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----[b]Post Battle[/b]----

The rest of the battle passed in a blur of sound and fury. Thael was vaguely aware of his friends fighting around him, but he was entirely focused on holding the line. Rain suddenly came pouring down, only to stop a minute later, and only as the raptors began to freeze and die did Thael realize what had happened. With a final effort, he smashed his shield down on a raptor’s neck, pinning it to the ground, then put his spear directly through it’s eye and deep into its brain. The thing died with a final rattling breath. He looked around, hardly believing it was over. “Everybody alright?” he called out. Nobody seemed to be seriously hurt, thank <dieties>, considering what a disaster the battle had been. Yes, the their individual performances had been near-flawless, but their teamwork...it was a miracle nobody had died. Thael had worried about this, through all those years of training. He’d hoped, he’d believed that they would be fine once they actually saw combat, but it had taken all of fifteen seconds for their formation to crumble. Olivia’s orders had been spot on, but the team had let her down. Thael specifically had let her down. She should be able to count on him, at least, to maintain his position and follow orders, but he’d gone rushing off after Aaron like an idiot. [i]Stupid stupid stupid![/i] Thael berated himself. If he’d waited just a single instant to check with his teammates-no, he should’ve anticipated that Freddy would go in, and stayed in position himself. If they crumbled so easily against raptors, how were they going to fight Nautilus soldiers?

The crack of Olivia’s hand hitting Aaron distracted Thael from his spiral of doubt. It was good to see she was capable of being a hardass commander when she needed to be. Thael tried to shake off his negative attitude. Others needed him more right now. The group resumed its march to Doral with Olivia setting a fast pace. Thael embraced Roy quickly, happy to see him unharmed, before falling back to walk beside Aaron. “Don’t worry too much about it,” he said consolingly, “we all make mistakes. And you fought well, you really did.”

"Yeah from the guy that got his leg chomped and spent the rest of the battle in an unconscious heap...look I know what your trying to do Thael but I know that I fucked up. There's no use in trying to cheer me up."

"It's not about cheering you up, it's just the truth." Thael insisted. "Yeah, you got KO'd in about 30 seconds, but who wouldn't with 8 raptors around them? And you managed to fend them off..."

Aaron huffed and pulled the hood of his cloak tighter around his face and kept his focus on the road kept his hands resting on his swords handles. Nothing Thael said made a difference, Aaron knew what he did was a danger to the group, worse than that it proved that he wasn't good enough yet.

"Look Thael it doesn't matter what say it doesn't matter...I didn't anticipate the blow and I couldn't help in the fight. I'm not strong enough yet...not yet..."

Aaron's voice trailed out in though as his eyes wandered the road. He knew that he had to be stronger to help the group. 

Thael looked as if he was going to say something, but decided against it. He clapped Aaron on the shoulder then got moving. The rest of the walk passed mostly in silence, the aftereffects of their first battle combining with the opressing sky to stifle most attempts at conversation.

When the rain came, it came as a great sweeping curtain, rolling down the road behind them. Thael turned back to watch the spectacle, popping his helmet on as he did. One second there were only a few scattered drops, the next they were hit by a torrential downpour.

----[b]On the Boat[/b]----

The boat was cramped, but at least it was dry, and Thael was finally able to peel off his combat armour in one of the bunk rooms. He knew perfectly well the armor had a good seal, but the intensity of the downpour was such that he still felt soaked, so much so that he peeled off the body glove underlayer. Plus, he needed to examine the effects of the xenomorph’s bite; the armour hadn’t been breached, but sure enough there was a big bruise from the pressure. Thael poked at it with an irritable grunt. His spirits meant that the minor injury wouldn’t affect his performance, but it was annoying to know that it would be there for a while. Although if they were going to see combat soon, maybe he’d better ask Kim to take a look at it.

The sound of his friends settling in around the main cabin reminded Thael that he’d better call his brothers while he had a moment of peace and quiet. He retrieved his phone from a comparment on his armor. He skipped Cam, who he’d spoken to earlier and was probably busy anyways. He only spoke briefly to Kyle, just to say goodbye really. Kyle was quieter than his older brothers, more deliberate and soft spoken. At 16, he was shorter than Cam, but quite a bit broader. He was extremely in sync with his earth spirits, and had an artistic flair that none of his siblings could match. Their talk was brief and surprisingly lighthearted; Kyle was soft spoken, but he had a razor sharp wit, and Thael hung up with a smile on his face.

The call to Mitch was not quite so jovial. Mitch was something of a black sheep in the family. His brothers loved him dearly (even Cam, though he had an odd way of showing it), but unlike them, Mitch had no natural spirit affinities. While the other boys had their father’s strong jawline and high cheekbones, Mitch had their mother’s gentler features, and he’d barely even known their father. Mitch was incredibly intelligent, but equally shy and insecure. For years, Thael had watched out for his youngest brother as best he could, but he could only do so much.
“Hello?” a voice answered timidly.
“Hey Mitch, guess who?”
“Thael! I didn’t think you’d get shipped out so fast.” Thael winced at the unspoken ‘you didn’t say goodbye’ that Mitch was too timid to bring up.
“Yeah, it caught us all by surprise. I had twenty minutes to pack up, and I didn’t want to make a scene in front of your friends.”
Mitch sighed. “Yeah, my friends…” They both knew Mitch didn’t have any. Silence hung between them for a few seconds.

“What’re you up to right now?” Thael asked.
“I’m having dinner with Cam and some of his friends.”
“Oh really? That sounds nice!” He was relieved to hear that Cam had stepped up to the task of keeping an eye on the youngest, probably at the expense of a date with some young lady.
“Yeah, it is. They had both of us in for testing earlier, so Cam said we might as well get dinner together.” There was a slight catch in Mitch’s voice when he said testing, and a brief surge of anger flashed across Thael’s mind.
 “BATW again?”
“Yeah…”

The first three Conrad boys had been a jackpot for BATW. So far as modern research could determine, there was no distinct genetic component to spirit affinity: it seemed the mental component was more important. But three brothers, all with guardian-level affinities? Surely there had to be something there, some factor that could be deduced and qualified and used to mass-produce guardians. Thael, Cam, and Kyle had all gone through extensive testing in their earlier years at the academy, and some theories had begun to take shape. Then Mitch had arrived and dashed those theories to bit. Three brothers with massive affinities, one with basically none. It drove the researchers crazy. It also did a lot of damage to Mitch’s self esteem. Hard to live up to those kinds of expectations. Occasionally researchers still liked to poke at him, see if they could find out anything new or uncover hidden potential, and they were inevitably disappointed. It was a tough life for a 13 year old.

“Don’t let them get you down Mitch, you’ve got just as much to offer as anyone else.”
“Sure I do.”
“Don’t be like that. Ultimately, a Guardian is just one soldier, and we need a lot more than just soldiers. Dad wasn’t a Guardian, General Cid isn’t a Guardian. You’re the smartest person I know, and you’re 13. Give yourself a chance.”
“...Okay. I’ll try.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Thael said with a smile. “Alright, I have to go, but I’ll try to call every now and then. Don’t get into too much trouble with Cam there ok?”
“I think you’re the one who should worry about staying out of trouble, but okay. Please try to stay safe?”
“I’ll do my best. Talk to you later bud!”

The calls left Thael oddly content. The fact that he hadn’t been able to say goodbye to his brothers in the morning had evidently bothered him more than he thought. Still clad only in his underwear, Thael rejoined his friends in the main cabin as they considered dinner options. “Hey guys,” he called out. “We’re only on this boat for a few hours, let’s just cook it all. A feast of beans and canned spaghetti!”