Chapter 34: Aftercare

Stunned silence greeted Elaine's victory. No cheers, no claps, only deafening silence. That silence held for a while, to be replaced by shocked whispers.

“She beat Jeanne...”

“I can't believe it.”

“Can we get that strong, too?”

“I get to tap that, you know?”

That last comment came from Ophelia and it took everything Elaine had to not ruin her new badass image by snorting in response.

A moment later the force barrier hemming them in collapsed and Rachel rushed in, making a beeline for Abigail.

**

Jeanne knew she'd messed up. She shouldn't have been so focused on not losing just to save face. Elaine helping her save face after that had made it worse, showing her how stupid and selfish she'd been. It hurt seeing the woman she'd shared a bond of trust with treat her that coldly. It hurt even worse to know she'd deserved it.

But what hurt most of all was losing a duel and Rachel not rushing to her but to the woman who was unconscious because of her. Elaine not even pausing to shake her hand but rushing to Abigail's side as well drove it home.

“So, how is she?” Elaine asked as she knelt down next to Rachel, who was casting a complicated array of magic that engulfed Abigail. Jeanne knew this was a diagnostic spell, one that assisted Rachel in picking out exactly what was wrong with a patient. It was a spell she only used on people who didn't require her immediate care, telling Jeanne that Abigail probably wasn't hurt too badly.

“She's fine,” Rachel said.

Elaine made a dubious noise that all but made Jeanne flinch.

“Relax,” Rachel told the brunette. “If Abigail had been seriously hurt I would have helped her already. Jeanne's really good at disabling foes without causing lasting harm. In fact, Abigail should wake up again right... about... now.”

And just at that moment Abigail opened her eyes again, blinking against the light.

“Hey there, sleepyhead,” Elaine said, so gently that Jeanne felt like crying. She'd caused this.

Abigail looked around, trying to orient herself, then remembered where she was. “Did we lose?”

Elaine leaned in and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, then said: “No, we didn't. Don't worry about it.”

Jeanne wanted to stay, wanted to apologize, wanted Rachel to tell her things were going to be alright but the thought of how Elaine and the others would react if she tried was too much to bear and so she just walked off as Elaine's team began to swarm Abigail.

**

Abigail was furious with herself. She'd lost to a goddamn illusion. Elaine had never actually be in danger and the whole thing had been a ploy to get her to drop her guard.

Fine. Fair enough. Lesson learned, don't interrupt the thing that keeps you safe because of emotional outbursts. In isolation this was a fruitful duel that taught her something about herself and her abilities that she hadn't figured out before.

But taken in context it was a failure in what was beginning to look to Abigail like a long line of failures. And learning that Elaine hadn't even needed her help to beat Jeanne had been the nail in the coffin. She was fucking useless, wasn't she? No, she wasn't. She was worse than useless because Elaine had had to expend effort to protect her and with her out of the picture Elaine had actually done better.

And while she'd taken Alexis' suggestion not to spit on other people's kindness to heart and therefore wasn't lashing out at her teammates for comforting her it still grated on her. She didn't need comforting, she needed to get better.

Being useless felt horrible but being a liability was even worse.

And the worst part was that she had a way to get better, to get stronger. A way that would bring her to the same level as Elaine and Jeanne. The only thing standing between her and that power was... that.

The problem wasn't what the Oath of Crystal Tears entailed. She was sure she'd find something enjoyable about spending a night with Jeanne and Rachel. It was what it represented. She'd use sex to get ahead. It was everything she hated, wrapped up into one tantalizing package.

She was pulled out of her musings when the Lieutenant General approached their group, but in the back of her mind the idea began to fester.

**

“The group of soldiers that set out has returned,” the slaver AI riding Subject 202 said in its usual cold, monotone voice. The voice module wasn't good enough to allow for nuance or emphasis but the AI itself was intelligent enough for it and so Subject 259 heard the accusation loud and clear.

She had stalled too long. After encountering that terrifying woman who was no woman – the slaver AI had later informed her that the woman had been an angel, and quite a high-ranking one, too – 259 had been terrified of getting too close to the compound. And now not only was that terrifying angel still there but another couple dozen hostiles as well.

“What will you do now?” the AI asked. “Failure is not an option.”

259 thought fast. She had to come up with something but there were almost no good options left. There was no play left. If she simply gave up and informed her master about this compound he would come down on it like a ton of bricks. Not only were these soldiers actively opposed to him, they had destroyed a project he had put a lot of resources in and he wouldn't forgive a slight like that.

