He didn't intend for his stunt to go so well.
In the darkness he lurked, behind a pillar towards the opposite end of the station.
He was near an unfinished industrial staircase; it would've allowed for commuters to safely switch between the three platforms once completed.
As the moon shifted, so did Cassidy, leveraging the absence of light to advance.
"So... he is Professor Phosus..." he concluded.
He had his prior suspicions, especially after being subjected to his cold stares.
It was quite amusing to him. Though he was fairly large for a scientist, having a 'lab-coat' openly display such animosity towards him was like watching a death wish in the making.
But now it all made sense.
Though it was subtle, Cassidy had a keen eye and a fond familiarity for hostility. He almost took a bite to see what he was made of, but thought better.
In all, the lack of leadership and the words of desperation from the Peacekeeper Paladins were the final nails in the coffin.
They were on an unlawful mission to retrieve the Red Paladin.
He was almost proud, he preferred the days when they were an independent, rag-tag team.
Cassidy had recognised that the green one had somehow read his movements earlier. His countless decades of battle experience had made that evident.
Listening to their prattling; the other one had a lot of confidence in his ability to locate him, yet, as of now, they were both failing.
"Shockwaves... so he's using echolocation." but he knew it was only a matter of time until he was figured out.
The moonlight shifted once more, guiding him closer to his prey from above.
Usually, he would have used this opportunity to escape. Despite his long and prosperous relationship with the country, he wasn't obligated to stay committed any longer.
His reputation was already solid, his skillset highly sort after, and, thanks to the Red Paladin, he was about to reach a whole new tier of pay.
What made him stay, however, was his rapid growth and a burning curiosity.
"The green one fought like a Kishinryu practitioner..." he noted to himself, their customs intrigued him due to his own background.
"Tsugai's royalty was said to be descended from celestial warriors, revered as gods. A dispute caused a divide in their country between opposing beliefs..." he recalled a patchwork of vague memories.
He had taken contracts from the Naishin Sect before, their principles weren't too dissimilar from Fiana's own cultural customs, however, they intended to seek balance through contrasting fundamentals in an effort to bring themselves closer to the Earth deity Teluzhao.
It was all nonsense, Cassidy thought.
Nothing but performative, philosophical drivel with no substantial evidence. It ultimately aimed to keep the masses in check to prop up the fragile self importance of their spiritual leaders.
Despite this perspective, however, Cassidy wasn't foolish enough to completely over look the connections between these beliefs and his new abilities. Though it required looking past the glaring social hierarchies and monetary corruptions present within those religions. But who was he to judge.
If their was a morsel of truth behind it all, what did that say about him?
Was he a god by their definition?
He felt a hysterical rush rise from deep within as he considered the thought. He almost let out a chuckle, he knew he was the last person to be trusted with such a title, though he decided to supress it, for now.
"The Gaishin focused on external energy, but the Naishin is internal and practiced Kishinryu," he recalled again, "does the green one know both? And if so, why can't he detect me now?"
The idea of concealing ones presence wasn't new to Cassidy. It was an idea that was prevalent amongst his peers, but he didn't subscribe to it.
Presence was just an imaginary notion that people used to add further meaning and faux skill to their work. They were just somewhat decent at their jobs, but his unique situation made him think.
"No," Cassidy decided, "This is something different." He had expanded his gravity field when the Green Paladin had sensed his intentions, but as of now he was invisible to him.
He concentrated. He felt Earth's own gravitational field as it oscillated with subtle unpredictable deviations, as though it were alive.
He periodically felt its subtle pull as he used an equal and opposite force to keep himself aloft. Perhaps that was where the answer lay.
"He's..." Ryu started, "I just lost him again, the pattern, it's not aligned well..."
"What are you going on about!" His jargon was lost on Nico, he didn't want to start regretting going back to save him.
"I've got it. He's hiding behind the Earth's gravitational signature."
"What?"
"It just occurred to me, it's not perfect but he's probably flo-"
Nico understood instantly, but it was too late. Thanks to his perceived knowledge of Cassidy's abilities, he was looking in the wrong places. It was subtle but his feedback distorted when coming into contact with an arial object, that was now speeding towards them.
