Everyday Life
Tavaia moved through the city of Xaris with the relaxed confidence of someone who belonged at the center of it all, because she did. Her dark hair was pulled into a practical tail, the faint blue underglow of her lightweight TDC duty jacket catching the light as she walked. Heads turned. Whispers followed. She acknowledged them all with easy smiles and small waves, the practiced grace of a woman who had become one of Orellia's most recognizable faces.
She had nearly reached the transit hub when two small voices cut through the morning chatter.
"Captain Phoenix!"
Two girls darted toward her. The older one, perhaps eight, had messy braids and eyes bright with hero-worship. The younger clutched a worn stuffed Reaver to her chest like a shield, the plush replica of the hulking Mafu brutes Phoenix Team had made famous on the evening holofeeds.
Tavaia dropped into a crouch before they could barrel into her legs, her smile warm and genuine. "Hey there. What are your names?"
"I'm Lira," the older girl said, bouncing on her toes. "This is Mira. We saw you on the news! You slammed that big Bulker into the ground. Did it really try to eat your friend?"
Tavaia laughed, the sound warm and low. "Almost. But my friend Haley's tougher than she looks, she's almost as strong as you two." She gently took the stuffed Reaver from Mira's small hands, turning it once as if inspecting real battle damage, then pressed a quick kiss to its fabric forehead and handed it back. "There. Now he's officially Phoenix-approved. Tell him he has to watch out for you the same way we watch out for everyone."
Mira hugged the toy tight, eyes shining with pure delight. Lira grinned wide enough to show a missing tooth. "Can we get a picture?"
"Of course." Tavaia pulled both girls close, one arm around each narrow shoulder. The holo flashed, freezing her smile and their unfiltered joy in a perfect Orellian moment.
As the girls dashed off to rejoin their parents, waving the newly brave Reaver high overhead, Tavaia straightened. The warmth of the encounter lingered for half a second, then evaporated. The golden radiance suddenly felt heavier on her skin, pressing down like an unwelcome blanket. The long shadow stretching behind her across the white flagstones seemed colder than the morning air warranted.
She rubbed the center of her chest. A strange heat pulsed there, not painful, just present. Like something ancient stirring behind her ribs, pushing outward until her fingertips tingled with faint static.
"The sky God fights even now!"
The voice rang clear across the plaza. Tavaia turned.
A man stood atop a low stone bench near the plaza's edge, dressed in threadbare traveler's clothes that screamed Outwall: faded cloak, scuffed boots, a carved wooden cane gripped in one weathered hand. Long gray-streaked hair and a wild beard framed a face etched by sun and wind. A small crowd had gathered, well-groomed Orellian citizens in crisp tunics and holo-comm bracelets, some amused, others openly annoyed.
"He battles the spirits of evil that rise from below," the man continued, voice carrying without effort. "The light we were given was stolen. Hidden behind stone and false promises. But the old guardians have not forgotten us. They stir. They remember."
A woman nearby snorted, adjusting her temple lily pin. "Not this again."
Tavaia should have kept walking. But the heat in her chest flared hotter, spreading outward in a slow wave until the fine hairs on her arms stood up.
The man's gaze swept the crowd and locked onto her.
His expression remained unchanged, but something passed behind his eyes, recognition, then a flicker of warning.
Two TDC Police officers approached. The man stepped down without resistance. As they passed Tavaia, one tipped his hat. "Captain."
Only then, as the prophet was led past her, did he lean closer and speak so quietly that only she could hear:
"Captain... the light inside you wakes. Don't let them put it out."
Then he was gone.
Tavaia stood frozen. The heat in her chest throbbed once, hard, then settled into a low, insistent burn.
Her comm buzzed, sharp priority tone.
"Mafu breach in Outwall sector 14. All Strike Teams report to Central Briefing for immediate assignment. Phoenix, Griffin, and Siren Teams to Briefing Room Alpha. Repeat..."
