The Second Battle for Maan City

Chapter 1: An Urgent Message

"That was all she said."

"No further details, huh..."

Aeon rubbed her temples thoughtfully. Dinbium had their fair share of disagreements with the Advent in the past, but they too were one of the few civilized communities which the Advent could trade with on a regular basis.

"I'll let Andrew know, and we'll see what Command decides. But for now, keep monitoring the comms and keep me updated if anything else comes through from them."

"Alright~"

Aeon left the room checking her notes and with a weird feeling in her stomach. If not for her detoxifier stomach, she would have probably wondered if the automated cooking machine had given her food poisoning again. Wondering what that feeling was, she nearly ran into a familiar figure walking past.

"Whoa-Cel? Weren't you running air support for Delta?"

"Oh, hey Aeon! Yup, I was! But that was a surprisingly fast mission. Usually you'd expect several runs, but after the first pass I got a comms from Delta. Andrew congratulated me on a good drop before instructing me to return to base, so I've just finished returning the unused shells."

"I see... Would it be possible to let me know when Delta's back? I need to let Andrew know something."

"Sure! By the way, how's your shoulder been? You took an awful bruise back there when..."

"Yea, it's much better now." She smiled ruefully. "I probably shouldn't have ran out there when those...what do you call them, kobolds? I had thought they were on the run, but it seems like some were still eager to put up a fight for the dead bodies of their comrades."

A blue gleam of light flashed overhead as the heavy cargo ship landed in the industrial hanger.

"Ah, it looks like Delta's back."

Running ahead of Aeon, Cel cheerfully greeted the team. "How did it go?" she asked Andrew.

"You nailed them in the first hit! Great job as usual, Cel. Honestly there wasn't much in the way of bodies left after you were done, so we just took out the last turret at the entrance and checked all the rooms to be sure. But I think some of our tribal friends will sleep a little better tonight knowing that the Coalition of Lei's Trostreo lies...well, dead. Them being the savages they are, though, I'm sure someone else will take their leader's place...oof!"

Hugging Andrew lovingly – as much as was possible through his armour, anyway – Aeon smiled. If not for the internal camera in her helmet, Andrew probably wouldn't have been able to see her smile through her thick helmet.

"I'm glad to see you again, too. What happened while we were out?"

Aeon's smile wavered slightly. "Well...Dawn got some troubling news over the radio. Maan City." She paused for a second, torn. "It does seem like they are in some sort of danger, but. you guys have just been out there...maybe we could discuss it in a few hou-"

"Maan City? Hm. Interesting."

The measured voice came from another heavily armored helmet.

"What do you mean, Commander?"

"While we were on our way back from the chief's hideout, we saw some unusual pods in the sky heading to the South. We didn't think much of it, however, but now that you mentioned it..."

There was a short silence. Aeon would of course have encouraged them to get some rest – particularly Andrew – but she before she could speak, Cy made up his mind.

"Callthe others and tell them we're meeting in the briefing room. I'd like to hearmore about this."