"Commander!" The lieutenant shouted, running up the stairs to the observatory. It was the room just beneath the light on a lighthouse, which could only be reached from the outside.
    To get to the observatory, one would leave the base from the back and travel to the lighthouse along the beach, which was particularly hard to do when it was storming outside, with the wind at dangerously high speed and the ocean whipped up angrily. After reaching the lighthouse, one would go through the old wooden front door and climb up the big spiral staircase till they got to the first door they found almost at the very top. The only higher door led to the light chamber, which was hard to go into without fear of being blinded.
   The level below, commonly referred to as the observatory, served as many things; a watchtower, mostly, along with a nice place to relax for the rare recruit who even knew the lighthouse was stable because the guard who worked there really didn't give two shits about his job and never left, living on his own like a hobo in the room.
    The observatory was a big glass room. A large globe of Prime was in the center of the room, easily five times the size of a basketball. It was rusty and had been there for longer than anyone could remember. There were a few bookshelves nailed to the walls and the place was lit by candles. Windows surrounded the room in a line all the way around, allowing much line of view. Almost all of the walls were just made of glass except for one part all the way up about four feet long which was made of wood and nailed to the wall. There was rain streaking down the windows from the storm.
    Owlet stood in front of the window, facing away from the base. He saw and heard the angry ocean down below, striking the rocks on the shore, spraying white bracken water onto the soaked sand, the light of the lighthouse above came around. It was swift and bright, but the Commander saw it calming. The light was his friend, he had come to believe after being near it for so long. He stood by the window, his arm in a sling, listening to the storm, the ocean, and the soft snoring of the old guard of the watchtower.
    As his title was called, Owlet glanced behind him, slowly, looking moderately surprised by her presence. "Ah, Lieutenant Wolbach." As he spoke his voice was soft. "You've found me."
    The girl stared at him for a moment. "No, I just... Saw you from the window." She said. She had obviously been soaked on her way into the observatory as she was making a puddle of water on the floor. Owlet had seen her training before; she was one of the Teuthidans who didn't look like the rest, but she did act like them. Platinum blonde hair and green eyes which were uncommon to the squids. But Owlet had seen her fight and had no doubt that she was a valuable soldier.
    "You ran all the way out here, then I trust you need something." The Lieutenant nodded, straightening her back, she opened her mouth at attention to speak when Owlet waved a hand at her, looking out the window. "Don't hurt yourself, Victoria. At ease."
    The Lieutenant stopped in surprise. She hadn't thought anyone even knew she had a first name, let along her Commander, who would surely have far better things to do. She stared at his back, green eyes glittering with confusion. "...Sir...?"
    "Just tell me what I need to know." Owlet said. "No formality necessary."
    The girl hesitated, before she nodded. "Yes sir." She said. "One of the submarines has identified a transmission sent from Sky Army recruits on a ferry to the base in the Brimlad Sea. They said-"
    "They're going to the Monastery." Owlet said. She had noticed him straightening up more with every word she said.
    "...Y... Yes sir, but, we don't know why." She stared at his back, baffled by his ability to know exactly what she was about to say. "Maxwell wanted me to ask if you had orders."
    Owlet was quiet a good while, staring out the window in silence. The Lieutenant was about to prompt him again for an answer when he finally spoke. "Send a squad after them."
    "Yes sir." The Lieutenant said, but she stayed. Owlet glanced back at her, one eyebrow raised in silent question. "Sir, I don't... Why are we going after them if we don't even know why they're going?"
   Owlet stared at her a moment. "Because... We do know why. Their Commander is wounded and they're trying to save him."
    "But your staff - General Maxwell said that it was poisoned so why bother?"
    "Because they're humans, and humans have hope even when there probably isn't any chance like now. It'll be a dark day when humanity loses their hope, a dark day for everyone. Even us. So, go, tell the General."
    The Lieutenant nodded, saluted and turned back to the stairwell. Owlet lifted a hand. "Wait." The Lieutenant stopped, looking up at him for more orders. Owlet was smiling a little to himself, staring out the window. "Send the Uniform Squadron."
    "...Sorry, sir, I don't think I heard you correctly."
    "Uniform Squadron."
    The Lieutenant's eyes widened. "Th-The Uniform Squadron?!"
    Owlet looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"
    "N... N-No sir... But..." She sighed. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" Owlet made a gesture for her to go ahead. "What the loving hell is going through your purebred mind?! We have a chance to permanently get rid of our biggest enemy and you're sending the Uniform Squadron?!"
    Owlet looked amused. "Don't worry. There's almost no chance they'll make it back to the base in time, all we need is a Squadron to slow them down, and Uniform is great at that."
    The Lieutenant sighed. "Yes sir... I'll go tell him." With that, she turned and went down the stairs to leave the light house again.
    It was quiet as Owlet stared out the window for several minutes, still, silent. Finally, he heard an old, scratchy voice from behind him, in the rickety old rocking chair in the opposite corner of the room by the bookshelf.
    "Don't feel guilty." Said the old man who lived secretly in the lighthouse. "You didn't mean to."
    Owlet sighed. "I just don't want him to die, he doesn't deserve it."
    "Neither do you."
    "...Maybe I do..."
    They were quiet a few moments before the Commander grabbed his coat, pulling it on. "I have to get back to the base."
    "Be careful, Owlet. Please."
    Owlet didn't reply as he zipped up his coat and went down the stairs to get out of the lighthouse after the Lieutenant.

It was cold inside and outside of the ferry as it was mid December, but regardless of the temperature, Felladere was still sitting there with no shirt on, not looking cold at all while Genesis shivered beside him, wrapped tightly in his blanket and glaring at him with clear jealousy. Jade was only trembling a little bit as she sat at the table in the room they were given. She closed the communicator she'd been given to contact the base as she finished her transmission. They would just video chat them, but they feared the snow might disrupt connection, so they were given a morse code communicator instead of a screen.
    "They put Sara in charge of communications with us." Jade said, walking over and sitting next to Fells.
    "H-How is she?" Genesis asked, stammering from the cold.
    "She's okay." Jade shrugged, shivering slightly herself. "Trying to come up with a way to fix her legs, but she's not getting far."
    "I'll see if I c-can help her when I get b-back." Genesis said.
    Jade nodded. They grew quiet, the room only filled with the sounds of the disgruntled and half frozen Genesis playing his game on his Lecteur. Jade trembled, pulling her blanket around closer to her.
    Fells looked at her interestedly. "Jade Magellan, are you cold?"
    "It's f-fifteen degrees outside." Jade sighed wistfully like she was dreaming of a beach. "Of c-course I'm c-c-cold..."
    Felladere stared at her for a few moments before he stretched out his wing slowly and pulled it around her shoulders. She blinked in surprise, but noticed his wings almost seemed to radiate heat. She smiled a little and chose not to fight it for fear of otherwise freezing to death.
    At some point after Genesis lost the boss battle after his game because of his frozen stiff fingers, he set down the Lecteur in frustration and looked up. As he did, he blinked at what he saw.
    Jade was leaned against the Valkyrie, not shivering even though her blanket was only half around her shoulders because his wing was around her. The girl was out cold, breathing quietly. Fells's eyes were closed, like he was meditating, but he didn't seem asleep. Genesis smiled a little at them before going back to his game.