Nico pushed Ryu out of the way as Cassidy swooped in like a missile, knife in hand. He landed between them as they created space, but instantly closed the gap towards Nico.
He leapt back again from his first swing, then instantly met the follow up with his right forearm, stopping the knife inches from his helmet.
"No more shockwaves?" Cassidy immediately drove a side kick into Nico's exposed abdomen.
Winded, he slid back a fair distance across the floor, slipping down to one knee as he clutched at his stomach.
It confused him as to how he was able to generate so much force; what exactly has the Captain created?
He glared at Cassidy. He returned his own as he looked down at him, exuding pretentiousness from his prideful demeanour.
Ryu was already darting over from behind, though he was slower, staggering his run.
Nico bounded forward.
He gathered his game plan was for them to engage from both sides, most importantly at the same time.
He had to keep up!
"I can sense you too!" Cassidy jeered.
He increased the gravity of the local area once more, though for a split second.
This time it was so harsh and sudden that it completely stunned the two Paladins in place, creating a broad crater that encompassed the majority of all three platforms.
Nico was mid swing when the window of his own hesitation allowed Cassidy to duck. Within the same movement, he swept Ryu's stumbling legs to the side, flipping his entire body into the air.
Keeping his momentum, he kicked off the floor as he spun and connected Ryu's chest with a weighty side kick before landing again effortlessly.
Ryu was sent sprawling; he crashed through an already severed pillar, leaving only the top half in place.
Using the small kinetic energy built up since his last technique, Nico saw an opening and swung.
Cassidy was prepared.
When their fists connected, his opponent's was impossibly heavy as it lightly bounced off the relatively weak shockwave.
Pain shot up across Nico's arm as he winced.
Usually, no one was insane enough to contest with his punches. Although it wasn't his strongest output, Nico was almost as impressed as he was shocked.
Swiftly, Cassidy grabbed at his wrist and pulled him into his gravity augmented downwards cross.
He felt an odd pull towards Cassidy's fist before it buried his head into the ground.
Without his helmet, Nico wasn't sure he'd survive.
Metallic laughter grated on his ears. Was he having fun?
"Greenie, cover me!"
Nico got himself to his feet and bolted down the platform. Ryu understood instantly, launching a slash at Cassidy.
It was slipped, though he didn't let up as he accelerated towards him.
They passed each other as they briefly clashed blades before sliding along the floor, halting their momentum.
They both pivoted on the tiled flooring before leaping to engage each other once again, though, Ryu found himself on the backfoot.
Now fatigued, Ryu's speed was just sufficient to compensate for his missing right arm, but Cassidy no longer needed oppressive gravity to keep up.
Was he getting faster?
He condensed gravitational energy into his knife, making it glow and carved through Ryu's body armour as though it was warm butter.
Ryu leaped back. The attack didn't reach his skin.
He assumed the Kishinryu stance. This time he resolved to keep his centre.
The mercenary hesitated; Ryu could feel it.
At the same time, he felt his own gravity field and that of his nagamaki. He felt its subtle and constant signature and how it balanced in his left hand.
He instinctively attempted to combine his gravity field into it, however, it didn't feel heavier or lighter; and it didn't glow like Cassidy's had as he was expecting.
Instead, he felt as though he had somewhat harmonised with the weapon. He had gained a higher understanding of it.
He read Cassidy briefly before sending a flying slash at a speed that surprised himself.
This time it felt more like a wave of gravity.
Cassidy evaded, but his timing was slightly off.
It cut him, though there was no evidence that it did on his shoulder pad.
Regardless he dropped his knife and clutched his right shoulder.
Ryu closed in on the opening; he was confused but everything felt right.
As he engaged, he felt an additional strength aiding his movements. He felt amazing, but as he clashed with Cassidy's metal gauntlets, he felt a slight resistance.
"So this is the true way of the Hoshigami Kyo!" Cassidy jeered, though there was a hint of admiration, "They would honour us as gods if they were to witness this exchange!"
