Brewing Storm

"It's been two years huh~"

The person sighed as he looked towards the window.

There, he saw a lone landship trudging through the great barren lands.

The massive hunk of metal had been his home since he left his country but this will be the first time he'll be going home again after years on his post.

Was it excitement he felt or anxiety? He was not sure.

Though he had been away, the communication with the main landship was never severed so every news and happenings during the past years had reached his ears.

Their victories, their defeats, the things they've gain, the things they've lost. Those who joined them in their journey—and those who they lost along the way.

[Will they remember me if I'm the one to die?]

A passing thought crossed his mind.

He smiled.

"Sir? Sir Minor? Miiinnnnoorrr~"

"Hmm? What is it, Landscape?"

"Hehe~" The one who called out to him smiled. "Nothing important, just saw you spacing out for quite a while now and thought to call you out."

"Is that so."

"Yes, so!" The girl, Operator Landscape replied, sinking back to her seat.

"Let's see...I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, I guess."

"I mean, it's been too long since you've come back to the landship after all."

"Indeed."

A little bit more and they will be landing on the Rhodes Island landship.

She herself had been there before.

Not too long ago, she was training along with other aspiring operators and out of what she believed to be 'the fruit of her hard work', she was one of the few who managed to pass.

[It was a pain.] She thought, yet a smile formed on her face once more.

Perhaps, it wasn't that bad after all.

"We'll be landing in a few moments." The pilot said, looking at them from the cockpit to which Minor nodded.

"It's about time huh." Minor said before moving his gaze towards his subordinate. "Operator Landscape,"

"Yes, sir?"

"Mind if I let you handle those 'important packages'?"

"Okkiiee~!" The operator enthusiastically replied.

~>_<~< p>

Upon arrival, the two of them split up to perform their tasks. Landscape to deliver some 'important packages' while Minor is to report to the Medical Department and to the Logistics Department afterwards.

Minor took his time walking through the familiar corridors, stopping in his tracks from time to time, reminiscing the last time he had been here.

"..."

Just in front of him, he saw a minos woman holding a tray of biscuits and behind her, a perro giddily followed.

Seeing the prosthetic leg, Minor remembered who the minos woman was—it was operator Vulcan.

Minor gave a nod to which Vulcan returned a nod but seemingly out of confusion.

[Right, she didn't know it was me.]

He is wearing a visor after all. Minor walked away feeling a bit of embarrassment and wondering whether he ought to give her a visit afterwards.

Operator Vulcan seemed to vaguely remember him as well as she looks back, trying to figure out who the person was, but not until the perro beside her tried to snatch a biscuit from the tray.

"Kay, these ones are for the kids, okay?"

"Can I have just one bite?"

"Later when we're back in the workshop, okay? I'll make you plenty of honey biscuits."

"Mm~ Okay!!!" The perro—Operator Ceobe happily replied.

Going back to Minor.

After a short walk, a group of young people ran past him. On their arm, the band of medic was secured with a safety pin which let him know that they were definitely on their way to the medical ward.

"..."

Furthermore steps, he came across another group of young people running in a hurry, their faces seemed to be a bit grim.

[They must be newcomers running late for instructor Dobermann's class.] He thought as he remembered the countless times he had been scolded by her for many reasons he could remember.

Everyone is busy as always.

More memories of his earlier days bubbled up to his mind as he took a left turn to another corridor. Under his mask, his lips gradually formed to a crescent once more.

"Oh..."

But, as quick as it appeared, it gradually reverts back to a flat line. He looked down and stopped in his tracks.

[…that did happen as well.]

Suddenly, there was a dark blotch that appeared in his memory, gradually covering all the other memories he cherished.

Before he gets swallowed by his emotions, he forced a foot forward and then the other until he's finally walking forward once more.

"You there."

"..."

Suddenly, a coquettish voice called out to him. He looked back and saw a familiar face.

"Heh~ You give a whole new different vibe, did you lost your will to die or something?" The woman walked towards him, sizing him up with her crimson eyes. She then leans towards him and then jabs a finger to his chest, continuously poking him.

"Hey, why aren't you talking?"

