“Specialist West,” A familiar voice said when Dave finally returned to his cabin that night, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Sitting at the small desk in his room was none other than Frederick Barca. Why the head of the Aegis Corps would be visiting him this late in the night, he had no clue. Left with no other options, he would assume that it was for something bad.

“Sir, may I ask why you are in my room?” He replied, choosing his words carefully so that he didn’t confess to something he didn’t know about.

“Because the floor in the hallway was uncomfortable and undignified. Not to mention that when you are friends with Harrison or Sarath, doors tend to open themselves.”

Noted. Dave thought, filing the remark away for future use. “That makes more than a little sense. If I had those kinds of friends, I woulda done the same. How can I help you Sir?”

The specialist felt that he knew what was coming, but he’d learned to expect the unexpected from the Unranked Officers.

“You should already know that Specialist. I am here to talk about the enhancement module that you and your squad will be testing. You know, the one you liberated from the vault.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Good. Please sit.” He said, motioning to the bed.

As he did, the Unranked Officer raised a hand as if to grab something out of a closet. “Would you like an ale? I craft it myself.”

More than a little confused, the Specialist shrugged in reply as Barca’s hand took on the telltale appearance of someone entering a gate. However, instead of the entire body being transported, only his hand and forearm shattered into Light.

“You’ll have to forgive me, I had a few friends over last night. Finding things blind is hard enough without being several thousand lightyears away.” He explained cryptically as his arm reformed with a frosted tankard in hand. Handing the drink to Dave, the Officer repeated the process before sitting back in a relaxed posture. “Taste that sucker and tell me it’s not the best damned drink you’ve ever had.”

Taking a deep pull, Dave was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the ale and the rich flavors it held. “What is this flavor? I don’t recognize it.”

“It’s a berry that I found on my planet. It is almost like a cross between a blackberry and honey, but without the actual honey.”

“It’s amazing!”

“I should’ve gotten then mead… Next time I see you I’ll have a batch made from something that is so close to honey, I just call it that.”

“You make all your own drinks?” He asked incredulously after taking another deep pull on the drink. Unlike Jack, Dave could hold his booze with little issue.

“What else was I supposed to do for a thousand years, knit?”

“I suppose you have a point.” He said, placing his now empty glass back on the table.

Draining the drink and putting his own empty container next to Dave’s he said, “Well Spec… I didn’t come here tonight just to drink and shoot the bull with you. I mean, if you want another round after we talk, fine by me, but that isn’t the main focus of tonight.

“You are about to start using a piece of tech that I know very little about. In fact, all I can say about it is that I made some educated guesses.”

“Ok…”

“You see, the enhancement module project was cancelled quite some time ago, and for good reason. Frankly, we don’t need a bunch of people with my level of power going off half cocked on a mission. Not only would you probably get your team killed, but getting a soldier to think about the after effects of something like this is damned near impossible.

“What the module will do is inject a special version of the serum that has a half life of two hours. If it were any more stable, you would end up an immortal mess that makes beer every day for a millennium just so that you would have something to do.”

“So, I could be you?”

“Maybe?” Barca said with a shrug, shattering his hand and mug again and reforming it with another full tankard. “That’s part of the issue, isn’t it? When we tested the damned thing out, we ended up with people that would either get burned out completely or go insane. I don’t think that will be the case here, especially with Theresa making each batch by hand, but it is one of the risks.”

“And the other risks?”

“Oh, nothing too crazy. Addiction, withdrawals, that kind of thing.”

“Oh, so nothing that will cause me issues down the line then?” Dave rolled his eyes, the way the Unranked Officer spoke left him feeling like he was just hanging out with a friend rather than the head of his corps.

“Exactly. We can break an addiction, we cant bring you back if the mixture is to volatile… I mean, we can… but you’ll be a Cast.”

“What are the other drawbacks?”

“Well, the test subject we had the most success with lost his ability to shape light for three days after everything wore off. But for those three hours, he was able to use Aegis light almost as well as me.”

“So in the field I will need to time this perfectly.”

“That’s a given.”

“I’m still down with it. I can’t let my team down just because I was afraid to try something.”

“I thought you’d say that. Frankly it’s the reason I’m in your room instead of meeting you at a bar or something. West, if this works out, you will have helped created the ‘oh-crap’ button the AHF has always needed.”

The room fell quiet, the two men simply waiting for the other to make the next move. What the Officer said was on the nose, and he knew it. There was no doubt in Frederick’s mind that the young Soldier would continue down this path regardless of what was said to turn him away. Seeing that nothing else was coming, the large man stood, took a deep pull from his drink, and walked to the door.

“Officer Barca?” Dave asked right as the man was leaving, “If this works, what is the future of my squad… or better yet the AHF as a whole?”

He stood still for a moment, mulling over the answer before finally giving it, “Well, in a perfect universe I would be able to outfit the entire Aegis Corps with these modules in order to better protect everyone. Unfortunately, I know all to well the issues that granting more power can give. More than likely, Theresa will end up making a solution for the other members of your squad and ask them to enter the testing phase as well.”

“What about Jack?”

“What about him?”

“He had that second dose in training. Would that push him past his limits?”

“Possible. But that would be why I would place him at the tail end of the experiment, and even then, I may choose not to involve him at all. Just how strong is your squad leader?” Sitting back in the chair and pulling another drink for Dave out of nothingness.

“He stole the vision from a girl back on Algol.”

“Taking a few colors isn’t so unusual.”

“No Sir, I mean all of it. Completely blind for a good two or three minutes.” He replied, taking the drink, and holding it in his hands. “Not only that, but he seems to be able to hold a lot of those threads he is always talking about.”

