After a moment of contemplation, Luciel exited the small room into the deck. Immediately, Belynda approached him with a serious look on her face.
"In accordance with Convergence Emergency Protocol, I am formally designating you as a temporary operative of Gleipnir Squad, effective immediately. As your acting Captain, I expect full compliance with my directives without exception. Is that understood?"
His breathing halted briefly by this unexpected recruitment. He swallowed, forcing his shoulders to square, and gave a quick nod anyway.
"Understood."
Everything was happening fast, even faster than when he had dealt with the gangs in the Outlands, or when he had to escape the encirclement of the Federation's soldiers. He felt rather overwhelming, but his practiced adaptability calmed his mind. This was his first time in the Shattered; if he ever lost his cool, he could kiss his life goodbye.
Belynda's eyes remained as sharp as a knife as he stood at attention.
"You are to address me as Captain from now on. Is that understood?"
"Understood, Captain."
The word Captain sat heavy on his tongue. He'd heard the operators say it a dozen times, but hearing it and saying it were two entirely different things. Saying it made the Shattered real; it meant he could really die here.
"As a combat operative of the squad, you are required to disclose every detail about your Stanza…"
Luciel's breath caught for a fraction of a second.
'Every detail?'
A sense of unease coursed through him. Of course anyone would feel that way, right? Unless it was someone he could trust — like Bambi — revealing everything felt like stripping him bare.
Belynda must have seen his composure cracked slightly. She studied him with an unreadable expression, then continued:
"…However, as a temporary member, you may disclose only what you deem operationally relevant."
At those words, Luciel let out a sigh of relief, barely noticeable, of course. He didn't want to reveal the existence of the runes just yet; it was too premature, and doing so could make him a target to malicious intentions.
Not wanting the silence to take over, he quickly replied:
"I've only just awakened, so there are details even I'm unsure about, Captain."
Belynda firmly nodded.
"That's alright."
At her approval, Luciel began sorting through what to share and what to withhold. Finally, he answered:
"My Stanza grants me control over fire."
She folded her arms, her expression unchanged, though her eyes narrowed just enough to see the gears turning in her head.
"I'm concerned about a few things."
Luciel's expression read slight curiosity.
"What are your concerns?"
"Control is one. You can burn your allies if it isn't exquisite and precise. But I cannot demand that from an Awakened, so resistance is the most crucial aspect. You have to be able to hold your own on the field, but fire wielders tend to burn themselves before they ever become a threat to anyone else. That's why, even though there are many pyrokinetics, few become notable. Most just die. How resistant are you to your own flames?"
He considered his words for a moment, and then he met her gaze evenly.
"My fire doesn't burn me. It's actually the opposite. It heals me."
Belynda uncrossed her arms and stepped closer, expression remained sharp.
"Say that again."
"It heals me, Captain. But when I do it, it hurts like I'm stepping into hell."
She stared at him intensely for a brief moment, but it felt like hours, like someone peering into your soul.
Then, for the first time since the conversation began, the tension in Belynda's posture loosened, and the faintest curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"When you walked away from the jump's impact mostly unscathed, I knew you were something special. What a shame. That temporary in your title is looking more and more like a waste."
She let her comment hang for a second, then scoffed lightly.
"My offer from before still stands, you know. Official operative of Gleipnir got a nice ring to it."
He almost smiled with pride but held back. His ego was off the roof.
"I'll take that as a compliment, Captain."
Belynda clicked her tongue, her expression tinged with disbelief. Maybe turning down, or even delaying, an offer from one of the best PNA squads wasn't something a normal person would do.
"Anyway, any other details I need to know?"
Luciel thought about Dawn and whether he should reveal it. A Relic was just a Relic, right? They were known to appear in unpredictable places, and most squads would be elated if one of their members had one. It meant their chances of survival increased.
'Fuck it. I trust Bambi's trust in them.'
Having decided, he said:
"I have a Relic weapon."
"Mmm. You have a Relic… wait. You have a Relic?"
Belynda nodded casually until it hit her. Her eyes sharpened, and she tilted her head as if replaying what he'd just said.
Then, Glenn hurriedly ran towards them, interrupting their conversation.
"Captain. Luciel. Sorry to interrupt, but we've detected Discordant activity in the area, about five kilometers out. They're closing in as we speak. ETA is fifteen minutes."
Belynda snapped her head toward Glenn.
"What's the HLD?"