Cassidy circled around Ryu in an unnatural way, leaning left as he narrowly avoided a downwards swing.
He watched as he hovered just above the ground in a manner that reminded him of his Captain's ability.
He suddenly felt Cassidy's fist grow in size as he changed course straight towards him.
He knew for a fact it hadn't, but he also knew it was now relative to a speeding Ascendian bus in his subconscious mind. Its intent to plough through his face without recourse was nothing but apparent.
Now at a position where he could neither block nor evade, Ryu began to contemplate on whether he would be able to wake up on the other side of the attack.
He saw another fist emerge from the corner of his vision with speed.
Nico's attack landed first.
The shockwave Nico had built up as he ran around the platform even knocked Ryu back, as his fist connected squarely with Cassidy's helmet.
It split in two as they were all sent flying.
Cassidy tumbled through the night sky. The manner in which he fell disorientated him. The stars and the ground below flashed beyond his helmet until he landed in a plume of sand.
"That brat... Did he knock me outside and I didn't notice?" But the direction in which he fell didn't make sense to him.
He looked at his surroundings, he saw dunes of reddish brown sand. Its coarseness had already made its way onto his body.
"How did I get to Retroidica's wasteland? No, Atakaala Desert?"
He got to his feet, free from the pain and exhaustion built up from his fight.
He got carried away; it wasn't very professional of him.
He looked into the distance, it was a clear horizon, with a brilliant array of stars.
"Magnificent..."
He felt like he was in an old western. Though Fianese, he liked cowboys and tended to portray himself as such.
They were outlaws and they lived like it; they were free and loyal only to their own and monetary gain.
Fiinao often told him his cowboy hat was too much of a culture clash with his jacket. He didn't care.
Though he seemed to be in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction; it wasn't truly what he wanted.
Cassidy began to realise that the view was slowly bringing him to tears the longer he looked at it. He had truly never seen such a beautiful display.
They were precious jewels, cast across the sky by hands beyond his own understanding.
They felt so close, but as he reached out they only revealed their true distance, he wasn't worthy.
The edge of the rocky horizon glowed in an aethereal white. It reached upwards as if to escape from what lied beyond, but faded into a reddish glow in battle with a darker blue and black. He took off his helmet and scanned the horizon to his left as more colours revealed themselves; streaks of purple and green entered the fray unveiling a bigger picture.
It was a symphony of colours, clashing in a royal battle.
"I'll show this to Fiinao once I'm done with these Paladins..." He vowed to himself as he wiped a tear from his eye. He realised he wasn't himself.
He felt a gust of wind touch his back, he turned to greet it but was met with a violent sandstorm.
He could do nothing but submit to it. He was powerless as it stripped him clean of his armour.
"Why," the ground bellowed, "why do you fight?"
He pondered the peculiar question.
"...Because it's all I've ever known..." he realised, "As much as I love my work... I've been forced to skulk around like a starving wolf in this new age..."
"Stoking the flames of another man's fire is beneath me... I want..."
The sandstorm had lasted an eternity before it finally ceased.
His body, naked and ravaged, finally collapsed to its knees.
He felt the sand in between his fingers. It responded to him. It accepted him. It danced around him freely before settling before him as a show of it's subservience.
"This..."
"...This isn't Earth..."
He hackled maniacally as the revelation possessed Cassidy with mass euphoria.
The very ground beneath him resonated with him harmoniously, partaking in his grand celebration.
He rose to his feet and willed himself to soar past the horizon.
The sand spiralled after him as he climbed into the stars above. It formed a beautiful, undulating pattern around him.
It was him, they were one.
"We were almost there!" He exclaimed at the stars as if they were to call back, "We were so close, but we strayed too far!"
"Marteus!"
Nico and Ryu looked up at Cassidy's body. It lay suspended in the air five metres above them.
Nico was sure he had knocked him out completely, yet he looked up at the floating old man in sheer disbelief, clutching his trembling right arm in pain.
That was it, he was at his limit.
