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At the Dominion Headquarters…
7:36 PM, Medical Ward, February 12th 2045
“This is the first time I've seen you grow extremely exhausted over overcharge usage!” The doctor lifted his visor, his gloved hands working to patch up the larger man's wounds, bandages wrapping around muscular arms were renewed. Guo sighed. How would he tell Jin how he was reckless during that fight with the Nusian Monk?
However, before he was able to respond, the door opened, revealing a young Dominion man in the usual outfit for war medics.
"Mr. Aimi, Super Unit “Thanatos” is in serious condition. Should I send him to the intensive recovery ward?" The young Dominion’s voice was steady, but a hint of worry undercut his confidence. Concern flashed across both men’s faces. Injuries of that nature were uncommon, particularly for someone such as Thanatos, who was virtually invincible within his heavily fortified, modified-turret "Nest".
“Send him there, now.”
The man nodded and dashed off, the door slamming shut behind him. Through the thick walls, the faint sound of rushing wheels and hurried footsteps echoed, accompanied by urgent voices. A stretcher blurred past the doorway.
Jin and Guo exchanged glances, the tension between them unspoken but visible. With a grim nod, Jin returned to examining the scarred body of the Zealot before him.
"Mr. Haoren, you're mostly fine, aside from the extreme exhaustion from overcharge aftereffects," Jin said, Guo did not respond much other than a soft sigh that was hard to hear, it was glad that his body was more tolerant towards the after-effects of the drug, similar to some of the members of the famous, or infamous if you were a Nusian, Stronghold 5-5 Squadron that had most of the soldiers, including the majority of the Super units looking up to them as if they were some kind of idol to be worshipped, the general himself even being impressed at their feats.
“Well, you're the last one they asked me to treat. Mind if I tag along for a bit? I have nothing else planned.
“You may.”
Jin and Guo exited the medical wing of the headquarters.
-
7:50 PM, Breakroom 5-72
“The man nearly blew Yujin in half! Thankfully, he wasn’t because of his turrets taking most of the damage, but he’s still in terrible condition…” A young Dominion-Guesean man sat at a table in one of the break rooms with a Dominion woman—most of her limbs replaced with sleek mechanical parts—and a Dominion man with slicked-back white hair. The atmosphere was heavy despite the casual setting.
Jin and Guo entered the room, drawing the trio’s attention as they turned towards the two.
“Oh, hey! Wanna come join us?” Taio greeted, shifting with Xia to make space in their long chairs. Jin settled beside Xia, who wrapped her arm around his shoulder, while Guo took the seat next to Taio.
“May I ask what you three are discussing?” Guo and Jin’s eyes immediately shifted to the patched-up wounds on Taio and Eros. Bandages covered Taio’s arms and legs, while Eros bore shrapnel marks and light impact damage on the right side of his body. Guo and Jin exchanged a glance—they knew that Taio, Yujin, and Eros had been assigned to an outpost the same day they encountered the Nusian Special Units for the first time.
"We got ambushed," Eros said grimly. "Lost the outpost. Three of Nusia’s Super Units were sent there, and our Aerial Reconnaissance was hijacked." His voice carried a weight that silenced the room.
“Lesti took some significant damage from an electric pulse, which disabled a lot of her systems. Eros’ Mahogany was also shut down from it as well, and Yujin…”
Taio looked down, and stayed silent, remembering—Yujin, fixing his governor kit when a stray bomb struck…
"The right side of his body was mutilated in the blast," Eros finished Taio’s thoughts, his voice barely above a whisper. "He might need a prosthetic arm and leg."
Everyone in the room felt the atmosphere change, it wasn't visible, but if someone were to enter the room right now, they would have felt the sadness without even looking at someone’s face.
"Kanashii’s not gonna be happy about this," Xia muttered, breaking the silence that clouded the room. "Not that he needs more reasons to mutilate Nusian bodies."
Then, a few knocks on the door near Eros.
“You may come in.”
The door opened, revealing a young Dominion man with freckles painted on his face and curly black hair, a sight a few of them disliked.
“Hey guys, chefs said they made pork egg rolls and kimchi for dinner, also Jin you might want to check on Genji again.” Yang greeted the five.
Jin’s expression darkened. He could guess exactly what had happened. "I’ll be back." He rose and left the room in a hurry.
“So they're making pork egg rolls, again?” Xia said. “This is the third time this month, and it’s only the first week!!”
“Dunno, they're probably waiting for the next shipment that HOPEFULLY should come on Friday,” Yang said as he shrugged his arms. “Been two weeks since we got one, that's what they said.” The group sighed, supply delays were happening more frequently, and spring was around, it wasn’t even HICOM that supplied food for the outposts and headquarters—they only shipped supplies and rations to individual soldiers and squadrons. Was Nusia hijacking shipments? Probably far-fetched.
