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The Arcade was packed even for this early in the day. And they hadn't even got to the midday rush. That was one reason Mellisa had wanted to get out early.That and she didn't want to spend the day moping around the barracks. It's not like there was much she can do there right now.

'Yeah, well, being put on light duties will do that.' Mellisa sighed in her head. She didn't regret what she did. It was the right thing to do. It's just frustrating no one else saw it that way, not her squad and certainly not her mother.

She was proud of what she did. It's just frustrating and more than a little galling that no one else seems to think that way. Well, Hiromi did. And that is the one bright spark here. She had seemed to understand. She almost wished she was here. Or Alice. She wouldn't mind blowing off some more steam with another sparring session.

So she had just wanted to get out. To be somewhere with people. And really, there was not a better place in the city. And she is not the only one. The Arcade was the cities primary entertainment district. Aerodromes, shops, restaurants, libraries, sparring areas. You name it. The shops were why Mellisa had come here today. Nothing serious, just some window shopping, browsing for new outfits. Or the potential for new outfits. Right now, she felt the need for something frivolous and light-hearted. She certainly envied the light-hearted attitude of the furs around her, that state of mind that said they were completely at ease with their lives. Yes, she envied them.

Of course, she could just go down to the arena, get matched with someone, work off some steam that way. If only she had brought Tsunami. Then it would have been a fair fight. Mellisa relies on her sword as more than just a weapon. Also as a device that helps to focus her magic, even if she doesn't fight with her.

But that wasn't a good idea, not the way she felt right now. Part of her worried about losing control. Of all her fears, that was her greatest. Not that there was any reason she should, but that had been how she felt when she was first learning to control her powers; that she had this energy inside her that she had to control. It had taken her a long time to learn to harness it instead, going with its flow. Of course, with that flow came advantages.

Mellisa didn't like to advertise this but her magic gave her a sense of everything around her. And if she let go and let it sweep her along, she could almost feel everything. Not just the furs around her, but their moods and intentions. She felt them as cores of energy, each tinged with a different feeling, an emotion. Or mind-set. Not that Mellisa tried to read people but like others couldn't help smelling perfume or reading expression, some auras just screamed at her. Others, she had to actually reach for. It depended on the furson in question. It wasn't mind reading, more the aura of their life, their personality was the best way to describe it.

Of course, sometimes what isn't there can attract her attention more so than what is. Mellisa had just been walking along when her gaze, and her senses, fell on a feline on the other side of the walkway. She would have paid attention to her anyway, her pure white fur with green markings that matched the highlights in her hair were very striking. But that hadn't been what caught her attention. She couldn't read her. For a second Mellisa wondered if she had made a misreading, so she purposefully brushed her mind against hers. And still she felt nothing, just nothing. A wall as white as her fur, blank, empty. Or hidden.

She might not have felt something but the other feline did. Her eyes rose, met with Melisa's across the crowded walkway, seeming to ignore all others around her as she sought her out. Mellisa started, like a jolt of energy had struck her body. Her eyes seemed to bore into her, like she was...being..questioned, something pressing against her mind. Before she even thought about fighting it, the pressure faded. And Mellisa was able to draw in a sharp breath, her eyes still locked on the feline. But hers weren't any more. She had looked away, focused on something below her. From the angle of her gaze, Mellisa saw she was watching a figure on the lower level.

That gave her pause..why? She seemed no different from anyone else, the young gerbil chatted with the vixen next to her, her mind-set carefree and light-hearted, just a young girl hanging out with friends, just like dozens of others here. Then her aura changed, gave way to something like an iron ball. The change was so sudden, like a switch in her had been thrown. Not anger but steely determination, a sense of having to do something unavoidable, an undeniable drive.

That wasn't all she felt. Power was growing around the Gerbil, to her eyes a haze that shimmered into life around her, washing outwards from her skin. A power that had the same steely feel, power like she had never felt. Almost like her magic, but the force of it..it was staggering. Nearly literally. No one else could feel it but to Mellisa it was like a sudden weight in her mind, in her body, a negative force working against her. How she stayed upright she had no idea. But part of her seemed to refuse to give up, to tear her eyes away from the scene below.

The Gerbil was getting a few stares from those around her, furs shooting her sidelong glances, their pace increasing as they moved past. Not surprising since she had stopped dead, her eyes seeming to stare at nothing as the bags slipped from her paws. Her friend next to her was speaking to her hurriedly, obvious concern clear on her face. But from this distance Mellisa couldn't hear what.