Minor looked away.

"Hahaha~ Who knows..." He slid a hand to cover his chest, he could already feel her nails about to bore a hole on his coat.

"How boring." The woman gave out sigh of disappointment before she continued. "That old hag, the Doctor...and now even you."

"Ahahaha~ I wonder what that means." Minor only replied.

"Well whatever." Finally, the woman retracted her hand and straightened her posture. "I'll be heading out before that old hag adds more to my work, see yah whenever or something."

The woman waved a hand as she trailed off. Minor turned his heels and continued walking.

"...ouch." That's the word he held in for the duration of their conversation.

~>_<~< p>

"So that's that. All right, I'll hand over the report to Amiya later." The director said as he finished confirming the details inside the envelope.

"Yes, please do." Minor stood from his chair, but then he remembered something. " Which reminds me, I saw operator Radian the other day at the Rhine Lab expedition outpost back in Columbia, is there an operation going on in there or something? They could've asked for our assistance though."

"Perhaps." The director seemingly forced out a smile. "But I doubt you'd be of assistance to them."

"Haha~" Minor produced a dry laugh while simultaneously scratching his head awkwardly. "Right."

After an awkward handshake, Minor quietly walks towards the doorway when suddenly a conversation entered his ears.

[Isn't he the one who almost got beaten to death by that child operator?]

[Not sure but I've heard that he's the only one who failed the examination for promotion to become an elite operator.]

[Sshhh~ he's looking our way. Did he hear us?]

Minor simply gave them a smile, not that they could see what's behind his mask and then meekly walked out of the room as he intended.

[It was all in the past.] Is what he chanted to himself internally.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, along with his thoughts before walking away.

Gradually, his steps grew lighter the farther he moves away from that room.

After all, there was a place he had been meaning to check since he arrived, a place so special that he nearly put his duties aside just to prioritize it but not until he was nagged by his subordinate.

The face of Landscape entered his mind.

[I'll have her work overtime once we get back.]

Minor thought as he walked.

After a few minutes, he had finally reached the place he had in mind. He was about to swipe his ID card but then he hesitated and decided to take a peek first. On the other side of the glass partition, he could see 'them' paying a close attention to a Rhodes Island staff.

This is one of Rhodes Island recreation rooms dedicated to children undergoing treatment for their oripathy. The one monitoring the children seemed to have noticed Minor as she smiled, flashing three fingers to him.

[Three minutes. Got it.]

Minor returned a nod and waits patiently outside.

As they say, time passes slower when you're waiting for something and so the three minutes felt like an hour for him. Minor can be seen pretending to scribble on the floor as if his mechanical pen is a stick and the floor is covered in sand.

After a while, the door slides open.

"Sir Minor, we're done with our class, you may now enter if you want!"

"Finally! Ah-I mean, I see." Minor's face was flushed in embarrassment, good thing he had his mask on. Or did she saw through it either way?

The Rhodes Island staff, a feline medic giggled as she gestured. "Come on in!"

After heaving a long breath, he entered the room. All eyes fall unto him...to be followed by a long silence until,

"...big brother Minor?" One of the children, cradling a stuffed toy caught sight of him and those words escaped her lips.

"Hey! Big bro's here!"

"..."

"Really?"

"You're right!"

"MIIINOOOOR!"

"Hrk!"

One of the children in the room gave a gleeful yell and charged at him, evoking a muffled groan from Minor. He remembers the forte girl's name, it is,

"Lea, I see you're as energetic as ever." Minor patted the girl's head who hugged him tightly while his other hand worked on his abdomen.

"Hehe~" Lea is all smiles from his compliment. Minor simply smiled down at her despite the pain.

He couldn't help but look at her horns, thinking that if those are a bit more mature, two holes would have been bored on his abdomen by now.

"Ah! No fair! I'll join as well!" He was yet to recover from the first impact but another one pounced at him from behind. Minor jerked forward but with all his strength, he managed to stand firm.

[!!?]

The girl, a young vulpo clung tightly to his coat but when she felt her hands slipping, she reached out for his neck and is now clinging to Minor as if performing a chokehold.

