The only star left in the sky was hanging low above the city, bathing the world in orange. Shadows grew larger as the sun dipped lower. Arden sat on a pile of rubble overlooking what used to be his home. The scene looked like the moment after the final battle in a war movie due to the prevalence of two things: rubble and depression. This would be the moment when all of the soldiers cheered, having ended the battle.

  Not now, though. The soldiers here were getting ready to begin.

  When Arden and Vera first arrived, they found out that they were the first ones here. After establishing a perimeter around the base of the fallen building, they called the others, letting them know that the area was clear.

  The rest of the crew arrived within the hour. By the time six pm rolled around, everyone was here preparing for the assault. Santos and Savish were setting up a triage tent that was strangely bigger on the inside. Arden figured that spatial abilities were used in its creation. Vera and Laurent were barricading choke points that would hopefully go unused. No matter how strong Chorzo was, fighting against a horde of Celestials would not be viable while protecting people.

  Chorzo was doing what a leader was supposed to do. He was watching everything, making sure that everything went right. His senses were the strongest of anyone there, so he would be the first to know if any Celestial approached. Currently, he stood beside Arden, also watching the collapsed building.

  The most odd thing about the building was its current state. Previously, it was a pile of rubble. Now, it was on its side in the dirt, and a little bit on top of another building that stubbornly refused to fall as well, but it wasn’t destroyed. It was still in a state of disrepair, but no worse than it was when Arden and Sya lived here.

  “How did he find out?” Arden asked. “Not even your guys could figure out where me and Sya lived. How could Yaan?”

  “I don’t know,” Chorizo confessed. “That’s something we’ll have to figure out, either from Yaan himself, or your sister. The only idea that comes to mind is-”

  “Don’t say it,” Arden cut him off.

  The unspoken words hung in the air. Arden knew what the leader of Miasma was going to say. How could he not? It was an obvious move for a person like Yaan to make. Even so, he didn’t want it to be true. Torture was prone to being the next step after kidnapping. Arden didn’t want to think about it happening to Sya.

  “What will happen after this wraps up?” Arden asked, moving away from the topic.

  “It all depends on how smoothly this goes. Whoever we rescue will be given the best medical treatment we can offer. Whoever doesn’t make it back will also be given the best that we can for them and their families. This happened because of Miasma, so we- I will take responsibility for all of it.”

  “The Association won’t stay quiet about the sudden rescue, will they?”

  “No, but we knew that coming in. If they want to make a fuss over not following procedures to carry out a rescue operation into the slums, they can. I doubt they would though. Their public sentiment is still low after the cascade. Condemning the rescuers would make people lose what remaining faith they have left.”

  There was a brief pause in the conversation as they watched Savish and Vera making small talk.

  “I know it’s not your intention,” Arden began. “But what you just said makes it feel like you only decided to come here after weighing the pros and cons of rescuing the people here.”

  “It’s the burden of leadership. If it were just me, a lone Starborn, I wouldn’t hesitate to jump in to stage a rescue. Unfortunately, I can’t do that. I have countless people under me. They are my responsibility, just as much as the people trapped right in front of us. All of my decisions are placed under heavy scrutiny because they affect everyone below me. Every mission Miasma undertakes has risks. This one is a major risk, but it was one that I couldn’t turn away from.”

  “What made you do it?”

  “We both know the answer to that.” Chorizo pointed to the broken building. “They did. There are people who need help in there. Did you ever learn about the point of Miasma as an entity?”

  “A little bit. Staz told me that it was meant to help people in the slums.”

  “Right. That was my goal. It still is. I’ve seen what the people here can turn into. My son was a victim of those people. When I first lost him, I wanted to raze the slums to the ground, but I knew that wasn’t the answer. The people here are victims too. That was the reason for creating Miasma. To prevent any more victims. To give chances to the people who had none. It would be hypocritical of me to leave them here.”

  Chorzo sighed.

  “Do you regret it?” Arden asked.

  “My purpose? Not at all. I wake up every day proud of what Miasma has done. Almost everyone who survived the cascade has started truly living because of our work. I just wish it always worked out.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I give second chances to everyone. Not everyone deserves them. Sometimes a second chance is all someone needs to commit atrocities. And sometimes those who most need a second chance are already too far gone to make use of it. Take some of the cascade survivors for example. Most of the people that were in the slums had already lost their families. Then the cascade comes along and takes what little they have built up in the meantime, whether people or resources. Not everyone can come back from that. I wish everyone could.”

  It was strange seeing the usually stoic man open up like this. Arden didn't know the man for long, but he had assumed Chorzo was just a very indifferent, very strong Starborn. But now, Arden had to revise that statement. Chorzo was a very human Starborn weighed down by the burden of responsibility.

  “Are all Starborn like that?” Arden asked absentmindedly.

  “What?”

  “Sorry, it slipped.”

  Sighing inwardly, Arden decided to own the question, so he asked a similar one.

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  “How many Starborn do you personally know that take their jobs seriously like you do? It can't be that many.”

  “Much less than I'd like,” Chorzo said. “There are a few like me who put the safety of the people above everything, but there aren't many. Most Starborn only care about themselves. What type are you?”

  Arden thought about it for a moment. He didn't have a clear answer. He wasn't sure if it was due to his immaturity as a Starborn or because he didn't know what he wanted.

  “I don't know,” Arden said. “I said something similar to Vera on our way here, but I don't really have an interest in heroics. I don't want to just leave people to die, either. I think I just want to live as a Starborn for the time being, and see what that means to me.”

