Illuzo's corporeal form flew toward the surface from the bottom of the ocean. He considered draining the spiritia from all the life forms he passed but felt it would be better to maintain a low profile. Illuzo was worried that the Protoculture had spread to this small sanctuary he had found for himself.
"How long has it been..." Illuzo let his thoughts trail off when he silently broke through the water's surface. Over his head, many unfamiliar variable fighters screamed past.
"Those annoying things are here, but the lifeforms inside of them feel weaker. I need to investigate more."
Illuzo saw the cluster of variable fighters split up.
"Hmm... eeny meany miney moe... this is the way Illuzo will go!"
Illuzo cackled, thinking he was clever at rhyming while pursuing a group of fighters.
__________
Dirk sighed at the results of the "friendly" joint exercises. After winning against Rayelle's group, they lost the next and just barely beat the last group.
Louis should have been in an excellent mood as his squad won every match, but every other team, except for Dirk's, lost most of the time. He would have to reevaluate their training regimen.
Rayelle and her group were feeling good overall despite losing to Dirk, Helena, and Alek initially.
Rayelle was in such a good mood that Adam wasn't sure what to make of it and asked, "I know we did good, but it wasn't THAT good."
"I'm in a good mood because of him, you should know why!" Rayelle said wistfully.
"His tone wasn't steady, his pitch was off, and he doesn't sing it how y... how Miss Rayven sings it."
"I know Miss Rayven doesn't like the way she herself sings sometimes. What's your point?" Rayelle hated talking about herself indirectly like this, but it was better than drawing attention to herself. She did feel a little bad that the fame of Night Ravens mostly applied to her when the band had four members, but she was the frontwoman after all.
"No point... just saying..." Adam trailed off with his words. He knew he didn't have a point, but for some reason, he felt a little jealous when Rayelle became excited over Dirk's singing. Adam never considered Rayelle a romantic interest, more like a sister he must protect.
"I know, but I think you'll change your mind later. Should be about time to head back."
"It was nice flying with you, hope to fly with you again," Helena said politely to Rayelle, Adam, and Martin.
"You have good wingmen. Stay safe," Adam said politely.
"Hey, Dirk! I can get you tickets to any Night Raven concert! Just send me a comm!" Rayelle said enthusiastically.
"Hell yeah!" Dirk exclaimed. "I'd be your servant for a weekend if I got front row!"
"Interesting..." Rayelle said with a crooked grin on her face.
Dirk wasn't sure why a chill suddenly went down his spine, but he felt like he might've made a deal with the devil.
__________
The pilots quickly assembled in their squadrons and returned to their respective fleets.
On the bridge of Battle 8, General Ricardo Maddox slammed a fist on his console.
The crew on the bridge jumped in surprise.
The first wing disappointed General Maddox greatly, but he did admit his grandson performed exceptionally well. His granddaughter performed so average that he was confident she was doing it on purpose.
"Captain Maddox's squad will get VF-25s, but the others will have to wait. Should we restructure them? No, not all of them. I'll talk to the squad leaders privately," General Maddox said to himself.
The crew on the bridge ignored General Maddox while he talked to himself. They knew he was still sane, but he tended to think out loud. It was also well-known that he never indulged his grandchildren and expected more from them than the rest.
General Maddox watched the 24 VF-171s return to Battle 8 and couldn't decide if he should get angry or get very angry. While it was just a joint exercise, he loathed the smug face General Adra Jeanne would make later from her pilots overwhelming his.
__________
Illuzo followed the 24 variable fighters and was surprised to see a ship that resembled a Protoculture Destroyer but looked more advanced than the ones he remembered.
"Two small fleets are around Illuzo's home!" Illuzo thought after feeling a similar amount of energy from the opposite side of Planet Aquillane.
He desired to harvest all of their spiritia for himself, but he was worried that he would be discovered if he acted rashly. Illuzo recalled the last stand he and his Protodeviln brothers and sisters had before being sealed in a frozen planet. He pretended to have his main body vaporized and then sealed himself after retreating to this tiny planet.
