple watch he wore on his right wrist. The time was half past one in the afternoon.

  "I doubt it. Commander Ursun still had plenty of things to get caught up on the last time we saw him." Dill said with a shake of his head. "Commander Finisome will be happy to see you. He's been worried about you and your team."

  Dy sneered at Dill for sharing a bit too much, eliciting an apologetic smile from the taller man.

  "Is that so?" Prism turned around to look at the two men.

  "If it was solely up to our commander, you'd be a security officer." Dy said in a tepid manner. He stared at Dill with a rather blank expression for a moment before saying, "In only a year, you've won his trust. Trust doesn't come easily to Commander Finisome, but you've managed somehow, even though you've barely interacted with him."

  "It's because I've earned Ursun's trust." Prism said with enough certainty to make Dy groan.

  "You've made plenty of guys in Security quite jealous." Dill said softly to Prism. "To some, you've upset the order of things around here."

  When Dy saw a look of confusion come across Prism's face, the Sguvan-born guard began to speak again. "We Red Wolves have had ten good, stable years without any major incidents within our borders. But to many of us, you represent an end to that stability. We're just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

  Prism saw how anxious Dy really was as the young man shook slightly as he spoke. He'd usually been a bit cranky in Prism's presence, but Dy’s attitude had seemed personal all of a sudden. Prism suddenly understood why when he watched Dy's boyish brown face become ugly with insecurity.

  "I personally don't feel that way." Dill said, placing his gloved hand on his chestplate. "I think you're a harbinger of good, not of doom."

  Dy closed his eyes and slowly shook his head from left to right. "You're so naive." He said quietly to his partner.

  Dy, with his dark skin and dark hair, contrasted greatly to the pink skin and light hair of Dill. The childhood friends looked at each other for a moment before they both simultaneously touched the dark red comm-clasps on their ears. Their faces lit up with a rapid sense of alertness. Prism crossed his arms and waited to learn what the two of them were hearing.

  "Your security clearance has been restored. Commander Finisome and Commander Ursun are ready to receive you in Mission Prep Room 4." Dy said dryly.

  "I guess I won't be needing my two shadows anymore." Prism smiled at the security officers.

  "Don't be a stranger." Dill said with a smile of his own.

  ***

  "It looks like everyone is here."

  Finisome stood at the front of the large lecture hall known as Mission Prep Room 4, his eyes roving across the scattered group that was seated throughout the room. His brother stood beside him, stoically awaiting the beginning of the mission briefing. It was easy to see how they were both similar and different as they stood side-by-side.

  Finisome's side-parted, wavy red hair was the same color as Ursun's thick goatee. They both had strong-featured faces and chiseled jawlines. But while Ursun's face had plenty of pink scars, Finisome's face merely had a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. Ursun clearly looked older than his younger brother, being taller and bulkier. Their lifelong interest in physical fitness had made them well-muscled and imposing. Both had an air of authority about them, which they wielded appropriately.

  "Let's begin." Finisome said.

  Ursun clicked a small device in his hand, triggering the large black wall behind him to light up with the image of the Sguvan continent. The landmass looked like an upside-down maple leaf, with its vein-like rivers and large peninsulas. At its center sat the Adagadis, an alpine range that contained the highest mountains on ?ba.

  "As all of you know, the Sguvan Civil War has been an ongoing crisis for the past six months. Singular Gusa Sela's government forces have been fighting against the True Twins Gospel, the nation’s rebel army. The True Twins have held their own for the most part, using guerilla tactics and spies within the Sguvan military." Ursun explained.

  “The singular has been getting more direct support from the Kingdom lately, in the form of plasma soldiers, forest-leveling equipment, and scanning devices that can pierce through the Viga’s dense vegetation. This will likely turn the course of the war on Gusa’s side if we don’t intervene.” Finisome said.

  Prism had seen the wild and demented speeches broadcast across Sguvi by their theocratic leader, Gusa Sela. The small, skinny man would yell into a camera each week, going on inflammatory screeds about the Conjunction and his commitment to its destruction. "The Thundering Theocrat", as he was deridingly called in the Conjunction, promised his people that he would bring the truth of the Queen's divinity to the godless heathens of the world, even if it meant exterminating the nonbelievers. Lately, however, his polemics were directed at the “Conjunction-backed heretics” who were spreading a “false gospel” across Sguvi.

