Withdrawal

Foxy? Ugh! Why would you call her that? She's my team's leader! Millia scolded her guest as Latonya hacked and slashed her way through the settlement.

I'm sorry, but you have to admit, it's not as if I should have known, Latonya answered. Battle came so easily to her that she was able to carry on with the mental conversation without hampering her progress. I won't take it back though. I don't care what anyone says, she's smokin'.

That's not the point! I just got on this team, I can't be flirting it up with the boss!

I'm pretty sure you can, Latonya rebuffed while she scaled a large fuvea and went at its neck like a lumberjack. It's certainly not written anywhere.

That's because it doesn't need to be written, it's unethical! Millia would have been shaking her arms half-hysterically if she were able. The power imbalance would corrupt our ability to interact as peers, as a couple should!

Power imbalance? Does the woman fund your livelihood?

No, but that's not the only way for her to occupy a dominant role. The fact that she can command me on assignments means that she holds authority over me. She and I are not of equal standing. We cannot have a healthy relationship.

Hm, I don't like how absolutely you worded that, but you may have a point, Latonya conceded. She did so in a calm tone that was juxtaposed with a ferocious stroke that bisected another beast. Either way, like I said, I'm sorry. Probably just made things pretty awkward between you and her.

Stop, I don't even want to think about it anymore. Millia focused on blotting out the mental image of having to face Eloxochitl and explain away 'her' actions.

Oh, hey, look at that: seems like there's more here than just your team.

Latonya was referring to the batch of warriors they had just come across. It was obvious that they were unaffiliated with Team Tachyon, not only on account of their distinct uniforms, but also their fighting style. Whereas both groups fought with power and precision, this other group brought a kind of valour to the battlefield. Their style included certain risks and gambles; unnecessary chances that posed the opportunity for them to be highly effective, or highly consequential.

Take for example the oni that Millia watched while Latonya fought. She fought with an oversized kusarigama - a sickle anchored to its wielder by a chain. Any weapon that incorporated a chain was clumsy and awkward by nature, at least when compared to a more traditional sword or firearm. There was plenty of opportunity for the links to be snagged, dragged, caught, or grabbed. And yet, in the hands of that red-skinned giant, one would have thought it could only provide benefits to its wielder. The oni twirled and swung the sickle with such mastery that the chain only ever ensnared anything when she wanted it to.

It was like that with all of these combatants: grenades which only ever exploded away from their throwers, arc projectors that never seemed to zap friendly personnel, or noxious gas spells that somehow stayed out of the lungs of anything sapient.

Latonya plowed through the fuvea with Millia's body until she was positioned to fight alongside the warriors.

"Hey there, are you with the adventurer team?" one of them asked her.

Latonya was already shaping her mouth to answer 'no' when Millia intervened. Remember, you're in my body. Keep things simple, and say yes.

"I am," Latonya abided.

"Glad to have you. I'm Omiros," the warrior introduced himself. He was a gorgon, a race of scaled humanoids with thick appendages that hung from their heads in the place of hair. As a people, they had an affinity for paralysis magics. Omiros used his sorcery in tandem with his anti-materiel rifle, freezing targets from afar before blowing sickeningly large holes in them. It was a conspicuously safe strategy compared to most of the other fighters here.

"Millia," Latonya said as the cow girl's delegate. "How has the fight been going?"

"We've held our own with minimal casualties for a few hours now." Omiros paused to steady his rifle before squeezing the trigger. The resulting boom was thunderous even amid the tumult of the battle. "We're keeping pace but they're just not showing signs of stopping."

"Good man," Latonya complimented, earning a look from Omiros.

"The settlers requested help in fending off fuvea attacks, but this seems totally different from what they described." Boom. "This is a damned raid. No wild animal should be acting like this."

"Do we at least have an idea as to what they're after?" Latonya said while delivering a roundhouse kick to a smaller creature.

"They're carnivores, so the answer to that question should be meat." Omiros reloaded his weapon. "However, I think it's safe to assume that that's not it. This isn't a hunting post and whatever food stores the settlers have are properly contained, so this isn't a case of someone getting a whiff of momma's cooking.

"We evacuated the settlers from the town, but we've been here since, so maybe the pests are just craving something with opposable thumbs."

"Smart of you to get them out of the way," Latonya remarked.

"Thanks, you can tell it to our commander once this is over."

If it ever ends, that is, Millia commented from within her own head.

While Millia could be forgiven for thinking otherwise, it did eventually come to an end. Nearly four hours after the first fuvea charged the settlement's defenders, the beasts dispersed. There was nothing that seemed to prompt it. They had been pouring out of the surrounding forest at the same rate they had been the whole time. Then, as though a switch went off in all their heads at once, they bolted back the way they came. All of them, big and small, untouched or mortally wounded, retreated back to the wild.

The guardians of the settlement were left in the early-evening dark, accompanied by the stench of the rotting bodies. The post-battle peace was short-lived, replaced by the celebration of the commandos.

"Ha-ha! That was an excellent fight!" Latonya cheered. She was standing in relative solitude away from the commandos.

You were spectacular, Millia complimented candidly. I wish I was that good with my own body.

Thank you. I am something to behold, aren't I?

And I could behold you for myself if I had my body back, Millia thought. A very slick reminder to Latonya indeed.

Oh, right! Sorry, you've probably been itching to get back in the saddle. Here, give me a second.

Millia felt that whole sensory torrent all over again, this time in reverse. As Latonya withdrew, Millia was shoved back into control. Her sense of her surroundings didn't change, but as for her sense of bodily presence... Well, it was like having her entire somatic nervous system reactivated. It felt heavier to have mass again.

And then the pain hit.

"AGH!" Millia cried, crumpling to the ground. On her hands and knees, she spilled the contents of her stomach all over the ground.

"What?" Latonya exclaimed, panicked by Millia's spontaneous agony. "What's the matter?"

The matter, as she so reductively put it, was that every muscle in Millia's body felt as though it had been drained and molten lead had been poured back in its place. She burned and ached all over. She wasn't even able to remain on all fours for long. Millia fell onto her side and blacked out soon after.