Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a long time since he had trod these floors, these halls. It was like trying to return home, familiar but alien. So much had changed and remained familiar, but it all felt a touch removed. Or perhaps it was him, changed and unchanged and no longer fitting in the spaces he once did. Too long departed, but I am so relieved to be back.

“I see… some changes have happened since I was last here.” He paused, impressed, and offered a bow to Jet. He continued with a nod to Axinite, who was a more familiar face.

“Allow me to pay respects - I brought souvenirs from my last mission. Would anyone like some?” He quipped, tossing a handful of star seeds onto the table, it was like old times.
The days when they used to pull these out of civilians instead of energy.

Axinite had read Zinkenite’s message as soon as it had come in, and immediately passed the information on to a few others. Laurelite was deep in the Rift tonight and he didn’t want to pull her from her duties, so he was more than happy to receive Zinkenite in her stead. Zinkenite arrived sooner than expected but he wasn’t unhappy to have him while Jet was here.

He smiled politely, the slightest bit strained, when the starseeds spilled across his desk, but he stood to greet the General King.

Everything on Axinite’s desk was otherwise neatly organized, although he did have a few different stacks of papers. They had plenty of information on the tablets, but there was still so much that needed to be uploaded. The pastries and sweets he baked were pushed to one side to make room for their paperwork.

“Zinkenite,” Axinite greeted. “You arrived earlier than I thought you might. Welcome home. I wasn’t sure if we’d be seeing you tonight or in the morning.”

He and Jet had a lot of work to get through tonight so pushing that to the side hadn’t really been an option. They were going as quickly as they could manage while still being thorough, but he had still hoped to finish before Zinkenite got in. He knew that coming back from a long mission could be jarring. Not everyone wanted a party. On his own missions, what felt like a lifetime ago, Axinite had liked to submit his report and go to bed.

It had been a long time since Zinkenite was back home; Axinite didn’t want to overwhelm him on his first night back. Even as Jet offered his own chair, Axinite moved from behind his desk and opened the door to the small storage closet to pull out another one. Although, Zinkenite was more than welcome to sit on the couch if he preferred.

After setting the new chair down, brushed the wrinkles out of his suit. He’d been hunched over at his desk for a while now and it showed.

“I’m glad you two are acquainted. Jet’s been a great help. How are you doing, would you like some tea? I’ve just brewed a fresh pot. And I’ve got snacks. It’s not all sugar based, I’ve got some fruit, sports drinks. Please, make yourself comfortable. How are you doing?”

“It’s an impressive collection,” Jet hummed thoughtfully, sincerely as he glanced over the starseeds once more. He didn’t know whose starseeds they were, but he could only imagine they were better off dead, lest they cause harm to the Negaverse in some way. Certainly, Senshi espionage would be reason enough to take starseeds.

The expression on Zinkenite’s face made him wonder what exactly he went through, but he supposed he would read it in his report. There was no point in getting Zinkenite worked up when he was supposed to be relaxing now that he was home. Of course, Jet also wouldn’t argue against hearing his stories.

He would have to get an empty jar from his office to offer to Zinkenite for his collection.

Jet let out a quiet laugh when Zinkenite bowed slightly again, and Jet quickly shook his head and waved his hands as though to fend him off, apparently a little embarrassed about any praise or attention. Probably because it was from a General King that he’d admired for a long time from the sidelines.

“Thank you, it will be an honor to work beside you as well. It’s a relief that you’re back. Things have been…” Jet paused to grimace as he tried thinking of what he wanted to say. “It’s been interesting. Everything is still under control at least, mostly because the White Moon is so disorganized, but their numbers are still growing.”

Being asked to go over things was absolutely something Jet was willing and wanting to do. He just wasn’t sure what to start with.

“We have new, uh… temporary allies,” he decided, since it was more likely for Zinkenite to run into one of them. “Aliens that call themselves Velencians. Their leader, a large man that goes by Lyndin, has been working with Her Majesty on some projects. We’ve been able to get some new technology for ourselves with his help. Although I don’t think it was his intention. Starseeds and energy power the technology -- a weapon that can be used to attack Senshi worlds and Knight Wonders.”

"If I hadn't been the one dealing with it, it would have been you, I'm glad to have been of some service after my, untimely accidnet took me out of the front lines for so long." He admitted, flexing the metal hand, and eyeing it as strange even after all this time.