"It was the right decision. I was the brains and knew to hide!" Illuzo convinced himself he was right.
Illuzo flew closer to Battle 8 and followed the variable fighters' route. He could stay invisible and spy for as long as his spiritia didn't run out. Reaching a large meeting area, he saw several small beings resembling the ancient green soldier race and ones resembling Protoculture, but smaller.
Listening in, he realized he could understand their language since he had learned the language of the Protoculture long ago. "They must be the children of the Protoculture, are the green ones tiny Zentradi?" Illuzo thought.
Illuzo moved closer to the larger Zentradi in a white uniform who was yelling at the other lifeforms.
"This one must be their leader." Illuzo thought, "I remember they fear us naturally and go berserk when we are around."
Illuzo watched as the one the lifeforms started referring to as General became enraged as he floated closer.
"It still works! So it's true! They are green warriors, just small!"
Illuzo felt his body grow weaker and knew he couldn't maintain his invisibility much longer.
"Lucky for you, Illuzo is through! I need more spiritia!" Illuzo cackled, thinking he had made another clever rhyme, then flew off towards City 8, which was overflowing with spiritia for himself.
__________
In the debriefing room, Dirk had to admit that General Maddox was in excellent form. Dirk wanted to laugh when the General's face went from green to red, then to purple. While it wasn't unheard of for the General to yell at them, it felt a little more heated this time.
Dirk glanced at Louis and was also surprised to see his Zentradi friend holding back anger as well. Thankfully he knew the General was wrapping up the debriefing when his anger abated.
"Captain Louis Maddox, Captain Helena Stark, please come to my office later, everyone else, dismissed!"
Dirk and everyone else made a quick escape back to their quarters.
Dirk had already forgotten the tongue-lashing and was thinking about band practice instead. A deep growl came from Dirk's abdomen, and he remembered he had missed breakfast.
"Alek, go ahead without me, I'm stopping by the mess hall first."
Alek nodded and followed the rest of the male pilots to their quarters.
Dirk walked into the mess hall and saw only a handful of fellow officers eating. He didn't recognize anyone, so he grabbed a tray and helped himself to whatever was the meal of the day.
"It's missing something as usual," Dirk said to himself.
He pulled out a small shaker from his vest and started dousing the meat in the contents.
"Habanero pepper flakes, curry powder, chili powder, and garlic powder... It looks like I'll need to make some more soon," Dirk thought out loud.
As soon as he sat down, he felt a familiar arm coil around his own, then a head rested on his shoulder, "What're you doing Elise..." Dirk asked without making eye contact.
"Just the usual, it was a rough day after all." Elise said casually. Her side ponytail flapped Dirk in the face when she sat up.
"No other friends to eat with?" Dirk asked.
"Come on sweetie, you know I'm not good with other girls." Elise removed her arm from Dirk's, slid out of her seat, then sat across from him with her own tray of food.
Dirk shrugged and said, "Maybe you shouldn't do things that lead to misunderstandings. You only reinforce what they think is the truth." then he stabbed a piece of his meat and took a bite.
"I am who I am, accept me or reject me, but don't try to change me."
Dirk shrugged and said, "I know you want out of the military, but what would you like to do instead?"
Elise pondered for a moment, then said, "First, I wanted to be a roadie, then a stylist, and then a dentist. Now a housewife."
Dirk rolled his eyes at Elise and couldn't decide if she would be scarier as a housewife or a dentist. Regardless, he didn't get a straight answer from her again. Dirk pulled out his seasoning again when it didn't feel like enough.
Elise watched in fascination as Dirk put more of his special seasoning on his meal. She recalled a time when she made the mistake of trying it once and felt like she tasted lava.
"Your tongue must be made of steel," Elise said seductively.
"Stop saying crap like that!" Dirk said while blushing.
"I was talking about your spicy suicide seasoning. Now look who's misunderstanding who."
Dirk couldn't stand this woman sometimes.