The oppressive trees behind attempted to conceal them further as they filtered the luminous background of moonlight, fireworks and pre-programmed mincrafts, constructing vibrant space themed imagery with impossible precision.
The one on the right was relatively tall, the other almost a full head taller.
Their cloaks obscured their exact builds as they danced together in the wind, in step with the rustling tree leaves and bushes around them.
They stood as if in disbelief of their presence.
Yuna braced for the scolding.
"You guys couldn't be more stupid if you tried..." he stepped closer, "What on Earth happened, Mercy? You guys are lucky most people are gathered towards the city centre!"
"Yeah, nice to see you too buddy," Ryu was not happy to see him, "you do realise this isn't the rendezvous spot, right-"
"Yeah, obviously not! I thought you guys just...!"
Yuna remembered the historical temple they almost decimated. She didn't see Nico or Merphie at the time, though she was understandably distracted.
"Miss Mercy, I am glad to see you are alright!"
"Thank you Merphie, its good to see at least one of you has manners..." Nico looked stumped as she walked passed them into the foliage ahead.
"Mr Ryugetsu and Miss Yuna, I am delighted to see that you two are okay!"
"Keep working on that vocab Merphie, you're doing great." Ryu followed after her.
Yuna did the same, though managing a 'hi'.
He grumbled in frustration as Merphie beamed in delight.
Yuna found their opposing reactions fitting for the Black and White Paladins, she suppressed what would have been a poorly timed chuckle.
They walked in a single file through the untamed nature reserve, passing by old tents and weathered marquees.
Yuna figured they didn't belong to rich families on a temporary camping retreat as she stepped over a stained, portable gas stove and narrowly ducked under a washing line tied to a branch.
There was rubbish littered everywhere; Retroidican branded soda cans and plastic wrappers attempted to outnumber the trampled leaves and overgrown weeds on the ground.
She had already walked through countless war torn villages and towns at this point, this was almost pleasant in comparison, but as she honed in on a random assortment of losing scratch cards among the chaos, a sense of disgust permeated through her.
She saw it as someone's desperate attempt to claw their way out of their circumstance, to bet there luck against clearly impossible odds, only to lose and further enrich the pockets of those who would rather die than to trade places with them.
Gambling was nothing more than a wealth redistribution system, taking money from the people that need it to those who don't.
She was currently reading about the topic in one of the books from the Paladin Initiative Curriculum. It was also referenced in the Captain's best selling thesis about war and humanities nature, she had yet to finish it though, being behind on all her reading.
The hushed voices she heard as they traversed through the settlement made her sad, but also uneasy.
Fortunately the Paladin Jet wasn't too damaged, and they had secured it manually before they left.
In their uncomfortable silence, as they waded through the shrubbery, Yuna wondered if Merphie could somehow supply the PJ with power after the mission was complete. They couldn't just leave it there.
The strip of woods was barely forty paces wide before they emerged from the trees.
As they stepped out onto a clearing, the Paladins looked on to a large, fenced construction site.
Unmanned Drilling rigs and excavators were parked haphazardly as they charged over night.
In certain areas inside the site, perimeter fencing further cordoned off old, half demolished structures and on the locked gates were colourful collages of makeshift posters and defaced flags.
'STOP KILLING OUR HISTORY!' was the prevalent phrase that Yuna saw from afar, perhaps the slogan of a popular public movement.
As they walked through the site, she realised they were more like murals, dedicated to the destroyed heritage littered across the site.
Around the world anyone could see that Retroidica was progressing at an unprecedented rate, but what of the cultured history it was leaving behind? Not to mention the rate of lower class citizens falling into poverty.
Yuna turned to check on Nico and Merphie, they were preoccupied by one of the posters on the fence.
'JUSTICE FOR SOUTH SUNDAVAALA!' it said. Merphie looked to Yuna then back to Nico.
"Mr. Nicodae, perhaps we should let the others know about our findings..."
He lingered for a solemn moment, deep in thought, but before Merphie could default to repeating his last sentence again, he decided to catch up with the others.
Yuna studied his strong, dark features. Most notable was his piercing hazel eyes, they almost contrasted his deep brown skin.
His permanent furrowed brow spoiled his aesthetic, giving him a natural angry expression, or perhaps he was perpetually in a bad mood.
He passed by Yuna but didn't meet her gaze.
The others gave him a hard time but he meant well, usually.
In actuality she noticed that the entire group had an air of uncertainty between them tonight. It was vivid, almost as though she could touch it.
They walked as a group in the middle of a dimly lit side street. Yuna couldn't perceive any life in the bespoke, apartment windows around them.