Cassidy's body slowly turned in the air like it was attached to a wire; his head and arms were almost lifeless as they remained slack, dangling at an uncomfortable angle.
His gravitational field suddenly expanded violently as the station rang with his manic laughter.
The two Paladins fought desperately as they were caught within Cassidy's unadulterated distortion of space time.
It pushed and pulled at reality relentlessly, it was nothing but a plaything.
"Enlightenment..." The realisation came to Ryu with a deep sunken feeling as he struggled to maintain balance.
Cassidy's bottomless malice; he could feel it so clearly.
It had such an extreme disregard for human life that it caused Ryu to experience a powerful feeling of despair.
It was accompanied by a narcissistic flair that prioritised his own life above all else.
The gravity field was dangerously sporadic, as if it was on the verge of chaos and creation.
Ryu once read of ancient warriors experiencing such a phenomena. What followed was power beyond mortal understanding.
If he let Cassidy reach enlightenment, there would be no hope for survival.
Copious amounts of reddish brown sand suddenly poured from Cassidy's body. It snaked away from him like living tendrils, contorting its way to the farthest corners of the station.
The deafening sound of millions of grains, rushing across the platform floor and walls, enveloped Ryu's hearing completely. Before he knew it, they were already knee deep in flowing sand.
In its dangerous amount of speed and power, he attempted to maintain his balance, but he and Nico were instantly swept off their feet.
It whisked them away like feathers caught in the wind. Though it was more of a turbulent ocean of course, red sand.
The two Paladins were just as powerless as a pair of dinghies against an immense vortex, abandoned by a ship on its way to its destination.
Ryu could almost reach out and touch one of the ceiling windows if he tried. He looked down to the centre of the chaos, Cassidy hadn't moved a muscle.
He lay as stationary as one could in the air, all while one and a half million tonnes of sand and debris encircled him like a maelstrom.
Ryu scanned his surroundings for Nico, he had already lost sight of him. He would never forgive him if he let himself get suffocated and crushed by sand.
The thought tightened his chest.
He realised he still held on to his nagamaki with an iron grip.
It was the same one his grandfather passed down to him while he was still within the Naishin Sect, just before he passed.
It was too big for him to use back then, but it was the only thing kept and cherished from his old life.
His ears popped and he began to feel a dizzying nausea; it felt like the air pressure in the station had changed.
There was a blinding flash as lightning materialised, emanating from the centre of the whirlpool.
It struck at a ceiling window he had just passed by, producing a thunderous explosion that left Ryu's ears ringing and the window vapourised.
Several more lightning bolts struck at the stations interior indiscriminately, creating a chorus of nonstop shockwaves that attempted to ravage his eardrums.
It was all Cassidy's doing, whether he was conscious of it or not didn't matter.
The only thing Ryu could do was focus on his core, though as he was tossed and turned against his will, trying not to get electrocuted, it proved obscenely difficult.
Not to mention the constant shockwaves produced by the lightning strikes; it disrupted his equilibrium, causing vertigo and nausea.
"Am I going to get out of this alive?" He thought to himself.
Despite the abject chaos that ensnared him, he tried to calm himself down as he narrowly sped past a pillar.
"A famous scientist once said, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." He recalled the Captain's whimsical words.
He had used the quote to justify why he ate his food out of the fridge, apparently Ryu had unknowingly done the same a couple months earlier.
As of now, those words helped him to realise that the Earth had pulled him down as well as exerting an equal and opposite force that held him up.
It allowed his grounded body to easily sense his centre of gravity, but what if the ground was no longer a factor?
As Ryu gathered before, all objects have mass, including humans. But it's more than a mere number shown on a weighing scale, it's an intrinsic property of matter itself.
That is to say that, even within the vacuum of space, human beings have a silent gravity of their own, not too dissimilar to the planets and the stars, only it doesn't bend space time enough to cause a visible effect.
He concentrated deeper.
Throughout his fight with Cassidy, he also gathered that he was unbalanced despite his best efforts.
But it wasn't just physically.
The past held on to him like a shackle. It imprisoned him as he yearned for the days, training with his peers atop the mountains, overlooking the autumn valley.
