“Good morning, you spicy little fuck nuggets,” Drake greeted, a playful smile on his face as Relena and Noko walked into the kitchen.

  ?They were both wearing only his oversized shirts. Drake was already standing at the stove, flipping breakfast sandwiches. The fresh scent of coffee hung in the air, rich and smooth. Relena and Noko wordlessly grabbed cups and poured themselves mugs, letting the warm steam waft over their faces.

  ?Drake looked over his shoulder. “Are you two both okay with... everything that happened last night?”

  ?Relena and Noko exchanged a knowing look and smiled. “Last night was amazing, Drake,” Noko replied, stepping forward. “We both love you, no matter what. We know this, and we meant it when we told you: out of everything we’ve been through, you are the only thing that kept us together. We never would have even met if it wasn't for you.”

  ?Both girls hugged and kissed him on the cheek before moving to the table. Lazerlot (LT) was already there, quietly nursing a cup of coffee.

  ?Relena sat down and looked at LT. “I’m sorry about last night. A lot of things happened, and I just went with my gut feeling.”

  ?Lazerlot simply nodded.

  ?Drake slid a breakfast sandwich onto a plate in front of Noko, Relena, and himself.

  ?“So what the hell did you do to me?” Noko asked, taking the plate.

  ?“That was what you would call a 'mind-melt,'” LT explained, taking a bite of his own food. “To me, I call it a 'mind-share.' It allows you to see and feel things that I have seen or felt. But it was temporary. A full share would mean we are one... and that is only—”

  ?Lazerlot stopped, looking deep into his coffee, choosing his next words carefully.

  ?“It’s fine, LT,” Noko reassured him. Being a veteran herself, she recognized the look of a man hiding something he wasn't yet ready to talk about. “So, what is the plan, LT?” she asked, changing the subject.

  ?“Yeah, what do we do now?” Relena added.

  ?All three looked at Drake. He took a sip of his coffee and cleared his throat.

  ?“Well, we need to find the rest of the team,” Drake said, picking up the Adventure Book and opening it to the profile pages of his teammates. “We need to find them.”

  ?“So, we need to go to their worlds. How?” Noko asked.

  ?“The bus,” LT said. “It can open a portal to my home world.”

  ?“But where would we end up?” Noko countered. “And we don’t have the gear to go to a hostile world.”

  ?“Well, that is where the check comes in,” Drake said, grinning. “I contacted Mr. Goodfull, and he has told me the money is ready to withdraw whenever I’m good to go.”

  ?“So we need to put a list together of what we need,” Noko stated. “And we need a full debrief of what we could be looking at out there. I can call some of my military friends and see if they can hook us up with some outdated gear, but the issue is weapons.”

  ?Relena chimed in, her voice low. “I can get those. We just need to go back to the bar.”

  ?The look on her face was a mixture of sadness and anger, like she did not want to go down this particular road. Noko saw it right away, and so did Drake.

  ?“We can find something else. Not that,” Noko said firmly.

  ?“I agree with her,” Drake added.

  ?Relena looked at them and nodded, though reluctantly. “Okay, but let’s still get it, just in case, okay?”

  ?Both Drake and Noko nodded in agreement. LT looked puzzled by the exchange and was about to ask, but he closed his mouth.

  ?“So, do we have a map or a globe of your world?” Drake asked.

  ?LT pulled a small metal, dice-like object from his pocket. He placed it on the table, and a holographic globe shimmered to life from its surface, projecting into the center of the table.

  ?Noko whistled low at the sight of it. She touched a spot on the globe, and a series of smaller holographic screens came to life, showing weather, plants, animals, topology, chemical makeup, minerals, and structures—everything a special forces team wished they had before going on any mission. Noko tapped a spot on what looked like an ocean, and the screens gave a breakdown of what lived at each depth.

  ?“Okay, this will help us figure out what we need,” Noko said. “But LT, where would the members of your team be?”

