Ultima Ratio

Chapter 41: Scarlet Symphony

If the end of Madagascar's "alliance" with Concordia was considered chaotic, then Intermarium's was hell.

While the Aegis Squad fled to safety, Concordia used Intermarium as an example, ravaging their lands with a series of hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. No one in the Aegis Squad dared to ask how the civilians, now including the Bardejov townspeople, could be faring amidst the devastation.

It took Intermarium less than an hour to surrender to the UN in exchange for protection; it took minutes for the UN to replace all major political figures in Intermarium with ones of their own.

Akira only learned about Intermarium's surrender after her extensive digital debrief with the red-faced Major Roth onboard the Crusader. Not only was he furious about Akira toppling yet another regime and causing a political nightmare, but she also managed to lose the majority of their issued supplies near the Intermarium border, including their bikes and uniforms that "don't grow on trees, dammit!"

With the political chaos, missing townspeople, and abandoned government property, their team's morale was staggeringly low over the following days. But the war wasn't going to wait for them to feel like fighting, and at least most of her team could act like professionals as they continued to assist Sergeant Sam's Freedom Force and perform other assigned duties. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for everyone.

Their team was on the ground in Italy, traveling between Padua and Venice as they escorted an "esteemed" British "artist." While their charge had their own personal security, they required extra protection to tour the "historic ruins" of the country via hovercraft, at least until they met up with their private jet in the Venetian Lagoon.

As Akira led the diplomatic tour group through the abandoned suburbs and farmlands between the two cities, she struggled to keep her attention divided between their eerie surroundings, her constantly pausing charge, and her latest problem: Danya.

The woman didn't seem to have a care in the world as she sporadically weaved her hoverbike beside Akira's, occasionally not using her hands to steer, and always ignoring Akira's warnings to stop. While Akira hoped Danya was at least using her abilities to monitor their surroundings, she knew their company could only see Danya focused on trying to perform a wheelie with a wheel-less vehicle. Unfortunately, her behavior had become expected, and Akira's only comfort was that Navin's sharp eyes and Quyen's quick reflexes were covering them from the back of their procession.

During one of their many unscheduled stops, this one for their charge to examine an abandoned truck on the side of the road, Jivan pulled Akira aside.

"For the record, I'm only saying this out of concern as your second-in-command," Jivan began. "And not because of my own personal biases. Well, not entirely."

"Spit it out, Jivan," Akira said, though she had a feeling she knew exactly what they wanted to say.

Jivan only needed to frown for a moment before continuing. "Are you really going to let...her keep acting like this? Like a bloody child? On the Crusader, it was one thing. But while we're out here on a mission? She's dangerous."

Akira expected someone would call her out about Danya eventually, but she still sighed. Ever since they returned from Intermarium, Danya had been an enigma. For days, Akira never once saw her in the mess, the gym, their team's berthing, or topside; Akira didn't trust herself to investigate elsewhere, not unless she wanted to be trapped below decks forever. The only comfort was that Danya always showed up for mission briefs, though she would constantly arrive late and leave early, and she would glower from the back of the room the entire time.

Initially, Akira wanted to let her be. She knew by then that if there was anything consistent about Danya's personality, it was that it was always extreme, and her latest shift didn't seem to be a good one. But Danya didn't make Akira's hands-off approach easy as she flaunted the lines of disobedience on their missions, dropping off comms for minutes without warning, "forgetting" to activate her digital disguise in public, and challenging Akira's face-to-face orders with aggressive glares and verbal scoffs.