Merphie had now made his way to the front, seemingly leading them to their objective. Ryu made a comment about a life sized satnav.
As their cloaks flowed under the wind tunnels influence, perhaps making them appear like ghouls in the night, Nico finally spoke up.
"You're really not gonna tell me what happened?" this time his voice wasn't laced with frustration, "...Mercy?"
"Don't worry about it, we're all safe and sound, right?" Yuna realised she was keeping her mistake hidden.
Did she want to make up for her remark earlier?
"What's more important is your justification for this mission. We have to report whenever we enter international borders, or did you forget?"
"No, I didn't forget, but that's all the more reason to be suspicious," Nico replied, "Merphie and I have been monitoring his activities for the last two weeks, its all in the report I sent earlier today."
"So... he's secretly trying to become a construction worker? No a construction manager." Ryu's remark was on brand.
"Keep talking and I'll reconstruct your face, greenie." Nico retorted.
"Greenie huh, a lil on the nose, not your greatest work-"
"If you're planning on being useless as usual tonight, you can run those little green legs back to the Nimbus-"
"Guys wait." Yuna spotted a shadowy figure emerge at the end of the street.
It was an old Retroidican man in a traditional Retroidican cloak. It was opened, revealing a blue and white sweater, and he vacantly enjoyed a late night stroll with a freshly cold beer in hand.
She found herself fixated on the sweater, the fabric was high quality, though it reminded her of a sorrowful paternal memory.
Before feelings of emptiness crept in, he finally noticed them amongst the shadows in their own formless silhouettes and hesitated.
"Don't worry, we're travelling performers!" Ryu called out casually. The tension that was building dissipated twice as fast as the old man began a congested laugh.
"Haha, could've fooled me, but don't mind this old geezer!"
"Say, you wouldn't have happened to see a guy in his 40's, around this high, with scruffy, greying hair would you...?" Ryu gestured the rough height of their Captain. Yuna couldn't help but think he was a little off.
He was large, but not in the traditional sense. You wouldn't realise it until you were right up next to him.
"Ryu!" Mercy warned sharply.
"He has a face with this permanent scowl and is visibly sleep deprived." He continued with his best Captain impression, despite Mercy's valid reservations.
"Uh, no not recently," the old man chuckled "but that does sound like me in my hay-day, during my army days I'll tell ya." The small old man reminisced with pride, though Yuna and the others weren't convinced.
"You served in the Retroidican military? We thank you for your service!" Nico offered, he wouldn't miss a chance to acknowledge a fellow warrior, but he was clearly on edge.
"Yeah well it hasn't given me much, other than nights without sleep." He laughed again but Yuna could imagine there was an inkling of truth in his words.
"Travelling performers you say, some kinda... Peacekeeper Paladin parody?"
He stared at the slits in their cloaks as the wind revealed their coloured under suits. A glaring oversight, a by product of their last minute mission, though the old man was fairly sharp.
"Yeah... something like that..." Ryu thankfully replied, "We're the Peace Sweepers, we sweep the... peace?" He confused himself but it honestly sounded like a bit.
"Haha, well there's an underground station not too far from here. It's still under construction but there's a line that goes straight outta the city," the veteran informed. "Ya'll have a good rest of your night now, I'm sure you'll find your uh... manager..."
The assumption was correct. He shuffled past them, though his eyes lingered on Merphie. He towered over the old man with a hood over his head.
The veteran squinted, deepening the wrinkles on his face and the Paladins tensed in turn.
"...Alien...?"
That was the last thing they expected to hear.
"I know all about aliens. My wife left me because of them so I know you look nothing like one!"
"Everything alright gramps?" Yuna managed, "I don't think we've discovered them just yet, right?"
He took another look at Merphie.
"Pah… kids and their funky get ups!" He took a swig of beer and shrugged.
At that he waved a weathered hand in a goodbye, muttering something under his breath, before sauntering down the road singing an old Retroidican chant.
Perhaps he was a fan of alien conspiracies, Yuna thought. Though the accusation wasn't unfamiliar, people accused them of being aliens all the time. She couldn't blame them.
As he hobbled out of sight, a sigh of relief escaped from all of them.
"I know we don't do covert missions any more but for times like these, Merphie needs a better disguise." Mercy concluded, "also Ryu, Victor is in his early thirties, not much older than me."
"Oh really? I'm sorry to hear that-" Mercy punched his arm as he snickered and an assortment of purple, holographic geometry escaped from the collision. She didn't live up to her name much, Yuna thought.
As they continued through the city, they came across an impossibly tall highrise that appeared newly finished.