His willingness, at one point, to take the lives of individuals for money pulled at his conscious, his sensei's death tore at him still.
He had to accept the reality of what transpired.
He was failed, not just by his sensei but by Tsugai's corrupt leaders.
They failed their country for their arrogance and useless ideologies, inciting a civil war that almost devastated the country.
Ryu defected from the Gaishin sect, he decided he wasn't going to fight their holy war.
Instead, he attempted to evacuate Naishin villages on his own, warning them of the coming conflict.
He had to use scare tactics, shooting bullets to get their attention outside their homes.
Firearms were strictly forbidden, so the villagers ran in fear as he unloaded into the sky.
It was harsh, but the Gaishin Sect intended a complete genocide of the Naishin and its people. The time to act was now.
The barred path towards murder and chaos becomes crossable by anyone if a 'righteous' or 'holy' cause is the driver. Ryu saw this in Tsugai's religious regime as a whole and had also realised this within himself.
The Gaishin and their armies believed their actions to be just and decreed by the stars themselves; Ryu ambitiously intended to make the path difficult enough for them to lose sight of the destination.
A red blur soared at him like a shooting star.
It landed in front of him in a cloud of dust.
Ryu thought it was a defective Gaishin missile until the settling debris revealed a red armoured man in a deep crater. His red cape flapped in the wind and his stance let him know he was ready for a fight.
His presence was prominent just like the Hoshikan's. Ryu didn't know what that entailed, but he was definitely powerful.
"I do not know who you are, and neither do I care; all I know is that I will not let anyone stop me from evacuating my people!"
Was he from the Gaishin, he thought?
Although they would be arriving at any second, he didn't look like them.
"We were evacuating the area also, who are you?" He spoke perfect Tsuganese, but he could tell he was a foreigner.
Before he could respond a real missile sent them sprawling from the street into a storehouse nearby.
It decimated a home that Ryu had just evacuated. He heard screams of terror as villagers continued to flee the scene.
Gaishin artillery rumbled through the street, followed by troupes kitted out in foreign, bullet proof vests and weaponry.
"I would usually tell foreigners to stay out of our business. They've caused enough trouble..." he addressed the armoured man as he brushed off bits of rubble from his cape, "but I can tell you're strong, I could really use your help."
He joined who he later understood was the Red Paladin as he rendezvoused with four other individuals in different coloured armour.
He would've thought it a joke had he not interacted with their Captain first.
He came to realise they were a foreign independent group, yet not aligned with any one country. They provided aid to war torn countries and fought against rogue governments.
They were the exact people he needed.
He was no longer alone.
With Ryu's intel, they devised a plan to successfully ambush and subdue the enemy forces, though that was only one unit out of many dozens.
They later decided to focus on the evacuation of nearby villages, strategically predicting the Gaishin's targets.
As he allowed himself to be tossed and turned, Ryu decided to accept.
He was far from what he wanted to be; far from the theoretical version of himself that would be acceptable to everyone.
Instead, he trusted that the Paladin's saw something valuable in him.
It helped him to see that same something within himself. That he was more than just his past.
In that moment, he truly accepted.
Using both principles he became one with his nagamaki once more.
He resolved himself before Cassidy at the centre of the station and brought the nagamaki above the sand and over his head in a wide arc.
"Chōonsoku... Ryū Zan!"
The slash spanned the entire station and cut through the billowing mound, emanating from the mercenary's body. However, neither the pillars nor Cassidy's combat armour were cut.
There was a brief moment of pause, like time itself stood still.
Then Ryu, along with the sand and loose bits of tiling, fell to the ground, yielding to the Earth's gravity.
He had concentrated on the fluctuating gravity signature exuding from Cassidy. It had no rhyme or reason to its chaos, though he launched the attack in line with a subtle, reoccurring sequence that heavily contrasted the rest.
Cassidy fell before he lay motionless atop the now still sand of his creation, no longer laughing.
As he slowly faded from consciousness, he reached out his arm towards the muted stars from the ceiling window.
