The time came for Erica to meet with Damon and depart the base. She made her way to the garage, loaded satchel over her shoulder, walking through granite hallways and metal doors until she reached the motor pool. Trucks and cars were parked in neat rows, with one truck in the maintenance area, mechans removing a dented wheel to replace it with a fresh one.

Looking around the cool space, Erica noted a distinct lack of Damon. He was usually ahead of her, and as confusion settled in a door opened at the far end of the motor pool. A door she didn't recall being there on her last visit to headquarters. Damon walked through, appearing to have cleaned himself up a bit since she saw him last.

"Right, if you'd follow me please," he instructed and waited as Erica closed the distance. Peering behind him she could see a stairwell leading up.

"We aren't taking a car or truck?" Erica asked as Damon started up the stairs.

"No, too slow. Production recently finished on a new vehicle we had only prototypes of before, and that's what we'll be taking to Durhelm."

"Is it some kind of rumbler skiff? A lighter, faster Invictus?"

"You'll see once we've reached the top of these steps."

The two of them ascended the stairwell, several flights high. Erica hadn't bothered to count when they started, but as they quickly outstayed their welcome, she had counted six flights when they came upon another door.

"Elevators... exist, you know," Erica complained, breathing heavily after the sudden workout.

"Can't risk a malfunction making it so we can't reach the upper hangar," Damon said confidently, seemingly unbothered by the ascent.

"You can have both!"

"A cargo elevator is being worked on presently. It would be much faster if I were doing it myself, but I cannot allocate time to that now. Now, let us go to the harbinger."

"Harbinger? Harbinger of what?" Erica followed Damon through the door into a cavernous space not unlike the hangar of the Invictus. Instead of anything resembling a rumbler skiff, a large, squat tan box sat on equally squat landing gear in the middle of the hangar. Emerging from the sides of each corner were tall, roughly rectangular shapes on thick pivots, with vents on their tops and bottoms. A pilot's cabin was seemingly stapled to the front of the craft, a round glass canopy at odds with the sharp edges of the rest of the craft. There was no attempt made to streamline the front of the craft, it was a flat front with the exception of the pilot's cabin. 

"Harbinger of the Altean Army," Damon said with a bit of pride, "Now, we have to go around to the back to board."

Walking past mechan technicians frantically moving about, they saw the slanted back of the harbinger open, a boarding ramp lowered allowing them to see inside the transport compartment. It was wide enough to accommodate an Altean armoured car, but the benches on either side of the hull's interior let Erica know that this was intended as a troop transport primarily. The interior was painted the same tan as the vehicle's exterior, so the darker cushion on one of the benches stood out.

"You aren't really adventurous with the colours of your stuff, huh?" Erica could feel her butt getting sore from the metal benches already, "Is that cushion for me?"

"The Altean Army is an easily identifiable organization due to its adherence to a unified colour scheme. Though if you want more colour-" Damon cut himself off, "Never mind. Yes, the cushion was requisitioned for your use. Joshua has also taken to asking for them now too, so I have to source more of them."

"Thank you. I know you design these things with mechan users in mind, but I am not a mechan and need something a bit softer to sit on for hours on end. This is a bit roomy for just the two of us, isn't it?"

"It is, but it is intended to be able to move multiple assets around at high speed."

"How does this thing even move? I doubt it crawls anywhere with any speed, if at all."

Damon stepped into the harbinger's hold. Erica followed, the two of them taking seats against the far wall opposite each other. Damon reached under his bench and pulled out a headset and gestured for Erica to do the same. Finding it, she put it over her ears and immediately noticed the sounds of the hangar were completely drowned out.

"Can you hear me?" Damon's voice came through the headset. He was speaking into a microphone that extended from his headset's right side.

"Yeah," Erica said into her own mic, "What do we need these for?"

It didn't escape her notice that the boarding ramp was raising to seal them in. Lights in the roof flicked on as she felt the harbinger rising.

"The harbinger is our first foray into air travel. This vehicle will be able to spirit us away to the ends of the world in a fraction of the time it would take to go by land or even by rumbler skiff."

"Air travel? You mean you've figured out how to fly?!" Erica could not keep her surprise hidden. The dragons of myth were said to be able to fly, but they had wings. Mechans designed in their image or that of birds could take to the skies, but people was unheard of. The harbinger was a box with other boxes strapped to it, how could that fly?

Damon tapped the wall separating them from the pilot's cabin, "There's a charge bank behind this wall. This vehicle has similar power demands as the Invictus, but in order to keep it in the air and keep its size down, the harbinger's charge bank is much reduced in capacity and mass. It can fly for an hour and a half before it runs out."

