Cadia System.
Starport medical station.
A group of people busily moved two hospital beds out of the ward. Under the watchful eyes of the wounded crusaders recuperating in the medical station, the beds were pushed to the very top of the station building.
Then an array of complex medical devices was brought before the beds and connected to the two patients lying upon them. At last, the machines activated, and the patients on both beds jolted awake.
Creed's eyes snapped open. A single word emerged from his parched, raspy throat. "Cigar..."
A Cadia Shock Troops guard who had sprinted from inside the building to the rooftop immediately pulled out a cigar, placed it in Creed's mouth, and hurriedly lit it for him.
Creed took a hard drag.
His shriveled, ruined body could barely support even that action. The smoke entered his lungs, nearly making him cough up blood, but he held it in.
He endured it without expression.
"Water." Creed lowered his shriveled hand holding the cigar and spoke to the guard.
The guard immediately handed him water.
After draining it in one gulp, Creed laboriously turned his head toward the person on the other bed.
It was Kyle, his adjutant.
The instant he saw Kyle, memories long set aside surfaced within Creed's slowly turning mind.
The man named Kyle was even older than he was. When Creed had still been a raw recruit, Kyle had already been a veteran who had spent years clawing his way through life. He was irritable, yet humble. He had recognized Creed's talent and willingly fulfilled his duties as his adjutant, all the way to the present day.
During the Battle of Cadia, no matter how perilous the situation, Kyle had remained at his side.
On the Iron Ring, at the instant the volcano