Anti-Air Remnants
As Edison fixated his gaze upon the horizon of the AO, dozens of Yamataian and Elefirn ships engaged in sky-tearing combat. As far as anybody could see, no other Nepleslian ships were flying among the others. Covering her back, Edison watched as Linda entered the shuttle and as Glynn clambered closely behind, nodding with approval at him. Alec followed behind the pair, and soon he was suddenly able to hear the gentle sounds of Yamatai small arms going off behind him in the general direction where the lone Elefirn soldier disappeared.
"Alright, everyone accounted for! Pilot! You're free to get us the hell out of here!" Cadence advised, resulting in the shuttle doors to close. Cadence motioned Edison inward, and began to secure herself until she got a response, "Roger that Lieutenant, moving out from the AO fast, hold on tight."
The shuttle doors shut completely, and the quiet rumbling of the engines drowned away the sounds of Yamatai and Elefirn fighting, ripping their ships apart.
Nepleslian Shuttle
Then the pilot came up on the group's radio, "Orders from above are for you all to keep all communications silent, no talking, no writing, and no other forms of communications until we're back home, aside from you Lieutenant Newborn. I need you up here, you'll need to be... debriefed early about the situation at hand." His voice trialing off with unease.
With a curious disposition, Cadence moved herself towards the cockpit after removing her power armor. The rest of the trip remained quiet aside from the rumbling of turbulence and the occasional grumble of the ship shaking as it flew through a warzone. In the silence, the trip seemed much longer than it should have, even performing basic weapon maintenance manually seemed more tedious than it should have been. Luckily, the familiar sounds of a shuttle docking rang throughout, and the doors were suddenly opened. Cadence had not returned however.
Inquiry Hangar
Instead, the group found themselves facing a lone, older man. He smiled brightly with his arms out before speaking, "Welcome home soldiers! Now before anything else, I understand that this may be... unorthodox, but due to some unforeseen events, you are all dismissed, and subsequently forbidden from disclosing any information obtained on Polup's surface to anyone or thing besides you four until tomorrow's debriefing in which we may get acquainted better. For now, you are free to roam the ship and rest, you will however, be escorted until you are contacted once more." He held his arms behind his back and knitted his brows together, "I hope that is understood. If you have any questions, wait for the debrief."
He turned his back on the team, and proceeded to march past a small group of soldiers facing them in the direction of the ship's bridge. There, the team managed to catch of glimpse of Cadence making her way towards the man with a mixture of ill will and confusion on her face.
One of the four soldiers that faced them stepped forward "We will be your escorts for the meantime. We will be observing your from a distance to make sure that you will not be speaking to anyone other than your squad mates. I hope this doesn't bother you, we're just trying to be... professional."