"How does this thing even get off the ground? Is it starting already?"

"No, a platform under the harbinger is raising us to the top of the plateau. From there, we will take off."

"Again, how?" Erica noticed a faint whine penetrating the sound cancelling headphones.

"The four housings on the harbinger's corners are powerful engines, maiga jets to be exact. They siphon maiga from the air and from the charge bank and forcefully eject it through the engines' back ends. This produces thrust, which is converted to lift-"

"What?"

Damon reconsidered his words before continuing, "We have four theoretically endless rockets strapped to the hull that we move to turn and keep the harbinger in the air."

"Don't rockets explode?" Erica noted that the whine was increasing in pitch and volume. They also stopped rising and so must have been on top of the plateau. She was seriously beginning to question if she should have gotten in this thing.

"Not these ones. Well, not intentionally, anyway."

"You really know how to comfort people, huh?"

Damon crossed his arms, "This design has proved itself in trials and field work. I trust harbingers implicitly."

The whine raised in pitch again before erupting into a roar. The harbinger began to rattle as Erica could feel that they were lifting off the ground. They turned a bit before it lurched forward, launching itself into the sky. Damon and Erica had to steady themselves as the thrust pushed them back. After a few moments of this, the force pushing them back lessened as the harbinger reached a cruising speed.

"We're... we're actually flying? We're actually flying!" Erica was getting giddy now that they were airborne. They might be the first people on Tarsis to ride in a successful aircraft! She wished she could see the world outside, see what a bird sees. 

Damon flipped open a panel on the wall containing the charge bank, pulling a hose from it. He then opened a panel on the wall behind him, and air came whipping into the hold. It lasted a mere second, however, as Damon flicked open the metal latch at the end of the hose and began shaping the wild air into it.

"Oh," Erica said, excitement draining from her as realization settled in.

"We will have to take turns keeping the harbinger fueled if we are to make it to Durhelm in time, just like we did with the Invictus. Three hours on, three hours off, for approximately twenty-four hours. There will be time to catch up on rest on your downtime and after we arrive."

"Right." It was too early to sleep now, not that Erica could between her remaining adrenaline and the noise of the jets. Instead, she opted to pull out hear nearly finished book and continue reading it. She was on the last few pages after a half an hour passed when Damon's voice cut through the drone of the harbinger.

"What's it about?"

"Sorry?" Erica looked up, unsure of what she had heard.

"I asked what your book was about."

"Oh," Erica prepared to get some misguided speech about how what she was reading wasn't appropriate for someone her age, but figured she'd indulge the question, "It's a book about a dragon and her pursuit of justice after an evil sorcerer wounds her and makes off with a large chunk of her hoard of books."

"Sorcerer? As far as I know, dragons don't exist. That book is made of falsehoods?"

"Any kroll hearing you wouldn't take kindly to what you just said. They generally believe in dragons, and attribute their tendency toward hoarding to dragons. A few kroll even believe that they are the direct descendants of dragons.

"This book could be considered a collection of falsehoods, like you said. But, that's the point. It's fiction, fantasy, make-believe. Not everything written is tied to reality, nor does it need to be. Stories are hugely important, it'd be impossible to find someone who hasn't heard a story at some point in their lives. It can be nice to immerse yourself in another world, another time, where there are no shapers, no Altean versus Diezen war, no need to worry for your life. If you read something other than your reports, you'd find worlds of magic and wonder, of romance, adventure, camaraderie, and more besides."

Damon looked at the book thoughtfully, "Normally I wouldn't have time to read for leisure, but this trip will have some otherwise unused time. Would... you mind if I read that book on your shifts?"

Erica was surprised, she didn't expect this of him. After a moment's deliberation, she said, "I'll be done this by then, so sure. Just be careful with it, it's one of the things that was saved from Copperwood."

"Understood, thank you," Damon went back to focusing on charging, though Erica could swear that his eyes were a lighter grey than usual when she caught a glimpse of them shifting toward the hose.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. Erica would spend her shifts focusing on keeping her maiga in check while funneling huge amounts of power into the harbinger, and would attempt to read during her downtime. It was difficult to focus after Damon started asking her myriad questions about what he'd read on his downtime, ranging from mundane things anyone else would have known already, like what a sorcerer was, to questions regarding how magic worked relative to shaping or plot details that he would have to read further to uncover for himself. It was borderline childish, but given what he remembers of the world, Erica could forgive it. At times it was even endearing, his genuine curiosity shining through his usual stoic facade. 

"Erica?"