  ?LT looked at the globe and shrugged. “Only your grandfather and myself came through the portal, and all communication was cut off from my team.”

  ?“Okay, so where were you when you lost communication?” Drake pressed.

  ?LT slid his hand over the holographic image, and the globe spun to a specific spot. The alien lettering under the structure changed to read: The Shrine of Mickia.

  ?“What is, or who is, Mickia?” Drake asked.

  ?“Mickia is a traveler from a world not of this plane. She is from a different dimension,” LT explained.

  ?“So she is a goddess to you?” Drake asked.

  ?“Not so much as a goddess, more like a pioneer.”

  ?“Okay, so why are there shrines to her in these places, and only these places?” Drake asked as he stared at the globe.

  ?Four distinct points were lit up. The one they were looking at, which appeared to be in the east, and three others in the west, north, and south. Each looked slightly different in features, but all were shrines to Mickia.

  Relena and Drake were studying LT's system readouts. Noko stepped into Drake’s room, pulling out the small, secured communications terminal.

  ?She activated the terminal. After a verification sequence, a secure line opened. A crisp, professional voice answered, devoid of humor.

  ?"Viking-One-Echo. Identify."

  ?"It's J?tunn, LCDR. Priority secure line." Noko used her old operational callsign and rank title.

  ?A moment of silence, then the voice softened slightly, losing some of its rigidity. "J?tunn? You're using an encrypted channel, which means you're running deep cover. You know the risk if this trace is burned."

  ?This was Lieutenant Commander Silas "Fenrir" Vance, Noko’s former commanding officer.

  ?"I know, Fenrir. But this is beyond deep cover. This is a potential Level 5 threat. I need immediate materiel acquisition, and I need you to sign off on the disposal orders."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  ?"Disposal?" Silas scoffed. "You sound like you're trying to empty Fort Knox, Chief." He used her old rank as a reminder of their past. "What's the list, Noko?"

  ?"Heavy tactical. I need three full Level V Blast-Dampening Suits—the ones they were supposed to test-shred last quarter. I need enough field trauma kits to service a field hospital. And I need the X-9 Sentinel Perimeter System that was marked for 'calibration burn' next week."

  ?Silas sighed, a sharp intake of breath. "That Sentinel system is logged at the Admiral's command, Noko. It's not disposal; it's diversion. That's felony treason."

  ?"It is saving the galaxy, LCDR," Noko countered, her voice dropping. "My life, and more importantly, the life of an asset critical to national security, depends on it. I need the gear delivered to a drop point tonight, disguised as a 'training materials dump.' I have $50,000 cash for the logistics and signatures."

  ?A heavy pause. "You always had a flair for the dramatic, J?tunn. Fine. I can reroute a supply truck heading back from the Nevada range. It'll be labeled 'Non-Hazardous Debris, Training Exercise Cleanup.'"

  ?"Drop point?"

  ?"The old Quarry Outpost on Route 18. Midnight. My driver will be alone. He only knows the code: 'Yggdrasil stands yet.' If he gets any other signal, he turns the truck around, and you lose everything. And Noko," Silas warned, "you never called this number."

  ?"Understood, Lieutenant Commander. And thank you." Noko ended the transmission, her face grim. She looked back at Drake and Relena, the reality of her active connections hitting her again. "Acquisition is a go. Midnight. Old Quarry Outpost."

  ?The AMC Gremlin sputtered and bounced along the abandoned gravel road leading to the Quarry Outpost. Drake drove, his knuckles white. Relena sat poised, her generated rifle bag on her lap. Noko kept her eyes glued to the rearview mirror.

  ?They pulled up to a heavily camouflaged area near the quarry entrance. A massive, unmarked Coast Guard transport truck was already idling there, its lights off.

  ?"Wait in the car," Noko ordered, her hand resting on the door handle. "This driver is straight military. Clean. He just follows orders."

  ?Noko approached the truck. The driver—a young Petty Officer—dropped the loading ramp.