  "Our allies within the True Twins have asked us to stay out of their nation and out of the conflict for a number of reasons; one being that our planes would be shot down immediately upon entering their borders. We created a plan to avoid being detected by the Sguvan military's anti-air tech, but the True Twins still refused our help." Ursun said, speaking so loudly and clearly that he didn't need the audio system installed in the room.

  "A few days ago, I received an encoded message on a datastore disguised as an apple from a Sguvan merchant ship that had entered Wolf City's docks." Finisome started to speak just as powerfully as his brother. "The message was from a prominent member of the True Twins, a man known as Wadaw."

  Ursun clicked his remote again, causing the screen to display a simple white line running through the middle of a black background. As audio started to play, the line became a real-time audio spectrogram.

  "Hello, old friends. Though my voice may be distorted, and my face hidden from you, I am sure you will remember the games that we once played together." The heavily-warped male voice intrigued the mercenaries in the hall who sat and listened to it. "My name is Wadaw. I represent the interests of the True Twins Gospel, warriors of truth who deny the false teachings of the Monarchist-Eizavobists and their false-god, the Queen. We have been fighting tirelessly to rid this holy nation, first-touched by Eizavoba, of its heretics. We have finally rid enough of the western coast of our enemies to allow you, our greatest allies, to aid us in battle. The coordinates of this safe zone are encoded within this message, as is the method in which to tell us that you are on your way here. I am looking forward to having a few Red Wolves to fight alongside."

  When the message ended, Prism looked around at the teammates seated near him to gauge their reactions. Other than Lorias, who seemed uninterested in what he'd heard, Srell and Leanna both appeared excited by the prospect of finally getting involved in the civil war happening across the Eizic Ocean.

  Two other groups sat to either side of the center section of tablet-chairs that RED-1 sat within. The group on their left was composed of four women, while the group on their right consisted of four men. Prism knew the men to be from RED-2, and the women to all belong to RED-4. He’d had a few interactions with the all-male RED-2 team, but not with the all-female RED-4 team.

  "RED-1 will depart for Sguvi at 0500 hours. Preparations have already been made for our arrival, and our pilots know where to safely enter the nation." Ursun said to his team.

  "Prism will spend his first few days in Sguvi creating a tele-circle to connect to our own in the Auxiliary. RED-2 and RED-4 will then utilize the tele-circles to transport themselves and additional gear to Sguvi."

  Finisome's orders caused a few of the RED team mercenaries to shift uncomfortably in their seats. Though most of them had utilized the tele-circles to travel to Disdüt and mainland Etrysia, some members of RED-2 and RED-4 had yet to experience the instantaneous form of transit.

  “Once there, RED-2 and RED-4 will assist the True Twins. RED-2 will run a split operation to RED-1, as directed by Wadaw. RED-4 will provide logistical support and improve base fortifications to protect the tele-circle.” Ursun explained as the screen above and behind him showed the flight path of the Titian over the ocean. The graphic then showed a general area where the ship would be landing, within a section of rainforest over 100 kilometers from the western coastline. "We expect to meet heavy enemy forces around the True Twins base. One of our first major goals after landing will be to clear the area of Sguvan military influence to secure a launching point for invading Sguvi's capital, Zazi. Once in Zazi, we’ll aid the True Twins in subduing Singular Gusa Sela and his government for good."

  "Diving right into it, aren't we?" A loud man with massive muscles shouted to Ursun from a seat not far from Prism's. Prism knew him as Major Ruzuda Nuato, leader of RED-2.

  "That's how we tend to do things around here, Ruz. If you could spend even five minutes without being drunk, maybe you'd know." Ursun yelled back. The commander had a mischievous sort-of smile that Prism wasn't used to seeing on his tough face.

  "You're just jealous, you tight-assed tyrant." Ruz yelled while imitating a backhanded slap in Ursun's direction.

  The insult made Prism do a double-take at Ruz, who smiled big and wide at Ursun while twirling his neck-length brown hair around in his finger.

  "Save that kind of talk for your men. This is an ass you’d best take your mind off of." Ursun yelled back, still with the troublemaker smirk on his lips.

  Ruz made a kissy face at Ursun, causing the commander to shake his head and fold his arms across his chest with a slight smirk. Prism thought that Ruz's blockish, brutish face looked absurd making such a cutesy expression. Even stranger to Prism was how the four men sitting around Ruz remained quiet through the exchange, seemingly disinterested in the entire affair. Everyone else in the room either laughed or smiled.

  "If the two of you are done, I'd like to open this briefing up to questions." Finisome said soberly, instantly bringing a sense of normalcy back to the lecture hall.