"Hmm?" She refocused from her daydreaming as her last shift was nearing its end.

"You're... smiling at me?"

Erica fully snapped out of it now, suddenly embarrassed, "Just remembering something happy, is all."

"Hm. Well, I've finished the book, and-"

"Masters, we are about to initiate landing procedures," the mechan pilot's voice rang out through the headphones.

"Understood," Damon said, before reaching the book across the hold to Erica, "I believe you'd rather have this in your care."

"Thanks," Erica took the book and set it in her satchel before putting her charging hose back in its alcove in the wall. 

She felt her insides lurch as the nose of the harbinger dropped, followed by the rest of the craft. As Erica began to worry about crashing into the ground, the harbinger's engines roared as it slowed its descent and evened out, coasting across the air before dropping a couple of inches to the ground with a shudder. As the engines spooled down and the boarding ramp began to lower, Damon took his headset off and stowed it under the bench. Erica did the same, immediately shocked by how loud everything was again. They exited the back of the harbinger, and Erica saw they were at another of the cookie-cutter Altean bases. Looking around, she saw the walls of Durhelm in the distance to the east. It was warm here, enough of a distance north of the equator that the environment wasn't desert but with a low chance of snow ever gracing the area. 

Taking stock of her more immediate surroundings, Erica noted that the lower ends of the harbinger's engines were glowing red and shimmering with heat. There was also another armoured car here waiting to take them to the city.

"Why didn't we land closer to Durhelm?" Erica asked loudly, realizing that she had been doing so the whole trip and making a note to bring her volume down.

"Do you want to deal with the crowds we'd draw coming in with an aircraft?" Damon chuckled, "Not to mention I'm certain it would cause headaches with the administration. No, it's safer for everyone that we touch down a distance from the city and drive the rest of the way in."

Erica didn't feel like pressing that line of inquiry further. Instead, fatigue set in and she tried resting her eyes in the car as they drove to Durhelm. The usual bumping and jostling was becoming familiar at this point, and she could ignore most of it if she felt like it. They passed stone walls manned by militiamen that surrounded the fields of varied crops that formed the outermost rings of the city's domain. After some time, they came to another wall, this one lined with weapon emplacements and plated with steel to prevent shaping the stone behind it. The gatehouse they had to pass through was taking their time letting them through, though Erica was mostly happy to have a quiet moment to close her eyes again.

That moment was rudely disturbed by a loud knocking on her window. The female guard on duty was looking through the lowered front window and yelling at Damon, "And who's this?"

Erica tuned in, suddenly feeling a need to pay attention. Damon calmly said, "She's with me."

"Yeah, I can see that, but who is she? We only have permissions for you, one Mister Joshua Mendez, and a few of yer mechans to come and go."

Erica could feel Damon getting irritated, "If you must know, she is the most recent addition to the ranks of the Altean Army."

"That so?" The guard regarded Erica with disinterest, "She got a name, Mister Arbiter?"

"My name is Erica Blaine." She introduced herself. Damon gave her a quick glance but said nothing.

"Well, Miss Blaine, seeing as you're a member of a paramilitary organization, particularly the Altean Army, wishing to enter Durhelm, we need to register you. We need to keep tally of how many potentially dangerous individuals we have roaming the city at any given time, you understand." The guard rattled off with practiced indifference.

"We don't have time for this." Damon stated firmly.

"If yer in such a rush, leave her here so we can register her and go about yer business. Now, please exit the car and come with me to the gatehouse."

Erica groaned slightly, but made to exit the car regardless. Damon spoke up again, "She's never been here before, I can't have her wandering around the city trying to find our base."

"You can either give her directions or wait here, makes no difference to me," the guard looked at Erica with a degree of impatience, "I don't have all day, Miss."

Erica opened the door and got out, finding she stood slightly taller than the guard, who eyed her sword warily.

"You go everywhere with a weapon? We're gonna have to register that, too."

"Whatever," Erica muttered, "let's get this over with."

The guard led her into the guardhouse. What followed was two hours of drudgery, bureaucracy, and pointed questions. Erica did her best to keep her head down and get through it, though it was irritating to say the least. A shaper artist made a photorealistic portrait to go on file, her sword had to be meticulously recorded, and she had to sign all manner of waivers and agreements. She was barely awake for most of it, and the nuances of the legalese that was being thrust upon her was entirely lost on her. By the time the guard huffed and said she could go, Erica was doing all she could to avoid falling flat on her face as she exited the guardhouse. Damon and the car had pulled over a bit outside of the gate to prevent barring entrance to the city, so she walked over and crawled back into the car.