They looked on to an expansive, inset atrium of earthy tones and smooth textures, interrupted with colourful shopfronts on either sides.
The scent of grilled meat filled the atmosphere.
Clerks hurriedly prepared their offerings and fixed displays, ready for the inevitable influx of Retroidicans and their insatiable, savoury appetites.
Most shopfronts had no queues, so Yuna convinced Mercy to buy something with the Retroidican currency she had brought.
After some convincing, her only stipulation was for them to completely finish their food.
It was her thing, even the Captain couldn't escape it. Yuna wondered if she was a mother of twelve in her past life, she for sure could handle it.
As they continued through the atrium, salty biscuit bags in hand, Yuna could hear the muffled beat of drums being played somewhere in the distance. The occasional cheer sounded followed by a thunderous applause.
It was lively, like it was enough to melt away the unexplainable sense of dread surrounding them and the mission.
"So where exactly are we going?" Mercy rightfully asked.
"We're actually going to the station the old geezer suggested, right Merphie?" Nico informed.
"Yes, we should be able to walk through to the other side of this building," Merphie chimed, "there should be a station entrance ahead to the right."
"...So a train operator then..." Ryu held true to his cynicism just like he had to his seat earlier.
Nico exhaled the irritation out of his system.
"… Thanks to the tracker Merphie placed in his suit, we were able to go to his current location. Though a large, heavily guarded complex prevented us from going any further." He began finally, "it seemed privately owned, and there was no way of getting in there without causing a scene. Fortunately, I realised a tunnel ran right underneath it, perhaps a train line."
"I reckon there could be a connection between the two."
"And what makes you think that?" Mercy inquired unimpressed.
"...a hunch."
"A hunch?" Ryu started, "do you remember the last time you had a hunch?"
"Yeah and that old lady attacked us with that spikey kid ." Nico rebutted.
"But your 'hunch' was that she wouldn't."
"The point is!" Nico stopped in his tracks, "they were both Retroidican based, enhanced mercenaries. If something like human experimentation is going on in that complex, and it involves the Captain's expertise, we have to seize him."
He finally said it. What they had all feared.
The group stood in the heart of the atrium in silence.
Quick glances glossed over them as storefront owners busied themselves from a distance.
The interior almost stretched all the way to the building's towering height, lined with identical balconies that overlooked the expanse below.
They were like the ribs of a giant, the elevator columns ahead the spine from which they sprouted.
The Paladins were consumed whole as they attempted to digest their own dilemma.
"Am I correct in saying that the atmosphere has suddenly shifted to... slightly depressing? I do apologise."
Yuna noted that Merphie was always one to state unspoken nuances out loud. It was somewhat endearing and he was correct, but perhaps now wasn't the time.
"No. Don't apologise Merphie. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this, even if I have to drag him back to the Nimbus myself."
"Nico, wait," Mercy demanded, "why would Victor ever need to be doing something like this, and why hide it from us?"
"There's no way to say for sure," he admitted "but the start of his disappearances coincides with the increased rate of new enhanced mercenaries from this country. As to why, you can probably imagine I have a couple ideas..."
"Like...?" Yuna asked, but she wasn't fond of where the conversation was headed.
It honestly felt wrong hearing Nico talk.
Whether he'd admit it or not, they all knew he respected the Captain the most. He would usually be the last person to doubt him, it unfortunately added some credence to his accusatory claims.
"The other day," he began " I overheard him arguing over the phone, emphasising a looming deadline... as if something big was coming."
"Something big... like a war?" Mercy pondered, "If Retroidica is planning on expanding its borders in the south..."
"Then their government could be paying off the Captain to keep us busy with those enhanced mercenaries. Just like the powerful two we fought the other week." Nico concluded, "A complete invasion of the neighbouring country could be possible without our intervention, especially since the superpowers have their hands full."
"No. That's completely out of character for the Captain and you know it." Ryu denied firmly.
"But he's been acting 'out of character' for a while now. If you can explain away his unlawful presence here and our current convenient lack of information then be my guest."
"He was born here..." Ryu trailed off in thought.
He didn't have a real answer.
He was usually witty enough to come up with a plausible response on the spot, it was almost like he was conceding to Nico...
Yuna briefly scanned her surroundings, the world wasn't ending just yet.
Her gaze shifted to Mercy. She watched as the stray strands of her pixie cut quivered in a subtle draught.
She inspected the polished, paved flooring with a pained expression.
The only thing Yuna could grasp was sadness, it yearned for the vacant presence of their Captain.
For Mercy, Yuna was beginning to realise he was perhaps more than just that.
Had it always been this apparent?