"Fiinao... I would like to show you the stars... why does your presence... no longer dance...?" The inaudible yearn barely escaped his lips before his mind failed him.
Ryu looked around the station. It was now a dune of red and brown sand.
He felt relieved, though the pain in what was left of his arm persevered. It was now a throbbing ache.
"The Captain owes me a prosthetic…" He thought to himself, but then he remembered Nico.
Where was he?
He frantically scanned the station once more before a pair of black ears popped out of the sand.
A shockwave then began to subtly vibrate the sand in the area until half of Nico's body sprouted out into the open.
Ryu disassembled his helmet.
"That was pretty freaky wasn't it."
"Yeah... totally freaky." They sat in silence, processing what they had just witnessed.
"So... I'm guessing Yuna was worried for me and sent you back to help, huh?"
"... Something like that," Nico lied, "Is what I'd like to say but, Merphie figured out who the mercenary was."
"Oh don't lie, I know it was actually you who was worried for lil ol' Ryugetsu-"
Nico used a shockwave to send a wall of sand over Ryu's head, the effort made him wince in pain.
Ryu was too weak to retaliate.
"We need to hurry up and restrain him," Ryu said through coughs of sand, "We don't want him running off again... has Mercy gotten in touch?"
"I think the old man damaged my comms, give her a buzz."
"No need, the station is fancy and overly complex, but I was able to follow the sound of destruction."
The Purple Paladin stood by the entrance that led to the station from the dingy corridor.
"What happened here? Why's there so much sand?"
"Mercy!" They exclaimed in unison.
They had all forgotten about the petty, passive aggressiveness they were displaying to each other earlier tonight. They were all genuinely glad to see each other.
"It's a long story, and I'm not even sure myself," Nico admitted, "but I'm guessing you handled the lady with the balls from earlier, they both need to be detained."
Ryu snickered in the background.
Mercy stared at the other mercenary as he laid still on the highest mound of sand. He was still breathing, she noted the steam that subtly escaped his mouth.
She became tense as her heart began to quicken.
"Yes... I'll- I'll tell you the details later. For now, lets just get going."
After restraining Cassidy, they managed their way out of the mound and started their way down the tunnel.
"Wait!"
"What is it?" Mercy and Nico stopped in their tracks and turned to see Ryu rummaging in the sand.
"I almost forgot. My arm must be under here somewhere. If you guys use your powers it will be quicker!"
Yuna and Merphie continued to run. They had been doing so for almost five minutes. Merphie said it wasn't too far but they were most likely reaching their twentieth mile since entering.
"Is the captain really in a place like this?" She thought. She had already rejected the idea that she was being led into a trap, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
This part of the underground was most likely off limits to the public, they had found the platform to the tunnel behind a large and oppressive, steel wall.
If Nico's theory about the underground tunnel is correct, they could be headed towards an access point to a secret research site.
She looked ahead through the darkness. Thanks to her neural mod, she could see nothing but tunnel, wires and train tracks. She was glad it wasn't operational, they'd be flattened otherwise. But she realised that was only an assumption.
"But who'd use this hidden train line?"
Though as she asked herself the question, her mind came to a horrible conclusion; perhaps Retroidica used it for the illegal smuggling of materials or... people.
She rebuked the thought. There was no way the Captain was involved in something like that.
Right?
The work that came with being a Paladin was beginning to weigh on her. There was always something or the other going on in the world.
Her father's regular absence made that clear enough, but it was another thing being one.
Whether it was the so called 'terrorist groups' in Sundavaala as they took hostages and prevented trade, wars over territory in her home country of Eraedia or nuclear threats from countries atomic programmes that the Paladins were expected to regulate. The last thing she expected was their leader going rogue, it disturbed her.
"Humans, we're a flawed species aren't we, Merphie?"
"Yes, indeed."
" Um, you didn't have to agree so quickly..."
"Apologies, but you are correct. Humans tend to vie for power and are corrupted by it. It's precisely why the Peacekeeper Paladins exist," Merphie was rather blunt but correct nonetheless, "The Paladin Initiative curriculum covers the philosophy of humanities conquering nature in depth."