"What in Mortemhiem was all that about?" Erica mumbled.

"I apologize, I should have seen this coming," Damon fumed, "To say that Durhelm, the political entity, dislikes us is putting it lightly. Public opinion is the only reason they don't bar the Altean Army from the city entirely, I feel."

"Why?"

"They feel they have things under control, that the Diezens aren't a threat they can't manage," The car rolled forward again, passing through the gate into the city proper, "They either underestimate the peril or overestimate their abilities in the face of the Diezens."

"As long as they don't pull a gun on us," Erica complained. She was vaguely aware of the granite buildings they were passing by. Wood was also present, though more decorative than structural. The ride was smooth thanks to the shaped stone road they were cruising down.

Damon said nothing for a while. Erica took this as an opportunity to close her eyes again. After what must have been a mere few minutes had passed, they came to a stop. Erica hesitantly opened her eyes, somewhat surprised to find they were a little distance away from the smooth walls of an Altean Army base within the city's walls. Between them and the base were several other vehicles parked by the side of the road, mostly cars but one truck was present with a trio of kroll pulling boxes from it and taking them into a business two doors down from the base. 

"Why are we on the road instead of inside the base?" Erica asked.

"Because we were only granted enough land to build the facilities needed for the living generals and to keep a compliment of mechans maintained. No room for our vehicles in there," Damon said, exasperation leaking into his voice, "Come along, it's time you got some proper rest."

Erica wordlessly exited the car with Damon and the mechan driver. The three of them walked toward the base, Erica trailing behind the other two. They navigated past the kroll workers, who gave them a wide berth. Erica yawned, her eyes closing momentarily. Something bumped into her right shoulder and knocked her to the side slightly.

"Ow, what in Mortemhiem are you made of?" An irritated young man's voice came from the source of the bump. A familiar voice, in a familiar mood. 

Erica was suddenly wide awake as she turned to face the young man. He was a bit taller than her, with short black hair and deep blue eyes. The start of a beard was new, as were the work overalls and shirt he wore, but there was no mistaking her brother.

"Rico...?" Erica asked, more asking if what she was seeing was real. She had heard nothing about his whereabouts or even his survival after the assault on Copperwood, and now he was in front of her, in Durhelm, a third of the world away from when they saw each other last. A great joy started to swell up in her when-

"You!" His voice was emanating a raw fury Erica wasn't expecting. Hurt, anger, and a hint of fear battered into her with the one word.

Erica was taken aback, physically recoiling from the shout. She stammered, "W-wait, what-"

"How dare you show your face around me! After what you did!" Rico was starting a row. He was punctuating his words with jabs of his finger at Erica. People on the street were stopping to see what the noise was about.

"I didn't have control!" Erica desperately pleaded her case.

"What were you doing with that kind of power anyway, huh?! Struggle to charge your whole life, and suddenly you wake up throwing lightning around? What kind of freak are you?!" Rico demanded.

Damon at this point stepped forward, coolly asking, "What is all this about?"

Rico hesitated for a brief second on seeing Damon, but adamantly declared, "Butt out, this is a family matter," he then turned his attention back to Erica, "I wouldn't call patricide anything else!"

Guilt, shame, regret. All flooded into her as Erica felt tears roll down her face, "I didn't- I-I couldn't- I didn't mean to-!"

"We'd already lost mom that night! Then you go crazy, bolting mechans and people until you finally blast dad in the chest! Monster!"

"You have to believe me, I was given that power with no way to control it! It acted on its own!" Erica continued her pleas. 

"It acted on its own? You were given those powers?!" Rico repeated incredulously, "The only reason I'd believe you is that I knew you my whole life, but that bullshit isn't gonna fly! You murdered dad that night! Honestly, I couldn't care less how you were able to do it. Were you gonna get me next? Finish the collection of dead family?"

"No! I-"

"Then again, you did just run away after you did it, didn't you?" Rico asked coldly, lowering his voice without losing any of the venom, "Leave us all reeling in the wake of your chaos? After all you've done, how dare you stand in front of me?"

"Enough!" Damon shouted, but his decree fell on deaf ears.

Erica was beginning to sob, every accusation thrown at her a new dagger in her heart, "I-it wasn't my fault! I di-didn't want to! I ran so it wouldn't happen to anyone else! Please, Rico-"

"Keep my name out of your mouth! We aren't family anymore, not after what you did. You didn't save mom with that power, and instead killed dad. I move here to get away from where it happened, and you have the gall to follow me like some kind of stalker, bringing it all back with you!"

"I had no i-idea you were here!"