Tavaia's posture shifted instantly. She broke into a jog toward the TDC complex.
Minutes later the captains of the three deployed Strike Teams stood at attention in Briefing Room Alpha. SC Ken Hatsumura, the disciplined and courageous overall coordinator of Strike Teams, stood at the front of the room, posture ramrod straight.
"Listen up. Multiple coordinated breaches in the wastelands. Splitting assignments."
He tapped the holo-display once.
"Phoenix Team, Captain Matovī: Jinuka, combat assault."
Tavaia gave a sharp nod.
"Griffin Team, Captain Puni: Trord, perimeter security and extraction."
"Siren Team, Captain Kozlov: Ruddon, flank containment."
Hatsumura gave a single crisp nod. "Specters on at drop. Good luck."
The captains filed out toward the loading bays. Luka Puni fell into step beside Tavaia in the corridor, their shoulders brushing as they walked.
"Jinuka, huh?" Luka said teasingly. "Shouldn't be a problem for the great 'Phoenix Team.'"
"Make sure you all take notes," Tavaia shot back with a teasing grin. They both chuckled.
Then his voice softened. "Stay safe out there, T."
"You too." Her face was already focused on the task ahead. "Take care of those rookies, Lu."
They parted ways toward their different loading bays.
"And you keep those veterans under control!" Luka yelled back as the distance grew between them.
Tavaia smiled, then turned and stood in front of the door to her team's loading bay.
"Good luck out there, Tavaia," Sasha Kozlov said as she passed on her way to Siren Team's bay.
"Thanks, sis. You too," Tavaia responded.
Tavaia jogged the rest of the way into the bay, the weight of duty settling across her shoulders like familiar armor. But the prophet's whisper still followed her the whole way, and the golden radiance from the Totem no longer felt quite so comforting.
The Thunderwing streaked southward through the sky, its low-profile hull cutting the air with a near-silent thrum of anti-gravity thrusters. Inside the cabin, red operational lighting painted every surface in blood tones, turning the faces of Phoenix Team into sharp, shadowed masks. Tavaia gripped the overhead rail as the craft banked hard, the inertial dampeners humming under the strain. Through the narrow viewports the gleaming white spires and golden radiance of the Grand Totem faded behind them. The colossal Wall of Orellia rose like a scar across the landscape, then vanished beneath the dropship's belly as they crossed into Outwall.
Below, the walled splendor gave way to the rugged sprawl of the wastelands: endless miles of barren, rocky badlands dotted with jagged outcrops and the skeletal remains of old ruins. Jinuka appeared on the horizon, a rough frontier outpost clinging to survival amid the desolation. Already it was dotted with fires, the distant crackle of small-arms fire and the low roar of Mafu hordes drifting up on the dry wind.
"Thirty seconds to drop," Weston called from the pilot's seat, his voice steady as ever. The saboteur's hands moved across the controls with practiced calm. "Jinuka's outer districts are crawling. Reavers, Slingers, and Bulkers confirmed. Stay tight."
Zeke leaned over to her, "Cap? Everything good? You seem off."
"I'm good, Zeke. Let's get through this one."
Zeke nodded, then returned to his original seated position and focused in.
Tavaia turned to face her team, her expression hard with focus. "Civilian safety first. We clear every hostile. Stay toght and watch each other's backs out there."
She met each set of eyes in turn. Her team met her eyes with unwavering determination.
"Phoenix Team!" Tavaia called.
"WINGS UP!" the chant roared back, filling the cabin with unified fire.
"Specters on!" Tavaia ordered.
One by one they shimmered, the advanced cloaking devices rendering them invisible to the naked eye. Then the rear ramp dropped, and Phoenix Team vanished into the night air.
The streets of Jinuka were in chaos.
The moment boots hit the cracked pavement of the frontier outpost, Reavers swarmed, hulking, spiked horrors lunging from alleys and rooftops with jagged claws outstretched.