[Can't breath...]

Still, he didn't reprimand her but instead he bent his his body forward to lessen the weight on his neck. Now he's in an awkward position provoking a giggle from the feline medic who's watching them from a distance.

[A little help would be nice.] Minor thought.

"L-Lavi, I'm glad you've gained weight. It seems that you've been eating your vegetables now."

"Huh? big brother Minor can tell?" The vulpo girl, Lavi shuffled closer to his face. "I sure am!"

"I see. So you've been a good girl as well." With the pain on his abdomen subsided, Minor patted her head as well.

"Ehehe~ praise me more!"

"Yes, yes, good girl...hmm?"

Out of nowhere, a cold sensation embraced his leg. And, when he looked at it, a girl clung tightly to it. A pout rested on the girls face as she looked at him in a cold gaze.

If Minor remembered correctly, the cautus girl got a good control of her arts despite her young age.

"Hrrrmmm..." The girl grumbled, increasing the coldness on his legs.

Minor knew the danger of using one's arts without a proper arts staff so he gently parted his hand from the young forte's head and placed it to the young cautus girl's head—

*Rustle*…*Rustle* —and with every stroke the cold weakened until it was no more.

"Jia, using your arts is bad for your health you know?" Minor said in a gentle tone, not wanting to upset the child. "Can you promise me not to use it again? I'll give you a present If you do."

"...Present? The cautus girl's ears twitched. "...I want it." Her cold gaze is no more and her eyes are now sparkling.

"Then, do you promise not to use your arts?"

"Mm, mm!" Jia nodded in agreement.

"Present? Must've been nice..." Said a girl who quietly approached him with a finger on her lips.

Holding her vacant hand is another girl with similar facial features as the other. "Say big brother Minor, do we have presents as well?"

Their triangular ears suggest that they're felines. The first time Minor meet them, he had trouble telling the twins apart as they look exactly like each other, but as time passed Minor managed to distinguish them.

The meek looking one is Christine and the spunky looking one is Catherine.

Both of their heterochromatic eyes are sparkling as they looked at him with great anticipation.

"Fufufu." Minor produced such an onomatopoeic laugh. "Do you think big brother Minor will forget to bring you all presents?"

"Hooray!"

"Wait, really? Yey!"

"...!"

"Yipee!"

"Thank you very much, big brother Minor!"

A chorus of cheering resounded over the room, good thing the walls are soundproof, or else they might get scolded, Minor specifically.

That is when...

"WWAAHHHHH!!!" A loud cry echoed throughout the room. It came from none other than the girl who held a stuffed toy in her arms.

She is a very timid girl. She herself wanted to welcome Minor but with all the others surrounding him, she couldn't find an opening to approach him. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes, and now she is crying. She felt left out so to speak.

"There, there, Mary." The feline medic standing by immediately approached her, scooping her in her arms, and began working her hand on the girl's back.

But still, the girl continued crying.

This gave the feline medic the idea to hand her over to Minor.

"Take responsibility of her, okay?" The feline medic gave him a wink as she handed the girl over to him before disappearing behind a partition, taking a peek. And just as she predicted, the girl stopped crying.

"*sob*…welcome back big brother Minor."

"Thanks, Mary..." Just as he did with the others, Minor placed a hand over her head, giving her a head pat. The sarkaz girl's ears twitched with every stroke.

"Does Mary have a gift from big brother Minor as well?"

The soft-spoken girl asked, her eyes still swollen from crying.

"Of course you do!" Minor gave a look at all of them before he continued. "All of you have a gift from me but you'll find them in your rooms later."

Another cheering followed.

~>_<~< p>

After spending almost an hour playing with the children, it was time to depart once more, so even though they clung to his coat tightly, they eventually let go.

"I'll be visiting you all again soon, all of you be good kids okay?"

"Roger! Big brother Minor!"

"Bye big brother Minor!"

"...bye-bye..."

"Bye big brother Minor!"

"Bye big brother Minor..."

"B-Bye big brother Minor. Come home again soon!"

"Of course! That's a promise! I'll see you again soon."

