Yuria received the report moments after returning to the Elpis Colony, battered from defeat on the surface.
She'd promised Axel they'd meet again once the war ended—a promise that fueled her recovery from that loss. Her foolish subordinates had followed her, a reckless commander who'd descended from her assigned space post to fight Axel's rebel forces on Earth.
Thinking back, she and Leona had laughed that only foolish subordinates would serve under a foolish commander. Leona had even quipped, "Being under a foolish captain infected me with stupidity."
"Is this report true!?"
The news hit her the moment she returned to Elpis, her home. Unable to believe—no, unwilling to believe—Yuria grabbed the messenger.
"It's true!" they stammered.
"No way!"
The report was blunt: "The rebels, realizing their disadvantage, barricaded themselves in Tesla Labs, North America, and self-destructed along with the pursuit team."
"Axel… self-destructed?"
Her mind flashed to Axel's face, seen via comms days ago. Despite leading a single unit in a doomed rebellion, he'd shown no trace of weakness.
"Axel… self-destructed?" she repeated.
"Captain…" Leona's concerned voice reached her, but Yuria was lost in thought.
"Something's off."
Circumstantially, a cornered Axel resorting to desperate self-destruction wasn't impossible. But something inside her screamed it was wrong.
Perhaps it was the delusion of a woman in love, she thought with a bitter smile. Yet, recalling Axel's face gave her the courage to stand firm in this despairing situation.
"Leona, this report doesn't add up. I feel like something crucial is being hidden."
"I agree. A warrior who fought like that wouldn't give in to despair," Leona replied.
Yuria and Leona locked eyes, their unspoken understanding complete.
"I'll dig through my academy connections," Yuria said.
"And I'll tap the Branstein family's network," Leona added.
One acted for the man she loved. The other, for the commander she respected and the enemy she admired.
Thus, two women threw down their gauntlet against the military's shadows.