"Specters off! Engage!" Tavaia's Impactor Assault Rifle kicked hard against her shoulder as she dropped the first one mid-leap, the burst of fire lighting up the dusty wasteland night. Haley charged past her like a living bulwark, Shredder Machine Gun roaring as she planted herself squarely in front of two oncoming Bulkers.
"Come on, you ugly bastards!" Haley bellowed, teeth bared in a fierce grin. She unloaded a sustained burst from ber Shredder Machine Gun that punched through armored shells and sent chitinous shards flying.
Alan laughed wildly beside her, swinging his heavy Skullcrusher Hammer in crushing arcs that sent Reavers tumbling through the air like broken toys. "That's what I'm talking about!"
Keisha darted between buildings like a living shadow, her cloaked form flickering only when her throwing knives flashed out to drop Slingers from the rooftops before they could loose their barbed projectiles. Axel's sniper rifle cracked from atop a rusted water tower, each shot precise and calm.
"Clear shot if you need it," he said over comms, voice steady as stone.
Zeke and Sun Wei carved through the center with Tavaia, their longswords flashing in perfect sync. She parried a Reaver's spiked arm, spun low, and brought her Cutter Longsword down in a brutal overhead strike that cleaved dark flesh. Sweat stung her eyes, but her lips pulled into a sharp, focused smile, the same expression she always wore when the team moved as one.
They pushed forward through the winding streets of the hardy outpost, where Jinuka's settlers had barricaded doors and windows with whatever scrap they could find. Piles of Mafu corpses began appearing in neat, deliberate stacks along the outer streets, as if someone had already been here and done the brutal work ahead of them. The Mafu didn't press as hard as they should have. Clusters broke too easily. Something felt off.
When the last Reaver fell under Sun Wei's blades, the city center stood quiet. Too quiet.
A grizzled militia sergeant approached, wiping thick black ichor from his face with a torn sleeve. "Captain... damn good timing. We were holding, but those Bulkers were about to break us."
Tavaia lowered her sword, chest still heaving. "Any wounded?"
Before he could answer, a young mother stepped forward from the crowd of hardy settlers, clutching her wide-eyed child. "You're really them... the Phoenix. Thank you."
Haley grinned and ruffled the kid's dusty hair with one massive gauntleted hand. "No problem, kiddo. Phoenix Team's got your back."
Ren moved in smoothly, scanner in hand. "Minor cuts. One dose of Candy will take the edge off."
Tavaia watched her team interact with the locals, Haley's easy confidence, Ren's quiet competence, the way the whole team seemed to breathe easier once the civilians were safe. The familiar rush of victory settled in her chest. But beneath it the strange heat still burned, low and insistent, like a second heartbeat she couldn't ignore.
As Recovery Division shuttles, massive armored hover-transports, touched down in the central square, their medical bays already deploying, Tavaia turned to her team.
"Phoenix Team!"
"WINGS UP!"
The Thunderwing lifted off, leaving Jinuka smoldering but standing.
Yet Tavaia couldn't shake the feeling that today's victory had come a little too easily.
Back at TDC headquarters in Xaris, the team filed into the commons, already trading jokes and claiming rations from the automated dispensers. Tavaia lingered at the edge of the room, staring at the golden beam of the Grand Totem visible through the high windows, its artificial warmth cutting across the utilitarian space.
Zeke appeared beside her. "Cap?."
She gave a tired half-smile. "I'm good, Zeke. Just thinking. Something weird happened in the plaza this morning. I'm still trying to make sense of it."
Before she could say more, her comm buzzed. It was a message from Bex Chamberlain, Tavaia's close friend and former member of Dragon Team.
Need to see you ASAP. My office. Urgent.
Tavaia sighed. "I have to run. Bex wants to talk."
"If you want to talk about it, find me after," Zeke said, squeezing her shoulder once.
She gave him a nod and made her way towards the Recovery Division HQ.