“That one is indeed strange then. Again, I would have to evaluate him… No, better yet, Albert will have to evaluate him and decide if he is eligible for the project. I’m not going to overstep y own authority here.”

Standing again from the chair and walking to the door, “Take tonight to think about things, West. I suspect that your company will be off the mission roster for a while. You have too many wounded to go out. Colonel Moran wouldn’t endanger you without good reason, and none of the upcoming movements would be considered a good reason.”

Still holding his tankard, the Unranked Officer walked out of the cabin. The cold steel door whispering closed behind him and leaving Dave with only the company of his thoughts.

This crap will be the end of me. Nessa thought as she hobbled down the hallway to her cabin supported by Warren and Thea on either side. I’d be surprised if I’m ever able to fight like myself again.

“Ness, you really need to learn your limit. I’m tired of carrying you back to your room when you get a bit too…” Warren said, the unbroken stream of words going unbroken since leaving the pub. This was no different from his normal amount of babble, but when he had even a single drink it was so much more annoying.

“Piss off.” She interrupted, “I’m Irish and I’ll…”

“Drink however much you damned well please. Look, I’ve heard it a thousand times if I’ve heard it once.” He cut in, “But there is not one damned thing you can say that will make me think this is your normal, because I know you better than that.”

“It’s the leg.” Thea said, quietly reminding the others that she was there.

“Not you too. Let’s just get me back to the cabin where I can sleep it off. Then I will get my interface in the morning.”

“I know it’s bothering you. A whole lot more than you’re letting on as well.” Warren said, turning the corner and beginning the short trek to her cabin.

“And it’s going to keep eating at me until the day that I either die to an enemies’ weapon, or master this thing, whichever comes first.”

“Nessa, it is functionally the same as your real one. In fact, it is probably better than your real one because it is stronger. Once that interface is live, it will be as if you never lost the leg in the first place.”

“Doubtful. That leg had scars, memories of what it meant to fail. It had more than a few marks where Father bested me in combat. I don’t have those now; I don’t have those memories or even the proof that I learned the lesson.” She spat, stopping outside her door and unlocking it with her HUD.

As the door slid open, Nessa stumbled inside, cursing the leg that just wouldn’t do what it was told. The thought that her loss of motor control was only mental made her laugh. She was hard, harder than any of the other Soldiers in her squad.

Were they forced to practice the sword since the day they could walk? No. Did they train day in and day out, only taking breaks for academic studies? No. Were they punished by the blade when they made a mistake? No.

Her father was not a kind man. Hell, he wasn’t even a good man. The only reason she even knew Warren was from that school she’d attended to fulfil the governments academic requirement. Other than that, she’d been so sheltered that she didn’t even truly understand the world on the outside of her compound.

She still remembered his funeral. It was funny because the bastard hadn’t even died by the blade that he so adored. The only thing that would’ve made his death better in her eyes would’ve been if he had died in a painful or embarrassing way. But no, the man had to die peacefully in his bed. Only to be found when he was late to morning practice.

It hurt her, but there were more than a few days when she wished he would’ve fallen to her blade. It wasn’t right that she only had one real friend before Spier squad. It wasn’t right that it took someone outside of her family to teach her that life wasn’t always about the next battle.

“I’m sorry.” She said, turning to her friends in the doorway, “You didn’t deserve that. I’m just in a dark place with everything going on.”

“I know.” Warren said, stepping into the room and unbuttoning his sleeves. “That’s why Thea and I will be staying with you tonight. I didn’t let you sleep alone when your dad died, I won’t do it today. You will, won’t you Thea?”

“Of course. I’m the team healer. That means taking care of the physical wounds during battle, and the mental ones after.” She said, stepping inside and tapping the button to close the portal. “But, you better not be using this time to get a look at me in my skivvies.”

“Please, you don’t have the parts that make me feel tingly. Sorry to disappoint. Also, I call bed with Ness!” He said peeling off his shirt and climbing into the bed in a matter of seconds. “She keeps the extra mattress under the bunk.”

“You really don’t have to do this.” Nessa said, hoping that they remained as stubborn as always, “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“So you can wallow in self-pity? Nope. We are going to get cozy in this little bity cabin and talk about all the things that make us happy. None of this shit about your dad, your leg, or how you have to prove yourself to everyone you meet.”

“He’s right you know.” Thea laughed, “I want to hear about who your dating… and if you don’t have anyone, why the hell not?”

“Well, for one thing we have been working for the last two years.” Nessa said, pulling off her cloths and sliding into the bed, “And for another, I’ve just been… busy.”

“You’re not busy all the time. We have more than enough time off when we are not out on a mission. You and I both know that for a fact. So, what is it? Boys? Girls? Steel Cast’s r either gender?” Thea prodded as she got ready for bed as well.

“I’m not really sure. I’ve never really taken the time to think about something so… frivolous.” She replied a little sheepishly.

“You don’t know what you like? What do you do on your time off?”

“Mostly, she just looks at swords and stuff. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve caught her studying old martial arts videos.” Warren piped up.

“I’m just not comfortable around anyone in that way. I don’t really like anyone to touch me unless I’ve known them for so long, he may as well be my brother.” Nessa replied, elbowing Warren for giving up her secret.

“Well, I think we need to talk about your ability to relax girl. So, I’m ordering some pizza to your room right now and we are going to have a good long heart to heart.”

As much as Nessa wanted to argue, there was really nothing to say against what was being done for her. These people cared about her more than she’d given then a reason to, and she very much enjoyed it.

“Make sure to get some kind of desert as well.” She replied, sitting up. It was going to be a long night, whether she liked it or not.