"Let’s stop complaining," Eros suggested. "At least we aren’t starving."
The mood began to lift slightly—until a sudden shout cut through the room.
"CRONUS SAID WE GET TO HAVE WHATEVER DRINK WE WANT FROM THE NEW SHIPMENT!"
Yang turned just in time to see Genji standing behind him, her nose bleeding. Two others followed close behind, Jin and Banyue chasing her unsuccessfully as they recovered from their chase.
Oh well… that was at least one good thing for the night.
-
8:24 PM, Super Unit’s sector
No one quite understood why the Superunits got their own dining area, bathrooms, and barracks. All they knew was that it was thanks to the "leader" of the Super Units, Cronus. His position was the reason behind such luxury. The only squadron that might have received the same treatment was Stronghold 5-5, who undoubtedly earned it through their legendary feats.
The group drank away at the new shipments of drinks (all of them had a minimal amount of alcohol), but some of the Superunits were noticeably absent from the revelry.
Yujin’s absence was understandable, given his condition. Dai was still recovering from his injuries—thankfully not as severe as Yujin’s, from a mission that had happened five days ago. Meanwhile, Yong was still returning from his mission at the southern bay of Nusia.
The group never quite considered themselves as a friend group, but to most soldiers, it certainly did seem like it.
"It’s common for a Monk from one place to test their skills against a Monk from another clan, I have done this in the past myself,” Guo said, taking his turn to speak. The table had shifted into a lively discussion about their past lives before the war. However, the absence of three members left the gathering feeling incomplete. Kanashii sat next to the chair where Yujin would typically be, a bottle of lemon iced tea placed in front of it.
“I’ll be back.” Kanashii simply said, sitting up and walking to the exit.
“What happened to him?” Aigo asked, just finishing his meal.
“Probably still stuck on what happened to Yujin,” Yang answered, pushing an empty bottle of his drink towards a growing pile at the right side of the table. By the end of these rare drinking sessions, the pile of bottles was always massive.
Outside, a man wrapped in bloodied bandages—his eyes covered as well—passed by the thin window of the sector. He glanced briefly at the group, seeing the drinks before quickening his pace toward the canteen.
-
8:30 PM, Medical Ward
The Guesean could barely make out his surroundings. His vision blurred, eyes darting around the dim ward. He knew someone else was in the room—he recognized the voice. Mr. Yongzheng.
The doctors said it would take at least another two days before Yongzheng could leave. But him? Probably a fortnight. Maybe longer. His right side burned like fire. When he glanced down at himself, all he saw were layers of bandages covering raw, blistered skin that almost resembled charcoal. His senses directed themselves to the sounds of footsteps outside his ward, as he barely made out a dark silhouette among the bright yellow lights that illuminate them.
“A-ah…hey, Kanashii,” Yujin rasped, barely finding his voice. He could recognize that figure anywhere. “I…didn’t think you’d be here.”
The door creaked open, and Kanashii stepped inside, his shoes clicking softly against the floor. Without a word, he walked to the bench where the doctor usually sat and set down an orange glass bottle. Yujin squinted. Lemon iced tea.
Dai, lying in the next bed over, stirred. “Hey, you aren’t supposed to be here.” His eyes flicked toward the bottle, irritation flashing across his face.
“So Cronus is throwing drinking parties without us, huh?” Dai grumbled. “Really had to—”
“Dai,please be a little more quiet.” Kanashii interrupted, voice flat.
“Then get me one too!” Dai shot back, surprisingly loud for someone who was struck in the chest five days ago by a Nusian Cloaker.
Kanashii sighed. “Fine. But don’t complain—there were only two non-alcoholic drinks in the shipment.” He lowered his voice, glancing at Yujin, attempting to move his hands up to his ears to block the loud voice of Dai. “So… you get what you get.”
The commotion must have drawn attention because a shout rang from the hallway, followed by the hurried clatter of footsteps. A team of doctors burst into the room.
"Mr. Yongzheng," one of them said sternly, "we’re moving you to another ward. We can’t have your loud nature disturbing patients in intensive care."
Dai groaned but obeyed, flopping back onto his bed as half of the medics unhooked his monitors and began rolling him out.
“Mr.Zhang, I’m afraid we’ll have to end your visit with the patient early, you may visit him tomorrow if you so wish.” A young woman approached him.