  Chorzo nodded.

  “That's the mentality of someone who doesn't know what they want.”

  “I just said that I didn't know what I wanted.”

  “Do you want my advice?”

  “I'll take it, but I don't know if I'll follow it. I have a history of being a bit of a free spirit.”

  “Don't make a decision yet. Gain experience first before you decide what type of Starborn you want to be. Stick to hunting in the wilds or guildwork for now. With your awakening, you've added an extra 75 years to your life, if you don't get killed first.”

  “That's a pretty big if.”

  “So here's a smaller if. If you follow my advice and after a few years you're still not sure what you want, come work for me.”

  Arden looked up at Chorzo.

  “...You're scouting me?”

  “And Vera. You two both already have stunning track records.”

  “We've been Starborn for less than a week.”

  “And yet your achievements extend beyond that time frame. A Stargate raid and defeating a rogue Starborn, both of which you did before your awakening.”

  “You do realize that I was the one that nearly killed your nephew right?”

  “I'm aware.”

  “Twice.”

  “I'm aware,” Chorzo repeated, sounding a little bit annoyed. “Nothing's set in stone yet. Still, I'm giving you a chance.”

  Arden looked at Chorzo’s face for a moment, before turning his gaze forward towards the other members of the team.

  “You’re probably going to regret that.”

  “Possibly. But it's what I do. Have you ever given someone a chance before?”

  Arden had.

  “Once,” he said.

  “Did it work out?”

  Arden focused his stare towards Vera. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and whipped around her face with sunlight reflecting off of the icy streaks as she moved with elegance around the area with her sword in hand. She had the grace of a dancer, but Arden could see the power behind each swing of her sword. This was a meditative sword dance, the same one she displayed back in the Mausoleum of the Maverick, and it was as much a calming technique as it was a training technique. She saw him staring at her, so she gave him a cheerful wave. Despite how simple the gesture was, Arden couldn't help but smile warmly as his heart rate increased.

  Everything that happened so far could be tied back to that one moment, the one time Arden gave someone a chance. If Arden hadn't helped Vera at Cirai’s request, things would be very different. But that one moment formed a connection that hadn't been broken, Arden believed it never would.

  If he hadn't given her food, she wouldn't have pulled him and his sister out from beneath the building right in front of them. She would never have taught them how to fight. Arden and Sya wouldn't have survived the cascade if Vera didn't pull them into a low ranking Stargate.

  At first, Arden only wanted to survive. To guarantee his sister's happiness, if not her survival. But after meeting Vera, he changed. He wanted to do more than survive. He wanted to get stronger. He wanted to experience life to the fullest.

  Vera taught him and Sya how to survive. She told them how to get stronger. Every moment he was with Vera he felt truly alive.

  She was a friend. A teacher. A rival. A lover.

  He saved her then.

  But she was his savior.

  “It was the best choice I ever made.”

  ***

  The sun was now dipping past the horizon. The ambient roars of Celestials in the distance that acted as both white noise and a measure for danger started going quiet. Everyone stood inside the medical tent waiting for the mission to finally begin. Everyone was fully equipped in their best equipment.

  Arden wore his Stoneflesh Shroud with his Bone Gauntlets adorning his hands as he sat on a bed with arms crossed and feet tapping. Vera with her leather armor and sword on her hip sat next to him. Savish, once again in her black cocktail dress, stood in front of the pair.

  “So you’re saying that the dress is the strongest armor Satellite that you have?” Vera asked.

  “For the hundredth time, yes.”

  “Even though the lower third of your body is exposed?”

  Savish shrugged with one hand on her hip, and one of her legs exposed sticking out from the slit in her dress.

  “It’s a tradeoff,” she explained. “It makes me more nimble.”

  “In a dress,” Vera said flatly. “You move faster and fight better when in a dress.”

  “It’s the aspect.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I still need the tailor’s info,” Arden cut it. “I’m gonna need one of those dresses.”

  Savish and Vera gave him a look.

  “It’s not for me,” he said defensively.

  “No one said that it was,” Vera said.

  Santos in his lab coat was going from bed to bed checking each one’s monitor. He didn’t know how many victims would be receiving treatment here, but he didn’t want there to be any problems with the equipment used. The more efficient the equipment, the faster he would be able to heal, and he would be able to heal more people.

  Laurent and Chorzo stood in the doorway. A small breeze kept the flap lightly fluttering beside them as they watched the sun slowly set. Both of them had changed to their Starborn attire. Chorzo's armor looked like a blast forge had become a set of armor. Black and grey metal covered his body, with a cavity missing from the torso from which fire raged. Laurent’s armor was incredibly simple in comparison. It was like Vera’s in that it looked like a set of lightweight armor, though his was made from a grey metal, instead of mundane leather.

  Laurent fished a cigarette out of his inventory along with a lighter. He lit it and gave it a drag, blowing smoke into the evening air.

  “You know that’s bad for you,” Chorzo said, only taking his eyes off of the sun for a moment.

  “Not anymore,” Laurent said. “No mundane diseases, remember?”

  “Smoking’s a bad habit.”

  “I’m catching heat about smoking from the guy with the thermal reactor in his chest?”

  “Just get rid of it.”

  Laurent clicked his tongue and sullenly flicked the cigarette to the ground before stomping it out. The last thing they needed was the cigarette catching the medical tent on fire during a hostage rescue.

  “You're no fun.”

  The sun fell beyond the horizon. The day was over, and night had just begun. It was time to begin.