"Density is oscillating between 1.5 to 2, Captain."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Just small fries then. Have you found out where we are and contacted the nearest SecCom?"
Glenn's expression turned slightly dark.
"We have circumstantial evidence that Gleipnir is deep within the Lament. The unfamiliar environment and terrain, combined with a weak or nonexistent signal, suggest as much."
Belynda, still showing utmost composure expected from a captain of an elite squad, raised her voice and made an announcement:
"Ops! Continue pinging the nearest SecCom on all available frequencies. Also, relay live telemetry to the deployment bay. Our combat squad will deploy, eliminate the threat, and secure a landing perimeter."
"Yes, Captain!"
Glenn then ran off to his operating terminal, while Liliane was so hyper focused she didn't respond to Belynda's orders. Since she didn't repeat herself, she probably knew Liliane had already processed everything.
"Ayla, Luciel. Come with me."
Belynda swiftly led them into a circular room, way smaller than the command deck, but still spacious enough to fit hundreds of people. At the center of the platform, a series of concentric rings flowed faintly, which Luciel assumed them to be a deployment array.
Before he thought of deploying, however, Belynda snapped him back to reality.
"Alright, since the density is low enough, I believe we should give our rookie a shot at killing these DDs. What do you think?"
Bambi hadn't said much after that heavy conversation in the crash room. Luciel was getting worried, but her current laconic behavior made her difficult to approach.
"I'm on board, Captain. This is the perfect chance for me to gain experience."
Belynda nodded.
"Bambi?"
Bambi dazedly looked at the holographic projection of the drop zone — jagged rock formations jutted randomly from cracked ground, but other than that, it was a flat expanse of featureless ground stretching in every direction. No vegetation, no cover, no structures, nothing. It looked way too empty, and that was exactly what made it unsettling.
Finally, she opened her mouth and looked at Luciel with an unwavering gaze.
"I'll stick to him at all times."
Belynda hummed.
"I'll assign one more to your team then. You two take one side, I take the rest."
'One more?'
What did she mean by that?
But Belynda answered his question before he could even conjecture.
"I suppose I should disclose my Stanza to you before deployment. I summon minions, empower myself with their traits, and I can only summon five at a time. They're all incorporeal, so they won't take damage unless I do. That's all you need to know for now."
Luciel rubbed his chin absently.
'So, she's a support? But if that's the case, five at a time sounds underwhelming, unless each minion is as strong as a Harbinger… I need to see it in action.'
She described her abilities rather vaguely… but enough to understand the implication of her Stanza.
'I guess I just have to hold my own, like she said.'
After giving it some thought, he nodded with slight enthusiasm.
"Yes, Captain."
Belynda confirmed with a nod. After the debrief, she walked towards him with two objects in her hands.
"Comm link. Put it in your ear."
She handed him a small, sleek device no larger than a fingernail. It wore a matte black suit with faint amber line running along its edge. He figured the other one was for Bambi.
Luciel put it into his ear and pressed it in. It latched on perfectly with the slight curve fitting snug against the inner ear. A second later, a low hum pulsed once against his ear drum, and the ambient noise around him sharpened.
[Testing. One, two, three. Luc—can you hear me?]
It was Glenn on the other side, voice slightly distorted.
"Yes. Mostly."
[Good. I'll be giving instructions wh—necessary. My job is to keep an eye—and report to the squad. All you have to do is to react, got it?]
"Yes."
[And if you don't know what to do, just follow Captain.]
"Alright."
[Hold down the disc and it'll mute you. Unmute when you need something important. Usually, Captain is in charge of comms, so you don't have to do the talking at all.]
"Thanks, Glenn."
Luciel then held down the disc as Glenn instructed, and a beep followed through to confirm.
He was relieved there was a mute option. Calling Bambi by her undercover name, Ayla, was still something he had to consciously remind himself to do. In a tense moment, instinct could easily override this caution. At least now, if he slipped, the comms wouldn't broadcast it to the operators above.
In any case, it seemed everyone was ready to go.
Belynda swept a glance toward both him and Bambi.
"To celebrate our rookie's debut, I expect a stunning victory. But if things go wrong…"
She pinned her eyes on him.
"…Escape immediately to the ship. That is an order. I don't want heroics here."
Luciel nodded. He didn't want to die just yet either.
"Understood, Captain."
The word Captain had already started to roll off his tongue like butter.