But at least that method would keep her alive for now. Of course, she had no illusions that her master wouldn't soon find another reason to punish her, to get rid of her. She was sure the AI riding 202 had gathered a small catalog of little disobediences, and even if she could defend and justify half of them her master would still see it as a reason to punish her. And one look at 202 told her exactly what that punishment would look like. All her limbs removed, replaced with mechanical parts and then subjugated by a slaver AI that would make her act like a dog, her brain aware of what was happening to her but unable to control her body.

No, going back to her master was not an option. She'd rather die with her chin held high than be reduced to this.

There was one more play. A play she couldn't think about too deeply lest she trigger the disobedience loops of the AI in her own head. But she knew what she'd do and how she'd need to phrase it.

“The fact that the soldiers are back is advantageous to us,” she said, her voice low but firm.

“How is more opposition beneficial to us, pray tell?” the slaver AI asked.

“The angel was too much to handle in a fight, I hope you will agree,” 259 said.

The AI nodded 202's head a fraction.

“The other soldiers, we can probably take.”

There was a sound from the voice module but she continued before it could speak up:

“They will send out search parties soon enough. If they don't, we'll start sabotaging the base until they do. Those search parties will likely not include that terrifying angel. You don't send out powerful fighters on scouting missions if you have other options.”

The AI made an affirmative noise.

“So, once they send out a small enough team we attack it. We take them hostage and then force an entry. Even that angel will not cut us down if it means risking the fighters. And once we are inside the compound, at worst we can scout it out for our master. At best we find a way to blow it up.”

“There is... wisdom in your words, crude as they are,” the AI agreed. “Very well, I will support this plan.”

259 let out a breath. She didn't dare sag in relief but still. She had to bet everything on this final gambit.

**

“An excellent fight, Sergeant,” Lieutenant General Hayworth said, pulling Elaine out of the group huddle her and Abigail had been stuck in.

“Thank you, sir,” Elaine said after jumping up and saluting.

“At ease,” he said. “I would like to discuss a delicate matter with you and your team, if you don't mind.”

“Certainly,” Elaine said and gestured at her team to follow him as he led them away.

“What delicate matter are we talking about, sir?” Alexis asked.

The Lieutenant General nodded, then explained: “We have reason to believe that there is a small group observing, possibly spying on the compound.”

Elaine was instantly on high alert. “Since when?”

“Since shortly before you left for the refugee camp,” the Lieutenant General said.

“Have they been trying to sabotage us?”

“No, even though the monitoring division has identified multiple opportunities where they could have.”

“Any chance they're friendly?”

“Unknown but unlikely.”

“And what should we do about it?”

The Lieutenant General nodded. Apparently they were getting to the important part. “Jeanne has tried and failed to find them but in hindsight this might have been because whoever it is recognized her as a threat and avoided her. I am told there are ways to see how powerful a celestial is even without them powering up.”

Elaine nodded. “Wouldn't I be in the same position, then?”

“The Professor assured me that you would not,” the Lieutenant General said. “But as you can imagine, if whoever it is shies away from any powerful group, sending out the entire project on a strip search would not work either. If they are saboteurs it might cause them to escalate. As such, we would prefer to give this task to a small team. If you could select two, maybe three members of your team to investigate, then that would have a better chance of working out.”

Elaine bit her lip as she considered. “When?”

“Tomorrow morning at 8am.”

“Understood,” Elaine said, then looked over at Cassie. “Ready to get some EXP and catch up to the others?”

“You bet,” Cassie said with a grin.

The Lieutenant General nodded. “I trust your judgment in this. Good luck tomorrow, Sergeant Caldwell, Private Maxwell.”

“Thank you, sir,” Elaine and Cassie barked in unison.

The Lieutenant General took one more look at them, nodded, and then walked off.

“You know,” Cassie said, “I had been about to suggest a date for the rest of the day.”

“What a coincidence,” Elaine said, “me too.”

She half expected Ophelia to complain but the vampire didn't. It was kind of sweet. Yes, she had a huge sex drive that she was very open about but she was also nice enough to let the others have their fun. And Elaine was sure the others were keenly aware of the fact that Cassie was the only one of her harem who hadn't actually had sex with her yet. Elaine sure was. She was desperate to find out what sounds she could get him to make if she really tried.

“Then let's take half an hour to freshen up and we'll meet in the cafeteria?” Cassie suggested.

“Let's.”