Minor gave a final wave of his hand before turning around and walking out of the door. Now he felt accomplished. Both his duty and leisure time have come to an end so it's time for him to return.

"That was fun." he muttered unconsciously.

"They really love you, don't they?"

"Oh, Doctor, good to see you here."

Right when he was about to walk away, a familiar voice called out to him. It is the master tactician of Rhodes Island, the Doctor. Both of them wore masks over their face but they could tell the other is smiling.

"Done with your report?"

"Yes, and I'm about to return to my post as well. How about you Doctor?"

"I'm about to have a meeting with Kal'tsit and Amiya." The Doctor said in a soft voice. "Oh, but don't tell anyone I told you."

"Doctor you should practice more caution you know." Minor teased. "What if I'm a spy or something?"

"Wait, are you?"

"Of course not, Doctor."

"Of course, you aren't."

The two of them laughed.

"Good luck with your work out there, have a safe trip."

"Thanks, Doctor, good luck to you as well."

The two of them exchanged farewells and so both of them went on their separate ways.

"You look awfully happy, sir Minor, not that I can see your face. Did something happen?"

"You can tell?"

"Mm, your steps sounds lighter than usual."

"I see." Minor's smile further widens. "Is that so?"

"Yes so!"

It seems that Landscape herself was done with her task as she came bounding along from a corridor.

"Anyways, what are those gifts for?"

Minor didn't answer immediately. He gave it a thought before answering. "It's for the future, I guess."

~>_<~< p>

Within the confines of a conference room, four people sat around the circular table as they listened to a certain person.

To the speaker's right, sat a woman with a dispassionate expression. Beside her, was a feline, who's twirling her hair as she listened. On the opposite side, is a girl as pale as a ghost with a mean look in her eyes, listening with all seriousness. And among them, a person clad in black, from head toe can be seen.

"And that concludes operator Elysium's report regarding the incident at the Rhine Lab expedition outpost." The cautus girl finished explaining the intelligence they received.

*Yawn* That must've been the reason why the feline—Elite Operator Blaze gave a big stretch along with a yawn, which provoked an angry remark from the pale girl.

"Oi!" The pale girl chided. Though her frame is petite, she was actually much older than her appearance suggests.

"Now, now, Warfarin, don't be like that." But that didn't stop Blaze from putting a hand over her head *pon*…*pon*, and patting it. "Trust me I listened as much as you did."

"Hmpf!" Warfarin swatted her hand with such a dismissive grunt.

"Basically, they found something nice, they want to keep it for themselves but then bad guys appeared and rather than losing it entirely they let us in to help them take it back, simple as that!"

"F-Fair enough, I think," Amiya said, worried that a banter might occur, but then again, Dr. Kal'tsit is present, she sighed in relief.

"You might want to refer to it more than just 'something' you know."

"And why is that?"

"Hah~" Warfarin gave out a sigh. "What was that? Miss 'trust me I listened as much as you did'?"

"Ha!" Blaze stood from her chair, but then she saw Kal'tsit at the corner of her eyes.

She's busy discussing with Amiya but just her presence was enough to dissuade her from giving the vampire a noogie.

"Fine, I listened but didn't pay that much attention, now please elaborate miss Warfarin."

"Well, if you insist." Warfarin smiled in satisfaction.

"As stated in the reports, researchers from the Rhine Lab outpost had discovered an underground ecosystem during their expedition, well that was their initial report to us as part of our contract regarding our affairs in Columbia."

"And?" Blaze tilts her head quizzically.

"Oh, shut it." Warfarin said in annoyance before she continued. "But then that incident happened. An armed unit infiltrated the Rhine Lab outpost and stole a containment capsule so precious they won't even disclose us what's inside."

"Aaaand?"

"..." Warfarin can be seen grinding her teeth together. She's not that far from snapping off. "Whatever's inside that containment capsule, is much more valuable than our contract with them—stop it!"

"Oh c'mon..." Blaze tended to her hand which Warfarin swatted the second time she tried to put it on her head.

"Perhaps, they're thinking that they could still retrieve it on their own. That way they wouldn't have to share what's inside with us."