  ?"I need the code," the Petty Officer said, his voice flat and tired.

  ?Noko looked him in the eye, clear and commanding. "Yggdrasil stands yet."

  ?The Petty Officer stiffened, then relaxed, acknowledging the secure passphrase. "Orders confirmed from LCDR Vance. Non-Hazardous Debris. Training Dump is complete."

  ?He pointed to three large, heavy-duty crates sealed with black, tamper-proof military tape.

  ?"Crate 1," the Petty Officer recited, "contains the Blast Suits. Crate 2: Medical/Comms. Crate 3: The calibration burn system. My orders were to confirm receipt of the disposal funds and clear out."

  ?Noko nodded and pulled the duffel bag of cash from her pack. She handed it to the Petty Officer. "Sign the manifest and consider your training complete, Petty Officer."

  ?As the driver signed a thick clipboard and quickly drove the transport truck away, Drake and Relena jogged up, their eyes wide.

  ?"That felt way too fast and way too... official," Relena whispered.

  Noko examined the crates.

  ?"That's how Fenrir works," Noko said, Noko tapped the large Crate 3. "That's how Fenrir works. He uses the structure to hide the crime. Now, let's get these to the Bus. We have three minutes before any satellite surveillance flags the sudden disappearance of a large military vehicle from this grid."

  ?"Wait," Drake said, running his hand over the crates. "Okay, so we have protection, sensors, and comms. But we still have nothing resembling offensive firepower. We have our two rifles, and that's it."

  ?Noko shook her head. "My old LCDR took a massive risk just getting us this matériel. There's no way he could divert anything officially classified as a weapon without the Pentagon flagging it instantly."

  ?"So," Drake pressed, "do you know any other contact? Someone maybe... outside the official structure who could supply us with heavy weapons?"

  ?Relena, who had been quiet in the front seat of the Gremlin, suddenly gripped the dash. The reality of their vulnerability hit her. To protect Drake and Noko, she had to re-engage the very machine she swore to dismantle.

  ?"Guys, stop," she stated, her voice tight, the decision already made. "I'll make the call. Head back to the bar."

  ?Both Drake and Noko hesitated, knowing how fiercely Relena protected her separation from the Peacecraft Legacy. They drove in silence, pulling up to the Mech Bar—a ghost place, dark and quiet, a sanctuary Relena was about to defile with corporate compromise.

  ?Relena walked straight toward the back office. Every step was a forced march back into the past, the memories flooding her mind:

  ?Relena Yuy was born into the Peacecraft Family Legacy, an empire of global arms manufacturing. She was the sole heir, groomed to inherit a fortune built on drone warfare and advanced kinetic weapons. She was a prodigy, the genius who designed the Stygian Railgun—a weapon celebrated by the corporation for its efficiency, and condemned by Relena for its brutality. The end came when she watched classified combat footage: her design deployed against civilians. The corporate cheers were deafening, and she realized the Peacecraft name was merely a brand stamped onto mass death.

  ?She reached a locked drawer and pulled out an old, secured Nokia cell phone. It was the only tangible link to her family she hadn't destroyed. She powered it on. The phone glowed to life; the only contact stored in its memory was a single, dreaded number. She pressed it and brought the phone to her ear.

  ?It rang three times before an elderly, formal voice answered, thick with a lifetime of loyalty and sadness.

  ?"Miss Relena? Is that really you?"

  ?Relena froze. The sound of Crisis's voice—her true guardian and only ally in the gilded cage—sent a shockwave through her resolve. She hadn't spoken that corporate name in years. She had spent years trying to cleanse herself of the sin of the Stygian Railgun, a process that began the moment she:

  ?...liquidated her assets, severed all contact with the Peacecraft name, and walked away from her inheritance. She found sanctuary at the Mech Bar, where she met Drake, the kind, earnest man who used a metal forge to create beauty. She had been drawn to his vulnerable purity, the flicker of innocence she felt compelled to guard.