Yuna hoped that this was all just a simple misunderstanding, that her team would return to normal before long.
But even though the circumstances hadn't changed, the situation was already beginning to feel more dire.
She refused to let her faith falter. She felt she didn't have a choice.
The Captain was a generational genius, anonymously changing the world in the background of Yuna's life for as long as she could remember.
He was adept in multiple sciences; the red helmet he wore was the face of human innovation across the world, especially in the field of bio engineering.
He hand selected each of the Peacekeeper Paladins and created all of their tech and enhancements, his lofty ambition was to fight against corruption, no matter the scale.
Though if Nico's speculations were true, and he has been compromised through an alliance with the Retroidican government...
She rejected the thought, but her mind pulled her back once more to the hexagonal, shadow-like device he was preoccupied with when she saw him last.
Or was it a cube? Somehow she couldn't decide.
It was extremely uncommon for something to elude her perceptively, especially in such a blatant manner.
He had held it in his hands solemnly, as if it bore a great weight, and it lingered in Yuna's mind there after, like a spectre stalking its prey.
Fear gripped her with gnarled hands tight as it did then so irrationally; it then faded just as quick as she grounded herself back to reality.
They followed Merphie down into a vast underground station.
"Wow..." Yuna gasped. The unexpected scenery regretfully brought the word straight out of her.
The stations entrance had led them down a flight of stairs into a great expanse.
Above them was a concrete ceiling of geometric volumes, each with various lengths and widths, reaching down towards the station like stalactites in a cave.
The largest one in the centre displayed orange, holographic text, flickering as it updated different train times and platforms.
The oblong light panels that dangled in between highlighted their texture and form as they additionally illuminated the floor below the balcony on which they stood.
The Paladins looked down onto what seemed to be a central hub for many different train-lines, with automated storefronts and kiosks.
The public seating's deep red colour heavily contrasted the stations warm grey interior, along with the assortment of green plants and trees in their angular flower beds of varying heights.
Running water subtly came into earshot as Yuna saw a flat, man-made waterfall, cascading down a wall in the distance and pooling into a small, angular pond.
"Yeah... this country's subways are known spots for tourists and not just because of the transport."
"Most major cities in Retroidica follow the same brutalist style, coining the term 'Retro-Brutalism', I guess Ascendia is no exception." Ryu was apparently now the Paladins personal tour guide.
"...If their government didn't hate us so much, I wouldn't mind living here honestly... among, countless other reasons of course."
"You wanna live in a subway station?" Nico remarked.
"No, but it would beat living with you."
"We're getting closer!" Merphie chirped, innocently slicing the fabricated tension.
As she walked through the eerily desolate station, Yuna weighed the decision to finally share her perspective.
However, she got in her own way.
As the newest and youngest, she assumed she didn't get a say in important topics yet, especially ones as sensitive as this. Though it was possible that her input could be a small but relevant puzzle piece within the Paladin's dilemma.
Mercy often told her off for thinking that way about herself, reassuring her that she was just as valued as the rest. Though she couldn't forget the many mistakes she had made since joining.
She believed sounding unintelligent in any capacity would undo all of her efforts to appear more capable. It was the least she could do to limit it.
She truly admired the Peacekeeper Paladins.
In their unique position, they had made a real impact in the world. As individuals, though they had their quirks, they were just as remarkable. Highly skilled in their own area of expertise.
Then there was Yuna. She just wanted to do right by her father, she couldn't afford anymore mistakes.
"What if it's about more than Retroidica expanding its territory?" She went for it.
"What do you mean?" Nico asked.
They all stared at her now.
"… Retroidica is a nation known for its technological advancements, right? Well, that black, cube-like device he uses might be one of their new projects..."
She had only seen the Captain use it once but she knew there was something more to it.
They stared at her blankly.
She made a mistake, she had assumed the device was common knowledge on the Nimbus. Without a verifiable co-sign, her suggestion was now just a baseless theory.
It was too late to backtrack.
"A black cube…?" Mercy questioned in concern.
Y-yes, I saw him... using it in his private training chamber..."
"Just the two of you...?" Ryu asked.
He had a stupid grin.
"Ryu..." Mercy alarmed.
Nico shook his head.
"What, I was joking?"
"And what was he doing with this device?" Mercy resumed.
"...he was sitting on the floor meditating with it I guess," she continued, though not before shooting Ryu a deadly glare, "I was across the room when he held it, but I could tell it was incredibly dense. Perhaps he's working on advanced technology with Retroidica, furthering their lead on tech?"
She hoped she was successfully steering the group away from the human experimentation angle; but she realised she had ended the sentence as if she was asking them instead of a concluding rhetorical question.
