The morning sun filtered through the smoky haze hanging over the old freightyard, casting long shadows between the rusted containers and decrepit train cars.
Kaz stepped out of the lead truck, stretching his arms behind his head with a lazy smirk. Amy followed close behind, her hair tied back in a high ponytail, a sly smile tugging at her lips.
"Hope you're not too sore from last night, babe," she teased in a low voice, nudging Kaz with her shoulder. Kaz chuckled, cheeks just faintly reddening. "You're relentless, you know that?"
"Only for you, babe." She grinned. Behind them, several Shark footsoldiers spilled out of the other vehicles, alert and sharp-eyed. The freightyard—once the battleground of Kaz's first real clash alongside Seamus—hadn't changed much. Every decaying container, every scorch mark on the concrete, held memories.
Kaz's gaze drifted over the yard, a quiet flashback flickering in his mind:
Seamus stood beside him, face calm but his aura just as imposing, firing a shot that sent sparks flying from a metal crate. Kaz, barely eleven, trembling but standing tall as he tossed his first black flame. That first taste of real violence. The bond of blood.
He shook the memory loose. Now wasn't the time.
A convoy of matte-black military trucks rolled in from the opposite end of the yard. Five squads in full tactical gear stepped out, each marked with the insignia of the Unified Eastern Forces. Among them stood a stout man with a buzzcut and a metal prosthetic arm, who stepped forward with a tablet.
"Kazunai Yazumèi?"
Kaz gave a slight nod, stepping forward as Amy casually leaned on a stack of crates behind him, still smirking.
"Welcome to your official alliance drop. Five squads as agreed. Ammunition, firearms, melee tech—plus a few special pieces you'll want to see."
Crates were unlocked and opened. Inside, the Sharks marveled at what they saw: rifles with glowing green accents, shotguns built with recoil dampeners, and exotic melee weapons that shimmered with traces of Radie-Beast essence—blades that hummed with elemental energy, axes engraved with organic mutations even a whip with serrated crystalline growths along its lenght, weapons like these have been becoming more widespread lately, ores that have soaked up exist radie-energy in some locations have been in use for over a decade, but these , these were something special. "Damn," one of the Sharks whistled. "Some of these things look almost alive."
"Radie-hybrid weapons, a recent military experiment" the commander confirmed. "Made from ethically harvested Radie-Beast remnants. The kind that would eat a man in the wild, now they're cutting down our enemies."
Kaz examined a curved dagger with jagged ice-like edges—Frostviel tissue fused to steel. "We'll take everything."
Meanwhile, Vali had frozen in place. His eyes locked on one of the squad leaders standing off to the side—tall, broad-shouldered, dark-skinned, with tightly braided hair and sharp cheekbones. She wore her uniform crisp and clean, face unreadable. "No way... Zaria?" Vali muttered barely audible
She turned her head, eyes narrowed slightly but otherwise unreadable. "Vali."
He stepped forward, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Wow, I didn't expect to see you here. It's been...a while."
"Three years and seven months," she replied flatly. "We're under orders to assist and coordinate. Let's keep it professional."
Vali faltered. "Right. Yeah. Of course."
Jamie, watching nearby, stifled a snicker. "Oof. She hit you with the timestamp, bro. You're toast."
Kaz grinned as he handed a glowing baton over to one of his lieutenants. Amy slid up beside him, her voice just low enough to whisper.
"You think Vali's gonna cry in the truck?"
"Only if she calls him by his middle name."
Across the yard, crates were divvied up, weapons issued, and squad leaders were introduced to Shark captains. The uneasy alliance began to take form under the late morning sun.
As Kaz watched his crew arm themselves with newfound power, he couldn't help but feel the tide shifting. Tomorrow, the game changed.
The freightyard buzzed with the dull thud of boots, hum of truck engines, and the occasional sharp hiss of a crate being pried open.
The Sharks had gathered around the open shipment containers, eyes gleaming at the array of weaponry—guns sleek with military polish, and melee weapons brimming with volatile Radie-Beast cores. Kaz stood near a steel crate that hissed open with hydraulic release. His eyes narrowed as he spotted it.
A custom six-shot revolver, matte black with a deep crimson gleam etched into the barrel like veins, lay nestled in shock padding. The grip was engraved with the Yazumèi dragon crest, and the cylinder glowed faintly—a Radie core embedded in each chamber.
Kaz lifted it slowly. "Babe," he said, half to Amy, half in awe, "I think I'm in love again."
Next to it, a pair of heavy steel gauntlets rested on a velvet cloth. The moment Kaz slipped them on, black flames flickered along his forearms, reacting to his power.
Jamie whistled. "Guns and knuckles, Kaz? Feeling spicy."
"Versatility," Kaz replied, twirling the revolver and slamming a test shot into a reinforced crate. The blast shattered the metal like paper.
Jamie selected a massive cleaver-sword hybrid—part machete, part war axe—infused with crimson light. It pulsed with every heartbeat, designed to feed off adrenaline and bloodlust. He gave it a swing, the ground splitting where it landed."Takes a real man to swing something this ugly," he said with a grin.
Vali wandered to a crate tucked off to the side and pulled out a black tri-pronged spear with shifting tendrils of shadow inside its shaft. The moment he held it, the tendrils settled. "Shadow-spike. Reactive weapon. Neat."
He spun it in his hands, lunging forward with a test thrust. The spear elongated mid-motion, nearly pinning one of the squad crates across the yard "sweet" he remarked.
Uncle Sean approached an obsidian longsword sealed in a cryo-case.He smiled reaching for its hlit The moment he grasped the hilt, frost spiraled along the blade's edge. When he swung it, a trail of shimmering frost cut through the air, freezing moisture mid-flight.
Toma chose twin wrist-mounted blades that extended like claws—elegant, surgical, and laced with faint pulses of electricity. She tested them on a practice dummy, slicing cleanly through the synthetic flesh and leaving a static burn along the cuts.
She didn't smile. "Efficient," she muttered.
Riko, Sean's oldest son, went for a pair of axes laced with embedded Radie crystals. As he flicked his wrists, the crystals danced and sparked. He smirked, eyes glistening. "Bet none of y'all can dodge this."
He launched a test flurry, striking five suspended targets before they hit the ground.
Daiji, silent as ever, picked up a spiked cudgel lined with brass knuckles and a chambered core that released kinetic bursts with every strike. He slammed it into the earth and sent shockwaves through the concrete, fissures spidering out beneath their feet.
Kaz glanced around. "Alright… everyone's armed, everyone's scary. Looks like we're ready."
A soldier approached. "Testing complete?"
Kaz holstered his revolver, black flames still smoldering faintly in his gauntlets.
"Yeah," he said. "Now let's get these crates secured. War's coming."
Amy leaned against a nearby truck, arms crossed, grinning. "Babe…please try not to burn the whole yard down next time."
Kaz smirked. "No promises princess."