Kanashii nodded, offering only a quick glance at Yujin. The younger man was trembling from the pain of even the slightest movement. Kanashii hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked briskly out of the room, the door clicking shut behind him as half of the doctors exited the room with Dai.
-
9:01 PM, Male Showers
The seven men in the shower room had long since grown used to seeing each other half-naked. After five months of sharing the same cramped space, modesty became less important than practicality. Still, out of respect, they avoided lingering stares. A few among them hadn’t always been men. That was respected, too.
The 4 long wooden benches had toiletries and towels scattered throughout, and the three showers were already occupied, water hissing as steam rose from them.
“Kanashii, you need to get a new conditioner,” Taio eyed at the older man’s long hair. “It’s a mess.” He wasn’t wrong. Kanashii’s stiff strands clumped together in uneven patches—a result of too many prayers to Builderman and too little actual hair care. Most days, he only used shampoo and hoped for the best.
Sighing, Kanashii rummaged through Yujin’s locker, careful not to disturb its neat arrangement. Yujin never minded when Kanashii borrowed his conditioner. His always made hair soft and fluffy—something Kanashii envied more than he’d admit.
He pulled out a white and gold bottle labeled Conditioner and got to work.
Meanwhile, Yang watched Eros step out of the third shower already dressed in loose sleeping clothes: a white singlet and black shorts. Not wasting a second, Yang slipped into the now-vacant stall, locking the door behind him.
Setting his clothes on the dry bench far enough from the shower, he locked the door behind him.
“Wait a minute.” He glanced down at the floor, where several bottles were scattered. His purple body wash was missing.
“Hey, guys, can you—” he started, cracking the door open just enough to reveal his upper half.
A purple bottle flew through the air, landing at the base of the door with a dull thud. Taio, sitting nearby, gave him a flat look that screamed please hurry up. Yang awkwardly chuckled, snatched the bottle, and shut the door.
Turning on the shower, bracing for the inevitable shock as freezing cold droplets hit his skin. Where’s the warm water in these damn showers? he thought, shivering as he lathered shampoo into his hair. Eventually, the water warmed up and he went to his body wash.
Everyone in the group bore their share of scars—visible reminders of their time on the battlefield. Some came from enemy fire; others, from their own weapons. Genji has had her fair share of grenades from her launcher flying back at her. Kanashii had taken a harpoon to the shoulder—from his own gun, naturally.
Yang Kai was no exception. His hands were etched with thin lightning scars, souvenirs from his modified Shockwave cannon.
Finished with his shower, Yang dried himself off and pulled on his clothes for the night. He stepped out just in time to see Taio rush past him into the stall, slamming the door shut. Wow, he’s not usually in a rush, I wonder what he’s doing.
Aigo and Jin emerged from their showers, heading toward their lockers, while Kanashii and Guo remained inside. Yang looked around, curious about Taio’s urgency, but his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door to the outside.
“Hey.” Banyue stepped in, her hair tied in its usual side ponytail. She held out a folded note. “Some woman asked me to give this to you.”
Yang’s eyes lit up.
“No, she doesn’t have a crush on you,” Banyue said dryly. “Pretty sure she’s pissed at you, actually.”
She handed him the note. Yang accepted it with a shrug and immediate die-down of his excitement. “I’ll read it back at the barracks,” he muttered, tucking it into his pocket as the door swung shut behind Banyue.
-
9:48 PM, Super Unit’s barracks
“I don’t know her!” Banyue shouted, her frustration clear. She threw her hands up, looking at Yang. “She just handed it to me and said to me “Give this to that bastard Jupiter.” in the most deadpan voice I’ll hear!” She exhaled sharply, eyes wide.
Yang looked at the unfolded note in his hands. The note in short, accused him of flirting with her sister and brother—an experiment with his sexuality he had thought at the time—and demanded that they leave them alone.
I swear I wasn’t trying to be that weird to them! Yang thought, his confusion written all over his face. Banyue caught his expression and sighed.
“I’m only gonna assume she’s pissed at you because she thought you were being... weird,” Banyue said, scratching the back of her neck. "I’ve gotten a letter like that before."
Yang folded the note and placed it in his duffle bag next to his top bunk bed.
“Can you two keep it down? We all share the same barrack.” Eros and Taio had their bodies facing the two, their faces were disappointed, though not angry—just tired.
“Sorry.” Banyue and Yang mumbled in unison.
Banyue was already on the move, adding, “She also asked for an apology, by the way.” Before Yang could respond, she hurried to her locker and the bunk she shared with Kanashii.
A sudden click echoed through the barracks, and the lights shut off, signaling curfew.
“Well, I’m sure everyone’s tired from the battle and training today, so let’s all get some shut-eye eh?”