Her mind briefly wandered to the veteran they encountered earlier.
"What if-," she hesitated.
It was a habit she formed from trying to present a façade of intelligence. She tried to avoid asking questions, especially outlandish ones, to appear more mature and trustworthy like Mercy. Though she was inquisitive by nature.
"Do you reckon that out their somewhere, beyond the stars, there's a civilisation that has formed a society that doesn't seek to conquer?"
She had only asked one other person the same question.
Aliens in general media were always depicted as a highly advanced, conquering species, who thought in a cold calculated logic.
But that was through the lens of humans, perhaps that is what we would do if we were to crack interstellar travel. Citizens on other planets would be victim to our goals of expansionism; we would be the potential alien threat that we feared for so long.
"That's an... interesting one..." Merphie took time to process his next response, " I believe... Yes. Perhaps someone out there got it right and created a place where progress isn't born from bloodshed. Though I would imagine they'd stay hidden, watching us to see whether we figure it out."
Yuna was surprised, she appreciated the optimism against the current backdrop of the situation.
"On the other hand," he continued, " If there isn't, we'll just have to be the first."
He was right and that's what she believed the Peacekeeper Paladins were striving to achieve.
In her ignorance, she initially joined the Paladins to fight alongside her father, but she began to realise that humanity needed help. The Paladin initiative was in the best position to do so.
"Miss. Yuna, there's something approaching us."
The statement snapped her into gear. She looked down the tunnel and saw a faint light, slowly growing in size and reach.
She saw a man with a metallic visor and a combat suit, flying towards them on a flight pack.
"Miss Yuna, do you see that door ten metres ahead on the right?"
Lost in thought, she only noticed it afterit was pointed out.
"The Captain's last known location was most likely through that door…"
It was embedded into the side of the tunnel, matching its curvature as it was covered in the same material and wires to camouflage. She only realised it was a door because of its invisibly thin, rectangular outline.
"I'll confront the mercenary... Find him." At that he engaged his leg boosters and flew down the tunnel.
"The captain is... through this door..."
She almost didn't want to touch it.
If he was in fact on the other side, all the theories and atrocities she thought up to this point could come true.
She didn't want to find him there. This was all just a mistake, right?
"Yuna? Do you read me?" It was Ryu, he was on the communication link.
"Yes..."
"What's happening, are you still with Merphie?"
"No, he's engaging an enemy right now. But, I'm currently facing a door that leads to the Captain's last known location."
There was a brief pause.
"Okay, we're headed over so stay where you are... If anything changes let me know and I'll be there in five."
He hung up before she could respond.
"Ryu's safe..." She thought to herself.
She sighed in relief, then chuckled. Normally when someone said that it meant five minutes.
A metallic substance formed over her arm, transforming into Gun-Arm Type Zero Five.
A process she had once feared, a self imposed artificial extension to her being, now came as naturally to her as clenching a fist.
She watched as her armour adapted to her, retreating up her arm as the weapon emerged.
She could no longer wait.
A thin, blue beam escaped from the nose of her gun arm and she began to cut the door open.
A thick chunk of steel fell with a 'thunk' and she entered onto a polished, off-white tiled floor.
It was pristine, heavily contrasting the dark griminess of the tunnel.
The walls and ceiling were the same colour, though a red graphic logo stood out on the side.
'Retroidica Research'
Two red lines, one thicker than the other, stretched down the wall from the logo; it then bent upwards diagonally following along a steep staircase that led to another door at the top.
It was slightly ajar.
She made her wayto the staircase despite a deep sense of warning from somewhere within.
Each step was an eternity.
They were each it's own battle as part of her rebelled against the steady progress she was making.
"Maybe I should just wait like Ryu said..."
Her thoughts fell flat against her desire for closure.
She opened the door onto a red carpeted balcony. She found herself near the top of a very large room.
There were several suspended walkways to various different areas of the facility but she decided to walk towards the balustrade in front of her.
Below, she saw her dishevelled Captain, sitting down at a table as he vacantly stared into empty space.