Then the vixen rested a hand on her shoulder and everything went crazy. The reaction was instantaneous, the shock and crack of the release of power could be heard from where Mellisa stood. The vixen didn't scream or cry out as she was thrown backwards by the power that flared and arced off her in bolts of energy. She landed in a heap and didn't get up. Was she still breathing? Mellisa couldn't tell. She wanted to go to her, to help her. But her mind was focused, targeted on the Gerbil. She had to stop her first.

Instinct seemed to have gripped the crowd around the Gerbil, snapping them out of their shock. It started like a wave, the people closest to her turning and running, those behind them following suit. Whether it was them seeing the Gerbil surrounded by a storm of energy as the crowd cleared or just herd behaviour, Mellisa had no idea. She just couldn't take her eyes off the Gerbil. It was her eyes that attracted Mellisa right now. Pure black, cold and inhuman. No emotion what so ever. No pupils either. That wasn't the only change, her body now marked with odd glyphs and symbols that glowed in a deep red light, light that pulsed with a steady rhythm.

Mellisa felt the surge of power before it hit, a urgent warning that nearly came too late. It took all of her effort to stay standing. She felt like a sapling in a hurricane, her mind struggling to hold the shield she had thrown in front of her. And she was the lucky one, the wave of power catching the stragglers that were still trying to run, flinging them to the floor with a disdainful ease. Lucky maybe, but her shield wouldn't hold. Without Tsunami to support her, she could barely channel enough magick to shield herself. And certainly not to attack.

If only she had her sword, she might have been able to cut through the energy wave and reach her and....do what? Try to subdue her? Kill her? Who was she kidding, the power she could feel was out of her league, unlike anything she had felt before.

Then she lost any chance to do anything. She had no time to even mount a defence against the second wave of energy that smashed into her, her fragile shield shattered like crystal struck by a stone. She was exposed to the full fury of the storm of energy, her body and mind battered as she was launched into the air.

Chunks of stone and masonry rained around her as she landed in a heap with a cracking sound reverberated around her already ringing head. Some instinct had made her curl up into a ball and that might have been what saved her. The stones crashed around her, followed by a layer of dust. For a long second, Mellisa was paralysed, expecting the weakened ceiling to come crashing down any minute. She could be buried alive, and that thought should have scared her. But she had gone beyond fear into the cold detachment of panic.

Mellisa was now hyper aware of other sounds around her, sounds that cut through the cracking and creaking of the stone. She was amazed how quiet it wasn't, screams and shouts and whimpers of pain that grew to a crescendo and trailed off again. She had to help, or get help...or do something. Mellisa had barely thought that as she tried to stand, only to collapse back where she had lain. Pain ripped down her arm. If she hadn't bit down on her lip she would have screamed. Her arm felt like it had been nearly snapped in two. Mellisa clutched her useless arm to her chest, her head spinning as she waited for the pain to recede.

Before she could even think about rising, she felt a paw on her shoulder. 'No, you stay down.' Mellisa started, she knew that voice. She had only heard it once but she was sure she knew it. Melisa's head swam but she was able to focus on the hare leaning over her. 'What..are you doing here?'

Alice smiled a tight lipped smile, the uniform she now wore looked at odds with the impression she had of her back when they met in the park. 'Later. Let the medics look you over.'

'No..I need to...ow..' Mellisa tried to stand and winced again, her movement responsible for that stab of pain.

Alice's voice was a firm as her touch, her paw holding her down as a stag moved up to her left side. She was just able to catch sight of the glyph on his shoulder that marked him as a medic. 'You need to get checked out. Let them do their jobs.'

'But..the others..I need to help them.' Mellisa looked at the disaster area around her, unable to keep from thinking how many more could be injured like her. Or worse.

'We are taking care of them.' the stag said gruffly, his hands feeling her arm even as she clutched it to her chest. 'And you have a nasty break here. If you move, you are at risk of a compound fracture, maybe even severing an artery. Plus, I'm not sure you don't have a concussion. Looks like you hit your head.'

Not waiting for her to respond, the stag opened a pouch on his belt and pulled out a vial of clear liquid. 'Here, this will help with the pain. I'm sure you don't want me setting a broken arm without it.'

