The group of five headed down the hall towards the east wing. Oscar walked at the front, with Head General Paul behind him. And directly behind him, General Nathan, General Duke, and Sergeant Dillon walked in a line. As they walked, everyone saluted as they passed. However, this wasn't just to show respect to Paul, the Base's Head General. It was because the Supreme Commander was with them as well.
The whole walk, Oscar had his eyes narrowed. A memory flashed in his head.
***
A significantly younger Oscar knelt on his left knee, his left hand clutching his right shoulder. Blood oozed down his shoulder, and his breath was shallow. In his right arm, he held a military rifle.
A moment later, a large, imposing shadow loomed over him. Oscar grit his teeth and looked up. As he did, he saw the large form of a Dalki.
The humanoid creature, covered in dragon-like scales grinned down cruelly at him.
"Nighty, night." The Dalki sneered as it raised its clawed arm up, preparing to deliver a finishing blow. "Little gnat!"
A moment later, a giant slab of earth the size of a kitchen counter came flying past Oscar, zooming over his head. The slab hit the Dalki head-on, causing it to stumble.
Oscar's eyes widened as he saw the earth slab. He only knew one person who could do that. This was still the early days of the Dalki War, hence Oscar's military rifle. The Originals, and thus Abilities, wouldn't be appearing for another three years. Well, all Originals except one. Oscar looked back and saw a man approaching him. The man had spiky, blonde hair and an athletic physique.
"Having a little trouble there, Oscar?" The man chuckled.
Oscar just stared at the man.
"Mason…" He muttered.
Mason walked up to Oscar and helped him up to his feet.
"Looks like these freaks really put you through the wringer, huh?" Mason asked, still having a smirk on his face.
Oscar just continued to stare at Mason.
"You're…still here?" Oscar asked, incredulous. "I thought you would have requested leave by now! Isn't your daughter going to be born any day now?!"
However, it was then that Oscar saw Mason's face harden. At first, he thought that this was simply something Mason didn't want to talk about, but then he suddenly shoved Oscar to the side.
"Agh!" Oscar groaned in pain as he fell, grabbing his injured arm. He looked up at Mason to yell at him when his eyes widened.
The Dalki was now back on its feet, and it slashed its claw across Mason's face. The force of the strike sent Mason flying backwards.
"MASON!" Oscar yelled. Still being injured, he limped his way over to Mason. "Mason! Are you alright?!"
"Agh…" Mason groaned as he brought his hand to his face.
As Oscar looked down at Mason, his eyes widened, and he felt a pit form in his stomach. Mason now had a deep gash going diagonally across the right side of his face. It started at the very bottom of his left cheek and then went upwards at a diagonal angle. Up the right side of his nose, the center of his forehead, and up his right temple.
Mason put on a strained smile.
"Shit, that hurt."
***
Back in the hall, Oscar's expression hardened.
'If Mason hadn't pushed me OUT OF THE WAY that day, that Dalki would have slashed through the BACK OF MY HEAD.' Oscar thought. 'I wouldn't even be here today. And if he hadn't knocked it back with that stone slab, it would have just straight-up killed me. He managed to save my life twice in the same five minutes.'
***
Back in the training room, a tense atmosphere began to form.
Shizuka's grip tightened around the handle of her rapier.
"General Blaine." She hissed, calling the General out by name. "What is the meaning of this?!"
Between Tsukuru and Quinn, Tsukuru's Harpie took on an aggressive stance. She spread her fingers, causing her sharp talons to glint in the light.
Seeing this, both Del and Hayley gulped. Due to how docile the creature had been, they had almost forgotten that it was a Beast.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and pixels began to form on Tsukuru's right. The pixels clustered together into the shape of Tsukuru's Haunted Knight. In a flash of light, she fully manifested. Like with the Harpie, she too took on an aggressive stance, holding her sword in front of her in both hands.
Vorden closed his eyes for a moment and then reopened them. When he did, he had a far more aggressive look on his face. This was because in the dark space of his mind, Vorden had switched places with Raten.
Faye looked at her group, then towards the group of assembled soldiers.
"We were sent out on a mission!" She replied, trying to de-escalate the situation. "We need to report our success to General Nathan!"
General Blaine's face fell. He had a somewhat complicated look on his face. As if he didn't want to do this, but orders were orders.
"Unfortunately, Sergeant Faye." He replied in an apologetic tone. "My orders come from above General Nathan's clearance."
Hearing this, Faye's eyes widened.
"The Head-General?" She asked, surprised. "He's returned?"
General Blaine shook his head.
"Even higher up." He replied.
***
Back with the group of five, they had just about reached the training room.
***
Back inside the training room, Faye was stunned.
"Even higher than Head General Paul?" She asked, incredulous. "Who could possiblyoutrank HIM on the Base?"
Suddenly, Shizuka's eyes widened in realization.
"Oscar…" She muttered.
Instantly, the others all turned to her.
"The Supreme Commander?!" Del cried. "What would he be doing on the base?!"
It was then that Leo's eyes narrowed.
In his wireframe vision, he saw five individuals approaching the door.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Leo asked, causing them all, even General Blaine's men, to turn to him. "We have company."
As General Blaine and his men turned and saw the Supreme Commander standing among the group of five at the door, they instantly moved. Rather than forming a wall blocking the entrance, they arranged themselves into two lines, one on either side of the door, them allsaluting.
Slowly, the group of five men entered the training room. As they did, the tense atmosphere vanished.
Shizuka relaxed her aggressive stance and placed her rapier back in its sheath.
Tsukuru's two Summons did the same. The Harpie loosenedher hands and put them by her side, while the Haunted Knight took her left arm off her sword. Holding it in her right hand, she held it down by her side.
"Tch…" Raten muttered, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Well, this has been a waste of my TIME!"
He closed his eyes. As he did, his facial muscles relaxed. When he opened his eyes again, Vorden was back in control, wearing his trademark gentle smile.
The group of five continued walking forward until they stood directly in front of the Retrieval Team and the rescued students.
Oscar raised an eyebrow as he saw the corpse resting on Leo's shoulder like asack of potatoes.
Meanwhile, those familiar with Tsukuru all widened their eyes in surprise upon seeing the Haunted Knight standing on his right, and the Harpie standing on his left.
'He can summon multiple Beasts at once?!' They all thought in shock.
As soon as Shizuka saw Duke, her eyes narrowed, and her hand tightened around the handle of her rapier.
Oscar's gaze then drifted from the corpse on Sergeant Leo's shoulders to Tsukuru. His gaze intensified when he saw him.
'So this is him.' Oscar thought. 'This is Hikiko Tsukuru.'
Even without the Beasts on either side of him, Oscar would have recognized him. He could see so much of Mason's facial structure in him. In fact, Tsukuru looked exactly like how Mason had looked when he had first arrived at the military. Mason Drake was somewhat of a…special case. Instead of enlisting voluntarily at the age of seventeen like normal, Mason was forcibly conscripted into the military because he kept getting into fights and hospitalizing people. It was similar to a parent sending a wayward kid to military school.
Of course, that turned out to be the best thing possiblefor the military, for it led to the discovery of the Earth Ability long before the Originals ever showed up.
Oscar let out a slight snort of amusement, causing the others to all turn to him. He still remembered the exact day that the military had learned of Mason's…special power.