  ?The tranquil life shattered when a gang targeted Drake, deliberately crushing his beautiful metal creations. Relena's rage was blinding and protective as she vaulted the bar.

  ?The fighting attracted Noko Moko, seven feet six inches of former Coast Guard now officer of the law Noko, moved with clean, overwhelming force. Relena and Noko fought back-to-back, their eyes meeting over the shaking Drake. Relena saw in Noko a mirror: a woman whose immense power was devoted to fierce protection. Noko saw Relena's fire: the willingness to risk everything for true innocence. In that moment of shared, visceral triumph, fueled by their mutual need to protect Drake, their bond was forged, a life built on absolute loyalty.

  ?Relena shoved the memory away, forcing the professional, detached tone she used to wear like armor.

  ?"Crisis," she managed. "Yes, it's me. It's been a long time. How are you?"

  ?"Oh, Miss Relena, it is so good to hear from you. I have missed you so," Crisis said, tears audible in his voice. "I must wake the Master and Mistress and inform them—"

  ?"No!" Relena cut him off, the word sharp and definitive. "Don't. Not yet. I just need a favor from you, Crisis. Please. Like the old times. I need offensive power—"

  ?The line crackled, followed by a grunt. A deep, cold voice sliced through the speaker. "Crisis, get off the phone. Relena. It's your father."

  ?Relena’s composure evaporated. Mr. Peacecraft—the architect of the war machine—was on the line. "Father. I was just—"

  ?"I don't care what you were doing. Your mother," his voice remained flat, yet carried immense weight, "is demanding to see you. Tomorrow. Her physician is concerned about her condition, Relena. You will be here at the Manor for dinner at 7:00 PM. No excuses."

  ?Relena’s mind raced. He was using her mother's well-being as a surgical lever. If they went, she, Drake, and Noko would be swallowed by the corporate machine. She needed a shield—something so shocking, so fundamentally non-Peacecraft, that it would force her parents to pause their assimilation protocol.

  ?She took a deep breath, looking out the office door. Drake and Noko stood close together, listening, confused. She saw their loyalty and their love for each other.

  ?"I can't come alone, Father," Relena stated, her voice shaking slightly, but holding firm.

  ?"I won't tolerate that bartender or that Coast Guard brute in my house, Relena."

  ?"You will," Relena retorted, dropping the nuclear truth. "Because I'm not just bringing them. I married them both six months ago. Drake and Noko are my spouses, and we come as a unit. We'll be there at 7:00 PM tomorrow. Goodbye, Father."

  ?Relena slammed the phone down.

  ?The silence in the bar office was absolute, thick with a moment of stunned outrage that quickly dissolved into hilarious absurdity. Drake’s pale face broke into a wide, astonished grin. Noko, though initially rigid, started to shake with a low, rumbling laugh that shook her massive shoulders.

  ?"What," Drake whispered, running a hand through his hair, "did you just say?"

  ?Noko let out a gasp of air. "She said we're married. To her. And to each other. Six months ago." She turned her gaze to Relena, her eyes sparkling with genuine amusement. "I knew it! That's why I haven't been allowed near the financial documents—you’ve been shielding me from spousal liability this whole time, you beautiful genius."

  ?Drake wrapped one arm around Relena’s waist, pulling her flush against him. "Wait, wait, wait. This is a polygamous marriage to stop your father and mother in to controlling us? I always knew you'd propose, Relena, but this is the most unromantic, high-stakes ceremony I could imagine." Noko steping flush to Relenas back and wrapping there her arms around her shoulders smart sexy and hitting family rich drama bullshit gods damn we are a fucked up couple aren't we drake just smiled and nodded yes and don't forget are robot bodyguard Relena said as she pointed to the black backpack LT gave them he said if they were every in trouble just throw the pack and it will tellaport him to that location ok let's get back and figure out what to wear to go see the peasecraft in laws noko said drake