Mellisa couldn't argue with that. The drug was quick, barely a second after she had taken the three drops she had been offered she already felt light headed, her mind woozy. But one thought rose to her head that had slipped her mind in the chaos. 'Wait..there was...a feline...white and green fur..I didn't see her after the...explosion...you need to find her. She might be..hurt.' Not that she had seen anyone else after the explosion either. But right now it felt very important to find her. She couldn't say why she just knew it was. With that word that she slurred out her eyes rolled into her head and she remembered nothing else.

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That disorientation followed her when she awoke, her head spinning. That hadn't changed. But something had. Ah...her arm. It didn't hurt. Felt heavy, yes, numb even. But it didn't hurt. Which had to be a good thing. Now she just had to work out where she was. Before she got an answer to that, she realised something else. She wasn't alone. She had to assume the painkillers still in her system were down to that. But the voice across from her was proof she wasn't. She recognised it, because it was the second time today she had heard it when feeling like this.

'So..you're awake. You really shouldn't be sitting up yet. That was a nasty hit you took.' Alice was seated across from her, a book folded in her lap, one finger marking her place. Which had to make her wonder how long she had been waiting here. And why she had waited here. But right now she had another question more in the centre of her mind.

Mellisa shrugged and sat up awkwardly. Her head swam enough to make spots dance in front of her eyes and her stomach to roll. But she pushed down on both of those, her gaze focused on the uniform Alice now wears. And presumably had been wearing back at the Arena. 'You never said you were military. Or a doctor. Certainly not a military doctor.'

'I'm not. But I am military. Alice Munro, Lieutenant with the Central Forces.' Alice said with a grin. 'Looks like Hiromi was right about you.'

'You..know her?' Mellisa asked, still trying to get her head around this. This was a lot for her to take in and her head span again. Odd enough she had met her again, but to find out she knew the only other member of the Central Forces was more than just odd or coincidental, it was bizarre.

'Yeah, she said you were sharp. But I had to see for myself.' Alice replied. And that was bizarre too. Hasn't she already seen her? And what had Hiromi had seen? Those questions were too much for her even as she tried to snap back, to focus.

Mellisa wasn't sure what to make of that. But she couldn't help seeing it one way. 'That..wasn't a chance meeting was it? Back when we..sparred.' Mellisa didn't know if she should be annoyed, impressed or..or..what. Everything was still a bit fuzzy. 'So, Hiromi told you where I might be. What, did she check of where I live?'

'You think that was so hard?' Alice shrugged. 'We do have records on you, well, your government does. And our governments do share information. Reluctantly but we do. And information is our business. Well, one of them.'

Mellisa must have frowned or something because Alice smiled. A smile that continued as she dragged out a chair and sat down next to the bed, one leg crossed over the other. 'Relax, this isn't a scary conversation. And for what it's worth, I was going to tell you who I was, that I worked for the military too. But I couldn't, not yet. We didn't even know if you would want in.'

'So...that is supposed to be alright? You go around sneaking up on people, checking up on them and keeping secrets from me...and...' Mellisa trailed off. Her words had finally penetrated her mind, slipped through the haze of the painkillers. 'Wait...want in with what?'

Alice sat back with an apologetic smile. 'It wasn't like that. We weren't spying on you. And I think Hiromi should tell you that too.'

Despite her dizziness, Mellisa managed to fix her with what she hoped was a firm stare. She was going for withering but didn't feel she could manage it. 'You know, that is getting pretty thin. I've been chewed out by my own mother and suspended from duty for doing the right thing. And on top of that attacked, blown up and...basically I'm having a bad week, so will someone tell me what is going on here. And..where am I?'

'You're in The Mountain. Well, one part of it anyway. Our barracks.' Now this was getting annoying. She hadn't noticed Hiromi arriving either. But there she was, standing just inside the door. She hadn't heard her either. 'The Infirmary to be exact.'

Mellisa knew The Mountain. The biggest barracks in Crystal Dell, more an all in one military base. All branches of the military in one place, the base best placed to defend the city. Both as a first response and a last line of defence should the worst happen. Which had to make her wonder what she had walked into. She'd never been there, The StillWater never really had business her. 'And you are? Exactly? I think it's time you came clean with me. Don't you? Not just about who you guys are, but what happened back at the Arena.'