"Could be osmium or some other dense material," Ryu didn't disappoint, "I'm not exactly following?"
"But I could only tell by looking at it, isn't that odd?" she protested, "It was like the atmosphere in the room was drawn towards it."
In all honesty she wasn't entirely sold on what she saw or its relevance, but there was a brief moment where she had seen him levitate the device when she entered.
But it wasn't within the scope of his abilities; it would further discredit her.
When she was alone, she briefly interacted with it.
She didn't think much of it then, but as of recent she gradually began to feel a certain way in which she couldn't describe.
She was beginning to think the cube was the reason.
"Did he tell you what it was for?" Mercy asked.
"...He said it was something that could help us in the future, but never elaborated."
"Well, that does sound kinda ominous within a certain context..." Nico pondered.
She wondered if they were seriously considering her input or just being nice.
"Merphie," Nico called out, "Have you analysed this cube before?"
"Yes, it's my duty to analyse any and all technology the Peacekeeper Paladins come into contact with," Merphie began, "The device is [REDACTED INFORMATION]."
"..."
They all turned to him.
"The Red Peacekeeper Paladin has been experimenting with [REDACTED INFORMATION], with [REDACTED INFORMATION]..."
The Paladins stared at Merphie in bewilderment as he struggled with his words.
The vast technological gap between them and the Captain had just become evermore apparent; even their base in the clouds would begin to destabilise and sink if he stayed away too long.
Against the backdrop of the current situation, Yuna wondered how he was truly achieving these technological feats.
She heard many times that the schematics for the Nimbus One had gotten leaked just before she had joined; the Captain was yet to file the patent.
There were numerous attempts to recreate what seemed to be his advanced magnetic field generator, but company's prototypes would achieve levitation only to slowly collapse again after exhausting immense amounts of energy.
There was undoubtedly a missing element. Was it the cube, Yuna thought, or could it be the Captain himself? After all, the cube had appeared only recently.
She couldn't make sense of it all.
"That settles it, he has something he's hiding! Let's get going!" Nico began to sprint and the rest ran after him, "Which way Merphie!"
"Whoa, don't go jumping to conclusions!" Ryu warned, "You don't even know if you can reach him from here, Mercy back me up!"
He was still in opposition but even the smart aleck was starting to sound unsure of himself.
The Captain was the nucleus of the Paladins, now that he had become unstable Yuna saw how the rest followed.
"Turn right up ahead." Merphie announced.
"Maybe we should go back to Nimbus One and find out more about this 'cube'," Mercy suggested, "if we make too much of a scene here and now, we could face severe sanctions!"
Yuna caught a glimpse of fine, crimson hair strands dancing behind a wall ahead.
Someone was hiding there.
As they emerged, a woman with a grey Retroidican cloak followed after.
Her hood was raised over her head but she quickly ripped it off revealing a peculiar looking combat suit and flowing, dark red locks.
She had appeared from the direction they were supposed to turn; they all instinctively equipped their Paladin Armour from under their cloaks.
"Dearest Paladins! I'm not sure how you found out about this location, but I will not have you go any further!"
Yuna observed the large metal spheres embedded all over her suit. There were a pair on each arm, peering from sizeable gauntlets, and the rest were dotted symmetrically in various areas all over her.
They suddenly started to rotate in place, appearing frictionless as it spun.
They detached from their sockets and floated away, leaving concave gaps on her suit like the surface of a golf ball.
As they all raced above her head like large metal flies, Yuna counted ten in total.
Their blurring speed seemed impossible for their relative size; they zipped around with no apparent propulsion that she could detect.
Her mind went straight to the Captain and his mysterious device.
"Retroidica's enhanced mercenaries..." Ryu's stance lowered as he reached for his weapon.
"Yes, I believe some of us have already been sent your way, green dear, but for you to track us down so quickly... I guess your slightly more than UN lap dogs hm?" She laughed with a hand raised over her mouth.
A white and red visor wrapped around her face, concealing her identity.
Yuna thought about stepping in and letting the rest go on ahead. She was most likely the only one who could so much as keep track of the spheres whizzing above her.
Nailing them wouldn't be too much of an issue, perhaps also for Ryu.
"Keep going, I've got this one!" Mercy flung off her cloak revealing her purple Paladin Armour.
"I admit it, this all feels weird. Find the Red Paladin, I'll be right behind you."
The others followed Merphie deeper into the station and made a turn that led towards a train station platform.
Yuna couldn't help but think the old Mercy was back.
"Are you sure?" the mercenary asked smugly.
"What?"
"... Are you sure that you want those to be your final words to them?"