Kaiser sat at the edge of a building with Robert and Kurt. They were watching Grim who was nudging his way through the destroyed building, moving debris. Kaiser raised his palm and shouted.
"Hey! Grim! When are you going to finish?!"
Grim flinched and turned back with an annoyed expression.
"It's been a minute since you got here! Shut up!" Grim scowled.
Grim continued the move debris. A few moments later, a single beast came crawling out of the rift as he revealed it more. The beast swung down at Grim, but he blocked it with his naginata with one hand. He locked eyes with the beast, pushing the beast's hand away. He jumped and pierced the beast's heart. The monster howled before its body went limp.
He continued cleaning the scene and eventually the fragment was fully revealed. Chaos beasts started the crawl out of the rift as Grim backed away. Robert's eyes gleamed and he created a magic circle in thin air. He finished it and waved it away. The circle attached itself onto the rift. The chaos fragment shook for a moment before calming down. Then, it disappeared.
Kaiser stood up with a groan as the beasts exploded, covering the destroyed building with blood and bones. Grim moved away from the battlefield, approaching the others. Then, as Kaiser stood on the edge, he said in a calm tone.
"Let's move to the last one, now."
***
After sealing off the last fragment, the Apex force drove back to the AEOC special ops division HQ. They headed inside and immediately went to the napping lounge. The room had green walls, tile floors, two couches parallel to each other, a table in the middle and bookshelves at the back. Kaiser and company sat down and slumped into soft couches. Behind them 3 sleeping pods were on parallel sides.
"Great job, guys!" Kaiser said with a grin.
"Yeah – yeah, it was a beta class fragment. It's not something special." Grim replied.
"Yeah, it was quite easy." Kurt said while lying on one of the sleeping pods.
"Lisa? You good?" Kaiser asked while turning his head.
Lisa didn't respond as she was already sound asleep in a pod. She made light snores and mumbled while sleeping. Eventually, she rolled over into a more comfortable position.
"Wake me up…when it's delta class…" Lisa mumbled in her sleep.
Kaiser scowled and looked away, putting his arms behind his back. He let his body rest as a feeling of freshness overcame him. He felt his body loosen up as he sunk into the bed.
***
Arthur got the notification of the successful containment of the 4 beta class chaos fragments. He let out a heavy sigh and stood up. He patted his clothes and walked towards door. He exited his office and closed the door. He walked down the hallway and arrived at a metal door, surrounded by the enforcers. They greeted Arthur with a salute. Arthur pulled his id from his pocket and handed it to the guards.
After confirming his identity, they opened the door. Arthur saw a long staircase that led downwards into the deep darkness. Every few seconds, he saw flashes of blue light come from a corner of the stairs. He descended the stairs, each step echoing in the dark and he arrived at the control room. Each side of the room was lit up with big screens with time zones, clocks, energy readings, and seismographs.
There were a load of scientists wearing lab coats sitting at those monitors, constantly switching tabs and checking readings. Then, an old man wearing the same coat as those scientists approached him. He had receding grey hair; dark eyes, a mustache and wore glasses. Arthur shook hands with him and spoke.
"Good afternoon, Professor Sterling."
"Good afternoon, lieutenant general. What brings you hear today?" Sterling smiled.
"Nothing much…I just wanted to see what you were up to…" Arthur replied.
"Ha – Ha! Is it about my retirement?" Sterling asked.
"No…I already knew about it…It sad seeing such a great professor such as yourself step down…" Arthur paused as if remembering something and then said to the professor.
"Right, your retirement has been postponed due to the expedition postponement, hasn't it?"
Sterling chuckled and answered Arthur's question.
"Right, that much is correct…I want to go on one last adventure before my career's end. Then, the expedition to the forbidden continent has been a blessing for me."
"Other than that, Have the higher ups figured out who will take your position?" Arthur questioned, shrugging off Sterling's reply.
"My position? Well…I have a few candidates including my own son…but I suppose only the best can take this job. One mistake and thousands of lives will be lost. It's scary to think such no…One mistake and everyone's dead." Sterling coughed and said in a hoarse tone.
"Even with chaos theory that describes some of Chaos's attributes. We still cannot predict it. It's a heavy responsibility to make sure lives are not lost but well I've done what I could do and that's all that matters."
As Sterling finished speaking, Arthur smiled and asked Sterling in a friendly tone.
"We will host party for your retirement no matter what. We can have the apex force take care of the fragments."
He locked eyes with the professor.
"It's good to let go occasionally. Too much pressure and even a flexible heart would be broken."
"It's good that you understand that much after all I've taught you at the Stratos academy." Sterling laughed, patting Arthur on the back.
"Maybe we can have it here or at a restaurant of your choosing. It's your retirement after all we could host a party anywhere, Professor." Arthur said.
"Thank you. Let's make it a great day." Sterling replied.
Arthur smiled as he looked at the countless readings on the screen. He suddenly remembered something he had to talk about with Kaiser, and he said to Professor Sterling.
"I'd better go and have a talk with Sir Kaiser. I have something important to discuss with him."
Sterling nodded and replied in a hoarse voice.
"Go on then. Don't dilly dally over here."
***
Arthur exited the control room being saluted by the two guards. He made his way to the lobby. Some Enforces noticed him and saluted him. They stood at attention and greeted him loudly.
"Greetings, Lieutenant General!"
Arthur waved at them and marched towards the other hallway. He made it to the door of the napping lounge. He opened the door and saw Lisa and Kurt in the pods while the rest were chatting.
"Hello, Sir Kiaser." Arthur greeted.
"Yo! Arthur, What's up? Come on, sit down." Kaiser exclaimed.
Arthur sat down and after looking at Robert and Grim, announced in a solemn tone.
"I wanted to talk about the…chaos fragments that have opened recently."
Robert coughed and said in a steady tone.
"I hear you. They have been strange but last delta class was 3 months ago and…the one that happened in Kharagen…I apologize for mentioning it."
"No – No…its okay." Arthur sighed.
"We need more evidence that to say that these fragments were stronger." Grim added.