Hiromi stepped forward, seeming almost flustered. Not a side of her she had imagined seeing. Does she even let that many people see that side of her? She had no answer. Just like she didn't have answers to a lot of things. Which was not a feeling she liked. And one she felt Hiromi shared. 'The first I can tell you. The second, I can tell you a bit. But not all. Because we do not know all of it ourselves. I will tell you what we do know. You do deserve some explanations if you want in.'

'Back to wanting in.' Mellisa said slowly, sure that her confusion is rising, unable to stop it really. 'I still don't know what you mean, what you guys want me to do.'

Hiromi nodded slowly, understandingly. 'Let's take a walk.'

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When Hiromi had said take a walk, she hadn't known she meant a short tour of the base. Now Mellisa had a better idea of where she stood, the barracks sat at the base of the towering hill that formed the centre of The Mountain and gave it is name. Literally at the base, the high walls dwarfed by the spire of rock even as they tower over the squat barracks and armouries. Not a large base maybe, only large enough to hold maybe 100 soldiers and support staff. Most of which seem to be support staff. All Mellisa saw as she walked along was techs and mechanics and officers of the watch, keeping her silence till Hiromi lead her into her office. That was fine, gave her time to fight down the dizziness she felt, even if that had been receding with every step she took.

'Look, this is all very impressive.' Mellisa took the offered chair, trying not to pry as Hiromi took a seat on the other side of the desk. Even without really looking, Mellisa picked up a few personal effects and artefacts around the office, like the framed photograph on her desk. And the ornate sword hanging from the wall, the blood red tassel forming a soft arc beneath it. She was careful not to pry though, despite the connection and attachment that hung around them. This wasn't the time for her curiosity. At least, not about that. 'But it doesn't say what you want from me.'

Hiromi settled back, her fingers entwined in front of her. 'In a nutshell, we want what you want. You told me you wanted to see the bigger picture, to do something about it. That's what I'm offering you. A chance to do something bigger. That is what we do. And there is a place here for you. If you want it.'

'That still doesn't tell me what you do.' Mellisa pressed. She didn't want to sound harsh but she wanted answers.

'We deal with threats beyond what the city military can handle. That's why I think we need you. You have skills that will help us do that.' Hiromi said shortly.

'You mean my magic?' Mellissa had never thought that was that special, just something she could do. Really no different than any skills a soldier has.

'Exactly. You saw what we were up against today.' Hiromi sat back, that odd flicker of..distress crossing her face again. 'And how unprepared we were. Well, we need to be prepared.'

Mellisa couldn't argue with that. But still, she wasn't sure what she could do. 'I did. Not that I did much good. Or really know what that was.' she flashed back to it.

'Neither do we.' Hiromi said slowly. 'That is our main goal right now. To find out about this and understand it.'

'And you want me for this?' Mellisa asked.

'Yes..I believe we see things the same way. You want to help the whole city, not just your people.' Hiromi replied.

'This...wasn't the first time this happened. Was it?' Mellisa said, caught by a sudden flash of insight.

'No..it wasn't. I wish it was.' Hiromi said coolly, despite the undercurrent of emotion that flared in her. 'And it most likely won't be the last either.'

'Are you saying we are under attack? That this was a military strike?' Mellisa asked. That wasn't a thought she liked, that something organised was behind this. Not that she understood what this was.

'I wish I could say.' Hiromi sighed. 'But I fear this is just the beginning. And we are not ready for this. We haven't fought a real war for years. If one comes, we must be as ready as we can. And we need all the assets we can get.'

Mellisa is tempted, she is. She wants to. And it's her choice. It's not like she has taken a commission yet. And it would be a chance for her to do something, something that mattered.

'I'm not saying you have to choose now.' Hiromi said. 'Look, we are having a debriefing here tomorrow. And since you were there for the start of the attack, it would help us to hear what happened from you. And it would give you a chance to meet the rest of the team.'

'Well...I guess I could do that.' Mellisa said. She isn't sure what she can do. But she suddenly felt the need to do something.

The smile that crossed Hiromi's muzzle was soft, subtle. But relieved in a way. Like she really hadn't been sure which way she would decide. Not that she knows either. 'Thank you. I will send someone to pick you up tomorrow morning and bring you here.'

Mellisa just nodded, still wondering what she had gotten into. And if this was the right thing or not, right or not, it would be her choice though. And right now, she felt the need for that. Maybe it was just a way of stepping out of her mother's shadow, or stepping out on her own or just a need to do something. Right now, she wasn't sure which. Neither was she sure where this was going to go.

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