Maurice collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as he looked at the newcomers. "Looks like you saved our bacon," he muttered, handing his weapon towards Rikken. "If you guys hadn't shown up, we would have been goners for sure."

Rikken nodded as he reached down to help Julian to his feet. "You look familiar for some reason," he said, scratching the back of his head as he wracked his brain. "Wait... Cagle, right? You're the nerd that bust into my recruitment center a while back. How'd that go for ya?"

Julian brushed the dirt off his shirt as he stood up. "Lietenant now," he replied. "Noir, get us a tactical assessment of the area. Molly, check around for any magical equipment. Maybe see what that explosion did. Nyxia, please keep an eye out for more dropships. And Nadia... maybe you should stick close to me for now."

Rikken watched as Julian gave his orders, nodding thoughtfully. "Lieutenant, huh? You've come a long ways. But your squad... they have some interesting names. Where are they from, Bodhum?"

Julian squinted back at Rikken. "You realize the GC just tried to kill you, right? We should get moving before they send in PSICOM. There was a fal'Cie in that building, and PSICOM can't be far behind."

"We know," Maurice replied, his voice solemn. "Your little cuddly friend won't have to look far. Most of the soldiers here got turned into some kind of monster. We were able to take out most of em, but those Bombs were a handful."

Molly fluttered back as Maurice finished talking. "Cie'th, and I am not cuddly, kupo! There's a whole pack of Cie'th down that road around the corner. They're bad news. We need to fly!"

Julian nodded. "You two should come with us. You're on the run from Cocoon whether you like it or not. Once we're back at base, I'll explain everything we know."

"Sounds like a plan, Lieutenant," Rikken responded with a grin. He held out a small metallic band towards Julian. "Here, take this. You all will need it more than us. Before we go, I suggest checking out that crashed gunship over there. We cleared out a bunch of Cie'th from that ship before the bombs drove us back. There's gotta be something good in there."

>Party gains an Iron Bangle!