Finally, the Doctor joined in the conversation. He crossed his arms as he speculated. "But what could be inside of it?"

"Something that could synthesize and break down originum crystals."

The answer to the Doctor's question came from directly in front of them. Having done discussing with Amiya, Dr. Kal'tsit interjected while Amiya politely excused herself out of the room.

"Synthesize? Breakdown?" Warfarin mimed what she has said.

"Yes. Aside from Elysium's report, Raidian wrote a separate report to me stating that she had overheard some researchers at the outpost talking something about 'successful extraction' and 'pure originum extracts'."

"!" Warfarin stood from her chair, slamming both of her hands on the table. Her mouth was wide open but then it curled into an ominous grin.

She had been a researcher even before some of the nomadic cities of Terra had been constructed. Honed through eons, her medical expertise rivals that of Dr. Kal'tsit in the field of medicine so the moment she heard those words, her brain had already finished processing that information.

Oripathy, a terminal disease caused by originum. Once contracted, that certain individual's fate had already been sealed and would eventually succumb to his/her own death. But that wasn't the worst part of it.

Infected—that is what they call people who had contracted oripathy which creates a great rift between the infected and uninfected ones which eventually spirals down to discrimination, violence, and death.

An utter madness if one must describe it.

Theoretically speaking, removing the originum crystals from the body is possible but removing every single infected cell in the body is impossible.

"Hey what's up Warfa? Do you hate head pats that much? You're making a scary face." Blaze pulled away a bit from her. Normally, she would have been arguing with her by now.

"Those people...how mean of them to keep such valuable treasure all for themselves."

"But, that is just a speculation, a mere possibility out of the many possibilities out there." Dr. Kal'tsit spoke. She herself could understand Warfarin's enthusiasm. "Raidian wasn't sure if what she had heard relates to the stolen item so we'll have to see what's inside of the containment capsule first to confirm.

"Is it really that important?" Once more, Blaze inquired which was immediately answered by Warfarin.

"Listen here." She said, leaning closer towards Blaze enough to make her draw back. "If that thing inside that containment capsule is capable of synthesizing and breaking down originum crystals and is connected to Raidian's report of about 'successful extraction', then we could assume that they managed to extract originum from a patient."

"So?" Blaze tilts her head once more.

"THAT MEANS WE COULD CURE ORIPATHY!" Warfarin yowled.

Blaze's sky-blue eyes widen that instant. It was their long-sought goal and the reason why she wields her chainsaw. Not to simply fight for the infected but to end the madness by cutting it down from its roots.

"Then that's all you have to say!" This time, it was Blaze who stood from her chair and slammed her hands on the table. "Doctor, should we head out there and retrieve our treasure?"

"Agreed." The Doctor said after quietly listening to them. "But that wasn't for me to decide." His mask turns towards Kal'tsit.

"..." She didn't say anything.

[Ignored huh?] The Doctor thought to himself.

"Oh, and also is Raidian and her squad still in Columbia?" Blaze asked.

"No." This time, Dr. Kal'tsit responded. "They've been off to another mission as off the moment their report arrived."

"Then, who are the combat operators stationed in our branch in Columbia again?"

"No squads, I believe not a single experienced combat operator as well, most of them are logistics oriented if memory serves me right." It was Warfarin who answered. She usually gets her exotic samples and ingredients from their outpost in Columbia so she's confident that she knew their operators from there.

"Guess we really need to dispatch a squad over there."

"Hold on a second."

Blaze was about to ask for permission from Kal'tsit but then the Doctor spoke.

"I think we have someone qualified as experienced combat operator in there."

"And who would that be?" Blaze asked quizzically. If memory serves her right, all the senior operators, much more the elite operators she knows are currently on a mission so she was confused.

"...Minor, Operator Minor." His visage flashed on his mind. He remembered their abrupt meeting earlier.

"Minor? Minor? That codename does ring a bell." Blaze couldn't clearly remember where she had heard that code name before, but she's certain she had heard it before.

She have yet to find out that it is a code name that belongs to an operator who had failed his promotion—or at least that's how the rumors go.