"Velencians..." He said carefully, unsure what to make of that word, of that revelation, cradling the tea in his hands now as though it were a lifeline back to sanity. "Aliens, as in true... aliens not just senshi reborn to this world?" He blinked.
The weapon though, that changed everything, it no longer felt like a simple game of chess with the ever growing ranks of senshi, they had something so, dangerous and powerful.

And better yet - a HOSPITAL! That was more delightful than the prospect of pay, protecting their men and women as valuable resources.

"It... sounds like other than the wonderful changes on our side that the Senshi are as, frustrating as ever. Small wonder they can keep their numbers up when they are unafraid to recruit children." He intoned with a familiar bitterness.

There was so much to catch up with, but he craved to know the better and the worse of things. He glanced at Jet, who had cut himself off from expressing negative thoughts.

"Things have been... difficult?" he prompted carefully. "I will, rest more easily if I know at least some of the negatives as well, I'm not... I am not an optimist at the best of times." He admitted.

"And... if it's not too much, I'd love to hear of your promotion, though it doesn't have to be tonight."

Axinite knew plenty well an untimely accident could do, and he was very familiar with being removed from the front lines. He had yet to return to them and made himself useful here, behind his desk.

Axinite’s expression was passive, and the slight smile persisted despite the fact that he did not approve of anyone keeping information from him. Of course he’d have worried. Not knowing then spared him one concern, but now he lived each day wondering what else was being hidden.

So, he was extra dutiful when it came to gathering information, and quick to pick holes in any inconsistencies. Thankfully, there had been no further efforts–that he knew of–to keep him in the dark. The option to be involved, or worry about those involved, was perfectly in his hands again.

“General King Jet is too modest. There’s plenty to tell of it. He is capable of expert planning and execution, and his loyalty to the Negaverse is nearly unmatched. You two have a lot in common.”

Though he’d spent less time with Zinkenite, it was simply in his nature to pore over old records. Jet’s input and answers were welcome, and Axinite had nodded along as he spoke.

Zinkenite had missed a lot here in Destiny City, and it hadn’t been safe to transmit many updates while he was managing problems elsewhere.

“We’ve foiled most of their plans. Reluctantly, I must admit that they have surprised us a few times. They’ve found a few more Princesses, but they haven’t yet mastered the ability to work together. They’ve sabotaged many of our efforts to stabilize the city, but.” He shrugged. “I don’t expect the White Moon to understand. They do more harm than good. But our spirits are high, more so with you back. We’ve kept things under control, but I’ll hope your experience will be enough to help us tip the scale back in our favor.”

At the very least, he was certain it would be good for morale. It helped that Zinkenite was competent on his own, and his experience was a great boon to them all.

“Commodore Lyndin, the leader of the Velencians, has residence in the City. Please don’t be surprised if you see him out and about. He usually keeps to himself, but we’re perfectly aware of his presence. We’re supposed to see him soon about a project he’s working on. He’s told us he can enhance the output of the energy we’re collecting and storing. Which is good, because Queen Laurelite’s got us working on quite the side project right now. We’ll need all the energy we can get. Ah, but you’ve only just come back, don’t let me weigh you down with more work so soon. She’ll want to make sure you’ve had adequate time to recuperate and settle in before taking on more.”

Hypocritically, he cautioned, “We don’t want you to overwork yourself. We’ll be here to support you, of course. General Queen Hessonite and General King Lepidolite as well, if you ever need anything from them.”

Still feeling guilty about keeping Axinite in the dark, Jet did his best to reassure him that he wasn’t hiding anything. The mission, while approved by the Queen, had been a huge gamble. There was little room for error and could have easily been a suicide mission if he hadn’t been dealt a perfect hand of cards.

He knew that kind of trust needed to be earned back, and maybe it never would be, but he was doing his best to leave his mentor and friend with no doubt in his mind. A little easier said than done, but he was at least making an effort to share everything he could with Axinite.

As Axinite nodded to what Jet said, Jet nodded in agreement with everything Axinite shared. Offered a flustered smile at the additional praise. And while he didn’t have any of his own tea left, he nodded to Zinkenite’s gesture of a toast.

His smile was a little weary when asked how many. He didn’t want to overwhelm Zinkenite with too much information. Especially after seeing that expression on the General King’s face when he talked about Youma.

There seemed to be more to what he said than just a passing comment, but Jet didn’t think it was the right time to ask for more details.

“A few,” he hummed softly and glanced over his shoulder at the large packet of information he and Axinite had been working on. “Known symbols, magic, allies. There’s information in the public database as well. I’ll admit that I don’t envy you for having to learn so much. Hopefully you won’t decide you’d rather be abroad after reading through everything,” he grimaced.