Oracle had a hard time standing and keeping her typical statuesque demeanor. Even though it was a glancing blow, it still hurt.

A lot.

Canting to one side, she waited for the rest to arrive. She was probably the most calm of everyone there as Rangers started scurrying about. Perhaps that had to do with the fact that she was staying in the moment and working on a few Wishes while Syressa and Shaq’ti were brought to this infirmary. They didn’t need to be within line of sight to enjoy the benefits of her Wishes, after all.

She spoke to the Rangers only enough to let them know the rest would be following momentarily and that they would need medical attention. Any debrief or insight into what happened would have to wait for her Trainer and his colleague.

Otherwise, she enjoyed the company of Antligon for the few moments before the rest began to arrive. [i]”I’m sorry…”[/i] More than the words, Antligon would feel her regret for being somewhat ineffective and not terribly helpful. Of course, from a more objective point of view, their collective struggle was ultimately futile, so it didn’t really matter who did more or less.

As soon as Tristan, Ether, and Damselraed arrived, Tristan was on his gauntlet to call Frederick. “Pick up, pick up…” he muttered to himself. “Frederick,” Tristan started before he could even say hello. “Where are you right now?”

“I was just about to meet up with Lois and head to Fallarbor, why?” He sounded confused, but could easily tell that this was serious and so a tinge of concern could be heard in his voice.

Tristan sighed heavily. “Good…”

“Tristan, what is it? What’s going on.” Frederick’s brows furrowed, his confusion shifting further to concern.

“If you’re still planning on checking the place out, do not engage. One of these… Zodiac people are probably there. We barely got out of there with everyone.

Look, I’ll explain everything later. I gotta go.” He ended the call unceremoniously as Forrest finally arrived. Looking to Vertigo, he looked around to see if the Master General was here yet. Not likely, given his age and physique. 

Tristan replied flippantly, “Of course,” to Forrest’s largely rhetorical question. It was only after the “Thanks” that Tristan properly looked at the man and his injuries and overall state of being.

“Forrest,” he started, his tone soft and comforting; the nicest he had ever spoken to Forrest. “Of course.” He wasn’t going to get into it further, though.

Tristan only nodded to Veritas so she might offer Forrest some Life Dew to at least alleviate some of the pain while they waited for proper medical attention. The rest of his team would be returned to their pokeballs. He was glad, and lucky, that most of his team got out unscathed. Of course, the engagement didn’t even last a full minute, so it was really too quick for anything to really happen.

He’d stick with Forrest as they hobbled into the building. Tristan was already forming what he was going to tell Rich. First, it was going to be that the Rangers sent to the other locations were to not engage. Even better was to cancel the missions altogether. 

As he debriefed the Master General he didn’t allow his despair to show. The only silver lining to all this was that Jonton’s bases were important enough for Zodiac members to personally oversee their decommissioning, as it were. Though, he wondered if these bases were given to Jonton and they were merely cleaning up his mess.

Tristan informed Rich that he was going to review and organize his findings so he could submit his report. It was his way of saying that he had first dibs, and the contents would be revealed when Tristan was good and ready. He didn’t want anyone else messing around in it. And he wanted to ensure that none of the documents might be compromising for him or anyone else.

While they spoke, Tristan demanded updates from the Ranger detail from each of their families immediately. It was unlikely that they would retaliate so quickly, but it would ease his mind at the very least. Allow him to dive into the documents in his office with relative calm.

Once in his office, Ether rested on his bed next to Tristan’s desk as he started to lay everything out and try to put it all back together. He’d get caught up on this document or that photo as he went through making the process take longer than it should have otherwise. 

Ether was good with communicating with Oracle and Shaq’ti to request, when they were ready, to meet him in his office with Forrest. He also made sure to get Tristan fed and hydrated so he didn’t pass out.

The office of a Senior Inspector of the Ranger Internal Affairs division was rather nice. A small, plush couch with a glass coffee table by the door. A small rectangular table with four chairs for small meetings. And he managed a decent enough view out a tall, though slender, window.