"I don't care! Get away from me. Stay away from me! Stay away from Astrid! Stay away from all the Copperwood survivors! None of us need to see a living reminder of what happened that night!"

There was a pause. Erica didn't know what to say anymore. She couldn't bear to look at Rico any longer, her eyes firmly on the ground.

"If I ever see you again, you'd better be behind bars or bound in chains, for your sake." Rico threatened.

A pressure filled the air, radiating off of Damon. His next words were said with absolute authority, "It's time for you to leave. Now."

Rico stumbled a bit, but regained his composure quickly, "I'm done here anyway. I don't know why you've taken her in, Arbiter, but that's a mistake that will cost you someday."

With that, Rico stormed off down the sidewalk, brushing past the crowd that had formed and parted to let him through. Erica remained standing, defeated. With Rico's voice silenced, the murmuring of the crowd could now be heard. It may as well have been deafening, as questions and speculations around Rico's accusations filled the air. She needed to get out of here, out of sight, out of earshot. Where...?

The base. Erica turned around and began to sprint toward the Altean compound. The crowd quickly got out of her way, giving her a wide berth. Damon might have called after her, she didn't know. She was focused on the beating of the blood in her ear and making sure she was putting one foot in front of the other as fast as she could. Reaching the double steel doors of the base, she struggled with the doorknob, finding it locked. It opened from the other side as a mechan peered at her from within. She barreled past it, getting off the street, away from everyone. She beelined for the spot her room would be at any other base, pulled the door open and slammed it behind her as she slipped through. Locking the door, she threw off her coat and belt before throwing herself into the bed face-down, burying her face in the pillow. She couldn't hold it back anymore, and began to openly weep. She thought she had healed those emotional wounds from Copperwood, but Rico ripped them wide open again, and then some. It was good he was alive, but him disowning her like that hurt in a way she didn't know she could hurt. Her family really was dead now, if Rico was no longer a part of it. Suddenly it dawned on her how alone she was. It made her weep all the more.

She didn't know how much time had passed until she heard a knock at her door. She steadied her breathing as best she could and shakily said, "Go away."

Damon was on the other side of the door, asking, "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright!" Erica snapped before burying her face in the now damp pillow again.

"What... was that outside? What did that man have against you?" Damon asked softly.

Despair settled over Erica as she replied, "That was Rico. My little brother. He blames me for what happened to our dad in Copperwood and now wants nothing to do with me... not that I blame him."

"You didn't have control that night, it wasn't your fault."

"He doesn't know or care! Now my last living family's disowned me, and I'm all alone in this world!"

There was a long enough pause that Erica thought Damon had left, but he finally spoke up again, "You aren't alone, you're part of the Altean Army now."

"No offense, but an emotionally distant commander, a jerk with long hair, and some mechans aren't what I'd call 'family.'"

Silence again. She was sure she'd driven him off this time, but once more he replied, "I'm sorry if I'm not understanding what you're going through. I've not experienced this sort of thing myself and so am struggling with it."

"Hope you never have to. I've just lost my family all over again." Erica slowly shifted into a sitting position facing the door.

"What he was saying about your father... I know what happened that night, and I also know that what happened wasn't your fault. I know it must still weigh heavy on you, but you've been strong since that night."

Erica had slowly crossed the gap between her bed and the door as Damon spoke. She unlocked the door and opened it just a crack, giving her a sliver of his concerned expression to look at. She sniffled, "While I know it wasn't my fault, it doesn't feel like it wasn't my fault. But I do know who to blame."

"Oh?" Damon said, genuinely surprised.

"The fickle gods of this world gave me this power without the means to control it. My rampant maiga channeling that night was their fault, they could have chosen anyone else in the world but randomly settled on me."

"The gods? You mean the seventeen?"

"Who else? I'm gonna kick all their asses for being dumb about giving me this power!" Erica seethed.

Damon regarded her through the crack in the door for a moment. She held his gaze, waiting. After the moment came and went, he said, "I'll do what I can to help, but holding the gods accountable for anything is a tall order."

"I don't care, I'll find a way."

The corner of an amused grin crossed what Erica could see of his face, "In any case, try to get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow and I need you more lively than you were today."

"... Sure. Make sure you get some rest too, you hear me?" Erica said.

"Loud and clear. If you need something and can't find me, either message me using the matrix maigum or find a mechan, there should be at least a couple in the base at all times."

With that, Damon moved out of view from the door. Erica closed it again but left the lock undone. She made her preparations for bed and settled back in, completely drained. It took her some time before her racing mind let her drift off to sleep.