[Voice, locked to residents] --EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--

[malnosso]

[At 2:15AM, the journals suddenly blare out an alarm, followed by this message.]

EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY. This is an emergency.

The following occupants of the Luceti enclosure must report to the teleporters in twenty minutes. You are required as reinforcements in Region 13. Bring all necessary armaments with you. You will be teleported directly into combat.

Anyone who fails to comply will be forcibly escorted to the teleporters by droids.

This is not a drill. I repeat: this is not a drill. You have twenty minutes.

[The message repeats twice more, the alarm continuing until the twenty minutes has elapsed. No questions will be answered.]

Comments

[lastfonmasterguardian]

[Ion had always remained cool and collected back home; he'd never seen Ion this disheveled, and she wasn't really sure what to do. He'd always been the one trying to calm them down, so she didn't know what she could say that might make him feel better.]

[He's pretty jumpy, so she'll avoid being overly physical, but she will lean in closer so that he knows she's there.]

We've got the Colonel, though! And Luke and Tear, too. There's no way they'd let anything happen to you.

[And there was no way she was going to let anything happen to him, either.]

[distressedude]

[Oh, Anise. If she only knew... well, they don't exactly have enough time for Ion to get too into it. But he rarely, if ever, talked about the drafts before. So now was as good as time as any to mention it.]

...I know. And I know they wouldn't, but...

[...]

But then who's going to protect all of you?

[lastfonmasterguardian]

[There was something about the way Ion had said that which instinctively made Anise sort of afraid. He'd never seemed to doubt them before; just how bad could these drafts be?]

We'll protect ourselves! We've made it through this much already, right?

[distressedude]

Anise...

[He feels torn between not wanting to frighten or worry Anise more than she may already be, and wanting her to know exactly what it is they're up against. Fighting back on Auldrant was one thing, but war was different.]

[In the background, the sound of all the journals in the house still ringing can be faintly heard. How long has it been now? Ion shakes his head.]

...we don't have much time now. We... should get ready to leave with the others.

[lastfonmasterguardian]

[The fact that Ion doesn't finish that last thought worries her, too, but she'll push it away for now. They've only got a few minutes left, and dealing with some rusty old robots wasn't at the top of her to-do list, either.]

Yeah, we should get going.

[She starts to stand up, but makes sure to grab Ion's hand for comfort as she does so.]

Stay close, okay? We won't let anything near you.

[distressedude]

All right. [He holds onto Anise's hand tightly in return, as though it were a lifeline, keeping him calm.]

...thank you, Anise.